Life in a foreign Land

In Genesis, tracking through the life of Jacob.

And as we do so, we come to Genesis 34.

! So if you have a Bible, turn with me there to Genesis 34.

Or you can turn in your bulletin or any device that you might have.

This is God's word, Genesis 34.

Now Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land.

And when Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her.

And his soul was drawn to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob.

He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.

So Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, Get me this girl for my wife.

Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah, but his sons were with his livestock in the field.

So Jacob held his peace until they came.

And Hamor, the father of Shechem, went out to Jacob to speak with him.

And the sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it.

And the men were indignant and very angry because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter.

For such a thing must not be done.

But Hamor spoke with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter.

Please give her to him to be his wife.

Make marriages with us.

Give your daughters to us.

Take our daughters for yourselves.

You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you.

Dwell and trade in it.

Get property in it.

Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, Let me find favor in your eyes.

Whatever you say to me, I will give you.

Ask for me as a great, a bride price, and gift as you will.

And I will give whatever you say to me.

Only give me the young woman to be my wife.

The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah.

They said to them, We cannot do this thing to give our sister to the one who is uncircumcised.

For what would be a disgrace to us?

Only on this condition will we agree with you, that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised.

Then we will give our daughters to you.

We will take your daughters to ourselves.

We will dwell with you and become one people.

But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.

Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem.

The young man did not delay to do the thing because he delighted in Jacob's daughter.

Now he was the most honored of all his father's house.

So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying,

These men are at peace with us.

Let them dwell in the land and trade in it.

For behold, the land is large enough for them.

Let us take their daughters as wives.

Let us give them our daughters.

Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us,

to become one people, when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.

Will not their livestock, their property, and all the beasts be ours?

Only let us agree with them.

They will dwell with us.

And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem.

And every male was circumcised and all who went out of the gate of his city.

On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers,

took their swords, came against the city while it felt secure, and killed all the males.

They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with a sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away.

The sons of Jacob's came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.

They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, whatever was in the city and in the field,

all their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, and all that was in the houses,

they captured and plundered.

And then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi,

Let's pray.

Lord, we come to your word this morning, knowing it's useful for us, knowing that you have spoken through it.

Father, we ask this morning that you might use it in our lives,

that you might work in our hearts to see it as good and to see it as holy.

And we pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Where were you when?

What were you doing when it happened?

Well, what happened?

What are you talking about?

That question seems kind of appropriate, as Britt prayed earlier today, about the events of 9-11.

But when we think back on significant events in world history or our nation's history,

maybe that have even transpired in our lifetime,

we think about when we heard the news or we watched the event unfold on TV.

Where were you when JFK was shot?

Were you listening to it on the radio?

Were you born yet?

Where were you when we landed on the moon?

Were you born yet?

Some of the same questions arise.

What about the fall of the Berlin Wall?

What were your actions?

Did you rejoice?

Did you dance?

What about O.J. Simpson's road trip through Los Angeles?

What were you doing while that was going on?

I was riding shotgun in a U-Haul, listening to it on the radio.

Some of these events are pretty serious and significant events in our national history,

our national togetherness, what weaves us together.

Some are more lighthearted rather than somber.

Did you watch the last season or last episode of Seinfeld, the longest running sitcom in history?

But if you think about the events of September 11th, that comes more to the fore when we ask the question,

where were you when?

What were you doing when you heard the news?

Were you sitting in class?

Were you worried for friends, for family members?

Were you there?

Were you there?

Would it unfold it?

Or were you not even born?

The events of 9-11, whether it altered the trajectory of your own life,

the decisions that you've made for vocation, for what not to do,

as it's caused so many Americans around this world to do,

around this nation and this world,

it's changed so many people.

But immediately after that,

questions probably bubbled up in your heart.

Questions in your mind about justice,

goodness, and evil.

Maybe they shook you to the core.

Maybe you were so shocked it took you a couple days to think about,

how could God allow this?

Where are you, God?

How could you let this happen to all these people?

And I think that's why the events of 9-11 are so much more impactful.

Maybe it's because I'm a young whippersnapper and I watched it happen.

But it confronts our sense of justice

and our sense of judgment and mercy

and makes us look evil in the face.

And then those questions bubble up in our hearts and our mind.

And then we cry out for justice

and say, where are you, God?

What are you doing?

How can you be good and let something like this happen?

But that cry is not simply a cry for justice

as it is a frustration with evil,

knowing that it shouldn't be like this.

And if we're honest this morning,

when we read a text like that,

we ask the very same questions.

Where are you, God, in the midst of this?

Are Jacob's sons right to execute justice in this way?

Should they have done that?

God, if you're good, if you're merciful,

why would you let this happen to this woman?

How could you?

How could you let this happen?

This is wrong.

Something must be done about it.

And this morning we see from this text,

as in the events of something like 9-11,

when we're confronted with real darkness,

real evil,

we're confronted with this idea

that we often ask those questions

and we want justice.

And how does that work

when we have a merciful and loving God?

How does that fit together?

It seems so strange

that those two can coexist.

But we must hold fast

to the greatness of the mercy of God.

Not just for ourselves,

but when events like this happen.

So this morning,

as we look at this text,

we're going to do something

that's going to make

every math science person cringe

and every English person rejoice.

Okay?

We're going to look at the plot

really quickly.

We're going to move from there

and look at the characters.

Because this is a story, after all.

First, let's look at the story.

Now, as we've read this,

and if we're even not even

following the narrative closely at all,

we can get really lost.

And this story can be difficult to follow.

There's a lot going on

and there's a lot of people involved.

And oh yeah, by the way,

Shechem is the place

and the name of the guy.

Okay?

There are numerous finer details

and they switch conversations

between people.

And so this story, though,

begins with something really simple.

But that doesn't make it easy.

It's what I warned you about

at the beginning of worship.

That Dinah, the daughter to Leah and Jacob,

who now lives in Shechem,

journeys out into the city

and then she's raped by this man, Shechem,

in the city of Shechem.

He's infatuated with her

and he tells his dad,

Hamor, go get her.

I want her to be my wife.

And then Jacob, her father,

hears of this,

what's happened, these events.

And instead of being outraged,

he entertains a suitor.

He entertains a proposal

for her hand in marriage.

And there's one problem here.

Jacob's sons hear of this

and they're angered.

And Hamor continues the sales pitch.

Let my son keep Dinah.

And if you do,

we can become one big happy family.

We'll live together.

We'll share resources together.

We'll share the land.

We'll trade together.

All of those things.

And then the son pipes up and says,

in fact, this is so important to me.

I don't care what I have to give you.

Name your price.

I'll give it to you.

Now Jacob's sons hatch a plan.

And in doing so,

it's a deception.

Sure, you can keep her on one condition.

You become like us

and you become circumcised.

And then and only then

can we become one people.

And Shechem and Hamor say,

all right, you got a deal.

And then they go back to their own people

and somehow they convince them

to be circumcised.

They go to the city gates

where business is held

and they pitch their plan

and they convince them

and all the people

are convinced

this is what we should do.

And all the men

are circumcised.

And when they recovered

from their surgery,

or while they were recovering,

Dinah's brothers come in,

Simeon and Levi,

and they killed

all the men of the city.

They killed Hamor.

They killed Shechem.

They rescued their sister.

And then the rest of the brothers

take all the stuff,

all the women,

all the property,

all the animals.

They take it all.

Every last bit of it.

That's the plot.

Now, what about the characters?

The characters of the stories

will spend most of our time.

Because it's through them

we see what's really going on.

I tracked us through

the plot of the story,

but it doesn't tell us why.

It doesn't tell us

what's going on in their hearts

as they're navigating

this situation.

And from that,

we're going to see

how we can understand

where God is

and how he's working.

Now, when we read

the opening verses

of this chapter,

we cannot be helped

but move to pity,

move to sadness,

and maybe then

very quickly

move to outrage

at what's gone on.

Is it wrong?

Absolutely.

Is it evil?

Yes.

Is it tragic?

Yes.

Look at verse 1.

Dinah, the daughter of Leah,

who she born to Jacob,

went out to see

the women of the land.

At first glance,

that seems pretty innocuous.

But we have to remember,

we took a break last week

from our story

or the story of Jacob.

But if we remember

the last time

we looked at Jacob,

he was supposed to go back

to the land

and he settled

just a little bit short

in Shechem.

And as he did,

he was drawn in

to the land

in the prospect

of becoming wealthy,

comfortable,

happy.

And now,

his daughter

is drawn out

from the confines,

the safety of his own home,

into this strange land.

His daughter

puts herself

in a position

that is dangerous.

Does that mean

it's her fault?

No.

What happened to her?

Should it have happened

to her?

No.

But she still

was drawn

into the foreign city,

to the women.

She went out

to see them.

And whenever we see

that contrast

between the foreigners

and then God's people,

it's negative.

She's drawn out

to see them,

to look at their ways.

Why am I making

such a big deal

about this?

I'm not saying

Dinah deserved

what happened to her.

That's not what

I'm saying at all.

In fact,

I'm saying something

very opposite,

that those two things

can coexist,

that Dinah sinned

and going out

to the city

and looking

and being drawn

to this world.

And also,

what happened to her

was really wicked.

It was brutal

and wrong.

But her heart

was being wooed away

by the ladies

of this land.

That's the first character.

The next group

of characters

are Shechem

and Hamor.

So again,

I mentioned Shechem

is the place.

Shechem is also

the son of Hamor,

the one

who does this to her.

Verse 2.

He's the prince

of the land.

He saw her.

He seized her.

He lay with her.

He humiliated her.

He enters into

the story

with despicable actions.

It's not an accident.

It's not a mixed

communication

of intentions.

It is evil

from the start.

The way it's phrased

is he is the one

doing the action.

He's doing

all these things.

And in some

distorted way,

it doesn't end there.

He says this.

That he,

or the writer

says this about it.

That his soul

was drawn to Dinah.

He loved the young woman

and he spoke tenderly

to her.

That's not what

we think about

when we think about

the brutality

of an event like this.

In some weird way,

he's infatuated

infatuated with her.

He's obsessed

with her.

And that's why

he says to his dad

with such authority,

go get her for me.

Man,

it's the same

demanding,

matter-of-fact speech

that Samson uses

when he says

to his dad

and he sees

that Philistine woman,

get her for me.

Now,

it's under

different pretenses,

but it's still

that same demand

that he is blinded

by sin,

by his own lust

and he says

to his parents,

go get her.

That's the same

type of language here.

But it doesn't end there,

the story of Shechem

and Hamor.

Then they negotiate

with the future

father-in-law

or so they think.

They come to negotiate

and the conversation

picks up in verse 8.

He spoke to them

saying,

the soul of my son

Shechem

longs for your daughter.

Please give her to him

to be his wife.

Their conversation

is a trap.

A trap from the beginning.

A trap that God's people

were trying to avoid,

that God reminded them of

time and time again

not to be entangled

with foreign people

and foreign wives

and foreign lands.

And the trap is this.

And we see it

really clearly

as he goes on.

Make marriages with us.

Give us your daughters.

Take our daughters

for yourselves.

You shall dwell with us

and the land

shall be open to you.

Dwell and trade in it

and get property in it.

That's the trap.

That's exactly

what Satan does

to Adam in the garden

if you think about it.

It's not a complete

opposite reversal

of God's truth.

It's a shade off.

Satan says what

to Adam?

Did God really say that?

It's a slight distortion.

Not attacking outright

but a twisting.

And here

it's through Hamor.

You have a promise

of land.

You have a promise

of children.

You have a promise

of abundance.

Come.

Now here's your chance

for it.

with our wives

and giving your daughters.

At this point

Shechem pipes up

and says

hey I really want her.

If I've found favor

in your eyes

he says in verse 11

then give her to me.

No remorse.

No repentance.

The picture here

is of a hardness

of heart.

We can't look past that.

You might be thinking

seriously man?

After what you've done

your desire

desire is so strong

that you're going

to give any price.

But tactically

if you want to woo her

wouldn't you apologize

for this?

For what's happened?

Now here's a nugget

in here

that we don't get

until we go to the end

of the story.

It's not that Dinah

has gone back to Jacob

and they're asking

for her back

but they have held her

as we'll see later.

They've held her

in captivity

and they're saying

let us keep her.

Now during these negotiations

and these conversations

when we look through them

through the lens

of Shechem

having this hardness

of heart

this brutality

we see how much more

evil the actions are.

Now Shechem and Hamor

as characters

are not done yet.

Then they go

and convince

their countrymen

but they don't tell them

the whole story.

They don't tell them

of what they've done

to Dinah

or what Shechem

has done to Dinah.

They come to them

and they pitch to them

in pragmatic terms

hey we should do this

because it's going to

make us rich.

After all

who doesn't want

to get rich?

Look at verse 20

with me

as we keep going

through the narrative.

They say this

they came to the gate

of their city

they spoke to the men

of their city

and they said

these men are at peace

with us

let them dwell in the land

and trade in it

for behold

the land is large enough

for them.

Let us take their daughters

as wives

let us give them

our daughters

only on this condition

with all the men

or will all the men

agree to dwell with us

to become one people

and every male

is going to be circumcised

as they are circumcised.

So in the same scene

that we saw

where Lot was

at the city of the gates

where all the important

people gather

they pitch this idea

we're going to be

just like them

and we're going to be

circumcised like them.

Now if we think about it

they've kind of set the hook

and now they're just

reeling them in

as it goes on

through the narrative.

As Shechem and Hamor

say this

will not their livestock

they're talking about

Israel's livestock

their property

and their beast

all be ours

let us agree with them

and they will dwell with us

and in doing so

they're reeling them in

this allure of greed

of property

of animals

gets them to agree

to all be circumcised.

Now when we read

of Shechem

and Hamor's actions

it's really easy

for us

through their speech

to divorce

this coldness

of heart

how brutal

all of this is

but in that

we see

where their hearts

are really at

both Shechem

and Hamor

they're so blinded

by sin

that they're

agreeing

that they're going

out of their way

to manipulate

their countrymen

and they're so calm

about it

even though

it's so wrong.

So what's done

to Dinah

is wrong

without a doubt

but what happens

afterwards

shows us

how bad

they really are.

It's a gauge

of their hearts

how far

they are

from God.

Now the next

group of characters

are Jacob's sons.

Jacob's sons

if we're honest

and we encounter

this story

we might identify

with them

because they put

into practice

what we're thinking

as the story

unfolds.

When the events

against Dinah

transpire

where are they?

They're out

working in the fields

and when they come in

or when they hear

of this

they come in

and where Jacob

entertains the suitor

they come up

with this plan

very quickly.

They go quickly

very past

their sadness

to anger

but jump back

with me

to verse 7.

How it's written

in verse 7

is the same

exact language

as God

when he was

saddened

over sin

over the sin

of mankind

when it got

so bad

that he was

going to flood

the whole earth.

It uses the same

exact language

when he says

they were indignant

and very angry

because he had done

an outrageous thing

in Israel.

God says of himself

or the writer

says of God

this

and the Lord

regretted

that he had

made man

on the earth

and it grieved

him to his heart.

It's the same

wording.

It's so bad

it's so bad

to be compared

to the sin

of all of mankind

to flood the earth

and then they come up

with a plan

as Shechem comes

and says

name your price

so that I might

have her

they respond

deceitfully

and what do they do?

They said

you need to become

like us

and be circumcised.

They take something

that should point

to faith in God

circumcision

and they use it

for their deceitful

ends

to kill them all

and only then

after we've become

one people

they say

we will

give you

our sister

and the trick

of Jacob's son

is not for

monetary gain

like Shechem

and Hamor

but instead

it's for vengeance

vengeance

for their sister.

Turn with me

back to verse 25

on the third day

after their plan

had already been

pitched

and set in motion

when they were sore

the two sons

of Jacob

Simeon and Levi

Dinah's brothers

took their swords

and came against

the city

while it felt secure

and killed

all the males.

They avenged

what happened to her

and they kill

everyone

and then they kill

Shechem and Hamor

not just the two

who had executed

this against their sister

and we think

through their actions

we're confronted

with this reality

it doesn't seem right

it's right to be angry

it's right

to want justice

but then we have

the words of Paul

rolling around

in our heads

saying this

never avenge yourselves

but leave it

to the wrath of God

for it is written

vengeance is mine

he's quoting the Old Testament

I will repay

says the Lord

and then

it goes on

more of the sons come

more of the sons appear

and they take all the stuff

they do exactly

what Hamor

and Shechem

would have been doing

they take the wives

the children

their quest for justice

turns into greed

in the same way

that Shechem

took Hamor

now they take

everything in the land

of Shechem

excuse me

in the same way

that Shechem

took Dinah

and Hamor

helped him do it

the brothers

now take

everything in Shechem

killing them

and the rest of the brothers

help them all do it

now as we think

about this story

we are kind of

left with the question

of where is Jacob

in all of this

it's kind of like

where is Waldo

you know that

kids book

where you're looking

for that man

in the red

and white striped

shirt

and the hat

and he finds himself

in all these

circumstances

of pandemonium

he's in ancient Egypt

one page

and the next page

he's at the beach

and you got people

doing beach things

and getting attacked

by sharks

and then you have

people navigating

ancient Egyptian culture

and building pyramids

and you're challenged

to find where

Waldo is

in the midst of it

you gotta look

for that man

in the red

and white striped hat

and shirt

where is Jacob

while all of this

is going on

in the pandemonium

of his own sons

the brutality

of his own children

and what's happened

to his daughter

where is he

that's the question

that's what we should

walk away from this text

Jacob is absent

Jacob is silent

Jacob is nowhere

to be found

where is Jacob

when Dinah

went out

in the first place

where is Jacob

speaking up

for his daughter

when these suitors come

knowing that

they're the ones

who executed this

against his

daughter

it's not him

that speaks up

it's his sons

where is he

in all of this

where is he

when his sons

hatched this plan

where is Jacob

oh there he is

he comes on the scene

at the very end

and what does he say

to his own sons

who fought

for the honor

of his sister

he says

why did you do this

you made me

bad

you made me evil

stink

in the eyes

of these people

are you serious

Jacob

you care more

concern

you care

more

for your own skin

than the concern

of your own daughter

how could you do nothing

how could you do this

the words of John

in the New Testament

are kind of haunting

when we think about

this story

John writes this

in 1st John

for all that is

in the world

all the desires

of the flesh

and the desires

of the eyes

and pride of life

is not from the father

but is from this world

Jacob is blinded

by everything

that Shechem offers

the security

the safety

the wealth

that he's not

stirred

to anger

stirred

to judgment

when we read

stories like this

it can make us

feel really yucky

inside

we don't really know

what to do with it

we just know

that it's wrong

we don't know

what to do

and in the midst

of we ask

where are you Jacob

where are you God

why aren't you

coming and making

all these things right

it's tragic

and the same is true

of us today

the terrors

of our own lives

whether we relive

them in our own minds

or we remember

smells

or the actions

of other people

and we ask

where were you then God

why don't you come

and judge these people

why don't you come

and judge

Shechem

and Hamor

why don't you come

and judge

Simeon

and Levi

and the reality is

when we clamor

for justice

and judgment

we are equally

guilty

before the Lord

for we won't

have to answer

for the sin

of Shechem

the sin of Jacob

the sin of Simeon

or Levi

we will answer

for our own sin

and we are held

under judgment

that same judgment

that we want

that same justice

is pointed to Christ

the one who gave

of himself

the one who didn't

deserve to die

and yet we call out

and say

where's justice

just like Simeon

and Levi

we ask where God is

and yet we sit silent

knowing that our hearts

condemn us

where are you God

God is on the cross

in the form

of Jesus

he is God

and man

given of himself

completely innocent

and yet we clamor

for justice

and what retribution

and it's meted out

on the person

of Jesus

and we're called

not to judgment

but to delight

in the mercy

that we've been shown

in Jesus

he's the only person

that didn't deserve

to die

and yet we call out

asking for judgment

knowing that we

are the ones

that put him there

how do we live

in a foreign land

how do we live

in this world

where are you God

when we need you

he's offered to us

in the gospel

he's offered to us

in Christ

for he's overcome

all evil

and as we wait

as ones with hope

let us hold fast

to the mercy of God

let's pray

Lord we ask this morning

that we would come

to you in faith

recognizing that there is

evil in our day

maybe we've even been

the recipients of evil

but Father

let us not clamor

for judgment

but clamor

for mercy

cry out

and remind our hearts

that Christ

has paid for our sin

upon the cross

we pray this

in Christ's name

amen

let's stand this morning

and sing

may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may