Far From Bethel
Gen 34:1-34

My my what a portion of scriptures. If I were writing a biography of my people, as a human, perhaps I’d want to leave this out. It reflects badly on two of the tribal heads of Israel. some commentators leave this uncommented on. One write “I leave he reader to turn to tis portion himself. Another says Perhaps this would be good for a men's study group...I mean whew!

This section gives unvarnished truth and shows the corruption of the early people of God a strong as any chapter in the bible. And in spite of the fact that this is Israel's first and best loved book, the chapter is there in all its evil and ugliness. But God is the ultimate author of this book and he speaks truth regardless of how it reflects on people. Just a rabbit trail here for a moment....

Did  you know that today scholars vote on truth? I mean it, I read an article in the BDN several years back in which scholars were VOTING as to whether Jesus miracles were figurative or actual.  I wonder if we should drop them from an airplane ( A hot air balloon maybe?) and ask them to Vote on gravity .Would it change the truth? It might make them realize a truth.

Hey, in this nation we vote on morality. It doesn’t matter if a thing is sin or not, we put it to a vote and the majority wins.

Isn’t it preposterous? Don’t you think it absurd?  Hmmm then I have to ask you why you do it. why you see truth and disregard it even though it is God’s word. You and I decide that we can justify sin an disobedience because we vote personally to call it untruth or disregard it. It is funny isn’t it?

As we look at this passage we need to understand that probably 10-12 years have passed since Jacob and company moved into the land. It is not clear how long the family stayed at Succoth, but here we see them living among the people of Canaan.

It is difficult to set the scenario accurately but perhaps we can place ourselves in Dinah’s shoes a bit and imagine what life was like as possibly the only daughter among 12 rowdy brothers. Now she was probably spoiled a bit and loved by her brothers, but she may also have longed for female friendship. Now she is in an area where such friendship is available and she no doubt strikes up friendships with the girls of Shechem. Hanging around with that group, this young foreign looking lady is noticed by the guys and one of them, the son of the ruler in fact, takes a fancy to her.

The area of Canaan was one of low moral values and Jacob’s kids grew up in this area and it began to have its deadly effect. Walking too close to the world will have that effect make no mistake and it isn’t until all is said and done that we look back and say “IF ONLY.”

Jacob’s kids were no different. Living in a polygamous home with 4 different wives mothers made it very hard to maintain   consistent and unified spiritual teaching and even though Jacob may have tried, he wasn't altogether successful.

Dinah faced the same plight of believers today sometime. We tell our kids the dangers of dating and marrying outside the body but still face the problems of “where do I get my mate.” Ideally the locals could have been won to faith and then the children would have mates, but that wasn’t the way it happened.
At any rate Dinah was noticed by Shechem,son of chief Hamor.
 
You have to know something about the world in which this family lived . In this area unattached young women were considered fair game because it was a pagan land and had no fear of God. Promiscuity was not only common, but in fact was a part of the religious system itself.

Now Dinah must have been warned about such dangers by her parents but maybe she felt like she could take care of herself and resented their over protectiveness. I don’t know how much she encouraged Shechem,he must have appeared  glamorous figure to her, but in any case it was only a matter of time until she had been seduced. she was in the city probably visiting friends and he either forced her or considering her young age at least took advantage of her.

Now with Shechem it wasn’t just a case of routine conquest with this girl, he seemed to care for her. No one had told him that if you love you wait and his culture made sexual intimacy routine. But he wanted this girl to marry him. After he had seduced her  he tried to comfort her and assure her that he loved her and in fact took her to his own home and kept her there.

In those days Marriage was not accomplished as easily as sexual adventures were.Even among the pagans parental arrangement was the path to a wedding.so Shechem took her to daddy and said I want to marry this lady that I seduced. Note that dad said nothing about the conquest or any moral wrongs. H didn’t rebuke Shechem or apologize in any way for his son’s behavior to Dinah or the family. It was a common thing and very few gave it a second thought.

Word soon reached Jacob about what happened to Dinah, maybe by a girl friend in town or some other way. Jacob was grief stricken and angry,his heart was burdened  and he decided to consult with the boys, those big brothers who were still out in the field with the cattle. He probably had many regrets now about moving near Shechem and its influence on the family.

But in Canaan there was basically no safe place. I know the horrible struggle in Jacob’s heart the self blame,the constant argument within..I should have been a more godly influence, I should have trained them better...if only she’d have not gone to that place in the first place. The sorrow and agony of his heart were heavy.

Meanwhile, while he was waiting for the boys to come home, Hamor shows up with the proposal to arrange a marriage. No word of apology no indication of guilt, just a marriage proposal. During this interchange the boys came bursting in. They had heard the story now and were ripped  She was their only sister and they loved her and they also had been taught the sacredness of marriage relationship, and even though their own home was a bit different , their Father had been faithful . Also they knew of God’s purpose to raise a holy nation through them and the need to maintain purity was important to that plan.

Not only did they regret this for Dinah’s sake  but because Shechem had worked folly in Israel, disrupting national purity which they saw as vital. Because they use the generic use of Israel we see they knew of the implications of this whole thing.

Their anger didn’t impress Hamor one bit. as we note he continues to urge them to accept his proposition. Not only is he proposing that Shechem take Dinah, but he also broadens his horizon here, to suggest a general marrying between the People of Israel and the  people of Shechem.

Now he didn’t come right out and say it, but he may have been thinking that this would be a nice smooth way to assimilate the Israelis and take over their possessions.

Shechem had come along and had to this point been silent. Now he speaks up offering to pay Jacob and his sons whatever dowry and gifts they required. Though he did love Dinah and was more concerned about having her than his Father’s big amalgamation plans..... he did not seem to have any pangs of conscience for what he had done to her. It may have been the matter of fact business like way the 2 handled the situation that infuriated the brothers past their limits.

Here these men were making a monetary offer for their sister as if she were no more than a harlot.From that point on the Boys took over the conversation. Jacob was so distressed that he either left or just couldn’t say any thing else.
 
It is not clear if all the boys were involved in the plan but we read that later on it was Simeon and Levi who carry out the revenge. some of the others may have participated in the plot at this point.

While Hamor and Shechem were talking the sons of Jacob devised their revenge. A shockingly cruel plan that involved murder and also blasphemy. They justified this plan in their minds because of the terrible sin against their sister and their name.

They weren’t content to take revenge only against Shechem, they felt (probably rightly) that the whole city was to blame and deserved judgment just as God had judged Sodom in the days of their Great Grandpa. No one had protested the deed and may have been pleased with Shechem’s conquest of the beautiful Jewess.

Now we have knowledge from God that Vengeance belongs to God. At this point the brothers  were not content to leave the matter up to God as happened in the time of Sodom. Simeon and Levi in particular resolved to take matters into their own hands. Pretending to go along with Hamor’s proposition of general intermarriage between the two people groups they shad the only problem was a religious one. It was their religious conviction that every male in their own nation should be circumcised. If they were to be united as one people then the Shechemites would have to undergo this rite. If not they’d have to take Dinah  back and keep the two groups segregated in the future.

The unsuspecting Shechemites were only too happy to oblige beginning with Shechem himself whose love for this girl was apparently real. The practice was a common one and didn’t sound too outlandish to them so Hamor gathered them all together at the city gates and laid the proposition out before the men. The thing they hoped for was wealth,this man and his family were wealthy and they wanted a cut.(no pun intended).

Shechem’s example encouraged them as he was esteemed among them. V. 19 says he was more honored than any in his father;’s house. So the day was set and work was stopped and every male was put through the rite of circumcision.

The bible says nothing about what Jacob thought of this arrangement. He did not approve of the plan for he knew nothing about it until after it was over. He had abdicated his responsibilities as father and leader and isolated himself until he later learned what was done in his name.

Note that neither Reuben, Dinah’s brother or Judah took part in the fiasco. Later events show they were less disposed to bloodshed than the others that may have  been a part of it. Or perhaps they were away at the time it happened. The other sons were still too young it seems to be a part of the plot.

Simeon and Levi took the lead. Though they were right and to some extent spiritually motivated in their zeal for a good name of their family, they were utterly wrong in taking the law into their own hands. God would one day Judge the Canaanites for such sins as these but as yet their iniquity was not full.

Jacob had turned away and the two brothers couldn’t let the matter go unpunished.

They decide that only the death of all the men in the coy would atone for what had happened to Dinah.

They knew that thy would be no match for the many men of the city, even with their servant’s help. They also knew they’d have to erase them all or suffer retribution. So they used this ploy  of getting all the men o submit to circumcision leaving them sore and unable to defend themselves. Even though this involved a blasphemous corruption of the holy meaning of circumcision they proceeded with the plan.

They waited till the third day, the most sore day as they well knew then they, and perhaps servants entered the city and went from house to house and put every male to the sword until they were all dead. They killed Shechem too and took Dinah from his house and back home with them.

Then they took the women and children captive and spoiled the city. They waged a 2 man guerrilla war against the city and perhaps even considered their victory a sign of God’s blessing.

They were young men with poor judgment and they had been provoked by he rape of their sister and the moral influence of the shechemites.

This does not make their actions right, but Jacob is much at fault here. He who had been so strong in the Lord allowed things to develop in his household which would lead to this terrible end. Jacob, seeing Dinah home in shock at what she had seen, was aghast with the horror of the deed that disrupted the peace of his life.

Now he complains to Levi and Simeon about what they had done. He had left the matter in their hands but was appalled by what they’s done. Now instead of being a witness for truth and God’s love they would  stink in Canaan land as their boasted moral purity became  an excuse for murder rather than an example of God’s holiness and mercy.

They were also outnumbered in Canaan, Jacob went on to say, and news of this massacre might cause the other tribes to converge and destroy Jacobs family.
 
God had delivered him from Laban and Esau, but could he expect God to keep on protecting now when they were in the wrong?Simeon silenced Jacob with one question. He was complaining about what they did,but what had he done? Had he forgotten that his daughter had been raped by the prince of the city of Shechem ad then the father had offered to purchase the girl? where was the Israel who had strong power with God when Action was needed?

Jacob could answer nothing He had failed and now needed revival in his own soul and he cried out to God and God the long suffering one,once more swiftly answered him.

Jacob had been at Shechem far too long. god hadn’t intended him to stay there but it seemed a nice place to settle for a while. Jacob hadn’t dealt with the idolatry left over from Laban, and now these Shechemite influences also had tended to corrupt his family. He had been a bit smug about his own spirituality that he forgot he was needy.He had felt that his family was more secure than it was. He was in critical need of a fresh revelation of God and his holy purposes.

I can identify with Jacob, I often get in a lull with God,and need his fresh touch,a return to holy ground to rekindle the flames of his love.

Are you in that place? Do you need a fresh view of God and His purposes? Has the first love dried out in you? Do you need to follow that old sawdust trail back to where it all began?

Do you need to repent of sin and rebellion? Do you need to return to the simplicity of a faith only relationship with the Father of Mercy?

Are you taking matter into your own hands and forging ahead regardless of what God wants?

Like Jacob you need to return to Bethel..to the place where you can meet God.

Amen