City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

²⁵ On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and went away. ²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. ²⁸ They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. ²⁹ All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” ³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Genesis 34:25-31 ESV

He was despised and rejected by men,
    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:3-4

Reflection

The first thing that we need to accept is that Dinah is innocent.  She has done nothing wrong here.  So, what happened to her was neither her fault nor in any way an acceptable thing within her culture.  Also, it was probably not a desirable thing in Shechem’s culture either, which is way there is an effort on his father’s part to make things right.  So, the fact that something wrong was done is not in question.

The second thing to note is that you must remember that this story is about the sanctification of Jacob.  He falls short of God’s plan in many ways, so here is one more.  It has been a long trail of mistakes to take him to this point, but this time he does not try to fix it with his cleverness.  He must sit and watch his children do that, and he is not happy with the results.

Third, the reality of sustaining the promises of God is laid bare.  In a very strange way, Jacob is confronted with the understanding that he can not just let his children intermarry with the people around him.  They do not have his values and they want to absorb his family into their culture.  Through the active parts of this story, Jacob is completely passive.  He takes no initiative, and everything just spins out of control.  Why doesn’t he act? Perhaps it is because he is realizing that he is not equipped to handle these situations on his own.

Often, when ministering to people, the best thing to do is to let them talk.  A kind ear can provide great healing to a troubled soul.  But for times such as these, action is required.  Dinah must be attended to, and the undisciplined man must be made to know his error.  And yes, the promises of God must be protected.  But more than all of that, Jacob must learn to turn to the Lord.  It is not for pleasing his children, friends, or foes that God has made him the keeper of the promises, so why turn to them first?  It is the Lord that sustains him.  And it will be the Lord that sees His promise to completion.

Application

This story has always bothered me.  It troubles me any time I see the innocent mistreated.  It is these situations that make me say, “how could God let this happen?”  They try my faith, I must admit.  The unfairness of it all is too much for me sometimes.

It is a cold comfort to the victims when someone comes up with a “but look at what a great thing God was able to do” type answer.  Not that the works of God are insufficient.  Their sufficiency is boundless, and their springing forth are new every morning.  I think it is because it is the type of thing that happens without the consent of the one suffering.  That does not seem like the type of thing that a good God would do.

But then in Isaiah 53, it says that He was “acquainted with grief” and that “he as borne our grief.” So, I must accept that we live in a fallen world, and that bad things happen to good people.  But I do not have to accept it as being normal, or allowed.  It is not.  But there is a way forward.  There is love.  There is the most wonderful hope.  And it is waiting for you.

Prayer

Dear Lord, in the light of this story, and the suffering in my life, I turn my heart to You.  I bring my brokenness and trust that You will heal it.  There is no wrong that You can not set right.  And there is no injury that You can not heal.  Trusting in You always, in Jesus name, Amen.