February 14, 2023

God of justice

Genesis 34

Elissa Massey
Tuesday's Devo

February 14, 2023

Tuesday's Devo

February 14, 2023

Tuesday's Devo

February 14, 2023

Tuesday's Devo

February 14, 2023

Big Idea

We can trust God when we don't know how things will turn out.

Key Verse | Genesis 34:13-14

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 one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us."

Genesis 34

The Defiling of Dinah

1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. 2 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. 3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

5 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. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 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.

8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your 1 34:8 The Hebrew for your is plural here daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. 9 Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” 11 Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Ask me for as great a bride-price 2 34:12 Or engagement present and gift as you will, and I will give whatever you say to me. Only give me the young woman to be my wife.”

13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. 15 Only on this condition will we agree with you—that you will become as we are by every male among you being circumcised. 16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”

18 Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem. 19 And 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. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 “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, and let us give them our daughters. 22 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. 23 Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” 24 And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

25 On the third day, when they were sore, two of the 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. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29 All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered.

30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites. My numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” 31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Footnotes

[1] 34:8 The Hebrew for your is plural here
[2] 34:12 Or engagement present

For more on verses 26-27, check out today's podcast.

Listen Now

Dive Deeper | Genesis 34

Dr. Thomas Constable begins his commentary on this passage by noting, "The name of the Lord isn't mentioned once in this chapter, and the wisdom of the Lord is surely absent as well." 

The story begins with Dinah traveling into the city to visit her friends. Her intentions are made clear, and what happens next is not her fault. Shechem decides he wants her for everything he thinks she can give him, not thinking about what he could give her. What happened to Dinah is heartbreaking and what comes next is also heartbreaking. 

Jacob responds with people-pleasing selfishness and passivity. To avenge their sister's defilement, her brothers lied, murdered, and pillaged. Jacob's lack of leadership in this situation created a void that was sinfully filled by his sons. 

A commentator writes, "Taken as a whole, as it is intended, the Bible describes evil as something God allowed, but never condoned, for the sake of our free will. All through history, God has taken steps to limit the influence of evil." Evil in this world breaks God's heart. God knew that giving His children free will meant that evil will occur because we naturally fall short of the glory of God. 

However . . . 

Unlike Jacob, God is not a passive Father. God is a Father who would go so far as to give His Son over to death to redeem your hurt, your sin, and your hardships (Isaiah 53:5). This is the greatest display of love ever made, that Jesus died on the cross in your place and was raised to life again to make you a new creation. If you've placed your faith in Jesus, you've been washed and made spotless by the blood of the Lamb (Psalm 51:7). 

In this broken world, God is using the evil of man for His redemptive purpose. Your hurt won't be wasted, and one day, the God of justice will return to restore His people. May we continue to hold fast to that hope, fixing our eyes on Jesus despite the trials and hardships of this life (Psalm 34:17-22).

This month's memory verse

9  Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
    but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

– Proverbs 10:9

Discussion Questions

1. Our actions reflect our hearts. These hearts were so terribly far from God's heart, and evil occurred. Is your heart aligned with God's? How can you align or realign your heart with His heart today? What steps are you taking to limit the influence of evil in your heart?

2. Where in your life do you see rebellion against God? What steps can you take today to get right with Him? Confess this with your trusted community!

3. Spend some time in prayer/journaling thanking God for the areas of your life He has redeemed. Are there any lies holding you back from believing He's redeemed you from a specific sin or circumstance! If so, confess that  to your Heavenly Father.

As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!

HS

Hugh Stephenson

GM Elissa! Love your TC quotation. Me and Jacob are slooooowww learners. Genesis 34. Know God Know Peace No God No Peace My three favorite promises; joy, peace, and rest, (John 15:10-11, Philippians 4:6-7, and Matthew 11:28-30). How do I get these promises? Abide, (John 15:10-11), Pray, (Philippians 4:6-7) Come, (Matthew 11:28-30) If I don’t know God then there is no way to joy, peace, and rest.
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Hugh Stephenson

Then there is “Adam -like” passivity. I know way too much about that. Verses 30-31 convey Jacob’s passivity and self-focus- “He does not condemn them for the massacre, for abusing the rite of circumcision, or even for breach of contract. Rather, he protests that the consequences of their action have made him unpopular. Nor does he seem worried by his daughter's rape or the prospect of intermarriage with the Canaanites. He is only concerned for his own skin." TC’s notes OK- Maybe this is better: the God of the universe can redeem passivity into purpose.
HS

Hugh Stephenson

And then there’s the audience. The Exodus generation is hearing these stories. What might they be thinking? The notes edify- “…the story nevertheless also carries along the theme that runs so clearly through the Jacob narratives, namely, that God works through and often despite the limited self-serving plans of human beings. The writer's purpose is not to approve these human plans and schemes but to show how God, in his sovereign grace, could still achieve his purpose through them." I link back to Genesis 1:26-28. “Elohim” invites me into partnership with Him. He doesn’t need me. His plan does not depend on me. I can’t screw it up. Even so, choosing Him over me leads directly to joy, peace, and rest.
MS

Michael Scaman

You have to feel sorry for Dinah, being the only daughter mentioned she was a bit lonely and went out to be with some other young women. It's amazing how God protected the family of Abraham from being wiped out with so many tragedies. The understandably upset brothers did rash things and that will continue. The town wanted Jacob's family to dwell with them and be absorbed in to their community and in some ways this tragedy stopped that keeping them separate, a people set apart for God's glory.
SB

Sue Bohlin

Outstanding devo, Elissa! This is my second year to journal through JTJ by recording what the text says/teaches about God in each chapter. As Dr. C noted, there's nothing to write from this chapter. God is missing altogether because NOBODY remembered Him, nobody inquired of Him, nobody asked for help and He did not say or do anything to record. So sad. But I find it interesting that the text says, "The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully . . ." Like father, like sons. Deceit was Jacob's middle name. But it doesn't have to be that way. Praise God we all get to choose whether to repeat the sins and bad habits of our families. We all get to say, "The bad pattern stops HERE."
MS

Michael Sisson

Re: Gen 34:25 While they’re not punished in this chapter, Levi and Simeon ultimately pay a heavy price for their misdeeds. (Gen 49:5-7) Re: Gen 34:28 There is no mention of “hamstringing oxen,” as mentioned in Gen 49:6 (NIV), nor “digging down walls,” as mentioned in Gen 49:6 (KJV). Either there are details of Levi and Simeon’s vengeance omitted from Gen 34:28-29, or the phrase in Gen 49:6 is metaphorical.
AL

Amy Lowther

1. Yes. Through continued study and practice of God’s Word, I will get healthier and more aligned with God. Also, my alignment with God will be healthier if I continue to share God’s Word with fellow believers. Steps to limit the evil in my heart include: budgeting and making lists, watching games and championships with sincere consideration to God’s ideas and values, and just reading in the Word as often as I can. 2. I see rebellion against God when something goes wrong for someone at work or at church. To get right, I encourage the person to try and correct things if it was something valuable to them. 3. Prayer: God thank you for redemption when things go wrong. Thank you for being a rock and pulling us through when most of us would give up and go elsewhere. Your words and your love are outstanding. Thank you for your continued efforts. Amen.