Read Genesis 34 – What not to do.
The Lord called Jacob to Bethel, but Jacob settled in the Canaanite territory of Shalem. Dinah (Jacob and Leah’s daughter) went out to visit friends in the city…. This sounds innocent enough in our time, but in their time an unsupervised woman in a pagan city was fair game…. Note that neither Shechem nor Hamor even apologized!
Papa Hamor negotiates for Dinah to marry Shechem. Shechem wants her and Hamor sees this as a good political move. They will trade daughters for sons in marriage, and eventually all Jacob has will be theirs (:24).
Jacob’s leadership in this is absent; instead,Simeon and Levi propose the men be circumcised. Their words seem righteous, while their intent is anything but. When all the men of Shechem are healing from circumcision, Simeon and Levi attack.
This was brutal, deceptive, and a shameless abuse of God’s covenant of circumcision.
Beloved, our treasure in this mess is to recognize how desperately life can get out of control when we compromise and fail to step into our God given role. This awful chapter also displays Romans 3:10 “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: ” The Lord does not shy away from the truth about humanity, yet amazingly He still desires relationship with us, giving us a hope and a future through Jesus. 💗🙆♀️🙇♀️🙏🙇♂️🙋💗
Judy in the Sky 