Genesis 34:1-35:15

December 11, 2013 God called Abraham out of Ur and was faithful to fulfill all His promises to him all his life. Abraham made it to the Promised Land and had a son named Isaac. Abraham died at a good old age and God dealt with Isaac just as faithfully as He had with Abraham. Isaac too had a son named Jacob who has repeatedly found that God is faithful to him as well. Jacob received the birthright and the blessing. He was spared from his brothers wrath and blessed despite his uncles conniving. He has wrestled with God and men and prevailed and now hes safely back in the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. Soon they will inherit everything they can see because God has promised it. Now, before we continue, I want you to call to mind the story of Ishmaels birth. How would Abraham receive a son? When Abraham conceived with Hagar the result was a work of his own flesh which introduced the practice of circumcision. He, and all who followed, was required to cut away the foreskin as a reminder that Gods promises are fulfilled by Him alone and theres nothing anyone can do to add or take away from it. Now we come to chapter 34 where we see this principle challenged yet again: And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. 3 And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. 4And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. 5And 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. 6And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. 7And 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 Jacobs daughter: which thing ought not to be done. 8And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. 9And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. 10And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. 11And 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. 12Ask 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. Dinah goes to see her friends and while there shes either seduced or raped by the prince of the country. Whichever it was he falls in love with her and wants to marry her; and this introduces the real tension within the text: will the chosen people of God be reunited with the condemned people of the world? Part of this tension includes the princes promise to bless them with material goods and to let them settle in the land. Does the blessing and the right to inhabit the land come from the prince or from God? Its not hard to see the parallel with Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham united himself with the woman who allegorizes bondage and the things of the earth (Gal. 4:24). The result was Ishmael who could not be received as an heir of the promise. Now Jacob and his sons are faced with uniting themselves with the Canaanites:
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And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister: 14And 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: 15But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised; 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. 17But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone. 18And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamors son. 19And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacobs daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father. 20And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, 21These 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. 22Only 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. 23Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. 24And 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. Jacobs sons know theyre called out of the world and that they cant unite with the Canaanites. Abraham wouldnt allow it and sent his servant to get a wife for Isaac.

Isaac knew it and sent Jacob away to get a wife. He and Rebekah were grieved when Esau married some of the women of the land (Gen. 26:34-35). They also know that circumcision is the sign of the covenant: And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. 9And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 12And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. 13He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant (Gen. 17:8-14). They also know that circumcision hurts. It will disable a man. And so they answer deceitfully and agree to the deal upon condition that every man is circumcised. The Canaanites talk it over, someone asks, Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? and they all agree to do it.
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And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinahs brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. 26And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechems house, and went out. 27The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, 29And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. Simeon and Levi execute all the men while theyre too sore to defend themselves and the rest of the brothers come along to take everyone else captive and plunder their goods. Dont miss the part where it says they took Dinah out of Shechems house and went out. Its not much justification but it at least explains their actions. She was being held and they rescue her. Its not hard to imagine that they dont want to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders so they just kill all the men. You cant leave the women and children to starve so they take them

captive, and then theres no sense leaving all those goods just waiting around for some archaeologist to find so they scoop those up too. I suppose this is a sort of divine pre-judgment on the people, but when Jacob blesses his sons (by faith) just before his death he says, Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 6O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. 7Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Gen. 49:5-7). He wasnt ever happy about this, and hes not happy about it now:
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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. This verse addresses the main point in another way. The tension is no longer whether theyll be blessed by the king or by God, but now its whether theyll be saved from their new enemies who have reason to kill them all.
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And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

They see this whole incident as a commercial bargain; theyre supposed to exchange their sister for goods and benefits but they refused to go along with it. Its said that Shechem defiled her and that he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacobs daughter (:7). The idea is that he had done something wicked and disgraceful and then hoped that her brothers would let it go for profit. It was more than they could stand and they didnt stand for it. But now theyve got even bigger troubles. How will they survive the other inhabitants of the land?
35:1

And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. This is a timely appearance by God. The last time Jacob knew he was going to die was when he met Esau. But God provided and Jacob built an altar afterwards (28:18-22). This was a place to offer sacrifice and a semi-permanent witness to remind Jacob of what God had done. Now hes going back to that place to put his eyes on it again and to take comfort in what God has done in the past.
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Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your

garments: 3And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. 4And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. There were a lot of new people in Jacobs house since the sack of Shechem so there was a need to purge out all the idols before returning to Bethel. They must also be clean (or wash themselves) and put on new clothes. This, I suppose, is a symbolic gesture since they are going to the house of God.
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And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. Once again God proves Himself faithful. Its not the fierce wrath and anger of Simeon and Levi that keep their enemies at bay. Its the terror of God. This terror is something which will save Israel many times in the future.
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So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him. 7And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. 8But Deborah, Rebekahs nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth. They return to the House of God and build an altar but then Deborah dies and the place where shes buried is called oak of weeping.
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And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. 10And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. Here He confirms that Jacob is no longer the trickster. He is one who has strived with God and men and has prevailed. Theres no going back from this. Theres no changing it. No matter how many enemies he makes or how dire his circumstance become Israel belongs to God and is favored by Him.
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And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; 12And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

Here the promise is also confirmed. Shechem, the prince and future king, had made promises too. But only God can deliver. And God promises kings shall come out of thy loins. The Canaanite king was a mere man and a wicked one at that. He had more honor than anyone else in his fathers house and this was the best they could muster. But a King is coming through Israel who will secure the city with real foundations for the spiritual seed forever.
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And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. 14And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. 15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel. newgracebaptistchurch.wordpress.com