| Subject: Genesis 34 vss 25-30 Post 169 |
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Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 18:41:41 11/28/11 Mon
Genesis 34:25-30 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. 26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, 29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. 30 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.
Dinah has been raped and someone is going to pay. That is the attitude of Simeon and Levi. As Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; Levi and Simeon clearly believed this was a time to kill and break down.
The men of Shechem had gone through with the circumcision and it is now the third day after their cutting of their selves. The pain was so great they could hardly move and were in no shape to fight. Simeon and Levi knew this would be the case and made their plans accordingly. I would imagine the killing took place rather quietly one house at a time. We are not told the population of Shechem but I would be surprised if there were very many men in the village. While Shechem was called a city I pretty sure we would call it a small town or to us colloquial language; "a spot in the road". After the two brother's finish killing all the males the other 9 brother's came in and mopped up (vs. 27) by razing the town and taking the livestock, women and children captive. While the other brother's are gathering up the wealth of the city Levi and Simeon get Dinah and head for home.
If Simeon and Levi were expecting a hero's welcome from daddy they were sadly mistaken. "Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land". Jacob wasn't as worried about having a Hamitic son in law as he was staying alive. Jacob's take on the situation was that he was few in number and they were great in number if they banded together to come against them they would all be killed.. We can see in Jacob here a lack of faith showing up again. Again he forgets God's promise to him. How fickle man is in his faith toward God. When everything is going great then God is good. When trouble comes it is "God has forgotten me and I am going to have to act on my own.". I think God often let's us get in tight spots just so we can see for ourselves how little faith we actually possess.
In the case of Jacob and his family God was no more going to let them get wiped out than He will let Israel get wiped out today. Going back to the last passage we studied we need to look at verse 7 in light of this present thought we are on. "And 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 Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done." Israel was not to become a nation for another 300 or so years yet the scriptures allude to Israel as though it was already a nation. In Jacob and his eleven sons God was already dealing with them as though they were a nation. God saw the moves Satan was putting on His people and was way ahead of him in the game.
"I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Jacob's peace has been destroyed and he is back in the situation he found himself in with Laban and Esau. Just as God came to him in that dark situation God will come to him again in this situation. God is never far from any of His children.
The situation is not a lot unlike the situation the disciples found themselves in one dark and stormy night out on the sea. Luke 8:22-25 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. 23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. 24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.
Where was their faith? Faith to them was a fair weather commodity. Isn't it the same with us as it was to Jacob and later Jesus' disciples? Few ever achieve the faith of a Daniel, Job or Moses or even Paul for that matter. I think most of us identify with Jacob.
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