What am I do?, the young woman asked. If Facebook was available in her day, she would have soberly updated her relationship status from Married to Single. In the blink of an eye, her world was shattered by tragedy. Her young husband was taken from her before they’d really begun a life together.
A woman her age—let’s just say she’s 20—is never prepared to don the color black. She’d neither been married long enough to put her wedding gown in storage nor had she the time to mail out the thank you cards for their gifts. The word “traumatic” doesn’t adequately capture just how difficult it was for this woman to take on the title of widow. No, desperate better describes her situation.
In her culture, there was no social media, but there was indeed a social network. Sadly, the loss of her husband had shrunk it significantly. He was her life in every sense of the word. Her world literally revolved around him. He was her link to her community and her future. With his untimely death, she was left not only without a husband, but a child to remember him by.
In the months that followed, more questions loomed in her mind. Rejected by her father-in-law and brother-in-law because they thought she was to blame for her husband’s death and their entire family’s ensuing misfortune, she cried out to anyone who would listen. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to go back home to Mom and Dad. Yet, this was not a long-term solution.
She had a roof over her head and bread on her table for now, but what would she do when they died? A widow with no kids was a woman literally in no man’s land. She had no inheritance to fall back on because it all would go to her oldest brother. Marriage and children were a woman’s only real hope in her day.
Without the aid and support of her father-in-law and brother-in-law, she had no legal or financial recourse. Basically, she was damaged goods. Suitors would pass by her for more attractive options. Yes, she was still young and beautiful, but she belonged to another man—a dead man. As far as the law was concerned, her firstborn child was to bear her late husband’s family name. If none of his family was willing to take on this responsibility then who would?
Some widows never remarry because there is no room in their heart for another man. Their love for their late husband is so strong that it drives them to keep his legacy alive. But, the task is so much harder without a child to remember him by. As a result, grief can make people to do desperate things. For this childless widow, it drove her to....prostitution! Yes, she shed her black mourning garb for the wardrobe of the red light district. Why? She believed selling her sexual services was her only shot to honor her late husband’s memory.
Only the Bible could produce such a storyline! In Genesis 38, we find an unlikely heroine in the tawdry story of Tamar and her unwitting solicitor—her father-in-law Judah! If you or your family has skeletons in your closet, you will find great comfort from the story of Judah’s trip to a brothel and the unlikely way God used it to accomplish His plan for His people.
This article is an excerpt from this Sunday's sermon. All are welcome to join us for worship this Sunday at 10:30 am. Lighthouse Community Baptist Church is located at 22 Pequot Trail in Pawcatuck.
