COME AS A CHILD LESSON 87 DINAH'S BROTHERS SEEK REVENGE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

It seemed that things were finally moving in the right direction for
Jacob, but maybe that was an illusion. 

Have you ever had a time in your own life when you faced some huge obstacles, overcame them and moved on in the right direction, then had some uncontrollable circumstances caused from other people around you robbed you of the joy of that moment and completely took away all of your peace?  That is an old trick the devil uses a lot to get us back into the place where he wants us to stay.  In Jacob’s case the devil used his children. 

Jacob and Leah had a daughter named Dinah.  Dinah made friends with some of the Hivite women in the land and she went out to visit with them. 

Sounds innocent enough doesn’t it? 

More than likely it WAS innocent and unintended to cause problems.  Young women are often naive, and they often find themselves trapped in other people's schemes simply because of their innocence.  It is sad that these situations happen.  The best of families try to avoid such things by making sure their daughters are chaperoned and not allowed to be unprotected by the older and wiser.  Perhaps because she was Leah's daughter instead of Rachel's, Jacob had neglected to teach his daughter appropriate protocol.  Many a father has lived to regret such a thing.  Actually Leah too must share in the blame of this situation with Jacob.  This whole set of circumstances could never have happened if Dinah had been properly chaperoned or at home with her family tending to other things instead of mingling with unfamiliar cultures on her own.  Hindsight is always 20-20.

Hamor was the ruler in the area where Jacob was living.  He sold Jacob the plot of land where Jacob pitched his tents and built temporary dwellings for his animals.  

While Dinah was visiting, probably with the daughters of Hamor, Hamor’s son Shechem saw Dinah, took her and raped her.  He claimed to be in love with her and the scriptures say “he spoke tenderly to her.”  Shechem asked his father to allow him to marry Dinah. 

Not one word is said about Dinah’s feelings in this matter.  

One has to wonder with the way the scriptures are worded if Shechem really raped Dinah, or if some of this was by her own consent.  It is possible that she was also attracted to him.  There is no way for us to know the truth of the matter.  It also boils down to the fact that whether Dinah consented to Shechem's favors or not, she was not legally able to make such decisions.  Jacob was the only one who could make those decisions for her.

The next thing we know Jacob has heard that Shechem has raped his daughter.  Jacob heard this while his sons were off in the fields tending to the live stock.  Unlike a lot of fathers who would have rushed to the side of their daughter and brought her home immediately, Jacob waited until the brothers of Dinah came home and discussed the matter with them.  

When Jacob told Dinah’s brothers what had happened they were furious that a foreigner would have taken a daughter of Jacob and slept with her.   This too leaves you to wonder, was it really about rape or was it about a foreign person defiling the daughter of Jacob?  It could have been both.  These two totally different cultures would not have understood each other’s ways.  Add to that the unwise moves of a young girl.  All of the dishonor could have been unintentional, or it could have been complete evil.  It is hard to understand all of this and come to a certain conclusion.   

 In the meantime Hamor appears at the door of Jacob’s tent to talk.  He tells Jacob that his son is in love with Dinah and wants to have her as his wife.  Hamor then asks Jacob to allow his sons to intermarry with his people, to let his sons marry his daughters and to allow all of Hamor’s sons to intermarry with Jacob’s people.  In turn Hamor agrees to let Jacob live in ALL of the land that belongs to him (Jacob had already bought part of the land), to trade in the land and acquire more property in the land. 

While Jacob was doing business with Hamor, and we do not know that Jacob ever agreed to anything; Jacob’s sons had a little discussion among themselves.  They all agreed that Shechem had dealt deceitfully with them, and they intended to return the favor.

 

As the brothers were looking on, probably horrified that Jacob was even listening and entertaining the offer from Hamor, Shechem shows up to talk with Jacob asking for favor in Jacob’s sight.  He tells Jacob there is nothing he would not give to have Dinah as his wife.  He offers to pay any price Jacob names to obtain his bride. 

Jacob’s sons wanted revenge not money.  They decided to deceive Shechem

just as he had deceived them by being dishonorable in taking Dinah without permission.  They told him that Dinah would never be allowed to marry an uncircumcised man.  They said such a thing would be a disgrace to an Israelite!  There was one condition, however, that might bring them into agreement.  If the men of the land became like them and were circumcised they would agree to become one people with them and live among them.  They (Dinah's brothers) agreed with Hamor and Shechem and told them if you do this, then we will give you our daughters and we will also take your daughters for ourselves.  We can all settle this and become one people in the land.  But if Shechem and his men did not agree to this, there was no deal.

The proposal seemed good to Hamor and Shechem.  So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of the city and spoke to all the men of their city.  They persuaded every one of them to be circumcised “in order to increase the population of their people” and to “keep the peace in the land.”  They also mentioned that when this deal took place the property of Jacob, including all of his livestock, would become theirs.  How odd that we did not hear that in the negotiations between the sons of Hamor and the sons of Jacob!  Evil men will lie to get other men to agree with them politically. The men of the city saw this as a good business proposition, so they agreed to be circumcised.

I have to pause here and consider how many times in history one man’s sins have changed a nation like this.  One day they are living peacefully in the ways of their culture and someone does something wrong, presents it as right, deceives them into believing this one SIN is good for the nation and will bring positive change, and the people agree and walk straight into their own self-destruction.  I can't help but think of a time when some of the people of God will be tempted to take the mark of the beast.  It happens!  The blind follow the blind and good people are constantly forgetting to think for themselves or consult God, but like innocent little sheep they fall into the trap of believing every intention of their honored leaders are good and in their best interest.  The little sheep never consider whether the shepherd is good or bad, they just follow.  If your master is The Good Shepherd, you will know His voice.  Please do not follow any other voices!

   

Three days later, all the men of the land of Hamor were in pain as they were recovering from their recent circumcision.

 Two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, (who are believed to only have been teenagers at the time) took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, including Hamor and Shechem.  They killed every male inhabitant.  They took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. 

The rest of Jacob’s sons came upon the city full of dead bodies.  They then proceeded to loot the city and seized the flocks and herds and everything else.  They carried off all the wealth and the women and children of the men from Hamor’s city as they plundered their houses.

They had not wanted a daughter of Israel to be married to another culture, but they did not mind taking the daughters of the other culture and submitting then to basically the same crimes that Dinah had to endure.  I don't think this would have been God's idea of justice.  Now Jacob's family had mixed with the people of the land, something that God had forbidden.  

When Jacob heard what Simeon and Levi had done he told them they had brought trouble to him by making him obnoxious to the Canaanites and the Perizzites who were living in the land and looking on at what had happened.   It seems odd that Jacob didn't mention to them that it was not God's will to blend the cultures or that they were forbidden from taking the women in the land as their own.

Jacob explained that their numbers were small and that these two people groups might join forces against them and out-number them and destroy them.  Had Jacob gone back to living in fear?   Do we all do this from time to time?  God grants us miracle after miracle and shows us He is on our side time after time, and we are still hearing the wrong old voices and forget that God has got our backs.  Fear should not be a Christian trait.

Levi and Simeon had only one reply, “He should not have treated our sister like a prostitute!”

Another trait that should not exist with Christians is revenge.  God is the judge.  We should let Him handle the revenge.  God always makes just decisions, men make many errors in judgement.  

Jacob's sons had repaid evil for evil.  Two wrongs do not ever make a right.  Justice had been over-served and the innocent victims of Hamor’s household were now suffering the consequences of their selfish rulers at the hands of Jacob’s zealous sons. 

It seemed Jacob was once again between a rock and hard place. Jacob knew God had promised to be with him and to bless him.  So Jacob turned to God in prayer, asking what on earth he should do next.