Genesis 34

The Shedding of Blood

Frequently our reading of a Bible story is broken by an incident or a narrative that at first glance seems to have little to do with the bigger story that we have been reading. No doubt many acts of war and savagery took place in these far-off days among the sons of Jacob; but the Bible focuses in Genesis 34 on one incident surrounding Dinah, Jacob's daughter. Her birth has been mentioned in 30:21, but the reference is brief and nothing else is related about her.

It is interesting that in the larger Bible picture, which traces the history of God's redemption through a male line, often women are mentioned. Although the focus of redemptive history is largely on the sons of Jacob, this incident centres upon his daughter, and she is first introduced as the daughter of Leah, rather than as the daughter of Jacob. All of this serves to remind us that although the covenant revelation in the Old Testament is focused for us upon the line that runs from Noah, through Shem, through Abraham, through Isaac and through Jacob, God's particular election serves a universal purpose. The choice of God of these individuals as the blood-line through which salvation will come to the world will affect others also. It is impossible that the Gospel should impact only a certain race or a certain group or a certain constituency of people. The story of the Bible impacts many people in many different ways.

The story begins with Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, who rapes Dinah and then wishes to marry her. Immediately we are introduced to the concept of relations between the covenant people, to whom God has promised Canaan as an inheritance, and where, indeed, Jacob has just built his altar to the Lord, and the enemies of God's people who occupy the surrounding nations. Indeed, the story will have as its outcome the complaint of Jacob that there will be continual warfare between his people and the inhabitants of the land (v30).

Hamor, the father of Shechem, and Jacob the father of Leah have a conference. It is decided that Shechem may have Dinah as his wife on condition that every male among Hamor's people be circumcised. Interestingly, the Bible says that the sons of Jacob, in laying down this condition, spoke 'deceitfully' (v13), which throws us back to the deceit which was so much part of Jacob's own early circumstances. The deceit is seen in the fact that far from calling for repentance and spiritual reformation before the God of the covenant, the sons of Jacob are here abusing the precious covenant sign of circumcision and using it as a common bargaining tool. The enemies of God's covenant people agree to this - they are circumcised. This is nothing but an abuse of covenant privilege. They now look like God's people, but they are far from being God's people.

The real reason for the request soon becomes apparent. The sons of Jacob intend to kill and plunder the city. While the males, recovering from their having been circumcised, are unable to retaliate with their full strength, Simion and Levi led an attack, recovered Dinah, who had been held in Shechem's house, and plundered the city. Jacob, who has been characterised by non-involvement up to this point, now chides his sons for what they did, and realises that now he must live on the edge, worried that in the eyes of the inhabitants of the land, he will be "obnoxious" (v30), and his life might be in danger. First, Jacob is worried about the threat from Esau and his men. Now he is worried about the threat from the inhabitants of the land.

What are we to make of this? Why this intrusion into the narrative? Let me suggest three reasons:

First, this incident reminds us of the consequences of man's rebellion against God. Genesis never lets us forget what sin has done in human life, stripping men of their dignity, robbing them of their integrity, denying them peace of heart, conscience and life. There is no blessing down the road of sin. But not only has the human race become twisted; Jacob's own life is a personal commentary on what happens "when first we practice to deceive". His life has been a constant experience of deceit and deceiving, and his sins have a way of soon returning onto his own head. God is not mocked; what men sow, men reap. We cannot think that we can sow the seeds of self-interest and self-justification and win the approval of Heaven.

Second, this incident reminds us of the calling of God's people to be separate. Circumcision had as its primary function the dividing between the covenant people and the enemies of the covenant. It was a distinguishing, as well as a distinctive, sign. It was not to be prostituted and used for bargaining with. Jacob's sons show how little they appreciate of the blessings of God's covenant and the privileges of God's grace by cheapening the covenant ordinances God has appointed. Instead of living holy lives to God, consecrated by being separated, they try to make common ground, planning to execute their own judgement and exact their own form of justice and retribution. The call of God to us still is to live our lives in a way that shows our high regard for the things of God: for God's word, and worship, and ordinances, and for the privileges he has lavished upon us. If we reduce the holy things to the level of our sin-sick society, we will not know God's blessing. God does not call us to retreat from involvement in society; quite the opposite. We are to be salt, and light. We are to do good to all men. But we are to do so always conscious of our calling to please him.

Third, this incident reminds us of the continual spiritual warfare between the forces of sin and the power of grace. Jacob fears that he will be hated by the inhabitants of the land. The incident recorded for us here gives justification for his fear. The whole chapter is a reminder of the fact that Christ has come to bring a sword that divides (Matthew 10:34). There is a war going on between the power of sin and the power of grace, between the devil and the Saviour. There is no doubt as to its outcome: Israel will possess the land. Victory will belong to the people of God. But while we are here, we are engaged in a warfare that means we need the whole armour of God to stand fast against sin, against temptation, against compromise of our profession and against worldliness in our hearts and lives. That involves a destruction of sin that is the work of a lifetime. But "thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" (1 Cor 15:57).