GENESIS
October 14, 2017
By Pastor Kim Hickcox
(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)
Today, unfortunately, we are learning about the rape of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter. It covers all of chapter 34 in Genesis and is of course in God’s Word for a reason. And that reason is truly more understandable when consulting the Book of Jasher as it seems to fill in all the background details needed to really see how the Lord’s presence was all over that situation.
Genesis 34 gives us the main scenario: Jacob and family had settled in right outside the city of Shechem, buying a piece of land there and naming it El Elohe Yisrael, God, God of Israel.
The meeting between he and his brother Esau had been more than amicable and life was good since he had devote his life to the Lord. Protection and favor followed him, as it does to all who love Him, us included.
But nonetheless, due to sin and the corrupted sin nature of Man bad things happen, as we are about to discover.
“And Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to 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 violated her. 3And his very being yearned for Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke kindly to the girl. 4And Shechem spoke to his father Hamor saying, ‘Get me this girl for my 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 came.” Genesis 34:1-5
Now I don’t know about you, but being nice and “speaking kindly” to me after you raped me doesn’t quite cut it! (As a matter of fact, that exact thing happened to me when I was 18, so I can tell you from experience that his kind words after the fact was NO compensation.)
Genesis goes on the record that Shechem and his father Hamor approached Jacob and his sons and asked for Dinah to be his wife, although they did not return her in the meantime. Verse 19 also states that “he was more honorable than all the house of his father, Hamor.”, which is kind of a scary thought, but does indeed answer and explain a few things about Canaan all-in-all.
So Jacob’s sons decide to tell Shechem and Hamor that if all the men would be circumcised to conform with their way of life, they could live in harmony, intermarry, etc., all the while having another agenda in mind.
Meanwhile and not to be outdone, Shechem and Hamor agree, and while passing on this new development to the men of the town, say, in verse 23 “Will not their cattle and their possessions and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will stay with us.” So the deceit was on both sides.
Then Genesis gives us a thumbnail sketch of what happened next in that Dinah’s two brothers, Simeon and Levi, attack the city the third day after the whole male population of Shechem was circumcised, killed all the men and brought Dinah back home. Then all the other brothers joined the party, sacked the city and took everythingelse, women and children included!
So when Jacob finds out what happened, he freaks out, decides his time in the neighborhood is over because now everyone will be after his entire family, including all the other tribes in the area. But all his sons had to say was “Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?” (vs 31) And the next thing you know, the Lord is telling Jacob to move to Beit-El – the end.
And this is where Jasher comes in. “…Is it not written in the book of Jasher?” Joshua 10:13. We know this is not Scripture, but I believe that it is the most accurately recorded ancient history that was written concerning God’s people outside of Scripture. And it covers Genesis 34 from pages 68-75 giving us all kinds of insight!
It starts with why Dinah went into the city in the first place. After a year and a half,some of the women of the inhabitants of the land went into the city of Shechem to dance and rejoice with the daughters of the people of the people of the city, and when they went forth then Rachel and Leah the wives of Jacob with their families also went to behold the rejoicing of the daughters of the city.
And Dinah the daughter of Jacob also went along with them and saw the daughters of the city, and they remained before these daughters whilst all the people of the city were standing by them to behold their rejoicings, and all the great people of the city were there.
Now we don’t know what kind of a do this was, could have been a religious festival or a royal’s birthday or some other celebration, but it all seems pretty innocent at the start, and she was there with her mother and Rachel and probably all the other female servants, so it’s not like she wandered in alone.
When Shechem noticed her, he asked around because he had never seen her before and he received a very accurate family description: Surely this is the daughter of Jacob the son of Isaac the Hebrew, who has dwelt in this city for some time…
We will see later that both Isaac and Abraham were well known in that area through reputation, oral history and their God.
His response? And Shechem beheld Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and when he looked at her is soul became fixed on Dinah. And he sent and had her taken by force, and Dinah came to the house of Shechem and he seized her forcibly and lay with her and humbled her in his house.
When Jacob found out he sent twelve of his servants to go get her: And when they came Shechem went out to them with his men and drove them from his house, and he would not suffer them to come before Dinah, but Shechem was sitting with Dinah kissing and embracing her before their eyes.
It was after this that Jacob told his sons what had happened, and I’m sure he told them everything which is why they did not feel the slightest inkling to deal with him mercifully. Anyway after that, Jacob sent two of Dinah’s servants into Shechem to take care of her there.
In the meantime, Hamor is baffled as to why his son didn’t want one of his own to be his wife, but Shechem just acted like a spoiled brat demanding what he wanted because he wanted it and Hamor gave in, so they all went down to see Jacob.
And at Jacob’s house, he was hearing from all his sons, who were quoting Noah’s teachings to him: Surely death is due to this man and to his household, because the Lord God of the whole earth commanded Noah and his children that man shall never rob, nor commit adultery; now behold Shechem has both ravaged and committed fornication with our sister, and not one of all the people of the city spoke a word to him.
Surely you know and understand that the judgment of death is due to Shechem, and to his father, and to the whole city on account of the thing which he has done.
The next paragraph sound like it came out of Job: And wilst they were speaking before their father in this manner, behold Hamor the father of Shechem came to speak to Jacob the words of his son concerning Dinah, and he sat before Jacob and his sons.
In the Book of Jasher, we have talked about Abraham and how he was raised by Noah and his son Shem in their school which was right outside Nimrod’s kingdom borders. So Abraham duly passed down His teachings to his son as did Isaac and Jacob.
Jasher goes on to tell us that Shechem’s grandfather Chiddekem, who was a descendant of Ham (Genesis 10:6 tells us that Canaan was one of Ham’s sons), not only was totally against the idea of blending with his Hebrew cousins, but had the oral history of how God was forever backing them!
So one day Chiddekem was hatching a plan against Jacob and his family, We beseech you then to wait and tarry until our flesh shall be healed and we again become strong, and we will then go together against them, and do unto them that which is in your hearts and in ours.
BUT Dinah the daughter of Jacob heard all of these words which Chiddekem and his brothers had spoken, and what Hamor and his son Shechem and the people of their city had answered them.
And she hastened and sent one of her maidens, that her father had sent to take care of her in the house of Shechem, to her father Jacob and to her brothers…
And so the battles ensued. First Simeon and Levi went in, killed all the circumcised men and retrieved Dinah. But Jasher tells us that 20 men hid themselves and were not circumcised. So they fought against Simeon and Levi in the first battle and all but two were killed. They escaped and came back with reinforcements that were in place when l2 brothers came in to finish sacking the city. They brought 300 men back, but as we know from the Biblical account, the entire city was taken, and because of that two things were established:
1. Yet another attempt of the devil to wipeout God’s people and Y’shua’s biological ancestors was quashed.
2. The LORD was known to be with Israel and His glory and fear of Him throughout the [destructive] heathens was established: but trust in the Lord our God, and pray unto Him to assist us and deliver us, and deliver our enemies into our hands. (Jasher pg 73)
We can see, especially when reading both accounts, how Jacob’s family was growing in their faith and trust in God. And isn’t this true even today?
As much as we hate reading these words, Jacob (James) 1:2-4 tells us to “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when various trials light upon you, 3knowing that the proving of your faith produces endurance. 4And the endurance must attain its purpose, so that you would become mature and complete and not falling short in any way.”
There are two ways you can go during a trail: away from God and get bitter; or closer to God and get better.
I just went through a 5 week trial that was physically, emotionally and psychologically overwhelming. There is an upside to everything right? Well, I figured out that the upside to stubbornness is tenacity. The only two things that kept me in the battle were: the Lord, who healed and rejuvenated me after my breakdowns (4 in one week) and my stubbornness, which has worked against me so many times in my life, it’s nice to see it work for me, even in retrospect.
Everything in my flesh kept screaming: Go away! Get out! Pack some clothes, your cat and RUN!! Colorado is nice. You still speak a little French – no one would look for you in Quebec. Just go!!!!
But then the Holy Spirit would kick in and I would hear Peter saying, “Lord, to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life, 69and I have believed and I have known that You are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69, personalized, in first person.)
So when your back is up against a wall, you know that soon it will either break you or you will break it, when you feel you’re on the brink of fight or flight, my suggestion is to do neither.
Just go to the Lord, your Savior, your Healer, your Deliverer and your very best Friend and pour your heart out to Him! Take as long as you need and say whatever is in your heart – He knows it anyway. Confess, cry, whine, question…whatever you need, He will listen and give you everything you need! Then just rest. He will fill you up again and strengthen you again when you need it. But being exhausted after a session with your Father and being exhausted after a session in your flesh are two TOTALLY different things!! In the flesh (that is by yourself, without praying) you will eventually get weaker and weaker, worse and worse in stamina, mindset and tolerance.
I now have two mantras:
“And we know that, for those who love God, He works all things for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
AND
“I have strength to overcome all things in the One Who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
Always remember these three things:
1. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, being sent down by the Father of Lights, with Whom there is not one change or shadow variation.” Jacob 1:17
Therefore when troubles, injustice, overwhelming problems, physical problems or diseases befall you, they are NOT in any way, from your God! They are either from the problems of our fallen creation or the sin of the fallen nature of others, or perhaps from an unwise decision on our part, which brings me to point #2.
2. “‘No weapon that is formed against you will succeed. You will condemn every tongue that will rise up against you in judgment. This is the inheritance of the servants of the LORD, and their acts of loving kindness are of Me,’ says the LORD.” Isaiah 54:17
AND
3. “…but I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33I have told you these things to you so that you would have peace because of Me: in the world you will have distress: but be of good courage, I have overcome the world.”John 16:32-33
And because of Y’shua’s victory for us, “Do not be grieved, for the joy if the LORD is your strength!” Nehemiah 8:10
BECAUSE
“For in Him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28
Anyone remember that song that was so popular in charismatic churches in the 90’s? In Him we live and move and have our being (repeat)
Make a joyful noise – WOO!
Sing unto the Lord,
Tell Him of your love
And dance before Him, (repeat)
Repeat! (I just had a great holy flashback!)
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. And before you came out of the womb I sanctified you and I ordained you…” Jeremiah 1:4. Your God knew you and everything you have; are and will go through! And yet – HE CHOSE YOU TO BRING HIM GLORY AND TRUSTS YOU TO DO SO, KNOWING EVERYTHING!
So when trouble attacks – run TO Him! He is your only refuge, your only safety, youronly answer. And He will never, ever, EVER let you down!! “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your Ways know Him and He will make your paths smooth. Do not be wise in your own eyes! Revere the LORD! Depart from bad things!” Proverbs 3:5-7 (emphasis added)
HALLELJUAH & SHALOM!!
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