In Genesis 38 we read about Judah’s adultery with his own daughter-in-law who posed as a prostitute. The result of that illicit encounter was twin sons. One of which is Perez. If you look at Matthew chapter 1, you will see his name in the genealogy of Jesus. How strange is that?
He chooses Abraham from amongst a city of moon-god worshippers. he chooses Isaac over Ishmael. he chooses Jacob, the deceiver, over Esau. And remarkably he Chooses Judah over Joseph. I surely would have chosen Joseph, the most christ-like figure in the Old Testament. But, no, God chooses Judah.
Judah was the brother who decided to sell Joseph rather than kill him because there was no profit in murder. He was the brother who married the canaanite woman. He was the father of two sons by her, er and onan, both of whom were wicked and God killed them. He was the one who negotiated a price with a prostitute for sex, he was the one who was willing to stone his daughter in law for immorality while he hid his role in the pregnancy. He was everything he shouldn’t be and nothing he should have been.
Joseph on the other hand was everything he should have been and nothing he shouldn’t have been. Yet God chooses Judah!
The New Testament writers tell us that we too are chosen to be children of God. You and I are often what we shouldn’t be and seldom exactly what we should be, but God still choses us. How strange is that?