Day 12, January 12 Bible Reading
Day 12, January 12
Gen. 33 Esau welcomes Jacob
Gen. 36 Esau’s descendants / Edom’s kings and chiefs
Gen. 34 Shechem rapes Dinah / The revenge of Dinah’s brothers
Gen. 33
Do you think Jacob put the maidservants and their children first to meet Esau in case they get killed first or to soften Esau up? Remember Jacob could see Esau coming with 400 men. That’s scary.
It is amazing how time in this case seems to heal all wounds, yet not all suspicions. Esau was very welcoming. Jacob was still hedging. When Esau suggested that they journey together, it is clear Jacob really does not want to go.
God blessed both Jacob and Esau with many riches. Their relationship was restored, perhaps for the first time, in spite of their father “blessing” them with the younger ruling over the elder. And even though Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, they naturally knew their place when Jacob bowed down to his older brother.
Jaxcon was supposed to be headed back to Bethel where God appeared to him. It turns out that Jacob was up to his old tricks of deception again and he apparently had no intentions of going to Seir or seeing Esau, so he heads to Succoth, which is in the opposite direction of Seir, where he stayed in “booths” not in a house.
Now, we don’t know why he left there and moved to Shechem, but it was neither Seir nor Bethel, so Jacob is still living the lie, since he bought land from Shechem’s father and apparently intended to stay there, and now his daughter pays a price for that.
Gen. 36
This detailed the genealogy of Esau. Esau was Edom. They dwelt in Seir.
This shows how God separately blessed Edom. “For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were strangers could not support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom.”
Gen. 34
So we have another rape, or sexual deviancy in Genesis. Shechem violated her when she was out on a girl’s night out, and then professed his love. What a strange way to express your love.
Women were treated as the father’s property back then. Hamor, Shechem’s father, went straight to Jacob to patch this up with an offer: Give Dinah to Shechem and make marriages with our family, stay and trade in the land and get rich. Even Shechem said, name your price and I will give a handsome dowry. Now what would make him think that Jacob and his angry sons would agree to that?
Hamor actually saw an opportunity, and really wanted Jacob’s riches. So everyone is playing games now.
Like sons, like father. They told Shechem to be circumcised first before they can marry Israelite women. They all agreed. Their fate was sealed.
This looks like this was Simeon’s and Levi’s plan, Dinah’s brothers., They did not even tell their father. Did you notice they killed all the men and took not only livestock, but women and children? What do you think of this?
I find it strange that Dinah was in Shechem’s house. So was this consensual or kidnapping?
Jacob was extremely worried about retribution from the Canaanites when they heard about this.
This entire family was dysfunctional.
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