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Bible 101 Lesson 6D

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Bible 101 Lesson 6D

Gen 34:25-29 Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out.

The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.

So the plan of Hamor’s people to take Jacob’s livestock and possessions opened the door for them to be killed and all their wealth and livestock taken and their wives and children taken as slaves. (That’s what people did in those days.)

Gal 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Applicable law:

Deu 22:28-29
If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed,

and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out,
then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her;

he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days.

So when the scripture says that Shechem “was more honorable than all the household of his father” it is the truth. In fact, he was also more honorable than all the house of Jacob. He went to Jacob and asked to marry Dinah. His father offered any dowry Jacob might have required. So, he did what was required under the Law of Moses (I know, which hadn’t been given yet) and the sons of Jacob deceived him and killed them all.

Thus the pattern of deceit continues from Jacob to his sons.

Jacob was not happy with what his sons have done but they are unrepentant and justified their action which was total overkill. The whole city didn’t violate their sister, only one man.

Gen 34:30-31 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”

Gen 35 The finish of this episode of “The Story of Us” (Jews)

God tells Jacob to go to Bethel and build an altar there.

Gen 35:2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone. So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

What were they doing with “foreign gods”?
They were probably part of the spoils they took from Hamor’s people.

Why purify themselves and change their clothes?
Because Jacob is going to make an altar at Bethel and worship God there. They wash and change their clothes to be ceremonially clean when they participate in the sacrifice.

These actions are a pre-shadowing of the sacrificial purity laws of the Law of Moses that was to come hundreds of years later. But, remember, though the stories of Genesis predate the Law of Moses by a very long time, the compilation of the stories which we call the “Pentateuch” or the “Book of Moses” reflected the Law that was later to be received.

Gen 35:5 And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

Most assuredly, the report of what happened to the people of Hamor became known throughout the land and people might well be outraged by the over-reaction of Jacob’s sons. But, God protected them from any people who might get the idea of taking revenge on them. The people feared the God of Jacob Who gave two men the power to wipe out an entire city.

Gen 35:9-11 God renewed and expanded His covenant with Jacob to include kings among his descendants. God also verified Jacob’s name as “Israel.”

Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.

Notice that, this time, God identifies Himself a “God Almighty” (El Shaddai) and not “the angel of the Lord.”

Then Rachel gave birth to Benjamin but died in childbirth. “Benjamin” means “Son of the right hand.” Compare that to Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father. (And believers sit there with Him!)

And then we have another ugly blot on the record!

Gen 35:22 And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it.

According to the Law of Moses (which, again, hadn’t been given yet) that son would have been taken out and stoned to death. But Jacob does nothing even though he knows about it.

We will see this again in the family of David when Amnon raped his half sister Tamar and David, when he heard, did nothing about it. That led to Tamar’s brother, Absalom taking the matter in his own hands and killing Amnon. Absalom later led a rebellion against his father David and temporarily deposed him as king.

The consequence of not dealing with sin is a recurrent theme in the history of Israel.

The rest of the chapter contains genealogy and the death of Isaac thereby signaling the end of this episode in the story.
 
Gal 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
This is powerful and a huge lesson and statement that Paul makes to believer that think they can do what they want and God will let it all swing. It basically means good sowing brings forth good and bad sowing brings forth bad. It also means that God has no favorites, and is very legal with everyone, even His own Son, Jesus.
 
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