“When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw [Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob], he took her and raped her. His heart was drawn to Dinah… And Shechem said to his father Hamor, ‘Get me this girl as my wife.’ … Hamor said to [Jacob and his sons], ‘My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it.’ Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully… ‘We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males.’ … All the men… agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised. Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.” (v1-15,24-26 abr)
In summary, Jacob’s only recorded daughter is forcibly taken, and Jacob’s sons come up with a plan for revenge – they deceive (see how it runs in the family?) the ruler and his son to have their entire city’s male population circumcised, under the guise that Jacob’s extremely wealthy family will become one with their people. While the men are still recovering from the surgery, Jacob’s sons raid the city killing all of the males and looting all of the females and the city’s wealth.
I’m a little torn on this passage – I can understand how the sons of Jacob would have been enraged at the treatment of their sister, though I’m not sure they handled it in the best way. One could argue they were so blinded by rage that they weren’t thinking clearly, yet they had enough presence of mind to plot against the city, plus they had at least 3 days to think it over before acting, so there was time to come up with a better plan. In the next chapter Jacob commands his household to throw out the foreign gods they have (35:2). It’s entirely possible that Jacob’s sons do not yet follow the living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so they hatched this plan out of ignorance.
Two days ago when we foreshadowed Jacob fleeing from Esau into Canaan as being a bad idea, this is why. Clearly the culture of Canaan has invaded Jacob’s household (in more ways than one) and more grief and bloodshed are the result.
This is where the words of Jesus come into play: “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” (Jn 17:14-19)
Jesus understood that He, and as a result those who are crucified with Him, are not “of this world”. We are however called to be missionaries to this foreign land – according to Paul “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” (Eph 2:1-2) and John “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 Jn 5:19) – we know that those who are of this world are under the control of Satan.
My prayer today Father is that You please continue to sanctify us, protecting us and ridding us of the influence of the ruler of this world. Please sanctify us by the Way, the Truth, and the Life, effectively crucifying our worldly selves and raising us anew in Christ, so we are adopted into to Your Kingdom. Please guard our hearts from the influence of evil, please help us to cast out any foreign gods and serve the one and only True God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
P.S. – it says Jacob was standing there when his sons were deceiving the city’s rulers, and I’m curious why he stood idly by and let his sons conduct themselves in such a way? His only recorded reaction later was “You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.” (v30) Jacob still seems to be pretty concerned about his own reputation and well-being, vs. being concerned with God’s will and heart in the matter. Maybe that’s why he’s still being called Jacob and has not yet fully earned his new name of Israel – I guess his heart is a work in progress, just like mine is.
~ Conqueror in Training