|
Genesis Chapter 34 "Jacob's Trouble in the Land." This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location Genesis 34:1 "And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to wee the daughters of the land." Remember that Jacob and his household are in the land of the Hivites, the land of Canaan, and Dinah is about to be taken by a strange people, which is against God's law. "Dinah" in the Hebrew tongue means "Judged and acquitted", and we will see that she surely was judged and acquitted by her own brothers. When the family arrived at the city of Shechem and pitched their tents just outside the city, Dinah, the only girl amongst her eleven brothers decided to go visit and see the city on her own. When your in a strange land and amongst strange people, you had better be careful a little. Genesis 34:2 "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." Prince Shechem saw Dinah and raped her. Genesis 34:3 "And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel." Prince Shechem was so in love that he couldn't think straight. Dinah was a beautiful girl, and foreign to the Hivites of the city of Shechem. Genesis 34:4 "And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, "Get me this damsel to wife." To prince Shechem it became the most important thing in the world to have Dinah as his wife. Satan never stops trying to seduce the seed of the woman of the Adamic race. Genesis 34:5 "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." After Dinah returned to the camp, and told her father Jacob what had happened in the city, he didn't say much, but waited until his sons came in from the field. It sheds a new light on Jacob, for his only daughter was raped, and he just went about his business quietly. Genesis 34:6 "And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him." Hamor listened to hat his son Shechem had to say, and then went to Jacob to discuss with Jacob about the marriage between Shechem and Dinah. This was against God's law, and Jacob knew it. Genesis 34:7 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." When the sons came in from the field, Jacob told them what had happened to their little sister, and they all became mad as blazes. The brothers were all well schooled in God's law, and knew that this thing is wrong, and never should have been done. Rape is punishable by death, and instant death, and should have been done in God's law. Genesis 34:8 "And Hamor communed with them, saying, "The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife." Shechem wasn't longing for Dinah, he already had her. It is a little late for longing, but time for hanging. Genesis 34:9 "And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you." Genesis 34:10 "And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein." Keep in mind that there is even a blend of the Kenites and Perrizzites mixed in with these Hivites. The Kenites are the blood offspring of Satan, through Cain, while the Perizzites were part Nephilim, the offspring of the fallen angels who came to earth to marry the daughters of Adamic men. There were still offspring giants, hybrids, amongst these people. They saw what Jacob had, and how God blessed him, and they wanted to get a hold on Jacob's possessions. Genesis 34:11 "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." Shechem came with his father to barter for Dinah, and as he stood before the entire family of Jacob, he is begging to buy the very girl that he raped. Shechem is telling Jacob and his sons, who will become the Patriarchs of the tribes of Israel, that he will give them whatever they want, if they will alloy this marriage. In God's eyes there is no price for the one who is raped. Genesis 34:12 "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." Genesis 34:13 "And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:" As Hamor and Shechem presented the offer for Dinah to Jacob and his sons, the sons are beyond the point of reason, and they have planned a way of making the entire city pay for what they have done to their sister. Mean while Jacob is sort of detached of what is going on, but the sons are not. The reason for the deceitfulness of Dinah's brothers is because of the act that was committed against their family. Though Jacob is willing to over look the rape, the brothers are not. Genesis 34:14 "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:" This is a deceitful lie, for even if Shechem was circumcised, and the whole town, they could not give their sister to one of the Hivites. It is against God's law. Genesis 34:15 "But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;" Genesis 34:16 "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." The brothers are lying up a storm, right through their teeth. This is kind of a deception to even the odds between the action to be taken between the brothers and the entire town. You must understand the this family is the strem through which Messiah would come, and that family of the promise is the central subject of this entire bible. This is why the other races are simply not discussed in the Scriptures, unless they inter-react with this family. The Bible is the continual story of God's plan to send a Messiah to earth, to pay the price for sin and the fall of man. It is through the man Adam, and his uncontaminated bloodline that Jesus Christ was born, and those in that family knew what it was all about, even though heathen, non-Adamic men did not. The peoples of the Hivites were a polluted race of people, and to them the mixing of their lineage was simply no big thing because they have already mixed with the worst of the lot, the Kenites and the Nephilim. Had Jacob's family hooked up with this sort of people that had already mixed with the Perizzites, Kenites, Amorites, and the Rephaims then Satan would have already won the battle and polluted the lineage of Christ. There is much more to these verses then what appears on the surface, for we are talking about the key subject of the entire Bible, the coming of our Lord and Messiah, Jesus Christ. And for Christ's blood to be of any affect to you and I, it had to be free from the contamination by Satan, and the fallen angels [Nephilim, Rephaims, Perizzites, etc.]. Genesis 34:17 "But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone." Genesis 34:18 "And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son." Shechem liked the idea, and bought the lie. In Shechem's eyes he has his love, Dinah. Genesis 34:19 "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." Though Shechem was the top choice of a husband for Dinah in the city of Shechem, it did not change the fact that it is still against God's law. Genesis 34:20 "And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying," Genesis 34:21 "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." The Hivites are like the Kenites for they are a mixture of them, and trade is the major commerce of these people. Of course in the trade, the others always come out on the short end of the stick. Genesis 34:22 "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." Genesis 34:23 "Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of their be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us." Now we are getting into the reason for their desire to join with Jacob and his family. It is the same reason today that drives the Kenites for their desire to join with any successful person, to make your cattle and substance, their cattle and substance. No these people haven't changed one bit in the last 3800 years. As Hamor is discussing and pleading with the rest of the men of the city, notice how he is using Questions to convince them it is right to be circumcised, and by doing this simple physical deed, the wealthe of Jacob can be theirs. Genesis 34:24 "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. The entire city bought the deceptive lie of Dinah's brothers. Genesis 34:25 "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." The sons of Jacob knew the physical affects that circumcision brings on a man, and on the third day after the time when the men of the city were circumcised it was time for action. The power balance had shifted from the men of the city to Jacob's sons. The butchers of the town had left the entire city defenseless, after cutting away on all the men. The city now can be taken by just two of the brothers of Dinah, Simeon and Levi, the father of the preacher's family, the head of Aaron's family. There was no hesitation in this act. They were on a mission of revenge, and the whole town became part of the plot against Jacob and his family. The swords swung, and the men fell; all of them. Judgment of God's law fro the savage act against Dinah had been avenged. Notice it was the father of the priest line that took that sword and killed of all the males, to bring the judgment of sin against God's law down upon the city. No one knew better then Levi God's law, and what had to be. Genesis 34:26 "And thy slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out." Genesis 34:27 "The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister." Genesis 34:28 "They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field." Just as this city of heathen were planning to clean out Jacob, and separate him from his belongings, the entire city became the possession of Jacob's sons. Was this act a sin? Definitely not, and if you think it was, then you have a problem with understanding God's laws, God's ways, and His Word. Why did Simeon and Levi follow through with this act? "Because they had defiled their sister." Genesis 34:29 "And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house." The women and children were not killed, but were taken slaves in the household of Jacob. Genesis 34:30 "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." Simeon and Levi took a stand for the welfare of their people, and now old Jacob is getting week kneed over what has been done. He has forgotten what God had promised him in the Blessing, and what is required of him. Don't forget who these Canaanites and Perizzites are, they are a mixture of Kenites, the offspring of Satan through Cain, and the Perizzites are the giants who came from the marriage between the fallen angels and women. They are Satan's pollution on earth, come to destroy the lineage of Christ the Messiah. Poor Jacob has fallen to a mental state of not trusting in the promises of God. He has forgotten the just a few days prior that God had promised that He would go before him and protect him. This was a time where Jacob had lost his faith in God, and the world became greater than God, in Jacob's eyes. Genesis 34:31 "And they said, "Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?" Though Jacob was starting to slip in his old age, Jacob's sons were not. They were set right on course, and would not put up with the dealings of these people, treating their sister as an harlot, rather than seeking the wrath of God for the evil deed done to their sister. It appears here that the champion of God, the one who fought with God Himself, had developed a mental block, and a touch of chicken little in him. Jacob forgot the promise that God had made to him,"I will be with you" [verse 31:3] and in his mind the problem became greater then God. What does all this tell us about Jacob? Just that Jacob was a human being, with all the weaknesses of a human being, and just as we can have a time of lowness in our faith and spiritual life, so also can Jacob, a man that walked and talked with God in person. When we do falter in our faith, that is the time to seek forgiveness, and pick ourselves up and get back on the right track. Though the low times come, that is not a reason to stay in that low mental state.
Home .~ Plough .~ Seeds .~ Vine .~ Potter .~ Seasons .~ Sonshine .~ Rain .~ Field |