Genesis 34: 25-29: “And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.”
This passage shows a good example of anger and revenge. These boys had been brought up in an adversarial environment their mother had to compete for their father’s attention and was not loved. Their older brother, the firstborn, who should have taken revenge, slept with one of his father’s concubines and lost his position. These two men, Simeon and Levi, who had the same mother as Dinah, took the responsibility of revenge. This was their duty in those days, living in a lawless land where might was right. The people of the city had hoped to take control of Jacob’s wealth but they lost everything in their haste to enrich themselves. This is one of the reasons why we can see that the Bible is true. If this were made up later, after the exile, say, they would not have written a story of their ancestors being involved in duplicity, betrayal and revenge. On the other side of the coin, the descendants of this family became God’s chosen people, though whom Christ was born to save the world from sin. If God can use this kind of earthly clay to make a nation that He called the apple of His eye (see Deut 32: 9, 10 “For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.” and Zech 2: 8 “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”) If the Lord could take these violent, vengeful people and treat them as precious then He can take anyone who is a sinner and make them into one of His children (see Rom 8: 14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”)
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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