The Book of Genesis
Part 66
Partial Obedience Chapter 33:17-34:31.
This study actually is the closing part of the one that appeared last month. In it we followed Jacob to Shechem, and considered the disgrace brought upon him in the matter of Dinah. It would seem that Jacob’s incomplete response to God’s revealed plan for him resulted in this unsavoury domestic trouble.
It must have been with a very heavy heart that “Jacob held his peace until they were come,” for “his sons were with his cattle in the field.” Perhaps he felt much like David who at a later date wrote, “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred” (Psa. 39:2-1).
In his grief he sought counsel from these sons of his. Why did he not seek counsel from God? Subsequent events prove that by them he was misdirected. Alas, he who had deceived his own father, by his own sons was now deceived. How much better it would have been had he turned to the Lord. Do we not read, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Prov. 28:13). Such an attitude would have changed this bitter experience for Jacob. “There are many devices in a man’s heart: nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand” (Prov. 19:21).
It would be improper to pass unnoticed the apparent honourable approach of Hamar and his son Shechem. They seemed ready to make amends for the wrong done against Jacob and his family. Of course, obviously, they were taking into consideration the advantages which would accrue to them through a closer alliance with Jacob’s family. They expected a complete absorption of his entire household, a definite enrichment through this amalgamation. Nevertheless, the courtesy and the consideration shown by these pagans surpassed by far the attitude of the sons of Jacob who should have known through paternal instructions the ways of the Lord.
The world is very seductive; within it operate the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). It can appear at times most attractive and ethical; it can allure with an irresistible magnetism; it can be diplomatic and most amenable and thus entrap the unwary. There may have been some of this in the plans of Hamor and Shechem; but, alas, they were a poor match for the sons of Jacob.
The family’s stay at Shechem not only resulted in the shame of Dinah, the disgrace of Jacob, but also in his delusive compromise with sinful paganism. The words of the Apostle Paul might well apply under any similar circumstance, “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
Naturally speaking it would have been honourable on the part of Jacob and his sons firmly but mannerly to have declined the overtures of these Hivite princes. This would have been in perfect keeping with the mind of the Lord in regard to the descendants of Abraham. Had they done so, we would not have recorded the sobbing of shame and fear on the part of Jacob, as he quickly abandoned all that he had built at Shechem (34:30).
In the negotiations between Hamor, Shechem and the brothers of Dinah, we see further evidence of Jacob’s weakness as head of his household. Verse six states, “And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.” After this voluntary and manly approach, Jacob’s sons, particularly the full brothers of Dinah, assume the lead in resolving the difficulty. We read, “And the sons of Jacob came out of the field, … And Hamor communed with them.” Later we read, “And the sons of Jacob answered.” Finally, we read, “And they (Jacob’s sons) said unto them (Hamor and Shechem) we cannot do this thing…But in this will we consent.” Jacob is far in the back-ground; he has lost control; consequently, tragedy must follow.
Nothing could be more unscrupulous than the plot of these shrewd pretenders, but they had no scruples in taking advantage of physical suffering and in slaying many who were innocent in this matter.
That Jacob had nothing to do with this plot and wickedness is obvious; his grief was genuine. The wicked action of ruthless Simeon and Levi inflicted upon their father a hurt he never forgot. In fact, unhealed, he carried it to his grave.
When Jacob lay dying, he called his sons around his bed. As a dying father, he too would bless his children, even as his dying father had blessed him and his brother Esau. As Simeon and Levi stepped forward for their blessing, Jacob remembered the matter of Shechem; his words were weighty and condemnatory: “Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O 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. Cursed 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). What evil reputations these two men had!
There is a great difference between the blessing (curse) of Jacob upon Levi his son, and the blessing that was invoked upon his descendants by Moses at the time of his death. The bravery that had been used so cruelly at Shechem, between the death of Jacob and that of Moses had been used in zeal to maintain the standards of divine holiness. At Shechem in a ruthless fleshly way Levi avenged the dishonour of his sister, at Baalpeor, Phinehas of the tribe of Levi, avenged the dishonour to God’s holiness (Num. 25:6-9).
Among other details of the blessing of Moses, we read, “They shall teach Jacob Thy judgments, and Israel Thy law: they shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again” (Deut. 33:8-11).