Genesis 34

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GENESIS 34:1-3 "And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 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."

WHAT KIND OF EXAMPLE ARE YOU SETTING?

In chapter 34 we see Jacob's sons taking on some of their father's characteristics of deceit. When Shechem, son of the king of the city of Shechem, took Jacob's daughter, her brothers responded as Jacob once would have. Shechem wanted to marry Dinah but was told that he and all the men of the city must be circumcised first. They agreed to the operation, reasoning amongst themselves, "Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours?" The sons of Jacob had no intentions of giving their sister to marry Shechem. The men of Shechem had expressed their desire to intermarry with the children of Jacob. This was not even a possibility. It was God's plan to keep the children of Jacob a separate people from the other inhabitants of the earth. Three days after the operation, while they were still sore, Levi and Simeon went into the city and killed all the men and took their sister out. The other sons of Jacob then came in and took all the animals and material wealth. They also took the women and children captive.

Verses 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 a harlot?"

Jacob was very distressed when he learned what his sons had done. He told them that they had made him "to stink" among the people of the area and now everyone in the family was in danger of being killed. His son's tried to justify what they had done by saying they were just getting even for what had happened to their sister. Two wrongs never make a right. Shechem had been wrong in what he had done to Dinah, but Simeon and Levi had also been wrong in their vengefulness. Because of their act, both sons lost their chance to be part of the lineage of Christ. The promise was now passed down to Judah.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Do you think Jacob's sons learned their deceitfulness from their father?

What are some characteristics you have picked up from your parents?

What are some characteristics you already see your children picking up from you?

What do you think was Dinah's part in what happened in this chapter? Do you think she was partly to blame for what happened? How do you think she felt after her brothers wiped out the city?

I hope reading this chapter will cause us all to realize that all of our actions have far reaching consequences.

Thank you so much for doing the Bible Study with us this week. I hope you enjoyed your visit. I am looking forward to hearing your answers to the questions this week. Please feel free to e-mail me, post on the message board or write your comments in my guestbook so everyone can see what you think!

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