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13 But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us. 15 But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, 16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 17 But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone. ~ Genesis 34:13-17
Today, we continue our study of Genesis 34 where Jacob and his family have settled in a town called Shechem. They were supposed to be in Bethel just about 30 miles south of Shechem. While in Shechem for a few years, one day a young man by the name of Shechem raped a young girl named Dinah. When Dinah's brothers learned of the rape, they were furious about it. Today's passage gives further details regarding how Dinah's brothers were going to respond to the disgrace exacted upon her by Shechem.
In v.13-14 of today's passage we read, "13 But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us."
In response to the plea of Shechem and his father for him to be granted Dinah's hand in marriage her brothers objected. They objected because they saw through the deceit of Shechem. From the beginning of time no one could make a promise upon no name greater than the name of God. In Hebrews 6:16 we read, "For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute." This had been the standard since the very beginning. But, by Jacob’s time, people by and large were no longer invoking the name of God in reference to their vows. So, the sons of Jacob came together to form a plot against Shechem and Hamor. Since they had been provoked by the evil that Shechem exacted upon their sister, they acted deceitfully.
The sons of Jacob were quite foolish to be defined by the men of Shechem but this is how deceit works. Satan is the author of deceit and he never tries to get us to follow him directly. No, he always tries to get us to follow him indirectly by getting us to put ourselves on the throne of our lives. After all that is what he did. It was wrong for Shechem to have raped Jacob's daughter Dinah, but it was utterly dumb for the sons of Jacob to give in to deceit themselves.
Interestingly, Jacob's sons brought attention to the fact that Hamor and his son were not circumcised and that they could not allow Shechem to marry Dinah until they were circumcised. In their deceit, they used religion as a cloak to cover their diabolical plan to get even. They knew that circumcision was an object lesson that God gave to Abraham and his posterity to remind them of His commitment to them. In the New Testament book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul is adamant that when Gentiles come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ do not need to be circumcised. In fact, he utilized the object lesson of circumcision to assert that religious activity does not garner the favor of God in our lives.
If we trust that the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross is sufficient for our salvation, then circumcision is unnecessary. But if we attempt to be justified before God by getting circumcised then he says that we will become estranged to Christ and become debtors to the entire law. The sons of Jacob used the word of God as means to accomplish their wicked purpose.
In v.15-17 of today's passage we read, "15 But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, 16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 17 But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone."
The sons of Jacob had absolutely no intent on consenting. The rest of the story will bear this out. They were making a show of their personal standards as superior to those of Shechem and using them as a tool against them by supposedly claiming that they will be joined to them through the sacred rite given to Abraham for his descendants. God never intended circumcision to be a practice for the Gentiles.
The sons of Jacob appeared to be bargaining with Hamor and Shechem in order to bring about reconciliation, but instead it was a trap which would end in death. Using the covenant reminder of circumcision as a ploy to kill one's enemies is wicked. It would be like using baptism to drown people. Sadly, Jacob's sons showed no concern whatsoever about the spiritual condition of Hamor and Shechem. Just because our sin is forgiven and Christ has earned our salvation doesn't mean that we are not capable of the worst imaginable things. It is the wickedness that is yet within us all that screams out our need for the Savior in every possible way.
While living in Shechem, Jacob was threatened by a much more difficult problem, ease and prosperity. Though his major struggles seemed to be over, Jacob's most difficult struggle with maintaining his faith in the God of the Bible during a time of ease and prosperity was his most difficult. Throughout this chapter Jacob was like a deer in the headlights. He was silent! This is why Scripture says we should rejoice in various trials and tribulations, as they are useful at pushing us to follow the Lord. It is much harder to be faithful to God in ease than in difficulty. And it appears that Jacob and his family began to neglect God during this season of their lives.
