Tamar

By Elsie Mark-Hansen

The story of Tamar is a beautiful yet underrated part of the Bible. It is rarely mentioned, unlike the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esther, Deborah, or Ruth. However, it deserves to be recognised and discussed as it portrays wisdom, strategy, and execution.

The tale is of the intricate wisdom of a young woman who was able to overcome adversity, pain, and shame. She stood strong in the face of opposition and misfortune. Tamar is a story that asserts that women have great intellect and skill which they can use to overcome difficult situations in life.

Through this narrative, the author illustrates a strategic lesson that both men and women can use to overcome setbacks and live victoriously.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elsie Mark-Hansen
• Release date: Jul 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005508708

Book preview

Preface

Dear reader,

The story of Tamar is almost insignificant in the Bible. It is rarely mentioned unlike the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esther, Deborah and Ruth. But it’s a story that portrays wisdom, strategy and execution.

This story is about the intricate wisdom of a young woman who was able to overcome adversity and stand strong in the face of opposition, misfortune and pain. It is a story that asserts that women have great intellect and skill which can be used to overcome desperate situations in their cultural settings and the world at large.

Through this story, I bring out strategic lessons that both men and women can use in their daily lives to overcome setbacks and live victoriously.

Introduction

Genesis 38 recounts a unique story of Judah and Tamar, a story that is not popular in Christiandom. While preachers have preached many sermons about Rahab ‘the prostitute’ who helped the spies to escape, and how through her, Israel conquered Jericho, the story of Tamar is rarely mentioned and preached.

In studying Genesis 38, it is amazing how much insight and lessons there are. Tamar went through an unimaginable tragedy, however she skilfully worked her way to victory. I believe that this story, despite its flaws, has great lessons that can impact lives, especially for women in the 21st Century.

We live in a world today where women go through vicious cycles. Our culture, tradition, religion and society at large put a lot of pressure on women when it comes to marriage and childbirth. Indeed, many women have died prematurely trying to keep their marriages and family together.

But in this story is a unique woman, Tamar, a ‘double widow’ on the verge of being stoned and burnt by society. She cleverly escapes and stuns everyone by becoming the victor. The stone that the builders rejected has become the corner stone. (Psalm 118:22)

It is the wit in this story that I draw on to counsel women to begin to think, pray and work out their salvation with fear and trembling. The Bible says because of lack of knowledge, my people perish.