Sex, Sin, and The Sanctuary
From the Garden to Golgotha God is Gracious
Judah is a Lion's Whelp
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord and who shall dwell in his Holy Place?
Why this Cite - Oh Judah
​I believe that when the roll is called up yonder, I’ll see Judah. Of all the colorful bible characters I pick Judah. You can pick someone else. We will go through many of them in this book.
I believe if Judah could have found sanctity in the sanctuary of God, then there is hope for all men and women.
Judah’s grandfather by his mothers side was a greedy, materialistic, selfish, polytheist, who cared more about his own prosperity than those of his daughters. That was Laban. His grand mother by his fathers side, that was Rebecca was a trickster. You remember how she encouraged Jacob to deceive his father Isaac and divided the family as a result,
His father Jacob, was no better, As my mother would say: “He was up to nothing good”. How he stole his brother’s birthright and deceived his father to rob him of his blessing. How he matched Laban trick for trick to earn his goods. He even wrestled with an angel of the lord to receive a blessing.
His family life was beset with scandal and rivalry among 4 women, he and his brothers conspired to murder their own brother and deceive their father. He deserted the family home and became room mate with Hirah the Adullamite.
He Abandoned the family standard and hooked up with a Cananitish woman, the daughter of Shua. Remember how Abraham had warned Eliezer that he should not take a Canaanitish woman to be the son of Isaac.It was the very reason why Jacob went to Laban in Paddannaram in Mesopotamia and married Rachel and Leah, But Judah broke from Tradition. He kept sleeping with Shuah’s daughter until She ran away to Chezib. It was there she made the third child and she became his wife,
Then Judah kept deceiving his daughter in law who was married to 2 of his sons, He hid the third son. But Tamar exploited his loneliness and penchant for women and out smarted him until he acknowledged that she was more righteous than he. All this time God was bringing Judah face to face with himself to acknowledge he was a sinner and needed the Grace of God. When the full change came we do not know but it started with Tamar
confronting him in his unrighteous state and let him see how wretched he was. He was a man destined to have kings come out of his loins, from whence came forth the Saviour. If God could save Judah he could save you. Judah became the pride and Patron Saint of Israel.
A Sanctified Judah
Gen 49:8-10
“As for you, Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you. 9 Judah is a lion’s cub;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He [f]crouches, he lies down as a lion,
And as a [g]lion, who [h]dares to stir him up?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
[i]Until Shiloh comes,
And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples
​
The Psamist Recalls.
​
Psalm 114 When Israel went forth from Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of a foreign language,
2 Judah became His sanctuary;
Israel, His dominion.
​
That was after the daughter of Shua Scandal, and after the Tamar Scandal.
​
The total of the numbered men of the camp of Judah: 186,400, by their armies. They shall set out first.
​
This became the pattern and model in Israel that Judah was to set out first (Num. 2:9)
​
1 Sam. 2:7-9 The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.