Hid the under the oak

Genesis 35: 4-7: “And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. 7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.”

Jacob collected all the strange gods from his family and then hid them under a large tree. We could assume that his intention was to leave them there and not to return for them. This is the best thing to do with strange gods, hide them away and leave them behind. If Jacob had left them out they may have become a snare to someone else who found them so he put them in a safe place so that they wouldn’t be a stumbling block to anyone else either. Everyone in the region had heard about the vengeance that Simeon and Levi had taken on their sister’s attacker and they were afraid. Jacob was afraid that these people would hate him and attack him for the act of vengeance but we see that the opposite happened. How often do we worry about something and lose a lot of sleep but when the time comes things don’t turn out as we thought and we wasted a lot of time on worry? Finally Jacob’s journey was complete for he came back to the place where he had his first dream on the way to his mother’s homeland. He stopped there to worship and thank the Lord for all that He had done for Jacob along the way. He built an altar to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. He called that pace “Elbethel”, which means the God of Bethel. When Jacob left he went in hope but now that he had come back he knew that God is real and reliable. May we all reach that place, by faith, in our lives.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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Put away the strange gods

Genesis 35: 1-3: “And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.”

Jacob’s family had followed in his footsteps and caused themselves considerable problems. They made it very hard for themselves to live in that area so now they had to move away. At God’s command, Jacob went back to the place where he met God just before he went to get a wife from his mother’s homeland. At this stage he realised that he had to put away the gods that his family had collected over many years. There is only enough room for a person to worship one God. The Lord said that He would not give His glory to another (see Is 42: 8 “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”; 48: 11 “For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.”) and that we cannot serve two masters (see Matt 6: 24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”) Even today, we think that it easy to follow the Lord Jesus Christ and His way of self denial (Matt 16: 24 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”) and to follow the wisdom of our age and enjoy some self indulgence. However, we can take comfort in the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ finished the work of salvation when He died on the cross and we are not relying on our own ability to impress God.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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To make me stink

Genesis 34: 30, 31 “And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?”

Jacob was only worried about his own reputation. He didn’t worry about his sons or his daughter or how they might get on after this episode. He had worked so hard for so many years to get the blessings that God offered but every time he faced a crisis he forgot about God and tried to rely on his own resources. The two sons were more worried about their sister than their father was about his daughter. Never the less, it was Jacob’s God that mattered rather than Jacob. There is a recurring phrase throughout the Bible: “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...” (See, for example, Mark 12: 26 “And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?”) In the final analysis the only thing that will matter in eternity is the identity of our God. If we believe in the true God of all creation then we will be safe, if we don’t then we won’t be safe.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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When they were sore

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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Shall not theirs be ours?

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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They answered deceitfully

Genesis 34: 7-13: “And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter; which thing ought not to be done. And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife. And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:”

Jacob’s family was very proud. We can see that from the competition that occurred between Jacob and his brother, Jacob’s wives and Jacob and his in laws. They felt as though their pride was severely dented by this episode. After all, the young man showed them no respect at all when he took their sister by force. They would have known about the fact that Jacob went to Haran to find a wife because his mother didn’t want him to marry a local woman. This also added further insult. Although, of course, they didn’t think about a husband for their sister at this stage. They were living in the Promised Land and Jacob had agreed with Laban not to go back to Abraham’s homeland. Dinah doesn’t appear anywhere else in the Bible so we cannot say what happened to her after this episode. We have seen how Jacob’s sons were used to deceit, for both their father and their maternal grandfather were deceitful so they followed the patterns that they knew and dealt deceitfully with Shechem and Hamor. We can understand from this that people will tend to do what they see in their own family life. However, every person is ultimately responsible for their own actions, that is, you can’t help what happens to you when you are a child but when you are an adult you choose what you think.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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He loved her

Genesis 34: 3-6: “And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.”

This episode gives a good description of the underlying reason why the Lord wanted to punish the sin of the Amorites (see Gen 15: 16 “But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”) They followed a fertility religion and this led to complete self obsession. In this case, Shechem had committed a crime but felt no guilt for the fact that he had violated Dinah. He decided that he loved her and wanted to have her as his wife. Under the Law, which had not yet been given, (compare Ex 22: 16, 17 “And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.”) a man was required to pay a penalty for doing something like this. Rape is characteristic behaviour of a lawless society where might is right. In this case Shechem felt no shame but went to his father and told him that he wanted to marry Dinah. Hamor, his father, didn’t reprimand him but supported his actions by trying to arrange a marriage with Jacob. This should really have put the matter to rest because his later behaviour was actually honourable even though his earlier action wasn’t. However, Jacob was used to living by deceit so he continued with his usual manner of behaviour and didn’t do anything until his sons returned home from looking after the cattle.

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

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