Genesis Chapter 34

This is the sort of story that is made into a film. There is love (well, passion at any rate), pride, sex, deceit, betrayal, lies, violence, greed, murder - all the hallmarks of what apparently describes a good film or makes for excellent newspaper headlines in the tabloids.

Dinah is raped and Jacob's sons, especially Simeon and Levi, are really upset about this, understandably. They feel that their sister has been defiled and that because they have been set aside by God, they are special, holy, a cut above the others, better than the townspeople of Shechem. So they trick the men of Shechem into getting circumcised - the thought of getting their hands on the flocks and herds of Jacob and his sons persuades the townsmen to undergo this painful procedure. Then when they are still recovering, Simeon and Levi walk into town and kill all the men. The rest of the brothers then follow on, taking the little children and wives captive, looting and plundering everything they could lay their hands on. Jacob is appalled, saying that his name would now be mud and all the inhabitants of the land would join together to destroy him and his household.

It’s a case of two wrongs do not make a right. Repaying evil with evil is not the right thing to do. How can theft and murder be the right response to rape? Yes, it is easy to sit here and take the moral high ground, and if I had a sister , or if it had been my daughter, I may well think differently. I was hearing last night about Christians in Pakistan who are 2.5% of the population. Women believers there are often raped, young girls and women may be kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam and then married to a much older man. If Christian women work as servants in a rich Muslim's house, they are treated like dirt and often beaten, maltreated, raped. Many are raped and then thrown onto the streets where they have no choice but to turn to prostitution. It is truly heartbreaking to hear of God's people being treated this way, His sons and daughters being persecuted and I just sit here warm and cosy in my nice house, in front of my computer when their faith, their lack of hatred against their oppressors, their warmth, their courage, their smiles in the face of persecution, puts me to shame.

And what about Dinah? She is mentioned only briefly in the bible, firstly to tell us she has been born (Genesis 30:21) and then here where she is raped, given to Shechem and then nothing more is heard of her. Imagine her reaction when after being raped her own brothers agree to give her in marriage to the man who attacked her! She is actually in Shechem's house when the men of the town are killed, and her brothers then take her back to the camp. And Jacob? He is more concerned about what will happen to him and his household than about what has happened to Dinah.

Evil is never the right response. The consequences of this action followed Simeon and Levi and their descendants ended up losing that part of the Promised Land that they had been given. We are told to keep the peace as far as possible though (1 Peter 3:11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it - KJV) and whilst this doesn't mean being a doormat and letting others attack us without taking any steps to defend ourselves, it certainly doesn't mean taking revenge in such a brutal and deceitful way.