Oh the tension between the tender and the terrifying that is this passage.
This is not a flannel graph friendly passage. Sister Sue never taught this in children’s chapel. If your pastor preaches expository messages and is going through Genesis this might be the only time you hear him say “semen” in the pulpit. But beware, Moses is not trying to titillate your senses. Do not use this text as a basis for explicit material as the subject of art. One could use Moses as a proof for realism, but not sensualism. Sin is not romanticized here.
So one could misread this text by handling it wrong, treating it more like a romance novel, or a racy drama; or one could misread it by making light of the sins presented here. Yes, here God’s providence works such that from all this sin comes the Savior. God’s plan is not thwarted to work all things together for good, not even by the saints own sins. Yet there is a tension here. We may not presume upon God’s grace. Some sinners die, some live. We are not even clued into the wickedness that was Er’s, God need not give any justification to us. He would be just to condemn us all to such a sentence for any one minute of our lives.
It is precisely this tension that makes God’s gracious providence so astounding, so outrageous. God loves and works things, all things, for the good and salvation of such despicable depraved souls. His providence seems promiscuous. But alas, these are the only kind of humans for God to love, darkness loving, sin wrecked, cursed, and depraved enemies. Yet God’s love toward them is holy, for the Son of Perez, our Lord Jesus, would bear the wrath for our sins.
Here at the cross tension between the terrifying and the tender is revealed most powerfully. Concerning those crucified beside Christ, one was saved that all may have hope, but only one that none might presume. It is only in this tension that God’s love truly floors us. If we lose sight of His terrifying Holiness we may no longer sing that God’s grace is amazing.
No Other Boast 