We are in chapter 38 of Genesis with our word for today which is actually two words the first one is the more general term whereas the second more specific. Our first word is לְזוֹנָ֑ה from the root word זֹנָה prostitute, harlot, commit fornication. It is used 34 times in the Old Testament. We find illegitimacy, unfaithfulness and destructive results surrounding our word. Proverbs 23:27-28 For a זוֹנָ֑ה prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind. Proverbs 29:3 He who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but a companion of ז֝וֹנ֗וֹת prostitutes squanders his wealth. A woman who engages in sexual intercourse for payment is the sense that our word is used in our chapter today. Genesis 38:15-18 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a לְזוֹנָ֑ה prostitute, for she had covered her face. He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him.
Our second word is הַקְּדֵשָׁ֛ה from the root word קָדֵשׁ consecrated, cult prostitute, temple prostitute. It is used 11 times in the Old Testament. In our chapter it is used in the sense of a female prostitute in the service of a pagan temple or shrine. Genesis 38:21-22 When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman's hand, he did not find her. And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the הַקְּדֵשָׁ֛הcult prostitute who was at Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No הַקְּדֵשָׁ֛הcult prostitute has been here.” So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No הַקְּדֵשָׁ֛ה cult prostitute has been here.’” This practice of immoral sexual activity as part of worshiping false gods has been a round for a long time. God commanded his people long ago not to be involved in such corruption. Deuteronomy 23:17 None of the daughters of Israel shall be a קְדֵשָׁ֖ה cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a קָדֵ֖שׁ cult prostitute. 1 Kings 14:22-24 Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than those who were before them had done. They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. There were even male קָדֵ֖שׁ shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. It is interesting how evil can become established in all societies and cultures throughout all of history. This makes it challenging to live around but thank God he sent his son to not only save us from our sins but also to work in us and through us to bring goodness out of the corrupted world we live in. I’ll close with Jesus words. John 8:3-11 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”...“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
