Till Shiloh Comes by Gilbert Morris Read Free Book Online Page B

have Judah for a husband, for she was convinced that he was the son through which the Redeemer would come. But Judah was already married, so Er, his oldest son, would carry the seed of the Promised One—at least so Tamar had come to firmly believe.
    â€œI will be a good wife to him,” Tamar said, her eyes brilliant as she faced Jacob. “Will you ask Judah to command his son Er to have me for his wife?”
    Jacob was reluctant to fulfill such a request, but at the same time, he knew that Er would not find a better wife than this young woman. And she would have children with the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!
    â€œI will speak with Judah—if you are certain this is what you wish.”
    Tamar smiled triumphantly. “Yes, master! It is what I want most of all things.”
    ****
    At first the engagement of Er to Tamar was the subject of much discussion, but after a few days the novelty of the union passed away. Er himself had no desire to marry, but his father had ordered him to agree. Er had said to his brother Onan, “Father can force me to marry her, but he can’t make me be faithful to her!”
    Two weeks after Tamar had spoken with Jacob, the time of harvest arrived. The late rains had been plenteous, and a fine wheat crop was thick in the fields. The harvesting always began with the reaping of the barley, a task most of the sons of Jacob enjoyed. Joseph was the exception, for he was not particularly given to hard labor. He had learned to get by with as little of it as possible, but at harvest time he joined in with his brothers. They all cut the bearded grain with a sickle, then gathered the stalks together and bound the sheaves with straw. Joseph was in one of his happy moods and did not notice his brothers’ sullen looks toward him. He had laid aside his coat of many colors, it not being suitable for working in the fields. He also stripped off his tunic, working only in a loincloth, and the sun gleamed against his smooth olive skin. On one level Joseph actually enjoyed working with his brothers on the harvest because it brought him into contact with them. It was strange that a young man so intelligent in so many ways could be so blind to the fact that he had alienated himself from his older brothers by all of his boasting. For his part, he loved them and counted on their love in return, but a veil had fallen over his understanding, and he could not see what had happened to their relationships.
    They worked for several days at the harvest, their bronzed bodies tanned even darker by the blazing sun. Patches of stubble were all that was left now of the barley, and on top of a small hill, Jacob’s servants used pitchforks to separate the stalks as they threshed out the grain, then tossed the stalks down before the oxen.
    By early afternoon Joseph was tired, having worked hard in his opinion, and he lay down in the shade of a terebinth tree.
    As the brothers made their way to the next field, they eyed Joseph with disgust. Dan looked over at him and muttered, “Well, the son of the True Wife has quit on us, I see.”
    Issachar laughed. “I’d do the same if I could get by with it, wouldn’t you?”
    â€œWe could never get by with it,” Dan grunted. “Only the dreamer there can take off anytime he pleases.”
    Ignorant of their complaints, Joseph slept for several hours, and Reuben noticed more than once that the boy was twitching and his lips were moving. “Another one of his dreams, I’ll be bound,” he muttered, then went on with his work.
    Late in the afternoon when the work was done for the day, the men were sitting around talking about new methods of harvesting the barley. Levi had seen a new implement called a threshing table. It was drawn by oxen and had pointed stones on the underside that tore the ears open.
    â€œIt’ll never work,” Reuben said. He hated changes and was against all of them.
    â€œWhy wouldn’t