# 355 Get Involved With the Great Commission

The Book of Genesis

Day 355

Ge 38:11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's house till my son Shelah is grown." For he said, "Lest he also die like his brothers." And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.

Judah has lost two sons and now he is afraid of losing another, so he decides to remove Tamar from the picture. As if she had something to do with their deaths. He misses the point of course, his sons were killed because they were wicked and displeased the Lord. Truth be known, she was more righteous than this whole family when it came to obeying the Law of the Levirate.

But alas, many times we are blinded by the wickedness of ourselves and those closest to us, and we look for others to blame, we look for scapegoats.  So Judah sends Tamar back to her father with the promise that when the younger son is full grown, he will allow him to perform the levirate duty for her. But look what happens when he puts off that duty, he eventually forgets all about it. Out of sight, out of mind!

Remember the purpose of the levirate law, it was put in place in order to fulfill the Old Testament great commission of bring Christ physically into our world. The seed of Abraham was vital to this commission.

Judah’s handling of Tamar is very similar to our own attitude about the great commission of the New Testament, where we, the church, are charged with bringing Christ to the world in a spiritual sense. 

We have a tendency to get cold feet when things get a little stormy, or we get so caught up in our own lives that we put the great commission on hold. Let’s face it, sharing the gospel with others can bring trial and tribulation, in fact it should! But rather than putting it on the back burner for a while we ought to press on, lest we become like Judah and forget. Was Judah shipping Tamar off to her father’s house, hoping someone else would raise up an heir, thereby excusing him?

How about you and I? Have we forgotten our responsibilities in the great commission, hoping others will bring the good news.  Let’s rethink our role and the urgency of the great commission in our world today, and as the Holy Spirit spoke through Peter in 1Pe 3:15, “ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;”