Genesis 38 tells how Judah's son Er married Tamar, but God struck Er dead because he was wicked. Then, under the "Levirate" custom of the day that later became Israelite law (Deuteronomy 25:5-6), the next brother in line, Onan, was supposed to marry the widow and have children with her. Why didn't he? The People's Bible says, "As things stood, he was the oldest surviving heir of Judah and as such was entitled to a double share of his father's inheritance. If, however, he fathered a son for Tamar's first husband, that double share would go to the son, the legal descendant of Er. To Onan, it seemed ironic: the son would actually be his flesh and blood but would not bear his name and would one day cause him to lose a sizable share of Judah's estate." What he did was also evil in God's eyes, so God struck him dead as well.
Next Judah deceived Tamar, saying that his third son, who would be next in line to marry her, was too young and would be given to her later. But Judah had no intention of doing this. We don't know for sure what was behind Tamar's scheme to get pregnant by Judah himself, however she seemed to understand she was being deceived and might have to live out the rest of her days as a childless widow.
While the whole situation was covered with the ugliness of sin, God shows his great mercy and forgiveness by allowing the Savior Jesus to come from the line of this family (see verse 3 of Matthew's genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 and verse 33 of Luke's genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3).
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