Redemption Through the Eyes of the Old Testament

Redemption is a fundamental and key component of the Christian faith as well as the Old Testament. Without redemption there is no becoming righteous or becoming cleansed or right in God’s eyes. There are many stories in the Old Testament that show redemption including the story of Ruth, the Exodus, and the Abrahamic covenant. Redemption involves the payment of a price that affects salvation (Youngblood 102). It also involves the switching out of one thing in exchange for another that equals out and justifies the situation. In the Old Testament, redemption can be and is restored is through the law as well as through personal promises and grants. The story of Tamar and Judah in the thirty-eighth chapter of the book of Genesis is a good example of redemption based in the Old Testament.

Judah was a very important man in Israel, and the head of the one of the twelve tribes. He went and married the daughter of Shua in the land of Adullam. They bore children together, three children, all boys, named Er, Onoan, and Shelah, in respective order. Judah’s eldest son, Er, married a woman named Tamar. Er was a very evil man and turned from God and so he was killed by the Lord. Judah, according to the rituals and traditions, told his second son Onoan to go and lie with Tamar as well, but wouldn’t go through with it completely because the offspring would not be of his and would be of his brothers, so God also killed him because of the wicked he did in God’s eyes. After two lost sons and third one too young to marry Tamar, Judah told Tamar to go back to her home and be a widow and that once Judah’s youngest son, Shelah, grew up, she could marry him then, because Judah was sure his third son would die as well. There is a long break in the story, until the death of Judah’s wife occurs. Judah grieves for a long time and then goes up to have his sheep sheared at a nearby town. Tamar hears of this, takes off her widow’s clothes, puts on a veil like a prostitute and disguises herself, and goes to the same village as Judah, and goes to stand on the side of the road. She did this because Shelah had now grown up and yet she was not married to him. So Judah, seeing Tamar disguised as a prostitute and not recognizing her, he sleeps with her. First though, Tamar asks what she will get for sleeping with him. Judah promises a young goat, but Tamar wants something as a pledge until she receives it. Tamar requests his seal, its cord, and his staff. He agrees and so they sleep together and she becomes pregnant. Judah goes to bring the goat to who he thinks is a prostitute on the side of the road and can’t find her, because she was really never there. Tamar, once found out she is pregnant, is accused of prostitution. She then shows that Judah is in fact the father by showing him the staff, seal, and its cord. He then recognizes what he had done in not giving her Shelah to marry. He claims her more righteous than he is and did not sleep with her again (NIV Study Bible).

This story is a story regarding of redemption because Tamar was persistent. She was persistent in fulfilling her duty and obligation to bear a child to keep Judah’s family line and name going, even though she had to go through three people to achieve this. By not bearing her first husband a child, as was accustomed, she moved on to the next brother, but he too died before she could bear a child, and then Judah with-held his third son. Tamar took matters into her own hands and slept with Judah because it was her duty and responsibility to bear a son and continue the family.

Redemption in my own life has been an everyday thing. Some people view being redeemed as something that happens after you make a large or drastic mistake, but as stated by Jesus, no sin is greater than another. If no sin is greater than another, then why should some be emphasized more for the need of redemption than others, they shouldn’t. There are many examples from my life in which I need redemption and that I have received it from Jesus Christ by his shedding of his blood on the cross. One such thing that I struggle with that daily I need to be redeemed for is lying. It is such a simple thing to do, and once it becomes a habit, is something that is very difficult to change. Daily it occurs and daily I need to be redeemed for it by asking for cleansing by Jesus. One specific example would be when I was about 16, and crashed the family van into a concrete post. I made up an elaborate story that another driver cut me off and forced me either into the post or into their car. I managed to get away with this, but in the long run did no good and was not worth it, because it was just an accident on my part and would not have been a big deal. I think my parents knew I was lying but ended up letting it go because bringing it up wouldn’t really have changed anything, so they forgave me and let me move on from it.

Essential to Christianity and our relationship with God and his Son Jesus Christ, redemption is something that should be sought after every day for the things we do that shouldn’t be done and also for what should be done, but isn’t.