Judah, The Toad Turned Prince

Song: There Is A Habitation

Scripture: Genesis 38:1-30

Judah’s story is my favorite story. I can identify with the prodigal son of a house of prodigals. His story is the toad-turn-prince story of the Bible.

Judah sowed to the wind. It was he that contrived the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelites. Afterward, he left his brothers to dwell in the far country. He made friends with one Canaanite, Hirah, and married another, Shua’s daughter. That Tamar knew Judah would sleep with her if she played the harlot fairly sizes up his character.

Judah reaped the whirlwind. He took his father’s son, and the Lord took two sons from him, along with his wife. He deceived Jacob, and was deceived by Tamar. He sold his brother as a slave, and his own reputation for a harlot’s wages. Imagine the gossip when neighbors saw Perez and Zerah, the twin sons of Judah and Tamar, at play!

The whirlwind turned Judah around. “She is more righteous than I,” Judah said when Tamar exposed his hypocrisy. His repentance didn’t stop here. When Judah pled to Joseph for Benjamin’s release, his change of heart became clear,“Let your servant remain a slave, and let the lad go free.” His willingness to suffer in his brother’s place won him Joseph’s pardon, and God’s election as father of the Messiah: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah.”

That’s why I said Judah is the toad-turn-prince story of the Bible. His failure, the Lord’s patience, and his reform means there’s hope for me.

Jason Moore