We read in Genesis 34, verses 1-7 about Leah, Jacob’s daughter
“Now Dinah, the daughter Leoh had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her. And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.” When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he kept quiet about it until they came home. Then Shechem, father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. Now Jacob, sons had come in from the fiekls as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing Israel by lying with Jacob, daughter—a thing that should not be done.
Dinah went to the world for “fellowship.” She did not keep herself pure for God. The Scripture says, “What fellowship does light have with darkness?” She was of the people of God, going out to fellowship in the world. Rather than fellowship, she become violated, impure. stoats we being “violated” by the world?Seeking its music, clothes, style… entertainment industry…it, all trying to suck you in and use you to get money — the industry is all run for a buck: for mones another “god.” These pursuits do not lead to godliness. Where in all this was Leah? Did she not mother this girl or teach her the ways of God? Why did she let her go off into the world, to seek the world, fellowship? Did she have no fellowship at home? Was the inheritance of God not enough for her?This chapter is a sad commentary on the failure of faith in the home and mother She let her go. Leoh had an opportunity to raise a woman for God —there were no other daughters that we know of.
There was a time that Leah spoke of “praising the Lord, Gen 29: 35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the LORD.”
She named that son “Judah,” meaning “praise, What happened to praising the Lord, and teaching her daughter to praise the Lord? Something did not get passed on to Dinah. Perhaps Leah was a bad example, or so self—absorbed that she did not see her daughter wandering off in heart before she wandered off in body. This is also the failure ofJacob. He was a very experienced professional shepherd. Would he shepherd and protect his sheep but not his children? Are not children more important than sheep? Are you so concerned for your livelihood — serving the “god” of money—that you ignore the greater provision for your family — that of faith?
Genesis 34: 11- 13 “Then Shechem said to Dinah, father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask.” 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.” “Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob, sons replied deceitfully, as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor”
We see they spoke to Jacob too. Where is he? Is he silent as Adam was next to Eve in the garden while Satan deceived her and had his way with her? The world wants to consume us. The world is affecting us when we are the ones called to be light to the world. Who is evangelizing who?
Genesis 34: 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem, house and left.
This account is reminiscent of the angels rescuing Lot, when he made his home in wicked Sodom and Gomorrah. There she is in Shechem, house. There she is in Sodom and Gomorrah. What is she doing there? She wanted worldliness. “Here is this guy who is second in command and he wants me? Wow — what a ‘catch’,” she may have thought. Perhaps this made her feel “important” because God wasn’t. She was impressed by his prominence, not put off by his paganism.
Genesis 34: 30- Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You hove brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the Canaonites and Perizzites, the people living in this land We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.” v 31. But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”
Now Jacob speaks, but out of concern for himself and his flocks. What about God? Then God speaks: get back to God. Then Jacob acts like the father/shepherd he should be and tells his family to get rid of idols and sin. He had let them slide into idolatry and worldliness.
Genesis 35:1-4 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the ook at Shechem.
We see Leah’s duplicity, her harboring of idols. This house was infused with idolatry. Leah “praised the Lord” yet had idols. Her duplicity destroyed her daughter and rendered her faith powerless. She paid a high price to keep her idols. She had no influence or restraint over her daughter. But God in His mercy comes and speaks. It, not too late to call your family back to God. Jacob, daughter was a casualty, his sons took matters into their own hands, and he had let them go. But God in me, comes to him and calls him back to Himself. He responds in repentance and leads his family back to God. Then we see God giving him a new name. Then we see God blessing him.
Genesis 35:9-10 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be IsraeL”So he named him Israel… If God is speaking to you, harken to His voice and repent. Get rid of your idols. You are to be a sanctifying influence in the home. This cannot happen if you are not sanctified. Take this lesson from Leah. Heed God, warning:
Heb 4:7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, —”Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
© Marie-Celine Farver RN BSN IBCLC RLC 2014