April 07, 2021 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 47
“Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.” (Gen 38:6-7NIV)
In our opening text, it is reported that God killed Er, Judah’s firstborn, because he was wicked in His sight. How wicked was this young man? We are not told. But looking at the way the matter is reported in the bible, it is most likely that his wickedness was in connection with his marriage. At least, God did not kill him before he got married. It was after he had gotten married that He killed him. So, it may be that there was something he was doing or not doing to his wife that exposed him to God’s judgment.
Now you don’t have to accept that, for it is not plainly stated in the bible. But when you consider what is further said about his younger brother, you may want to agree with me that God most likely killed Er, not just because he was wicked to those in his world but also because he was acting in wickedness towards his wife. And what is it that is said about his brother? Well, it is said that when he was asked to take in his wife, Tamar, and fulfil his duty as a brother-in-law to her, so that she would have a son to carry on his name, he deliberately frustrated the process. (Cf. Gen 38:8-9)
Think about it. Onan did not refuse to marry his brother’s wife, Tamar, when he was asked to do so. Yet, in his craftiness, he made sure the woman could not get pregnant for him. Why? It was because he knew that the first son that came through that union would not bear his own name but his brother’s name, according to the customs of the land. But why did he marry her in the first place, when he knew he did not want his brother’s name to live on? Greed! (Cf. Deut 25:5-10)
See, if he had said that he did not want her, then, she would have been free to go and start her life afresh, perhaps with another man. But greed made him marry her. Yes, he knew that he had no intention of making her have any child through him. Yet he, like many young men of today, could not just let such a beauty go away. So, he decided to marry her to continually satisfy his lust and sexual appetites, while denying her the joy of becoming a mother. Therefore, the bible says, “What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so he put him to death also.” (Gen 38:10NIV)
Why did God put Onan too to death? It was because he treated his brother’s wife, who later became his wife as well, shamefully. So, Onan was not killed by God because he was a thief, a murderer, an idolater or even an adulterer. Rather, he was killed by Him because he was deliberately cheating his wife in bed. What is that? Killing someone for cheating their spouse in bed? Is that even fair? Yes, it is fair. It is fair because the wages of sin, any kind of sin, is death (Rom 6:23).
Does that, then, mean God may want to kill me for cheating while sharing food among people, for using my house maid as I deem fit or for making marriage promises to someone I have no intention of marrying? Yes! But how is that His business? Well, it is His business because He is the creator and judge of us all. So, everything we are doing to ourselves and to others, good or bad, concerns Him, and He will judge and reward us for it. Exactly how He will judge us for these things is something we do not know. But He is watching us, our thoughts and our every move and will surely respond, in righteousness, to whatever we are up to.
Therefore, we need to be careful in all that we do to ourselves and others and see to it that wickedness is not associated with us. Otherwise, we may not find His judgment interesting at all, even if we live to tell the story. Yes, He is a merciful God. And that is the reason many of us have not yet fully experienced His wrath for all our acts of wickedness against others and even ourselves. But as long as we continue to act wickedly, there will come a time in which this merciful God must also show Himself as a just God and judge us (Rev 2:20-23). And since we can’t tell how severe His judgment will be, the best thing we can do is to stay out of trouble. So, stay out of trouble.
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