“About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.” (Genesis 38:24-26)

What a mess. This whole story of Judah and Tamar (sandwiched in between and compared against the righteous Joseph) is an absolute mess of broken promises, schemes to destroy and a scandal of Hollywood proportions. While there is definitely righteous action and humble contrition, let’s remember that God makes it absolutely clear the line of kings and the promises of God have nothing to do with the quality of the character receiving the promise. Just as God walked alone through the covenant with Abram, God’s promises and unrelenting love and patience have everything to do with Him and nothing to do with us.

Simply put, if God is willing to work with a mess as nasty as this one, we should all feel comforted about His willingness to work with us. He is slow to anger and quick to forgive – which is a lot to be thankful about!