Genesis 34: 14-24: “And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us: But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised; Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone. And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor’s son. And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father. And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.”
This section could have happened last week. People behave in exactly the same way now as they did then. We have just lived through a decade of warfare and bloodshed that was based on misinformation. Governments and other organisations around the world saw the evidence they were given and they they heard what they wanted to hear. It is said that if something is too good to be true then it is too good to be true. We still think that we can get something for nothing so we are willing to take the bait and then lose our freedom to act in some way. These people wanted to have access to all of Jacob’s wealth so they were happy to make this agreement with Jacob’s family and put themselves at risk. Are we willing to trust God and His goodness or are we willing to hear what we want to hear and put ourselves at risk? (see Psalm 118: 8 “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”)
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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