February 09, 2024 | Be God's Light
Dinah and Shechem
Scripture: Genesis 34(NIV)
1 Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3 His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”
5 When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.
6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. 7 Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in Israel by sleeping with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.
8 But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9 Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it.”
11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. 12 Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I’ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.”
13 Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14 They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 15 We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We’ll settle among you and become one people with you. 17 But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.”
18 Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man, who was the most honored of all his father’s family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city. 21 “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. 22 But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. 23 Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.”
24 All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.
25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29 They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”
31 But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”
Devotional
This passage raises all kinds of difficult questions and dilemmas.
Simeon and Levi’s concluding question to their father was a good one, asking if they should have treated their sister like a prostitute, trading her to the man who raped her in exchange for acquiring property, trading goods, and exchanging daughters for marriage with the offender’s people. The answer, of course, is no.
But in real time, it wasn’t so simple. Jacob understood that his sons’ actions would create future struggles and war with the surrounding peoples. He would be right. For centuries to come, Israel was in continual conflict with the Canaanites and many other nations. Countless lives would be lost.
Jacob seemed to be functioning out of fear, while his sons responded out of honor. On the other hand, Jacob was speaking wisdom, and his boys were reacting hotheadedly. Which was the right thing to do?
Life raises all kinds of quandaries and conundrums that aren’t easy to solve. Proverbs 16:2-3 says, “All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Jacob and his sons all thought that their way was the right way, that their motive was the right motive. But this passage doesn’t tell us how much Jacob or his sons consulted the Lord before taking action.
In the heat of the moment, how should a follower of Jesus respond? When someone speaks, posts, or acts in an offensive way, what is the best reply? How do you know whether retaliation or retreat is the best answer?
Poem
Stench
You bad, bad boys
You cheat, deceive
And then expect
Me to receive
Your prayers, your tears
Your begging cries
You think that I have
Blinded eyes?
I see your bare
Hypocrisy
You are a stench
Surrounding Me
