“And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.” (Genesis 34:1)
Imagine that you are at the top of a very steep hill on your bike. You are with your friends and they are all trying to decide the best way to ride down the hill.
You have started down the hill, using your brakes to slow the descent. About a quarter of the way down your brakes no longer slow you. You look behind you and see most of your friends are following you.
Some of them start to pedal their bikes to go faster down the hill. You do the same. It is now a race to the bottom of the hill. You are not afraid, this is fun. Because everyone with you is smiling and having a good time.
You can now see the bottom of the hill. What once appeared to be a solid road is actually a bridge that has been removed. Some of your friends crash their bikes into the soft grass on either side of the road. Some of your friends pedal faster thinking they can jump the bridge.
This is what Dinah had become involved with. She was enjoying the life of the Canaanite women. Dressing, wearing makeup, fixing her hair, and dancing like the Canaanites. She was not with these women to see them, she wanted to be seen. And Dinah was seen.
“And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
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.” (Gen 34:2-4)
Poor Dinah. Just like a modern boy or girl at a concert or club; Dinah has a road with a broken bridge in front of her.
Hamor, Shechem’s father went out to make a deal with Jacob and Jacob’s sons. The deal is, Hamor will share his daughters with Jacob, and in-turn Jacob will share his daughters. It is a, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours type of thing.
Jacob knew full well that this was not a possibility. God had commanded Jacob to not marry Canaanites. Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi had another plan.
Simeon and Levi told Hamor that they could not let their sister marry an uncircumcised man. Hamor agrees to have all the men be circumcised.
“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.” (Gen 32:25)
Those of us circumcised at birth have no memory of this, but now imagine you are a full grown adult circumcised in the ancient way. Simeon and Levi brought their swords down and killed every man. They took all of their goods, livestock, women, and children; then trashed the places they lived. Hamor and Shechem were also killed.
Jacob was angry with Simeon and Levi. They should have let God work this out.
“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.” (Gen 32:30)
Falling into sin is like riding a bike down a steep hill. At first it is all pleasure and fun. Hamor’s family died in the ravine at the bottom of the hill. Jacob’s family gets a safety net from God. Stay tuned to find out what God did.
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