Genesis 34:1-7 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.
There is a right way and a wrong way to
deal with injustice and sin. Dinah suffers at the hands of a sinful man who was
unable to exercise self-control and restraint, which led him to seize and rape
Dinah. Jacob is greatly angered, infuriated by this and rightly so. Such
actions and behaviour is never acceptable, it must be exposed, the offender
dealt with and the victim cared for. As has already been mentioned, there is a
right way and a wrong way of doing this. We see this difference in the manner
in which Jacob responds and the manner in which his sons, especially Simeon and
Levi, react. We are told that whilst Jacob was angered he held his peace for a
time, until his sons returned from the fields. We can only assume that Jacob
waits for his sons to return, so that they might comfort and care for their
sister, and Jacob would then speak with his sons as to how they should react
and respond to the situation.
Jacob’s sons do not hold their peace,
they react immediately and sinfully. They deceive the men of the town, make
false promises and then murder the men and plundered their village. The
sinful actions of others against us, is never an excuse for us to react in a
sinful manner. Jacob’s grief and anger is multiplied, not only has his daughter
been shamelessly and severely humiliated, but now his sons have blood
stained hands having murdered numerous men. Simeon and Levi, unlike Jacob, are
not aware of the fragile and potentially dangerous situation they have now put
their entire family in. They are foreigners in the land, and if news of this
should travel to the local inhabitants, they make seek revenge for the blood of
their countrymen and come after Jacob and his entire family. The rash
over-reaction of Simeon and Levi has endangered their entire family. They may
have avenged their sister, but now they are the ones with blood stained and
guilty hands.
We have a very acute sense of justice,
and it is heightened when someone is grossly harmed and humiliated. Our
desire for justice and the grief we experience when there is injustice is good
and right, it is evidence of the fact that we are created in the image of God,
for goodness and justice come from God. Unfortunately in our strong desire to
see justice served we often react in an ungodly and sinful manner, instead of
exercising restraint and seeking the wisdom and help of God. This lack of
restraint and sinful reaction only serves to compound the problem and leaves us
just as guilty of sin as the original offender. Christ is our great example in
this regard, for whilst a great evil and injustice was committed against him, he
exercised restraint and entrusted himself and his cause to God the Father. He
trusted in the justice of the Father and the means, manner and time in which
God the Father would administer that justice. This does not mean that we simply
allow ourselves to be walked over. Should someone harm us, we are to call for
justice and to trust those who have been put into positions of authority by
God, to administer justice in the right and fitting manner. During this
process, we also entrust ourselves to God, not hungering after revenge, or
responding in a rash and sinful manner. Should justice not be served in the
right manner and the offender escape unpunished or is lightly punished, again
we entrust that to God and do not resort to a Peter-like, vigilante justice,
taking matters into our own hands. We are to trust God and to leave it to God
to exercise His justice in His time.
Our Heavenly Father, we thank You that
You are the Just Judge. You are a God who is the very definition of justice,
truth and goodness, You uphold justice and come to the aid of those who are
oppressed and suffer injustice. We thank You that no one will be able to escape
Your justice, for all men must stand before You and give an account. We pray
that You would help us to respond in a Christ-like and God-honouring manner
when we are sinned against, or treated unjustly. Keep us from rash and sinful
reactions and retaliation. Father, help us to trust those in authority and most
of all to trust You, to trust Your justice and the timing of that justice.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment