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Home at last. Well almost.
Just as God had promised, Jacob finally crossed the Jordan
River back into the Promise Land.
Just as Abraham had done; Jacob paused in Shechem and built an altar to honor and worship, God. He called it, El Elohe Israel.
Literally meaning, God, the God, of Israel. (Israel is Jacob’s
new name, given by God).
Jacob made a bold, visible, statement, God is my
God.
It was a long hard battle, Jacob had the limp to
prove it, but now, he pauses to worship the Lord.
This would be a great place to say, “and they all
lived happily ever after.”
But then comes chapter 34.
Genesis 34:1
Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went
out to see the daughters of the land.
Dinah went out.
Considering what happens next, some say Dinah was wrong
for going out. She should’ve stayed home, safe and sound. But she’s a teenager,
she needs to go out, needs to see friends.
Historian Josephus says Dinah went out to a festival.
Like the Sukkot Music Festival, in Israel this past October
7, 2023.
See Doug, they all should’ve stayed home. The
world is still reeling from the violent, vile, demonic, Hamas terror attack during
that event.
We mustn’t stop living, for fear of dying.
Jesus says, “the thief comes to steal, kill
and destroy, but I have come that you have life, and life more abundantly.”
John 10:10.
Dinah went out,
like our kids recently went out, for Homecoming. Even though there were multiple threats of
school shootings. They took precautions, were on their guard, but did not bow
to fear, did not stop living, for fear of dying.
Dinah went out. We
should too. You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. Matthew
5:13-14.
2 And
when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her,
he took her and lay with her, and violated her.
Dinah went out to see…
but she was also seen.
Dear daughters beware when you go out, you not
only see, but you are seen.
Not everyone’s God, is the God of Israel. Not
every prince is charming. Shechem may have been prince of the city but he was slave
to his lust.
And he took her.
This seems to be a common theme back in that day.
Pharaoh took Sarah, just because she was pretty. Then,
King Abimelech did the same. Fortunately God intervened and rescued her.
Isaac feared Rebekah would be taken because she
was pretty.
Now the prince of the land takes Dinah.
He’s no pharaoh, or king, so there’s no preparation protocol;
he takes her, lies with her, forces his will upon her.
Shechem violated Dinah.
The words we’ll hear to describe the incident is that
Dinah was defiled, disgraced, treated as a harlot.
Today we say, her innocence was stolen.
Dear Dinah, please listen, you may have been violated—that’s
on him.
But you are not defiled, you
are not unclean, you are not disgraced,
you are not a harlot.
Dear Dinah, please know, your innocence cannot
be stolen.
In God’s eyes, whatever’s been done to
you, could never make you dirty, or unworthy, or cause Him to see
you as a harlot.
No, He sees you as His Bride, without spot or wrinkle,
arrayed in purest white.
He is drawn to you and stretches His
nail scarred hands toward you.
Yet, He waits for you to take Him.
He longs for you to receive Him.
He watches for you to nod your
head to Him.
He will never force Himself on you.
3 His soul was strongly attracted
to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and
spoke kindly to the young woman. 4 So
Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a
wife.”
Now the Lord paints more into the picture. However, remember,
no matter what we see next, the Truth doesn’t change.
Facts can change. Truth never does.
Take note of the words the Holy Spirit chooses to use
to describe Shechem. They are not words associated with premeditated rape. Strongly
attracted, loved, spoke kindly.
Shechem doesn’t defend himself or run and hide. Instead,
he tries to make it right by asking his dad to speak to her dad for permission
to marry her. Proper protocol in that day of arranged marriages.
This, and what follows, paints a picture that may look
more like two kids at a festival, (or Homecoming, or Prom, or college kids on
Spring Break) having fun, dancing, talking, laughing, flirting.
Dinah, having eleven brothers, could’ve easily been a
bit too comfortable around Shechem.
He, being worldly and wild, might’ve given her one too
many drinks, and one thing led to another until before the night was over, he
had his way with her.
Remember, the Truth doesn’t change. Shechem is still
just as guilty as sin.
But we see the situation in a broader light.
Even if Dinah danced real close, smiled real pretty,
batted her eyes and gave him that look. The moment Shechem made her do
something, or allow something, she didn’t want—that’s abuse, he violated her.
Love does not demand its own way. 1 Corinthians 13:5.
5 And Jacob
heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his
livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came.
Defiled means
to be made unclean.
But remember, dear Dinah, no matter what your dad thinks,
or your family says, or what the world says, no matter what religion says…
In God’s eyes, whatever’s been done to
you, could never make you dirty, or unworthy, or cause Him to see
you as a harlot.
He sees you as His Bride, without spot or
wrinkle, arrayed in the purest of white.
He is drawn to you and stretches His
nail scarred hands toward you.
Yet, He waits for you to take Him.
He longs for you to receive Him.
He watches for you to nod your head to
Him.
He will never force Himself on you.
Jacob held his peace… here
in this place called Shechem, which means shoulder, we should read that Jacob, gave
Dinah his shoulder to cry on, to lean on, and that he shouldered the
responsibility of how to handle the situation.
But, alas, we read that he held his peace.
Too many girls are too attracted to
too many men, because of absentee dads.
Dads, talk to your daughters. Mostly listen. You don’t
have to understand them. You won’t understand them. But listen to them. Show them
you love them. Tell them you love them. Your relationship with them will have a
huge impact on their relationship with other men.
Dads, talk to your sons. Make them listen. Teach them the difference between love, and lust.
Jacob once the wheeling, dealing, schemer, appears to
have handed the reins, perhaps too much, to his boys.
6 Then Hamor the father of Shechem went
out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 And the sons of Jacob
came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved
and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel
by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing which ought not to be done.
Jacob is quiet.
The brothers are fuming.
Dear Dinah, Shechem did a disgraceful thing, but you
are not a disgrace, you, are not disgraceful.
8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. 10 So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”
The city of Shechem is just across the Jordan into the
Promise Land. It’s a good place, but a dangerous place; still close enough
to the old life to feel it’s pull, hear it’s tempting call.
Here the world calls you to compromise. Stay here,
this is good enough; become one with us. Don’t go too deep into God’s Promise,
keep one foot in the world.
Don't listen Jacob.
Don't listen Dinah.
Don’t turn back.
Don’t give in.
Don’t quit.
No
one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of
God. Luke 9:62.
Stay the course dear Saint, don’t quit.
You’re almost Home.
11 Then
Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes,
and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me ever so
much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me;
but give me the young woman as a wife.”
That took guts. To face the family of the girl you
just forced to lay with you.
It sounds like a boy who got his girlfriend pregnant
and comes clean with the family.
It’s my fault. I take all responsibility. I love your
daughter and want to marry her and care for her. I want to make it right, no
matter what it takes.
Now again, that doesn’t make what he did right. He’s
still guilty.
Truth doesn’t change.
But it appears he’s trying to make amends.
13 But the
sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and
spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 And
they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who
is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us. 15 But
on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as
we are, if every male of you is circumcised, 16 then
we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and
we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 17 But
if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and
be gone.”
Seemingly they come up with this plan immediately. It just
comes to them. When this kind of rage overtakes someone it’s scary how easily
evil can be imagined.
Our beautiful daughter, Kayla, was known to go out
like Dinah. Only it was sneaking out in the middle of the night. No matter how
good I screwed her bedroom window shut, she figured a way to get out. Well,
that path led to nowhere but trouble. Until eventually she found herself in a
place she shouldn’t be. She was given something that made her as pliable as a
rag doll. She was awake, but unable to do anything to resist. And then, she was…
violated.
It was way worse than Shechem. There was no
attraction, no kind words, no love, no longing. Just a pimp, drugging girls for
money.
When we found out. We gave her a shoulder to cry on, a
shoulder to lean on.
I didn’t hold my peace.
I shouldered the responsibility to find that man and
kill him. It’s scary how quickly and easily, the plan came to me. I was
perfectly willing to spend a lifetime in prison just to send that man to an
early hell.
But Kayla, Kayla, of all people, talked me off the
ledge.
Jacob’s boys had no one to talk them off the ledge.
18 And their
words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19 So the
young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s
daughter. He was more honorable than all the household of his
father.
See, there’s more to the Shechem and Dinah story.
See how the Holy Spirit continues to reveal the heart
of Shechem towards Dinah. He delighted in Dinah. He was more honorable...
How can the Lord use words like that, unless there’s
more to the story?
20 And Hamor
and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men
of their city, saying: 21 “These men are at
peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed
the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us
as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 Only on
this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one
people: if every male among us is circumcised as
they are circumcised. 23 Will not their
livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only
let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”
Here’s the reason they agree.
The blessing and riches and exploits of Abraham were legendary, so they figured they'd get in on some of that action.
Besides, check out Jacob’s awesome, streaked, speckled and spotted, flocks and herds.
It’ll all be ours, we'll be rich, rich, rich...if we just do this one thing.
24 And all who went out of the gate of his
city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all
who went out of the gate of his city.
How bad could be?
What could possibly go wrong?
25 Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. 26 And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword,
The sin of one man, triggered the destruction of an entire city.
...and took
Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out.
See, there’s more to the Shechem and Dinah story. What
was she doing in Shechem's house?
Surely when Shechem was pleading for permission to marry Dinah, he wasn't holding her prisoner. Or they’d have requested her immediate release.
Furthermore, after stating the terms of the deal, Jacob's boys said that if they didn't agree, they'd simply take their daughter and go.
Which is exactly what they did, after exacting a vicious vengeance.
27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain,
and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. 28 They
took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city
and what was in the field, 29 and all their
wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they
plundered even all that was in the houses.
30 Then Jacob
said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me
obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the
Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather
themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household
and I.”
Now, Jacob speaks up.
Not to congratulate them, but to rebuke them.
Jacob will remember this years later, and Simeon and
Levi will forfeit their inheritance in the Promise Land because of this.
They used the sacred sign of the covenant given by
God, as a means of vengeance, to slaughter men and pillage an entire community.
Vengeance is Mine, I will repay says the
LORD. Deuteronomy 32:35
31 But they
said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”
The response is disrespectful to Jacob, implying that
he thought it okay for his daughter to be treated like a harlot.
Now, in closing, it’s important to note the flow of the conversation. It's broken by a chapter break that was not a part of the original text.
Jacob spoke up.
The boys responded.
Then, God responded. He told Jacob to, arise and go to Bethel. (Genesis 35:1).
Bethel
means, the house of God. He calls, Come home. Come to My house. We can fix
this. Just come home.
Dearest Dinah, you’re almost home, can you hear Him
calling? Arise and go to your
Loving Heavenly Father’s House, where you belong. Forever.
Jesus is calling, “Come to Me, all who
are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and
learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and
you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy
and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.
Come. It’s time to be unburdened from the heavy yolk of guilt and shame.
Old things have passed away, all things become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17.
This is the day and the hour for you to have your
innocence restored.
Let’s pray,
Our Gracious, Loving, Heavenly Father,
thank You for Your unconditional Love. For calling us to You, for cleaning us up,
making us new. Now please use us to be Your shoulder, to cry on, lean on, bear
the responsibility of, leading others to You.
Thank You.
We love You, forever.
Amen.
Prayer Requests:
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Dinah Incident, Genesis 34
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Genesis 34
This was feed for you to read. Now it’s
Seed for you to sow.
Thank you for sharing.
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