God Appears Again to Jacob -- Genesis 35:9

Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Padan-aram, and He blessed him.

Jacob had agreed to return to the land of his father. He cleansed his household of idols that had crept in. He fulfilled his responsibility to bury his mother’s nurse in her old age. And the very next thing the text says is “Then” God appeared to Jacob again, and the verse ends with “and He blessed him”.

This is such a simple idea. When we have obeyed Him, God appears and He blesses. If we’re in fellowship with Him, His appearances are accompanied by blessings. If we’re out of fellowship, He may come to call us to Himself, redirect us, correct us, or sometimes even warn us.

Are you still in your own “Padan-aram” and out of fellowship with God? Are you letting things slide in your own life as well as in the life of your household? Is prayer at family meals now optional? Is going to church discretionary? Is reading your Bible and praying elective duties? If so, evidence of your fellowship with God is waning. And one thing I can assure you, God has not changed or moved. Which only leaves one other possibility – you have. He’s waiting to appear to you and bless you. May you seek Him anew today.

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Rebekah’s Nurse Buried -- Genesis 35:8

Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it was named Allon-bacuth.

It is the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, 2010. I asked God to show me what He wanted us to consider in this particular verse as we journey through Scripture. The nurse of Jacob’s beloved mother, Rebekah, had died. You will remember that Rebekah had brought some of her maids with her when she went with Abraham’s servant to meet and marry Isaac (Genesis 24:61). Deborah was most likely one of those maids. Now here we are in chapter 35, in the middle of the story of Jacob, Rebekah’s son, and finding him responsible for burying Deborah. How did all this come about?

There is no mention in the Bible of Rebekah’s death. Her husband Isaac’s death is recorded later on in this chapter. The deaths of Abraham’s wife Sarah and Jacob’s wife Rachel are recorded, but not that of Isaac’s wife Rebekah. We, of course, do not know the reason for that. It is possible that it was intentional. Surely the author of Genesis was aware of the parallels in the stories he was telling -- Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel. How could he otherwise have missed telling us about Rebekah’s death? But why it was intentional, we do not know. Some surmise that Sarah and Rachel had repented of their sins against God, but Rebekah had not. Perhaps so.

We are left with connecting the dots. What I propose here is, however, only our conjecture and not specifically stated in the text. At some point Rebekah before this verse took place, while Jacob was gone from home (fleeing Esau), Rebekah his mother must have died. Jacob never saw his mother again unfortunately. Sadly, their joint bit of deception connived initially by his mother ended up depriving her of ever seeing her son whom she loved so much again. It also deprived him of seeing his mother again for we assume she died while Jacob was in Haran. Somehow, possibly because of the fact that Leah and Rachel were from Laban’s family as was Rebekah and from whence Deborah had come, the beloved nurse of Rebekah went, at Jacob’s invitation, to be with him and his household when her mistress died. And thus Jacob saw to it that Deborah, a member of his household now, was properly buried. It was his responsibility. Sometimes responsibilities like that fall upon us and clearly we are to accept them with grace.

It is appropriate that we also point out some believe that because he was now in Canaan, while living at Shechem, he often visited his father Isaac’s house, nearby in Hebron. That is he may have seen his father Isaac prior to when the text specifically says he did later in chapter 35. Again, that is only speculation but it may explain how it was that Deborah came to live with his household.

The text does say though that Jacob buried this old servant woman of the household, and his mother’s maid, “below Bethel under the oak”. The word ‘below’ is likely intended to depict a physical direction meaning underneath the land of Bethel and in particularly by the oak which he now named “Allonbacuth” or ‘oak of weeping’. The name implies that Deborah had become a beloved person in Jacob’s household, especially among the younger women likely, and thus her death brought about great sorrow and sadness. At my age, I have participated in the burials of many older folks, my parents among them, but also those that have been dear to the family in various ways. It is at the point of burial that one reflects seriously on the life and the impact of the individual whose earthly journey is now complete, regardless of its length.

Another burial is prime in our minds at this Easter season. It is the burial of Jesus. God had seen to it that He His Only Begotten Son was well taken care with respect to his burial. Those that were close to Him wept and lamented for Him. Even though they were afraid of what His death may have meant or would mean for them, they paid Him the great respect that was expected when one lost a loved One. In that respect, Jesus’ burial was similar to those of the great patriarchs of Israel, and of Deborah’s, and even of those that you and I may provide for our loved ones.

But Jesus was God’s Son and Jesus’ burial was not the highlight of the event – His resurrection was! God saw to it that Jesus was resurrected to conquer death for all mankind. His death paid the penalty for all of mankind’s sins. His burial and descent into what is referred to elsewhere in Scripture as the “lower parts of the earth” or to where the “spirits” were “in prison” assures us that we no longer have to make that trip for ourselves. But it is His Resurrection that indeed means death is not the end and burial is not the final resting place. By accepting His love, His life, His gift in His death in our place, everyone of us can live forever. May it be so with you.

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Jacob Gives Thanks -- Genesis 35:7

And he built an altar there, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him, when he fled from his brother.

You will remember in Genesis 35:1 when God told Jacob to go to Bethel, He also told him to make an altar there to Him. Jacob, now safely in Bethel with his household, follows through on this additional request from God. He builds an altar to the Lord and he calls the place where he built the altar, El-bethel. The actual word can be translated as the ‘God of Bethel’ or when one also translates the word Bethel itself, El-bethel literally means ‘the God of the House of God’.

What is the implication for us today, especially when so many of us may feel we have reason to be dissatisfied with the church? In our text we read that Jacob names this place after ‘the God of the House of God’ because that is where God revealed Himself to Jacob in the time of his greatest need. While God’s omnipotence and His omnipresence allows Him to reveal Himself to anyone, anytime, and anywhere, Jacob somehow captured the desire of God in wanting to be best revealed to us in ‘His own house’ or Bethel.

We need to grasp that same understanding. God may reveal Himself to us anywhere, but like those created in His image that rule as men, He rejoices in inviting us to His House/Castle in order to reach out to us and reveal His plans for us. Do we want the full blessing of God on our lives? If so, I believe we cannot have them while we remain in a state of broken fellowship with our church, our local House of God.

If you are in such a circumstance, please seek what God (not you) would want you to do with respect to this matter. Is it time for you to built an altar to God in your El-Bethel?

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Jacob’s Household Reaches Bethel -- Genesis 35:6

So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.

Recently, some of my contacts on social media were discussing what they might do in the event that the United States goes through its darkest hours economically and politically, something which by the way I believe is highly likely in the near future. I was able to point out that indeed, unlike the old Roman god of mythology Mercury who was dubbed ‘the god of safe passage’, our God is indeed the ‘real stuff’. He is the God of Safe Passage. He proved it for Abraham, Isaac, and now in this passage, Jacob. I know He will see you and me safely ‘home’ and ‘back to Him’.

Jacob arrived in Bethel where God wanted him to be for his own good. And not only did He see to it that Jacob made it, but He saw to it that all the people who were with him did also.

Where does God want you and I today? In the mid of all this confusion in the world, all this fear and uncertainty, where does He want you? I believe that if we really put all our own preferences and fears aside, we would have to admit He has already told us, especially if we have asked Him. What remains is for us to do what Jacob did in the earlier verses we studied. Realize he wasn’t where God wanted him. Make the necessary changes in himself. Help his family and household or business to make the required changes. Then go where, or do what, God wanted him to. In exchange, God gave him and his household safe passage through enemy territory and a safe arrival at Bethel. He can and wants to do that for you and me, in our lives, right now. Is God speaking to you? If so, follow Jacob’s example, and just do it!

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God Provides Jacob Safe Passage Home -- Genesis 35:5

As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

God tells Jacob to take his family home to Bethel and symbolically ‘back to God’. As Jacob obeys and travels on his way, he has to travel near some cities. By now, all of them had likely heard of what the Israelites had done to the Shechemites. And any one of them could have easily attacked the Israelites in retaliation or out of fear that they may be next to be wiped out by them. The Israelites were fewer in number and a possible surprise attack from one or more of these cities could have been devastating to Jacob’s family. We also have no ready evidence (that is, evidence found within this text) as to whether or not these cities were normally the warring type. Possibly they commonly attacked those traveling by, looting them, or taking them into captivity.

But they did not. In fact, they were struck with a great fear of the Israelites as they passed by or near their lands. They did not pursue them in any way and were glad to see their backs.

As I write this, I am in the middle of reading Athol Dickson’s The Gospel According to Moses: What my Jewish friends taught me about Jesus, Brazos Press, Grand Rapids, 2003. In it, Dickson explains one key Jewish approach to learning as being the encouraging of Torah students to ask God some really difficult questions. He shows us how God actually welcomes and desires that we do so because of His complete love for us. It is a book well worth reading for many reasons. It has changed my view on how to deal with some of man’s most searching questions, especially those dealing with the many paradoxes we find riddled throughout Scripture (e.g. up to this point in Scripture, the paradox of fertility – He commands Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, yet He chooses three barren women through which to bring about His covenant with Abraham to fruition, namely Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel; the paradox of obedience – God hated Cain’s murder of Abel but told Abraham to kill his son as a sacrifice; the paradox of the promise – He tells Abraham He will give him the land of Canaan but Abraham had to pay gold for a burial spot therein for his wife Sarah and later the Israelites paid for the land with their lives; and so on).

Well, with that kind of thinking in mind, let me ask a difficult question, in my faith, for as Athol Dickson suggests, it does indeed take “more faith to ask than it does to fear the asking”. Here’s my question: Is it possible that one of the reasons God allowed (I am pretty sure He did not ordain) Jacob’s sons to murder the Shechemites was in order that Jacob’s family might have ‘safe passage’ as they headed ‘home’? And if so, how could God do that?

I do not know the answers to those questions. But I do not feel any less ‘faithful’ or ‘believing’ because I asked them. I also believe that it is possible that God may answer them later in His word or as I delve deeper into what He has already said. But it is also possible that He may not answer them now or later, because He wants me, as Dickson also postulates, to learn something else by my continuing to ask them repeatedly, or perhaps in a different manner. Suffice it to say, God knows my questions and He has the answers.

In the meantime, from our text here, I can rejoice that God does indeed arrange circumstances to protect us. Sometimes that happens without us knowing it, but when we are made aware of it, it behooves us to give Him the praise and the glory. Has God arranged circumstances to protect you lately?

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Jacob’s Household Responds To His Leadership -- Genesis 35:4

So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which they had, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.

Notice once again the Bible does not record any challenge to Jacob’s leadership from his family. All we read is their immediate response to his instructions. That must have been a joy, a big relief, for Jacob.

Can you imagine the scene? Foreign idol gods were being brought from all over the household. But the text also mentions they were giving up their earrings. Why earrings? In the East, there is a pagan connection to earrings for many wore them as charms or in honor of their pagan gods and at the very least, earrings were seen as objects of superstition. These they seem to have given up willingly on their own, perhaps being convicted in their hearts that they should. They wanted their “going home to God” to be as complete as possible. In hindsight, we can well wonder whether indeed this scene could have occurred much earlier in the life of Jacob, had he taken the lead as he now was doing. They could have gone “back home to God” sooner and saved themselves much disgrace and troubles.

Finally, the verse tells us that Jacob took all these things and hid them under a particular oak tree. Why not destroy them, Jacob? There is a possibility that Jacob hid these things in a place that would be unknown to those in his household that had given them up. He wanted not only to help separate his household from these things, but also to ensure that there was little opportunity for them to return to them. The majestic oak tree in the area was indeed a respected landmark. Perhaps it was the same tree that his grandfather patriarch Abram had originally pitched his tent (Genesis 12:8; 13:3). There, in what was deemed to almost be sacred ground, he hid the rejected objects believing no one would dare disturb the ground to uncover them.

We don’t know why he did not destroy them. Perhaps given the circumstances, it was the wisest thing to do. Sometimes, we just need to make it difficult, not impossible, for people to return to their idolatry if they so choose. God does not want anyone to be forced into a “no choice” situation. He wants us to “come back home to Him” willingly and voluntarily, knowing that we must continuously rely on Him to keep us from going back to “disturb the ground” to pick up the idols we once adored.

Evil and pagan worship does not disappear from the face of the earth just because we have come home to God. It still exists. Our task is to be walking continuously with God away from it.

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Jacob Shows Family Leadership Again -- Genesis 35:2-3

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and has been with me wherever I have gone.”

In the previous verse, God spoke to Jacob and told him to go and stay in Bethel. The Bible has no record of Jacob’s verbal response to God. Instead, we observe a man who has been given his instructions and begins to carry them out. Either as one large group, or on several occasions of smaller numbers being present, Jacob in turn instructs his family and household to get ready to move. What he says is most revealing of what had been going on.

Over a period of time, we can assume many in Jacob’s family had started to incorporate foreign gods in their beliefs. They had become impure in their worship. Although Jacob was afraid for his life now, he and his household had gone through many years of prosperity up to this point. It is in these boom times that we all have a tendency to let our relationship with God sag, as other things take its place. We are attracted to new idols. That had happened to Jacob’s household and to a certain extent to him. Now he takes charge once more as head of the home and instructs them all to “return to God, we’re going home.” We see here the ever-constant need for senior male leadership in a family. But we also see the need for male role modeling. It was after Jacob got right with God, that he could instruct his family to do so. The very fact of ‘silence’ between verse one of this chapter when God spoke and verse two when Jacob spoke to his household, suggests he recognized that he himself needed to get ‘back to God’. With that decided in his own heart, he could now lead his household in following him.

First, the foreign gods had to go. Secondly, he called for their purification. The Hebrew word used here is taher and its meaning is threefold. It refers to being clean in a physical sense, as in free from disease, but it also means to be clean in a ceremonial sense that is to present oneself for purification through a ceremony. Finally, it has the meaning of being morally clean. This is purity of both the heart and mind. God wants us to demonstrate our purity not just through ceremonies and rites, but by pursuing righteousness and justice. And not only does He expect the fathers of households to live that way, but just as importantly, he expects us to “command our children and our households” to do so. In Genesis 18:19 when He describes Abraham, He says, “I have chosen him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; in order that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”

Some of Jacob’s children had foreign gods because, as you will remember, their mother Rachel had clung to the household gods of her father Laban, and had stolen them from him the night of her escape with Jacob’s family. Like parent, like children. We can teach what is right with our mouths, but our actual behavior trumps our speech lessons when it comes to our children’s imitating us. Other of Jacob’s children may well have had the gods of the Shechemites that they had taken in plunder after Leah’s sons had murdered all the men. Also, it is very likely that some of Jacob’s servants he brought with him or picked up in his travels were worshipping foreign gods. While our English translations refer to “foreign gods” the more direct Hebrew translation would be “gods of the stranger” or “gods of foreign nations”. Perhaps for the sake of prosperity, Jacob had allowed his servants and others to worship these gods, turning a blind eye in order to avoid conflict or losing them, not thinking of his responsibility to keep his household and business pure.

Continuing in the theme of purity and becoming clean, Jacob ordered his household to wash themselves and then change their garments. In particular, Leah’s sons, Simeon and Levi may well have had blood on their hands from the slaughter of the Shechemites (therefore their need to wash) and even on their clothes (thus the need to change their garments). You cannot go to meet with God without preparation of body and heart. Cleaning one’s clothes without one’s heart is not sufficient.

Now, Jacob tells his people that he has resolved to follow God’s instructions, given to him by God Himself. And he underlines the fact that this is indeed the God that was there for him during the times of his distress, and the God that has gone with him wherever he went.

I believe that is the lesson for us today as we study these two verses. Are we prepared to say to ourselves, our family, our business, “I will follow the instructions of the God who spoke to me. I will ‘go home’ where He is and live there. And I will take you with me. For God has always been there for me, for us, when we were in distress. He has followed us wherever we chose to go. Now we will return to where He wants us.”? That is leadership. That is true role modeling. That is being a true follower of God.

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Once Again, God Directs Jacob -- Genesis 35:1

Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

Old, fearful for his life and that of his family because of his sons’ massacre of the Shechemites, and still a wanderer, Jacob once more hears the voice of God. Even at our lowest moments in our lives, God is still there and He very much wants to communicate with us.

And what does God tell him, but the very same thing He told him before. “Go to Bethel and live there – don’t just visit this time.” Way back in Genesis 31:13 God basically said to Jacob, “I am the God of Bethel. Come back to the place of your family. I am the God that met you there in Bethel". But as we know, Jacob did not follow instructions very well, settling instead in Shechem, and ultimately being party to the murderous revenge that his sons took on the Shechemites who had raped his daughter Dinah and brought shame to his own family.

Yet God was willing to give him one more chance to listen. God always gives us more chances to listen to Him than we deserve. But this time, in Jacob’s case, the instructions are very specific – “live at Bethel” and “worship Me there”. God wanted Jacob back where he belonged, no longer to be a wanderer. He wanted him to go back to the place from whence he came and where both his family and heart were. And to the place God Himself, in Genesis 31:13, described as a place that “He was the God of”. He wanted Jacob back to the place where Jacob had made a vow to Him (Genesis 28:19-21). That’s were God wants all of us. He wants us back at the point where we made our “vows” to Him. No matter how far we have roamed; no matter how much we have sinned; no matter how much we may have ignored Him in recent times – God wants us back to the point where we vowed that God would indeed be “our God”.

God tells Jacob that He was the same God that appeared to him when he was fleeing from the wrath of his brother Esau. He had been with him all along and now it was time to “head home” to where, without a shadow of a doubt, the point in Jacob’s life (and symbolically in ours) where we can once again say, and this time mean it, that “because of what the Lord has done for me, He will be my God.”

Have you forgotten that point in your saga when you would have given anything to see God perform a miracle in your life? The miracle was performed; you are still alive. It may not have been performed the way you would have planned, but God saw you through it. Or do you think you made it on your own? May we learn from God’s love and desire for Jacob. May we believe that this same love and desire is extended to each of us no matter what our circumstances and no matter how we may have failed Him, others, or ourselves. May we realize that not only does He want us ‘home’ but that ‘home’ is indeed where we need to be.

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Jacob’s Concern For His Own Welfare -- Genesis 34:27-30

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me, by making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and my men being few in number, they will gather together against me and attack me and I shall be destroyed, I and my household.”

Please understand the context. Two of Jacob’s sons have just murdered every adult male in the city of Shechem in a clearly unfair attack. Likely all of his sons were involved in the looting of the city, taking for themselves all the livestock, all the earthly goods, and even the children and wives, of the Shechemites. As an engaged reader, I could hardly wait to hear what Jacob, to whom God had re-iterated His Covenant to make him a great nation, had to say about it all. And true to form, Jacob does not disappoint.

Surprisingly, his concern was all about himself. His sons’ actions were not criticized for what they were – sinful acts of violence based on revenge and personal gain, and perhaps even a twisted sense of cruelty. Instead, he lamented the fact that what they did caused him ‘trouble’. Their actions made him detestable among all the peoples of the land.

And to boot, Jacob was smart enough to know that if all the rulers of the neighboring cities united and decided to attack him and his family, his resources could not withstand the military offensive they would launch against him. Worse still was the fact, not that he would be attacked and defeated by the enemies’ much stronger and larger units, but that indeed he and his household would be destroyed. He would come to ruin.

Here is a man hand-picked by God, spoken to directly by Him, ensured of a legacy and a covenant underwritten by the Creator of the Universe, and with previous experience in God’s saving power and strength. And yet amidst certain adversity, although through no direct action of his own, he falls to pieces worrying about his ruin and destruction.

What does God need to do before man takes Him at His word? What does He have to do before you and I take Him at His word? In Focus on the Family’s “The Truth Project”, Dr. Del Tackett asks us a very piercing question. It is this: “Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?” I dare say that while our motions and often our emotions, especially during our singing of psalms and praises at our worship service, would indicate that there is nothing our God cannot do and that He knows what is the very best for us, our actual behavior during the rest of the week, and especially when we face great difficulty, would dictate that we answer Prof. Tackett’s question in the negative. “No, we do not.”

As you study this verse today, I challenge you to determine a personal means by which you can turn your answer to Del’s question into a positive one. I do not know exactly what that entails for you. I can only share with you what it meant for me. While I only recently heard the question asked by “The Truth Project” phrased the way it has been in that program, I dealt with a very similar question many years ago. My training and my personality had taught me to be ‘proactive’ in my approach to life rather than ‘reactive’ whenever possible. So, during my thirties I decided to make a very conscious decision, more as a defensive (proactive) course of action than anything else – just in case I ever needed to rely on that decision. And what was that? That God was exactly Who He claimed to be, and that any limitation in His demonstrated power on my life, or evidence of His grace or blessing on me, was or would be a direct result of my lack of faith or my own sin, and not for any lack of His love for me or any weakness in His own all-powerfulness.

Since then that decision has served me so well. Coupled with my own discipline to adhere to decisions I make about God and my faith, especially those that parallel Scripture, that very decision has been both a lifesaver and ultimately the means by which my life was freed up to pursue what God had in store for me. Let me share with you just two significant times when that became very clear to me.

The first is an occasion I do not talk about very often. It was a very dark time in my life. The situation had the potential of thrusting me in to total and utter ruin. Remember I said I was proactive, and even disciplined. I did not say I was always wise, or especially careful in my life. As a result I managed to get involved in a situation that was not what God wanted for me, no matter how much I tried to convince Him it was. Ultimately, because of Who He Is and because of how much He loved me, God arranged for me to be catapulted out of it against my own volition. My free will got me into the mess, but God’s Free Love pulled me out of it. But not without discipline, not without being set aside from Christian ministry for several years, not without heartaches, and what have you. Yet, when I realized that it was He who took charge, I yielded totally to His ‘tough love’ for me. In that experience, I also found out that being proactive and disciplined in an area of life that is not wise or appropriate for a Christian to be in, can indeed be humbling, if not devastating.

The second experience was in August 2008 when I was first diagnosed with colon cancer. That same day, I drew on my decision made nearly thirty years earlier, that my God was indeed the God of the Universe and the same God that was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If God wanted to allow me to live, He would. If He wanted my life over, that would be fine with me. I did what I believed Scripture instructs us to do in those circumstances. I prayed and I asked the elders of my church to anoint me with oil. I started taking care of my God-given body by exercising regularly and eating healthier. And I left the rest to God. He didn’t let me down.

God had proven Himself to me over and over in my life during my teens and as a young husband and father. He no longer had to do that. But unless I had made that solid decision that I did in my thirties – that beyond a shadow of a doubt, even when the Enemy tries to get us to doubt, the decision that God is Who He is and that “I really believe what I believe is really real”, I would never have been able to make it through my darkest days and/or my bout with cancer. I would encourage you to consider, proactively, making such a decision, and then never forgetting you did make it. It is then that life takes on a whole new perspective, one with assurance, confidence, patience, joy and total reliance on the only One Who can provide all of that.

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The Plan Collapses Into Utter Ruin Genesis 34:25-29

Now it came about on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came upon the city unawares, and killed every male. And they killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went forth. Jacob’s sons came upon the slain and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks and their herds an their donkeys, and that which was in the city and that which was in the field; and they captured and looted all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives, even all that was in the houses.

Talk about an unfair massacre, this one would rank right up there. Soon after all these adults got circumcised, when their pain was at its height, along come Dinah’s two brothers, Simeon and Levi, and kill every male. There was no chance to offer more in exchange for their lives, no opportunity to beg for mercy.

We note that Jacob’s other sons were not identified here as having taken part in this mass murder. It was, according to the commentator Robert Jamieson, the “full brothers, on whom the protection of the daughters devolves--they are the guardians of a sister's welfare and the avengers of her wrongs.” He goes on to suggest that it is possible “the two fathers would have probably brought about an amicable arrangement of the affair.”

It appears that Dinah went to live with Shechem after he and his father had met with Jacob and his sons. This must have been part of the arrangement. Whether or not Dinah knew of what Simeon and Levi had been planning, we do not know. She may have been an accomplice from the inside or she too may have been taken by surprise as to what ensued. What is interesting though is that the brothers were prepared to leave Dinah with those that had done this awful thing to Israel (raping Dinah) long enough to accomplish their scheme against the Shechemites. It makes one wonder what the true motivation was.

The second part of this text indicates “Jacob’s sons came upon the slain”. Given the sentence structure, since Simeon and Levi had done the actual slaying, this likely refers to the rest of Jacob’s sons. Being only half-brothers, they felt they could avenge their half-sister’s defiling by only looting, rather than killing. And loot they did, taking everything in sight, including the Shechemites’ children and wives. All the wealth that belonged to the Shechemites was now uncontested in the hands of Jacob’s family. It seems Jacob continues, one way or another, to have his good fortune increase.

One of the amazing things about the Bible is that it certainly was not written from a political point of view. The descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob pulled no punches and made no effort to remove from its pages any accounts that depicted their forefathers in a bad light. In fact, it is including those dark and stark truths about the history of the chosen people that validates its God-given inspiration, for men do not speak so negatively about their own doings.

What had seemed like a great arrangement, and a deal the Shechemites could not refuse, ended up in total disaster and ruin for them. Greed is never a sound basis on which to enter any transaction, let alone one that is as foolish as this one. But the Shechemites were not the only losers in this whole episode. Jacob had lost much as well.

You will remember that in Genesis 31:13 God instructed Jacob to return to his home in the region of Bethel. Instead Jacob went to reside near Shechem. And there, his family suffered the dishonor that they did. It seems that when we do not follow God’s instructions, we stand the risk of consequences. When we alone choose where we go, we seldom do as good a job as God. And as we see in Jacob’s case, choosing the wrong place can expose us and our family to things that God would rather have had us avoid. Jacob also left his young daughter Dinah without proper supervision as she headed towards the ungodly town of Shechem to check it out. So ungodly were these men that, once Shechem raped Dinah, it never occurred to him or his father to say ‘sorry’. Instead, they wanted her to be given to Shechem as just another one of his wives.

As parents we need to learn what are the important aspects of our children’s lives that we need to keep our eyes on. Certainly venturing into the big city for the first time may well be one of those aspects. What may appear like a great adventure in life’s journey can often end up in an incredible setback if the station stop was not part of God’s planned itinerary for us or our children.

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The Shechemites Consent To The Proposal -- Genesis 34:24

And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

Here is an Old Testament verse that very oddly but accurately describes the state of many today. As I study this verse, I am reminded of all those people who have lost almost everything they had, and in some cases, their lives, because they listened to somebody making a pitch. The story of Jim Jones’ leadership comes to mind. The informal infamous name for the “Peoples Temple Agricultural Project” was Jonestown. It was a community in northwestern Guyana (South America) where, in 1978, very close to one thousand people died from a ‘cyanide poisoning’ event that was deemed to be a revolutionary mass suicide, encouraged and exampled by Jim Jones himself.

Another illustration of this phenomenon of ‘listening to the wrong people’ is the fraudulent investments called “Ponzi schemes”. These are operations that pay returns to separate investors from their own money or money paid by future investors, rather than from profit earned from a product, service or entity that the investment goes towards. These Ponzi schemes, in operation from as early as 1920, still duped thousands as late as 2008, when Bernard L. Madoff’s infamous Ponzi scheme was exposed. In essence, these so-called investment plans entice new investors by offering returns that far surpass what normal, legal investments can guarantee. Ponzi returns come in the form of outrageously high short-term gains, but in order to be maintained, require more and more funds from new investors. The system collapses because the payments outstrip any real earnings or any newly found funds from more investors.

The Shechemites in our verse were that foolish. They listened to those ‘men’ who were their leaders, but they failed to question the wisdom of what they were hearing. Many of them may have been the same men who probably had laughed and congratulated Shechem on his rape of Dinah a few days ago. They certainly were the city’s business owners who wanted more trade. The deal sounded good. Their chances of making great material gains were excellent. But they didn’t count the cost. They didn’t know the enemy (in this case Jacob’s family) well enough. They neither calculated the risk involved, nor the motives of the Israelites in offering this arrangement. They certainly weren’t thinking defensively as to what could happen during those few days of recovery, if they all got circumcised at the same time.

What scheme are you considering today? Whose pitch are you listening to? Have you counted the cost? Have you calculated the risks? What are the motives of those pitching and those behind the deal? What are your motives? Where does God come into play?

Consider the Shechemites (and these questions) whenever you are faced with a deal that sounds too good to miss.

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Hamor & Shechem “Sell” the Deal -- Genesis 34:20-23

So Hamor and his son Shechem, came to the gate of their city, and spoke to the men of their city, saying, “These men are friendly with us; therefore let them live in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters in marriage, and give our daughters to them. Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will live with us.”

Several days must have past before Shechem was in any condition capable of getting himself and his father, to the gate of his city after he had been circumcised. But once there, together they spoke to the men of the city, trying to convince them to follow suit.

We can see three errors in their thinking. First, their whole argument seems to lie on the basis that the Israelites were “friendly with (them)”. It appears to be for that reason that the Shechemites were to “therefore” let them live in the land and do business there as well as to allow their children to intermarry with them. What a weak premise on which to base such decisions.

Secondly, they completely missed the need to evaluate and assess the consequences or potential risk of the conditions they had to agree to. They focused instead on potential gains of having the Israelites live, trade, and intermarry with them. Imagine the blind folly of an entire population who would consider circumcising all their adult males to increase their wealth.

Thirdly, their motive was wrong. Why did they perceive the Israelites as friendly? Why did they not consider the unreasonableness of the condition the Israelites placed on them? I believe they were blinded by their greed and their intention to eventually make all the livestock and property theirs. With that inappropriate motive as their driving force, Shechem and Hamor worked hard on persuading their fellow citizens to partner with them in this arrangement with Jacob and his sons.

As we consider various business and other arrangements or partnerships today, or as we pursue the completion of what may sound like a fantastic deal that we cannot afford to pass by, we would be wise to take the matter first and foremost before God, seeking His direction and buy-in. With His help we need to assess the circumstances, count the cost, and check our motives. Only after He gives us peace as well as some signs of open doors, should we proceed to move ahead.

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The ‘Proposal’ is Accepted and Shechem Leads The Way -- Genesis 34:18-19

Now their words seemed reasonable to Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father.

In verse 17 of this chapter, Jacob’s sons and Dinah’s brothers net out the deal for Hamor and Shechem. The very next verse simply says that they (Hamor and Shechem) thought the terms (that each of their males had to first be circumcised before the Israelites would give Dinah to Shechem as wife after he had raped her), were reasonable. Shechem’s passion for Dinah as well as Hamor’s greed for the trade and business the potential integration of the Israelites with his own people would bring, made this an easy decision for them.
Shechem was so eager to close the deal and get Dinah, he willing set the example and became the first one to be circumcised as quickly as possible. Again, driven by his desire for Jacob’s daughter. By being the first and leading the way in this action that no doubt resulted in great physical pain, Shechem gained even more respect than anyone in his father’s household. The question is “respect from whom?” Did all the others in the household respect him ‘more’ or was it just Hamor that did the respecting? In the meantime, Dinah’s brothers delighted in what was happening and we’ll soon know why.
I was recently made aware of a quote by Ian Parker, writing in the New Yorker magazine, that went like this, “A country overwhelmed by evil has more dignity than one tripped up by fools.” Parker was writing about the economic woes of countries, totally unrelated to our topic here. However, the moral behind his words are, I believe, applicable. The Shechemites as a people were about to be tripped up by the follies of two of their own fools, Hamor and Shechem. No dignity awaited them.

I think back on my repeated observations of people, including Christians, acting alone or in concert with others, who blindly follow those that lead them into personal, family, or financial ruin and sometimes to their death. I am sure they are not alone in this, for we too have all been victims to one extent or another in this manner. They blindly follow “fools” that have been tricked into believing or pursuing something that is not expedient, and in so doing, become fools themselves. There is no dignity awaiting them. And scripture, beginning with this episode in the life of Jacob and continuing through the old and new testaments, often warns us against such folly. May we, as we seek God’s grace and wisdom, be wary of what we hear and what we buy into that is indeed foolishness.

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The Brothers’ Deceitful ‘Proposal’ -- Genesis 34:14-17

And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. Only on this condition will we consent to you: if you will become like us, in that every male of you be circumcised, then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people. But if you will not listen to us to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”

Dinah’s brothers begin their response to Shechem and his father Hamor by telling them they cannot give her to them as a bride, not because the Shechemites do not believe in the almighty God, but because their males are uncircumcised. To do so, they said, would be a disgrace. The emphasis, all potential scheming aside, is on the physical rather than the spiritual differences. If Hamor and his people could be physically altered to be like Jacob’s males, then all the disgrace would somehow miraculously disappear.

I am aware of the importance of circumcision as God instituted it in Genesis 17 as part of the covenant He established with Abraham (verses 10-14). But in all those instances, the requirement, as far as the Israelites knew at the time of the verses we are studying today, was applied to Abraham’s household and descendents. The covenant requirement covered “every male among you” and “every servant who is brought into the household” or “born in the household”. Servants were adopted and fully owned by Abraham or his descendants and thus were part of that adopting household, no longer having a household of their own. The requirement had nothing to do with those outside of these households of Abraham and his descendants. Jacob’s sons were pursuing something that was part of the covenant between them and God alone and made no sense independently of that everlasting promise God had made to them.

For decades, almost all North American missionaries took a much similar approach in their work with Aboriginal Canadians and Native Americans. They believed that if they could change the natives’ language, dress, and culture, they would then become Christians. Our text here in Genesis uses the phrase, “if you will become like us”. That is exactly what missionaries set out to do all over the world – make converts of people to Christianity by changing their own “language, dress, and culture”. In fact, as we realized almost two centuries later, nothing was further from the truth. Language, dress, and cultural customs do not constitute one’s Christianity. God Himself is not interested in turning all His sons and daughters into “look-alikes”. In fact, God is a lover of uniqueness and diversity when it comes to His children. Even today, we sometimes miss what is really important in Christian fellowship and relationships within the body, because we focus on the non-spiritual differences in aspects of language, dress, culture, or even some practices that are beyond what is central to being a Christian.

So Jacob’s sons offer them a proposal. If all of their males would be circumcised, and “become like us” then everything will be okay and the Israelites would gladly cohabit with them. They would give them their daughters and take Hamor’s daughters in marriage, and they would become one people, living together. But if not, there would be no arrangement to inter-marry, trade, and cohabitate in the same communities. Shechem would be without Dinah and Jacob’s family would move on. The stakes were certainly high for all involved.

Now those of you who have read ahead in the text are aware of the outcome of this story. It was never meant for the proposal to be completed as those offering it spoke “with deceit”. We’ll see that soon enough. At this point we need to stop and reflect on two perspectives of our very own relationships with other individuals or groups. And here, I refer not to those relationships where we are ministering to others, or witnessing to them, or loving and caring about them because that is what we do as Christians, but rather those relationships that are so integral to our life – be it in business, recreation, or marriage.

The first perspective comes into play as we initiate and pursue relationships. Do we look for people that look, dress, talk, and do things that we do or are we more interested in where they stand spiritually – either their present relationship with Christ or their potential one?

The second perspective comes into play as others initiate and pursue relationships and friendships with us. Do they qualify to be our friends based on what they’re willing to do or say to please us, or are we more interested in their spiritual relationship with God and thus their membership in the body?

I hope that in both these situations, we value their spiritual states, actual or future, more than their externally based behaviors or evidence of being like us.

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Dinah’s Brothers React -- Genesis 34:13

But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor, with deceit, and spoke to them, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.

Hamor and his son Shechem had made their pitch, asking for the agreement of Dinah’s father Jacob and her brothers to give her to Shechem as a wife, after he had raped her. This verse is packed with lessons.

First, we note the total silence of Jacob. He had clearly delegated this matter, either intentionally or by their persuasion, to his sons. We do not know all the reasons for this and thus we should not be hasty to judge Jacob. The mission I am involved with, SCA International, ministers among the Aboriginals in Canada. As I observe their ways, I see something very different to what I read here in this chapter. North American Indians (and I believe many indigenous people around the world) are known for determining all critical issues with and on the advice of their tribal elders rather than through the thinking of their younger warriors. Jacob’s family, quickly becoming dysfunctional in its own generation, demonstrates a totally opposite approach. The younger male members of the family decide the critical matters. I have also observed that among indigenous people, the decisions of the elders are, more often than not, the wise ones that bring more peace and happiness to the parties involved. The outcome of the decision to be made by Dinah’s brothers remains to be seen.

The next thing to note here in this verse is the reappearance of my favorite word in Scripture – “but”. The previous five verses were heading towards a very attractive deal if the Israelites accepted it and then along comes verse 13 that starts with the word “But” – a clear indication of some alternative thinking or turn of events. Either the message Hamor and Shechem were communicating was not going over well with the recipients or the desired outcome was not going to happen. Sometimes the “but” comes from God directly as we have seen in earlier parts of Genesis where the author says, “But God” (NASB Genesis 8:1; 17:19; 20:3; and 21:12). Other times He brings or allows the “but” to come about through others, as in this case. We need to be looking for and be totally aware of all the “but” clauses that God either puts in our lives or allows in our lives. Sometimes we realize these in retrospect many years later. But the closer we walk with God daily, the greater the chance we will take note and use to advantage any “but” He is placing or allowing in our lives right now.

The third thing we note from this verse is that Dinah’s brothers answered ‘with deceit’. As I studied the verse, I realized this answering with deceit was a separate thought than the one that follows it, “and spoke to them”. The ‘deceit’ was not only in their words, but also in their hearts and minds before any of the words had come out. These men were not in any way willing to deal constructively with the grave situation before them. Instead, they had resolved in their hearts, from the time they first heard of the situation, to take a different approach, perhaps one of revenge. We do not know their exact thinking. We can only surmise that once again sinful man knows only what comes natural to him, and in this case, it is revenge and taking justice into one’s own hands.
It is with these thoughts in mind, Dinah’s brothers, speaking in the place of Jacob but not necessarily on his behalf, now come to verbally answer Hamor and Shechem. Next, we will listen as the deceit that is in their hearts finds its way to their words and speech, and later actions. For now, let us gain insight into two facts. First, that our lives do contain a number of ‘but’ instances, some of which need not be there for long, or at all, if we walk closely with God on a daily basis. Secondly, that we need to examine what is really in our hearts and minds prior to verbalizing it or acting on it. This past week, my friend Sally K. posted the following on her social media profile, “When I want to speak let me think first, is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? If not, let it be left unsaid.”

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Shechem Adds His Offerings for Dinah -- Genesis 34:11-12

Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “If I find favor in your sight, then I will give whatever you say to me. Ask me ever so much bridal payment and gift, and I will give according as you say to me; but give me the girl in marriage.”

There is no record of any time between when Hamor spoke his words of request and when his son, Shechem, added his. The potential groom recognized the satisfaction of his desire to have Dinah as a wife lay in the hands of her father Jacob and her brothers. The plea is for them to allow him favor in their sight – a pretty tall order given what he had done to Dinah and how unacceptable that was for the Israelites.

But once again, they are faced with a potential offer hard to resist. In addition to all the freedom to live, marry, and do business in the area that his father had offered, Shechem is prepared to add tangible assets – whatever it will take. All they had to do was to ask him. He was willing to pay the highest thinkable price as a dowry for Dinah.

While the phrase, “if I find favor” leads one to believe that the Dinah’s father and brothers had a choice in this matter, Shechem’s closing words seems to imply that in fact they did not. “But give me the girl” is void of options. Shechem was determined to have her, one way or another. Undoubtedly, wisdom was called for on the part of Jacob and his brothers. At least Jacob knew that to say ‘yes’ would take them down a path of inter-marriage and social activity that they did not want to go. Certainly down a path that would not please God. To say ‘no’ may well mean they had a physical battle on their hands, one that they might not have won. If ever there was a need in Jacob’s family for God’s direction since they left Laban, this was the time. Would they ask for it? Would they accept it? Would they try to resolve the matter by their own thinking and with their own means?

The verses that we’ll study next give us the answer. What is important here is for us to stop and consider two things: First, can we look back on a time in our own life when we needed God’s direction but we failed to either ask for it or to follow it when He gave it? If so, can we learn from that experience? Second, is there something right now that requires that direction and we have failed to ask for it from Him, or failed to follow it when He gave it, or worse still, been fearful in pursuing it? If so, let us remember Who God is, Who He has been to mankind since the beginning of time, and Who He has been to us through all our years. This God can see you through any circumstance, His way, without you needing to fear or to tamper with the advice. Let it be so for you and me.

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Hamor Speaks To Jacob and His Sons -- Genesis 34:8-10

But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him in marriage. And intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. Thus you shall live with us, and the land shall be open before you; live and trade in it, and acquire property in it.”

The opening words of Hamor, the father of Shechem who had raped Dinah, to Jacob and his sons, are most interesting. One does not know whether or not he means them or he is being a card. After all, the Hebrew word for Hamor is indeed translated as a “he-ass”. But that aside, Hamor seems to be indicating that Shechem’s infatuation with Dinah was indeed coming from his very soul or that which gives him life and breath. He also uses words such as “please” imploring Jacob’s family to grant his son his wish. One could suppose, given that the fellow slept with Dinah, it would make sense that they get married. Even in today’s world, had there been evidence of Dinah being pregnant as a result of her rape, and providing that Shechem really did love her (a fact that I personally doubt when considering the real meaning of love), it would have made some sense for the two to marry. But unfortunately, Hamor’s request of Jacob and his sons goes way beyond that.

In his next breath, he asks the males in Jacob’s family to give their daughters in intermarriage with his family and to take his daughters as brides for their sons. From one perspective you can imagine the attractiveness of that proposal for Jacob’s sons. Clearly, getting husbands for their wives may have been difficult given that they were in essence nomads that had now settled for a while near Shechem. Going back to the land of their mothers, Leah and Rachel, as both their grandfather Isaac and then their father Jacob had done was not likely to happen again. Marrying within one’s own family was to be avoided. Hamor’s proposition had some enticement to it, especially if by marrying his daughters would bring along a handsome dowry.

I would point out that all this discussion was about the giving and taking of female children, not males. I cannot help but point out that somehow even back then daughters and females in general were indeed considered a form of property to be exchanged. I am reminded of two grave markers I recently saw in Charleston, South Carolina. One was for a husband whose name escapes me. Let us call him William Smith for our purposes. His epitaph listed some of his wonderful accomplishments. Next to him was buried his wife. We’ll call her Mary. Her epitaph simply read as follows, “Mary Smith, a relict of William Smith”. The word ‘relict’ has indeed come to mean a ‘widow’ of someone, but its more common and perhaps earlier meanings relate to a remnant of something pre-existing (usually a rock formation or a mineral that did not change when the rock in which it resides underwent metamorphosis; or species of organism suriving the extinction of a relted species). You can see how the word became associated with a widow, given how women have been viewed over the history of mankind. Even today, women are often seen as property. Following the 2010 devastating earthquake in Haiti, I heard of 40,000 women who were expecting their babies at any moment, living in tents with men who commandeered all the food and relief supplies from them and would only allow them some in exchange for sexual favors, all while organizations like World Vision were handing out “delivery survival packages”. It is time that Christian men rise up to defend, protect, and elevate to true equality, the precious gift that God gave us in womankind.

But wait, there’s more to Hamor’s package deal.

Hamor also invited the Israelites to “live with” his people. This can be understood to mean two things. First the common meaning which is to say that “as you intermarry with us, you will get to live with us more and more”. But it is also possible that hidden in the words may be the subtle hint of “this is the only way you can really be allowed to live here with us”. If they didn’t intermarry, they would always be seen as aliens and thus perceived as potential if not current enemies. Hamor was basically saying to Jacob and his sons, “you would not want that, would you?” Support for this idea comes from what Hamor said next. If the Israelites were to live with Hamor’s family, then the “land would be available to them, as would business, and of course the right to own land.” Enticing indeed.

And it is those same allurements (being allowed a piece of the secular pie in business, sports, entertainment, pleasure, and so on) that keep attracting so many of us “spiritual Israelites”, those who have come to accept Jesus as Lord, to intermarry with the world today. Esau may have sold his birthright, but we have sold our faithfulness and purity for that temporary and illusive pot of gold. God does call us to live among the world, but not to be entangled in it. May we all have the discernment as to when to say, “No, thank you”.

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Jacob’s Sons Come In From The Fields -- Genesis 34:7

Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.

Somehow word gets out to Jacob’s sons who were working in the fields about their sister Dinah’s rape. So immediately they head back home. What is not clear here is whether this included all of Jacob’s sons that were working there, or whether this verse is just about Dinah’s brothers who, like her, shared Leah as their mother.

In any case, the brothers are grieved and angry, and understandably so. Grief combined with anger is a potentially dangerous combination both to the person that is grieving but also to others. The cause of their state of mind was that Shechem had done what was considered “a disgraceful thing in Israel”. Let me point out two things about this statement. The first is that this was the first time in the scripture that the name Israel was used to depict a nation or a people beyond the person Jacob whose name was changed to Israel by God. Earlier uses included Genesis 33:20 where Jacob names an altar using the word Israel and Genesis 32:32 where there is an explanation of the ensuing eating habits of the “children of Israel”.

Secondly, the phrase “a disgraceful thing in Israel” is a reminder to us as Christians today that most of what goes on in the world may indeed be a “disgrace for those who are Christians”, and some of it may even be a “disgrace for both Christians and non-Christians”. But the truth is that, for many non-Christians, much of today’s behavior is not a disgrace. This morning, just days after the great earthquake disaster in Haiti, one of the networks showed video of a couple in the U.S. stealing the Haiti Relief donation jar in a bank. How low can one stoop? Obviously, pretty low and certainly the people involved felt they had a right to it. A friend of mine reminds me of this when he often asks the question, “Ken, who says that non-Christ-followers have to see things our way?” He’s right. They don’t. And much of our frustration in life can be reduced as we accept that harsh reality.

Returning again to the text, we notice that what was disgraceful in Israel was that Shechem had sexual relations with Dinah, and that ought not to be done. The question that remains now is, “Given this was a no-no, what will these brothers do?”

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Hamor Visits Jacob On Behalf Of Shechem -- Genesis 34:6

Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.

Recently I asked my friends what they would do if they had been in Jacob’s situation, hearing of his daughter’s rape. The responses were varied but most admitted they would be very angry and act to ‘defend’ their child, perhaps even to take justice for the perpetrator into their own hands. I must admit I was indeed taken back at the nature of many of the responses, especially from believers. I guess it all goes to point out that we are indeed human beings and that it takes a lifetime to put on the full armor of God or to be Christ-like in our reactions to events, especially those that hit at our emotion’s core.

As I study this verse, I realize that I could well ask the same question of friends, only replacing Hamor for Jacob. “What would you do if, like Hamor, your son had raped a neighbor’s daughter?” And that is a question that we can ask ourselves. The truth of the matter is that much depends on whether we were like Hamor, or whether we were indeed Christ-followers.

Given Hamor’s culture, position, and perhaps attitude towards aliens in his part of the land, he probably considered the situation as not being of great significance. He would think that boys will be boys and it is unfortunate that this happened. He would figure, “just be thankful my son wants her for a wife.”

I cannot say with certainty as to what I as a Christian would do in such circumstances. My guess is that I would acknowledge the hurt that this has brought to the girl’s family. I would talk to my son and determine his wishes, the girl’s wishes, and those of the two families. I would hope that they would align with God’s wishes and if not, I would work hard to move all parties towards that end. I would be as supporting as I could to all and I would pray for strength daily for me, my wife, and all those involved in the matter, to be able to deal wisely and lovingly in every aspect of the situation.

But let us not forget that in this case, Hamor is going to see Jacob, not because his son raped Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, but because his son is demanding his father’s help in getting her for a wife. Perhaps the reaction one would receive in that case may be quite different. While that remains to be seen, we would do well to consider such possibilities in our own lives and think about our potential actions and reactions. We need to think also of how we might be supportive or encouraging to others who are in such circumstances, reflecting on the godly counsel we may be required to give them.

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Jacob Hears of the Dinah’s Rape -- Genesis 34:5

Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob kept silent until they came in.

I have two daughters and two granddaughters. I sit here at my desk as I study this verse and wonder just how I would react if the next door neighbor came over, while I was alone at home, and told me that one of my daughters was raped while shopping with her girlfriends downtown or that one of my granddaughters was forcibly violated in between her classes at her school. I must admit I am at a loss as to what I would do. Usually I am pretty good at predicting my actions and reactions, but not in this case. God has been pleased to spare me from that experience so far in my life. Jacob however was not as fortunate.

The Bible says he “kept silent” until his sons had come in from tending the livestock out in the fields. How long that was exactly is not clear. It could have been the rest of the day or it could have been several days or longer. Given Shechem’s demanding haste and the fact that the following verse (vs. 6) relates a meeting between Shechem’s father and Jacob, I do not imagine it was much more than one or two days at the most.

But why did he keep silent until his sons returned from the fields? Had he already made up his mind to take revenge? Did he need their physical backup? Did he need their solace and support, and if so, why would his wives, Leah and Rachel, not serve that purpose? What was really going through his mind? There are several possibilities here, some of which are shared by commentators on this verse.

One possibility is that Jacob was, by now, a run-down man who no longer had the fight in him to do what is right in regard to his family. We are not, however, so quick as to suggest that any of us would know exactly what the right thing to do in this case would be, given all the circumstances involved. But clearly, he seems to have abdicated the “family response” to his sons and Dinah’s brothers. As we shall see in our further study of this chapter, it is possible that Jacob’s lack of wise and godly action here may have been the reason for his sons’ ungodly action. This is a possibility we always need to remember as leaders of our homes and families.

Another possibility is that Jacob held his reactions back because he did not know what to do. He may have feared that he would have done the wrong thing and thus, in his mind, better not to act. There is something to be said about not reacting in anger and allowing a cooling off period to help one organize their thoughts and words for a later response.

A third possibility is that some time earlier he had relegated all the affairs of his business and household to his adult sons. Was he now at a point where either they would not allow him to do anything without their consent or he had mentally paralyzed himself into believing he could not act without their agreement? Suffice it to say that as parents, as long as we have our mental capacity in tact, we can never allow ourselves to get into that situation. As children, we should never put our parents into that position, assuming they still have their mental capacity. And the decision as to whether or not they do, is one not necessarily to be made always be our parents alone or by us alone. Ideally, both parent and children should have an agreed to understanding as to what may need to take place down the road. Alternatively, they could come to that decision together in an agreeable fashion. Sometimes it is necessary to request the help of expert third parties such as doctors, counselors, or lawyers, to help us make that decision. What is important is that we neither delegate away our rights as older individuals, nor should we as sons and daughters usurp that right from our parents. If we walk with God, setting our own wishes and comfort aside, He will guide us and make this necessary transition a smooth one.

Commentator Robert Jamieson suggests that Jacob, being a good father and man was likely very distressed by what had happened to Dinah. But he points out that he could do very little, primarily because this was a family involving the children of different wives. In some respects, the bond between a sister and her full-brothers was stronger and more direct than with a father who had several wives and many children from them. They were they ones that had to determine what they would do about their sister’s honor. You will remember that while God tolerated polygamy, it was not His chosen approach to the marriage arrangement that He had desired and recommended to Adam and Eve. Sometimes, God allows us to do many things with out free will, but doing so, is not always beneficial for us. Polygamy is only one of those.

As far as the story of Dinah goes, we can only say, “the plot thickens” and will unfold with great interest in the verses ahead.

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