God is the Father of all. And He places us in family units, for us to learn and express, care and love to each other. Whenever the family unit is disrupted by events such as the death of the father or mother, God sets things in motion, to bring about balance to nature. This explains why the care of widows and orphans is very dear and important to God.
In Hebrew culture, when a married man dies without any heir to succeed him, his next in line male sibling is mandated to marry the widow, in order to produce an heir that bears the name of the deceased man. This precept was sanctioned by God, and was a factor in the story of Perez, the son of Judah, borne by Tamar.
Wickedness on the part of Er and Onan, resulted in their demise. However, even if Judah did not know about the wickedness of Onan with regards to his unwillingness to follow through on the cultural precept sanctioned by God, that has as its purpose the care of a childless widow and the production of an heir that prolongs the name of the departed male, Er. God knows and sees everything, including what goes on in the most private and intimate settings of His children.
After losing two children, the fear of losing a third child, Shelah, in what appears to be mysterious circumstances, is quite understandable on the part of Judah. The loss of a child is such an incredible loss, that only those that have experienced it, have any inkling about what it entails, and surely its not wished on any individual. However, in the sight of God, this does not justify the contravention of the cultural precept of taking care of the childless widow.
Since Jesus Christ is our Justification, God’s poetic justice resulted in Judah sleeping with his daughter-in-law (whom he thought was a prostitute), Tamar, who then bore the twins Perez and Zerah. The same Perez, in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ, that has entered eternal antecedents of Jesus of Nazareth. The Love of God triumphs over the fear of death.
