Bible Study Online Article
After Jacob had settled in the city of Shalem which was a city of Shechem, Dinah his daughter becomes curious and ventures out to explore their new home. While she was out, Dinah decides to attend a festival and while she was there she runs into the prince of the land who went by the name Shechem. Being that Dinah was between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, she would fall for Shechem's advances. Because of this, she would lose her innocence and Shechem would be charged with defiling her. But the prince was in love with Dinah, so he convinces his father to go before Jacob and make a proposal for Dinah's hand in marriage. Jacob would hear Hamor and Shechem's proposal. "Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the girl as my wife," Shechem pleaded. But Dinah's brothers had become enraged after hearing what Shechem had done to their sister. So after they had heard the proposals that had went forth, they responded. "We can't do such a thing; we can't give our sister a man who is not circumcised. This would be a disgrace to us. We will give our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. "Then we will give you are daughters and take your daughters forourselves. We will settle among you and become one people with you. But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we'll take our sister and go," the brothers replied. The proposal that they gave to Shechem and his father seemed good. So the prince wasted no time, for he was delighted and in love with Dinah. Shechem and his father went to the gate of their city and spoke with their fellow townsmen. "These men are friendly towards us. Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. "But the men will consent to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. Won't their property and all their animals become ours? So let us give our consent to them, and they will settle among us," Shechem and his father told them. So they all agreed and every male would be circumcised. Two days would pass and on the third day while the Shechemites were still in pain from being circumcised, the scriptures let us know that Jacob's sons, which were lead by Simeon and Levi would enter the city and begin attacking the Shechemites. Simeon and Levi would be successful when it came to putting all the men to the sword. Every male Shechemite would fall, including the prince Shechem and his father. They would take their sister Dinah from Shechem's house and left. In the meantime the rest of Jacob's sons would enter the city and looted the bodies of the men that had been slayed. So they plundered the city in which their sister had been defiled. They took their flocks, herds, donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out of the fields. They carried off all their women and children and everything in the houses. When Jacob had heard about all the things that his sons had done, he responded by saying. "You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and the Perizzites (dwellers or villagers in the fields), the people living in this land. "We are few in number and if they joined forces against me and attack me, I and my household would be destroyed." But his sons felt like their actions were justified. "Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?" they shot back. When Jacob's sons had made the counter proposal to Shechem and his father, this was done under the design of trust - but in actually, Dinah brothers would have different plans when it came to the Shechemites. This we know, so why did God allow for all the townsmen to fall under the sword because of the sin from one man? We must keep in mind that Shechem's intentions were honorable and honest when it came to atoning for his actions with Dinah. For I believe that Dinah played a role in this whole ordeal, for falling for Shechem's advances so therefore allowing herself to be defiled. There's no doubt that Shechem loved Dinah very much and was willing to do all he could to earn her hand in marriage. But he made a terrible mistake when he took the proposal back to his townsmen with an added corrupt condition. "Won't their property and all their animals become ours? So let us give our consent to them, and they will settle among us" Instead of presenting this proposal to the townsmen as a simple act of loyalty for the sake of their prince, he added another condition into the mix. This condition would be offered in order for the townsmen to go along with the circumcision agreement. By agreeing to do a required bloody ordinance in order for them to enter into the same covenant as Israel, with a corrupt agenda attached. They would put themselves in a position of trying to take something away from Jacob. This is a huge mistake, being that Jacob is God's servant and so therefore under His protection in spite of his sons sinfulness. Remember that it was Jacob's sons who planned and carried out the murderous plot against the Shechemites - not Jacob. I believe that it was for this reason that God allowed them to be destroyed under the wrath of Jacob's sons. So therefore the Shechemites would lose everything instead of trying to gain all that Jacob had gained under the providence of the Lord. "In the meantime the rest of Jacob's sons would enter the city and looted the bodies of the men that had been slayed. So they plundered the city in which their sister had been defiled. "They took their flocks, herds, donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out of the fields. They carried off all their women and children and everything in the houses."
Start at: Jacob - The Path of Uncertainty 56) Rachel the Thief 57) Jacob's Mistake 58) Laban's Pursuit 62) The Reconciliation of Jacob & Esau 63) Dinah the Daughter of Israel 64) <-CURRENT PAGE->  CrossDaily.com Web Search where you can VOTE FOR THIS SITE & other great ones. Christian search engine, directory & voting index. You'll find Bible, chat, churches, jobs, music, reviews, software, theology, & more. See the best sites!
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