November 20, Genesis 34
The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. Genesis 34:13
Genesis 34 is not a Bible story included in Sunday School material for children. This chapter isn't rated G or even PG. This frank exposure of how fallen human beings behave shocks and saddens even mature readers.
A young girl named Dinah is at the core of this sickening story. She is the only innocent victim. Dinah was probably a young teen when these events took place. Nothing stated in the text suggests she had any responsibility or guilt for anything that happened here. Dinah was brutalized, raped and kidnapped by a favored son of a powerful leader. Her family's response to that event is as flawed as the original crime perpetrated against the young woman.
Shechem's lust and violence set the dark chain of events in motion. The strong original words for “seized" and "humiliated" and "defiled" convey the brutality of the attack. When he and his father came to Jacob to discuss the matter, there was no word of apology, confession or guilt. There was no sense of repentance or sorrow over what the young man had done. Instead, the solution they proposed was a cover-up that would give Shechem what he wanted. They stressed the great economic boon a treaty with them would bring the Israelites, and buried the real reason for the proposal. They offered to trade and intermarry with Jacob’s family, enriching everyone in the process. Shechem, driven by his desire, offered a blank check to Dinah's brothers, inviting them to name the price for their sister to be his wife. He didn't care what it cost. Daddy would write the check. He only wanted the girl.
Hamor and Shechem weren't the only ones who spoke deceitfully in that meeting. The sons of Jacob responded with deceit of their own. They explained that they couldn’t intermarry with uncircumcised people, and said they would agree to the deal if all the men were circumcised. Maybe they thought that price was so high that Shechem and his people would refuse. Then they would take Dinah and go, because the Shechemites breached the contract. But the Shechemites agreed. Then the sons of Israel faced another dilemma. They could not intermarry with these people, and they were not about to let Shechem get away with what he had done and keep their sister. So whether or not they intended from the beginning the massacre that followed, it was the course they took. They proposed terms they could not meet themselves. The Shechemites were all circumcised. And on the third day, after they were sore from their circumcisions, Simeon and Levi slaughtered not only Shechem and Hamor, but all the males of the city. They didn't stop there. They plundered all the goods of the city and stole the women and children.Their rage against the young man overflowed and their vengeance went far beyond justice.
The people of Shechem were not innocent. Hamor's deceit and their greed showed when he appealed to them to be circumcised. He told them how the women and wealth of Jacob's people would be theirs after they intermarried. The men unanimously agreed. Greed drove their decision and action as surely as Shechem was driven by his lust, and the sons of Jacob were driven by unrestrained rage.
When Jacob spoke to his sons after their rampage, he did not talk about the evil of what they had done. Instead he complained that they had made him noxious to the neighbors (the ones who were left alive anyway). He feared the people around them would attack and destroy them all. Simeon and Levi defended their actions, saying in effect, "He made us do it."
This chapter makes me sad. It's like the last chapters of Judges where violence, brutality, kidnapping and murder were done among the people of God under the banner of "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."
What possible encouragement or lesson is there for us in this dark chapter? For one thing, this chapter illustrates how much fallen humans need the restraint of law and consequences. "Eye for eye and tooth for tooth" under the Law of Moses seems barbaric to some readers, but this chapter gives an example of how vengeance must be restrained. Also, Jacob had settled down, and he needed to move on. They were supposed to be sojourners, not settlers. God's plan for Jacob's descendants did not include intermarriage and assimilation into the Canaanites. God used even the tragic, sinful behavior of these people to safeguard and advance his plan.
These sorry events remind us that God used flawed, broken people (like us) to accomplish his purpose of sending a Savior into the world. The sad state of affairs recorded here also illustrate how much we fallen humans need a Savior. Oh God, have mercy on us!
Copyright © 2021 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—November 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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