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Judah has three sons, and the oldest marries Tamar but, after a relatively short marriage, he dies. So, the second son steps up and marries his brother’s widow; but he, too, dies. Tamar asks to marry the third son, but Judah balks: “He’s too young,” he says. He tells her to go back and live with her family and, when the boy grows up, he’ll send for her. Yeah, right.

She goes back to her family and waits but, of course, Judah has no intention of sending for her. So, she takes matters in her own hands. She dresses as a prostitute and sits by the side of the road where she knows Judah will pass. Sure enough, he approaches her and promises if she’ll let him come into her tent, he’ll give her a newborn lamb. He has no idea that it’s Tamar. In the meantime, he promises to leave his signet and cord and staff for her to keep as a pledge until he comes back.

When he comes back with her lamb, she is nowhere to be found. Three months later he’s told that she has played the harlot and is pregnant. He demands that she be put to death. On the day of her execution, she’s brought out before the whole community in ridicule. But before being burned at the stake, she asks to say a final word. The crowd is hushed. She holds up Judah’s signet and cord and says, “It is by the owner of these that I am pregnant.” Judah recognizes his signet and cord and confesses, “She is more righteous than I,” and Tamar is set free.

Judah had been quick to judge her daughter in law and forgot he was as guilty. He assumed that whatever he had done was a lost secret. Why is it so easy to see other people’s sin and miss our own?

Will you ask the Lord to help you unmask unconfessed sin in your life? Bring it all to the cross, so you can enjoy the freedom that comes with forgiveness.