After God kills Er for his extreme wickedness, Er’s father, Judah, passes the dead man’s widow, Tamar (1), to his second child, Onan.
The intent is that Onan will produce children for his deceased brother to carry on his family line through Tamar.
Judah tells Onan it’s his responsibility as Tamar’s brother-in-law to do this.
Onan complies only in part. Though Onan uses Tamar to satisfy himself, he keeps her from getting pregnant. In doing so, he fails to obey his father and do what’s expected of him.
God is not pleased. He views Onan’s act as wicked.
Some take this story as confirmation that birth control displeases God, but the context focuses on Onan’s failure to produce a child for his sister-in-law.
Though this expectation is distasteful to us today, it was the custom back then. And Onan fails to fulfill his responsibility.
God views it as wicked and kills Onan right away, just like he did with Onan’s brother Er.
When have we not done what our parents told us to do?
How does God view our disobedience?
[Read about Onan in Genesis 38:8–10. Discover more in a parallel story in Matthew 22:23–28.]
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More Old Testament Sinners and Saints is part of the Bible Character Sketches series.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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