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Genesis 34:

Reading #137   Dinah

The stay of Jacob and his sons at Shechem ended in violence and bloodshed.  One of the daughters of the household was brought to shame and sorrow, two brothers were involved in the guilt of murder, a whole city population given to ruin, slaughter and slavery in retaliation. 

All this because of the lawless deed of one rash young person.

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Genesis 34:

1 And Dinah [who was in her late teens or early twenties] the daughter of Leah, which she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land [to join in their ways]. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her [this made her unmarriageable under normal circumstances].

3 And [but] his soul clave [joined] to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spoke kindly to the damsel. 4 And Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this damsel to wife.” [In the meantime, she stayed in his house, verse 26.]

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The beginning that led to results so terrible was the simple act of Jacob's daughter, who "went out to see the daughters of the land," thus venturing into association with the ungodly. He or she who seeks pleasure among those that fear not God is placing themselves on Satan's ground and inviting his temptations, which may cause immense trouble for others. This seduction was with a great degree of consent, for the father soon came to ask for Dinah’s hand in marriage to his son.

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Genesis 34:

5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter [pre-marital sex was much more an important sin then than it appears now].  Now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to commune with him [and arrange the marriage]. 7 And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done [because any woman of Israel could have been the mother of the Messiah, Genesis 3:15.]

8 And Hamor communed with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. 9 And make you marriages with us, and give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to you. 10 And you shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade you therein, and get you possessions therein.”

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As we saw last week, one of the greatest dangers that weighed down the people of God then, and which still does today, is that of association with the ungodly; especially in uniting themselves in marriage with unbelievers.  

Why “ought it not to be done” apart from preserving the line to the Messiah? 

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2 Corinthians 6:

14 Be you not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness?  And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what concord [agreement] has Christ with Belial [Satan]?  Or what part has he that believes with an infidel?

16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” 17 Wherefore “Come out from among them, and be you separate”, says the LORD, “and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 and will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters”, says the LORD Almighty.

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Hundreds have sacrificed Christ and heaven as a consequence of marrying unconverted persons, for the happiness and prosperity of married life depends upon the unity of the parties. How can the carnal mind harmonise with the mind that is joined to the mind of Christ?  One believes in righting wrongs with the use of force, while the other abhors violence in all its forms.  (Put simply it is Superman against Christ, patriotism against Christianity.) There is a perpetual difference of taste, of inclination, and of purpose.

Unless the believer shall, through his or her steadfast adherence to principle, get the unbeliever to choose to change, he or she will, as is much more common, become discouraged and sell their religious principles for the poor companionship of one who has no connection with Heaven.

Those who profess the truth trample on the will of God when they marry unbelievers.  They lose a great deal of His protection and make bitter work for repentance. The unbelieving one may possess an excellent moral character; but the fact that he or she has not answered the claims of God, and has neglected so great salvation (Hebrews 2:3), is sufficient reason why such a union should not be consummated. 

The Son of God warns that unless you would have a home where the shadows are never lifted, do not unite yourself with one who is an enemy of God.

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Genesis 34:

11 And Shechem said to her [Dinah’s] father and to her brethren, “Let me find grace in your eyes, and what you shall say to me I will give. 12 Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as you shall say to me: but give me the damsel to wife [he was anxious].” 13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister: 14 and they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach to us. 15 But in this will we consent to you: If you will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised [join our church]; 16 then will we 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 hearken to us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.”

18 And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son. 19 And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father. 

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The unbelieving man was a good moral person judged by the standards of that time and area, and he had a great love for the Christian girl.  But he was not a Christian and therefore could not raise up children to the LORD and this was sufficient reason for refusal.  But what Hamor was suggesting went far more than just one couple being allowed to marry.  He was asking Jacob and his extended family to settle down and adopt the ways of Canaan and forget their special calling. 

Another great temptation so soon after leaving Laban!

The LORD has not changed. Malachi 3:6. His character is the same today as in the days of Jacob and Moses.  He is true, merciful, compassionate, and faithful in the performance of His Word, both in promises and threatenings as He warns us of the terrible dangers we face.  Exodus 34:6-7.

We are in as great peril from contact with infidelity today as were the Israelites from social mingling with the idolaters of their time. The productions of genius and talent today too often conceal the deadly poison of spiritual death. Under attractive guises, themes are presented and thoughts expressed that attract, interest, and corrupt our minds and hearts.  One idea is that the dead live on in some form, a suggestion which is NOT upheld anywhere in the Bible, yet is accepted and believed in by the vast majority of persons today.  Another is magic with its witches and wizards etc. Thus our Christian piety wanes, and scepticism and ungodliness are triumphant and we turn from our duty.

With many, the love for the human eclipses the love for the divine. They take the first step in backsliding by venturing to disregard the LORD's express command; and complete apostasy is too often the result. It has ever proved a dangerous thing for men and women to carry out their own will in opposition to the requirements of God. Yet it is a hard lesson for us to learn that God means what He says.

Those who choose as their friends and companions, persons who reject Christ and trample upon God's law often become of the same mind and spirit.

We should ever feel a deep interest in the salvation of those who refuse to repent, and should manifest toward them a spirit of kindness and courtesy; but we can safely choose for our friends only those who are the friends of God.

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Genesis 34:

20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22  Only herein will the men consent to us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. 23 Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours?  Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.” 

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The people of the world thought this unity would be a good thing for them so they agreed to the terms set by Jacob’s sons.  However, this was not asked for in order for them to profess to be followers of the LORD, but a cunning scheme hatched by the young men so that they could deal easier with a larger number.  By this move they were following in their father’s footsteps of deceit and trickery. 

We NEED to be separate, but HOW we do it is the lesson to be learned.

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Genesis 34:

24 And to Hamor and to Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city [all the inhabitants of the town]; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city. 25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren [and possibly their personal servants], took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. 26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. 

27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled [ransacked] the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, 29 and all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.

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It is painfully obvious that Jacob’s experience at the Jabbok had not touched his sons.  They still resorted to methods he had used at the beginning of his career, for “Jacob’s trouble” is very much an individual experience.  This story warns us that we must follow only God’s way if we would be successful.

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Genesis 34:

30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.” 31 And they said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot [a promiscuous woman]?”

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Jacob had no prior knowledge of his sons’ plans and now complained that they had spoiled any chance of living peaceably with the locals, but his sons’ reply was simply that Shechem’s behaviour was wrong and deserved punishment.  They also felt strong enough to handle any situation which might develop.  How wrong they were!  It was the angelic protection which saved them, but of this they were ignorant.

However, the grief and abhorrence with which Jacob regarded their bloody deed is shown by the words in which, nearly fifty years later, he referred to it as he lay upon his deathbed in Egypt: “Simeon and Levi are brethren [similar in their ways]; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not you into their secret; to their assembly, my honour, be not you united.... Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel.” Genesis 49:5-7.

Let’s leave it here for this week, 

Bye,

RonP

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