OUTLINE
1.
34:1-4
Defilement
2.
34:5-12 Devastation
3.
34:13-24 Deception
4.
34:25-31 Destruction
When we ended with Genesis 33 last time, we had no idea how
serious the consequence of Jacob not settling in Bethel [lit. the house of God, the gate of heaven- see
28:17-22] would be. When Esau returned
to Seir (33:16), Jacob did not join
him there, although he said he would (33:14). Well, good for him.
He could have
never fitted in under his brother’s yoke, and Esau was not a spiritually minded
man. His future tribe, the Edomites would in fact become bitter enemies of
Israel.
Instead Jacob went to Succoth on the east bank of the Jordan
river and built for himself a house and
made booths for his livestock (33:17). We saw that this was only temporary,
for he moved on into Canaan, the promised land, and to the city of Shechem (33:18).There he bought a piece of real estate (33:19) from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem,
a key player in Chapter 34. This, we shall see will have devastating consequences for the family. He
should never have settled in Shechem. He was called to go to Bethel.
Chapter 34 introduces us to the cost of this
seemingly innocent decision. It produces a real chain of evil in terms of rape,
deceit and massacre, and general unhappiness.
34:1-4 The Defilement of Dinah
Here we find the first consequence of disobedience. Jacob
had settled in family in a challenging neighbourhood. Parents have a responsibility to consider the
children’s moral and spiritual well being when they settle anywhere. And so we
read that, “Dinah, the daughter of Leah,
who she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land” (34:1). Dinah was tempted. Dinah acted
unwisely. The commentator H.C. Leupold says, “she should have known that Egyptians and Canaanites regarded unmarried
women of foreign descent as legitimate prey.”[1]
She was asking for trouble. She
should not have gone alone. By the way, even today Arab and Muslim women do not
go into public places alone.
Now Shechem (who had the same name as the city), one of the
sons of Hamor saw her, seized her, lay with her and humiliated (NIV violated) her. This was classic rape. However, rather than throwing her away, as
many rapists would do, (e.g. the rape of Tamar by Amnon- 2 Sam. 13:14-19) we
are told that “his soul was drawn to
Dinah… he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her“ (34:3). He approaches his father
Hamor and he asks him to negotiate her hand in marriage.
34:5-12 Devastation
Jacob’s response is
recorded in 34:4. “He held his peace”… until his sons came in from the fields with
their livestock. One can only guess what
was going through Jacob’s mind - “We should never have settled here” or “Am I the cause of my daughters misery”?
Whatever the case may be, it is clear
that the consequences of Jacob's disobedience began to show. When his sons came
home from the field, we read,”the men
were indignant and very angry” …” this
was an outrageous thing in Israel… such a thing must not be done” (34:7).
The sons of Jacob felt
violated.
We also see that the sons of Israel thought of themselves as
different from the Shechemites, who were Amorites or Canaanites, an accursed
race by God (cf. Genesis 15:16[2]).
Even at this early stage of Israel’s history
there is a distinctiveness about them. They knew themselves to be in a covenant which God had made with their
fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They were set apart by God. The law of God
had been written upon their hearts in a distinct manner. They had higher moral values
about marriage and sexual purity. They
would not intermarry with this tribe, so when Dinah was violated it was seen to
be an outrageous thing in Israel.
In the midst of this devastation and anger comes Hamor's ‘innocent’ marriage proposal on behalf of his
son. Hamor did not feel sorrow for the
wrong committed. Actually, it was going to be more than a marriage proposal. It
was going to amount to a treaty, an invitation to Israel to
integrate with the people of
Shechem, who are Amorite-Canaanites. It was, in spiritual terms an invitation to compromise the covenant
calling of Israel. This is what happened
to Lot, the nephew of Abraham, when he settled down in Sodom, mixing with the
people of the land. We saw that he became compromised and corrupted.
Hamor’s marriage
proposal on behalf of his son Shechem
in 34:8-10 includes the following ‘reasonable’ arguments:
(i) Shechem really loves Dinah
(ii) intermarriage will be beneficial to Jacob and
his family. Jacob's family would be treated like citizens, with a right to move freely in the country and to purchase property.
(iii) In addition Shechem
offers a bridal prize whatever Jacob and sons would ask (34:11,12)
3. 34:13-24 Deception
The sons of Jacob, the brothers of Dinah, raised
fundamental religious stumbling block to this marriage. They could not allow their sister
to be married to an uncircumcised man from an uncircumcised tribe - see 34:14. They used the covenant
stipulation of Genesis 17:10 that ‘every
male among you should be circumcised‘. But
34:13 indicates that they
sensed an opportunity for revenge here.
We are told, “they answered Shechem and
his father Hamor deceitfully”. Their religious talk was part of a shocking
plan. The nature of the deceit will
become apparent in a moment.
For now we see that “their
words pleased Hamor, and Hamor’s son Shechem” (34:18). The request seemed
reasonable to them because Hamor sold the idea to his fellow city dwellers as a
good business proposal (34:21-23).
All the men agreed. The circumcision procedure would be painful
and debilitating to the men for several days. On the third day after the
procedure, the pain and inflammation would be at their peak, and so the plan
moved from deception to destruction.
4. 34:25-31 Destruction
Simeon and Levi, who were the oldest full- blood brothers of
Dinah, were taking on themselves the responsibility of revenge. They killed the
entire male population of Shechem. They took back Dinah, they pillaged and
looted the city of Shechem, even taking their women and children as captives.
When Jacob heard of
this he was deeply troubled. He was not
consulted in this matter. His sons acted
unilaterally in this matter. They said,
“ We had a right to do this -
no one is going to treat our sister like a prostitute”.
LESSONS AND APPLICATION
1. Stick with God’s plan. God’s plan was for Jacob to settle in Bethel in Canaan, merely a day’s
journey away, and not Shechem in Canaan. Compromises can sound so reasonable,
but they carry big price tags.
2. The presenting problem of our passage does not start with a rape, but a
bad decision on the part of the head of a household.
3. Heads of their homes have to
lead in good and godly decision making, settling their families in safe surroundings. Jacob disobeyed – yet again and Dinah
should never have gone out unaccompanied into this city. Is this a case of bad
parenting?
4. Don’t use your religious position for evil – Don’t abuse the holy. The sons of Jacob took circumcision,
the sign of the Old covenant and they utterly abused it. They used this sign of the covenant to commit
murder! The stench of this action
follows Simeon and Levi to the end of the book of Genesis. As Jacob is dying his
final words to Simeon and Levi are these, "Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their counsel;
O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger, they killed men,
and in their wilfulness they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is
fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and
scatter them in Israel." (Gen.
49: 5-7).
Don’t use your Christian faith abusively.
Don’t abuse the church.
Don’t abuse the act of worship to offer strange fire.
Don’t abuse the holy.
5. Remember that God had appointed Abraham and his offspring to be a blessing to the nations.
Israel and the church are called to be distinct from the nations. The purpose
of their distinctness was so that they would be a blessing to the nations and
lead the nations into a relationship with the one true God. Sadly we see here once again how the people of
the covenant exhibit a negative example of behaviour. In this passage they are not a blessing, but
a curse. The NT teaches us principles of holiness (i.e. not flirting with the
world; trying to see how close we can get to the world, but to be salt and light to the world – Matt 6). The
NT also teaches us not to sin in our anger (Eph. 4:26) and to
leave any judgement to God (Rom. 12:17-21). Sadly, in this passage, the sons of Jacob
were not a blessing but a curse. Sadly, we learn here what depth of sin
professing believers are capable of. When you sin, look to your Advocate (1 John 2:1)
6. The brutal honesty of the Bible: The Bible does not sweep the sins of covenant children,
and even the sins of even the greatest of God's people,
under the carpet. It tells it like it is, and it does not excuse sin. Passages like this constantly drive us to the need
for the gospel of God. “Who will deliver us from this body of death?
Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom.7:24,25)
This is a hard chapter to read, hear and digest. But it serves as a warning to all of
us. 1 Corinthians 10 reminds us that the sins of
God’s covenant people were
judged severely (see 10 :1-10), and 1 Corinthians 10:11 has this to say:
“Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed
lest he fall.”
Stay close to Jesus.
Look to Him. Always. Amen
