We now come to the mention of Dinah having heard next to nothing about her since birth. The events of this chapter make awful reading but it is clear that it really happened. God always paints pictures of his people, however good they were, ‘warts and all’. God is truth and His word is truth, and He tells it like it is. We would probably have not mentioned this episode. The result of living near Shechem was soon evident. Dinah went to see the other young women of the land, a perfectly natural thing to do, I suppose. However, Shechem the son of Hamor, prince of the country, saw her and fell ‘in love with her’ (v1-4). He asked his father to arrange for her to be his wife but made the mistake that many make even today, he had sex with her before they were married.
It was a mistake for Jacob to settle near Shechem and his family suffered as a result. How we must, as parents, be very careful what we do and where we go. Our children’s lives and future are at stake. As parents we want the best opportunities for our children, but we should warn them of the dangers that lurk in the world. Jacob’s lack of care in where he led his family and lay down roots was a bad example to his children.
It was understandable that Dinah wanted to meet others but what happened indicates the low standard of morals in the land of Canaan and how careful we must be living in a sinful world. Later, in the book of Joshua, we read that the Israelites were to drive out the inhabitants and have nothing to do with their lifestyle, their gods and their religion.
Dinah was put in a perilous situation and Shechem demand for immediate satisfaction caused her great pain. The words used were – “He violated her”.
Jacob heard of the terrible news but at the time his sons were not at home, they were in the fields with the livestock. Jacob did nothing, maybe he didn’t know what to do, but his silence maybe was pricking his conscience. Hamor the father of Shechem went to speak to Jacob (v5-7) and whilst he was there, Jacob’s sons came in and heard what was said and they were very angry. Jacob as the head of the family should have taken whatever action was appropriate but his inaction led to the sons, later, taking drastic action.
Hamor spoke with them (8-12) and asked for Dinah to be wife to his son Shechem. The offer sounded plausible on the face of it. The land will be yours and you can live in it and trade in it and make your livelihood here. He even offered a dowry and a gift in exchange for Dinah. This proposal was a challenge but a dangerous one. Remember that God had promised the land to Jacob and his descendants in any case.
In one way Hamor and Shechem want to do the right thing, but it would mean that they would be united to the Canaanites which was not God’s plan. One marriage would not be the end of it, God’s plans would be thrown into disarray.
In verses 13-17 Jacob’s sons answered them and “spoke deceitfully”. Like father, like son so not surprisingly. As we have seen before – Children often repeat parents’ mistakes so parents must be careful. It seems that they sounded spiritual by demanding circumcision but that was a cover up. They said that they could not give Dinah to man who was uncircumcised. Remember that all Israelite boys had to be circumcised (see Abraham earlier). This was a Divine covenant created by God not just a recommendation. All this sounded fair were it not that the brothers were being dishonest. They were bringing God into their schemes.
Hamor and Shechem were happy with that, and they did it right away (v18-24). No gain without pain, in fact they went one further and demanded that all their males be circumcised so that they could take Israelite girls and marry them. Shechem was more honourable than all his father’s household, which is a surprising statement after his sin with Dinah. He evidently stands out well by comparison with the others. He did it because he was delighted with Dinah. Yes, they had an ulterior motive, they would become wealthy in property and livestock.
In verse 25 the deception is made clear. On the third day whilst the men of Shechem were still in pain from the circumcision, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, attacked and killed all the weakened males. Interesting that Levi, the forerunner of the priests, is part of the attack and why did Jacob not say anything. Maybe he didn’t know all the facts but was he agreeable to this union? He remembered some of the things that were promised to his grandfather and father and to himself, but had he forgotten that God had promised all the land?
It is evident that Dinah was in Shechem’s house by now (v26-29) because after they killed Hamor and Shechem, they took Dinah from Shechem’s house. They then plundered the city, taking sheep, oxen and donkeys and all their wealth, their little ones and wives and took them captive as well as all that was in their houses. It was all justified in their eyes because Dinah had been violated.
What a sad commentary on this household of the man chosen by God? You might think that God had made a mistake in choosing this family, but this is recorded in Scripture, and it must be there for a purpose – “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)
I’m sure there are passages like this that we would never have included had we been writing Scripture, but God does include it, and we must learn from it. God wants us to live Holy Lives and just because God has promised His protection doesn’t allow us to commit sin with impunity.
At last Jacob spoke (v30). What had he been doing up to now? What a feeble statement – “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.” It was hardly a rebuke, more ‘a pity party’ for himself! No mention of sin, just afraid for his own life. He seemed to have forgotten God’s promise to him that He would protect him. It reminds me of Eli, the priest in 1 Samuel 2:22-25 when he discovered that his sons Hophni and Phinehas were committing great sin in their roles as priests – “Why do you do such things …. it is not a good report that I hear…” He should have dealt far more harshly with them, but he didn’t to his own cost.
But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?” The brothers justify their actions and that they were entitled to take revenge, but God’s word says ‘No’.
We must be very careful in our walk. To dabble with the world is fatal. We must maintain God’s standards. It is so easy to get entangled with worldly methods. Even some of our churches have, where have the Prayer Meetings and solid Bible Teaching gone? We are trying the world’s methods to get people attracted to our churches – It won’t work! It will only create weak, shallow Christians, if they are Christians at all. Jacob had seen God face to face and lived to tell the story, but he was shallow and weak in his testimony and behaviour. He had been given a new name to replace the deceiver title he had, he was a ‘prince with God’ but he lived like a pauper. Not only did he, but his family followed suit. We have The Word of God and the open invitation to speak to God, we must never forsake it, both individually and collectively as a church.
