If you have a copy of the scriptures today, let me invite you once again to turn to the book of Genesis. And if you've been worshiping with us, you know that on these Lord's Day mornings, we have been of late working through the book of Genesis. Sometime back, we looked at Genesis chapters 1 through 11, the creation, and then we took a break and we turned to the New Testament, went through the epistles of John, and then we came back to Genesis, Genesis 12, and we started listening to the account of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And we're drawing closer to the conclusion of that. Today, God willing, we're going to look at Genesis chapters 33 and 34. And if the Lord sees fit, next Sunday, we'll look at chapters 35 and 36, and that will bring us to the end of the survey, inspired survey of the life of Jacob. And we're gonna go back then after that to the New Testament. We'll return to the New Testament, and then at a later time, we'll come back, Genesis 37 through 50, the account of Joseph. But we're nearing the end of this focus, on Jacob, although Jacob is going to be there obviously in the life of Joseph as well. And we're looking at two chapters together, yes, two chapters together. I'm going to read just a portion from both chapters and then, God willing, we will look at the totality of this. And we're going to start off looking at Genesis 33, verses 1 through 4. Let me invite you as you're able. Let's stand together in honor of the reading and hearing of God's word. Again, I'm reading from Genesis 33, beginning in verse 1, wherein Moses faithfully records, and Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau came, and with him 400 men, and he divided the children unto Leah and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. And he passed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. And then from chapter 34, we'll look at verse one. And Dinah, the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem, the son of Hamor, the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her and defiled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob. And he loved the damsel and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor saying, get me this damsel to wife. And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his cattle in the field. And Jacob held his peace until they were come. And then from Genesis 34 in verse 25. And it came to pass on the third day when they were sore that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword and came upon the city boldly and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went out. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and spoiled the city because they had defiled their sister." Here we'll end this reading of the word. May the Lord bless it to the hearing, reception of his people. Let us join together in prayer. Gracious and loving God, we give thee thanks again for thy word written as we stand before it today. We ask for the illumination of the Holy Spirit, that thou would open our eyes that we might see, unstop our ears, loosen our hearts, take away our defenses, break down any barriers, and let us hear these words, not as the words of men, but as what they are in truth, the word of God. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. Well, as I noted, we are returning today to this exposition of Genesis and this present exposition in particular of the patriarchs and at the life of Jacob. And of course, God has been working out his plan of salvation from Genesis 12 in these fathers of the Old Testament church, in Abraham, in Isaac, and in Jacob. And the promise had been made to Abraham back in Genesis 12, one through three, that from his seed, there would arise a great nation. And those who bless that nation will be blessed. Those who curse that nation would be cursed. And the promise was made that through that great nation, all the families of the earth would be blessed. And of course, we now look at that passage through the light of the New Covenant, the New Testament, and we see that it would be through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, through that line, there would come Judah, from Judah would come David, and from the line of David would come the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, when we look to the first page of the New Testament, the first line of the New Testament, Matthew 1, verse 1, it says of Christ that he is the son of David, the son of Abraham, meaning the descendant of Abraham. And so in the fullness of time, salvation would come through Christ. And now we're in Genesis, we're at the roots of this, we're seeing the unfolding of this great plan of salvation. It's being unfolded before us. We have stressed the fact before that when it comes to Jacob, that God had sovereignly chosen Jacob to be the bearer of this covenant. Jacob was a twin. He and Esau were in the womb of their mother, Rebekah. It had been Jacob, even though he was the second born, coming out of the womb, grasping the heel of his brother, that he was the one the Lord chose, sovereignly chose to bear this covenant forward. Paul will explain this in the New Testament in Romans 9, 11. He'll say that God chose Jacob before these boys did anything good or ill that his purposes according to election might stand. And so the Lord chose to work through Jacob. And indeed, early on, it didn't seem there was much merit in Jacob. Why did God choose Jacob? He didn't choose him because he seemed to be a godly man, a spiritually minded man. In fact, quite the opposite. His name, very name meant the supplanter, and he did deceitful things. He took advantage of his brother Esau, Esau's hunger, to trade a bowl of stew for his birthright. Then later on, he had deceived his own father, Isaac. He had pretended to be Esau. He had put on Esau's clothes and his father's eyesight was failing. He had put the hair of the sheep on his arms and around his neck to fool, to deceive his father so that Isaac would give him the family blessing. And so there was a lot we've heard up to this point about Jacob that hasn't been particularly flattering to him, spiritually speaking. But he was the man God chose, God in his sovereignty chose. And we can, we can see how he's chosen not just to be the instrument for bringing about salvation, bringing about the physical line for the birth of Christ, but we see also how God chose Jacob for salvation. And slowly we begin to see signs that the Lord had not only chosen him, selected him to be the covenant bearer, but also he had begun to regenerate him. and that he had begun the process of sanctifying him. And I noted last time in Genesis 32 that I think we see some of the clearest signs of that. When Jacob was fleeing Laban and going back to having gotten his wife, Rachel, and then Leah, and coming back to his homeland, he knew that Esau was gonna be waiting there. And remember, when he had left the land of his father, having stolen the blessing, Esau had threatened his life. If you look back to Genesis 27, and you look at verse 41, it says, and Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, the days of mourning for my father are at hand. In other words, my dad is about to die. And then he says, then will I slay my brother Jacob. And Jacob is returning home now, having left Laban, returning with his wives and his children and all the increase that God had blessed him with. And he's coming back and he knows Esau is there. And it was at this point of crisis, I suggested last time, we begin to see spiritual life in Jacob. He's distressed, he's filled with fear. If you look at chapter 32, verse seven, then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. And what did he do? He called out to God. A man who hadn't shown much spiritual life, all of a sudden becomes a man who is praying, who's calling upon the Lord. And I noted, perhaps the high point of his spirituality thus far was in Genesis 32 verse 10, as he said, I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant. I'm not worthy of the least of thy mercies, the revelation of thy truth, I suggest he's like the publican in Christ's parable, the Pharisee and the publican in Luke 18, where the publican will not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but smites his breast and says, God have mercy on me, a sinner. Jacob seems to have reached this point and he cries out his prayer, Genesis 32, 11, deliver me, I pray thee from the hand of my brother. Jacob, it seems, at that point, had been stripped bare of any sense of entitlement. I don't deserve any of thy mercies, O God. And then you remember in Genesis 32, Isaiah was here last week. He told me I did not emphasize this enough. He's not here today, so I can't justify it in his sight. But in Genesis 32, Remember also he wrestled with the angel of the Lord. And so he had gone through the season of repentance and lowliness of heart and prayer. And then in Genesis 32, he's wrestling with the angel of the Lord. And in the end, the angel of the Lord is speaking with him, and really it's the Lord speaking to him. And he is given a new name. And you can look back at verse 28 of Genesis 32. Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel. And Israel means a prince of God. For as a prince hast thou power with God and with men and hast prevailed. So there's some gospel in this story. We're beginning to see signs, not only that Jacob is the means of the continuance of the promise through Abraham, but he's a man through whom God is working salvation and sanctification. And so there's gospel in this. There's some sense in which we can look to Jacob as a type for those who come to know the Lord. The man who comes to know the Lord humbles himself. He seeks deliverance from the Lord. He wrestles in prayer with the Lord. And by God's grace, he's made a new creature in Christ and he gets a new name and a new identity in Christ. Jacob still has remaining corruptions within him. We're not free of those remaining corruptions till we reach the glorified state. but he's a man through whom we're now seeing evangelical change, progress. But Jacob's story isn't done yet. Esau is still out there. Esau, the threat of Esau is still there. And we're gonna see that addressed in chapter 33. And then beyond Esau, there are threats within the land to which he is returning. And we're gonna see that in a really horrendous, horrible story. of conflict and defilement in Genesis 34 as he deals with the Shechemites. The title I've put over looking at these two chapters, the title of this message, Reconciliation and Vengeance. Chapter 33 is gonna lay out the reconciliation that will happen with Esau. Chapter 34, the vengeance that will be laid upon the men of Shechem. And that provides our natural outline for our passage today. We're going to look at chapter 33, reconciliation. Chapter 34, vengeance upon the Shechemites. So let's pick it up in chapter 33. And again, chapter 33 is really continuing this drama that had begun earlier with the conflict with Esau. It really goes all the way back to chapter 27, when Esau had threatened the life of Jacob when he returned. And so now, though, Jacob is coming back. And remember, what had he done? He had tried to smooth the way. He had sent messengers. He had sent, remember, he had lined up nine levels of gifts that would come one after the other to his brother to try to soften him up. He had prayed to God for deliverance, but he also said let me use my own ingenuity, let me try to use some means, and he had set up nine rows, waves of gifts that were to be received by Esau. And now we get to see how this is going to be played out. Look at verse 1 of chapter 33. Jacob lifts up his eyes, he looks, and behold, he sees Esau coming with 400 men. And again, it doesn't seem like a welcome party. These are men. If they're men, they're men of war. And maybe this is going to be a reckoning here between Esau and Jacob. And so Jacob, resourceful, clever as always, begins to divide up his family, and he puts them into groups. He puts Leah and her children together, Rachel and her son Joseph together, and then he puts the two handmaids, remember Bilhah and Zilpah, who had borne children to him. And then we see sort of the hierarchy within this family in verse two is he puts first of all the handmaids and their children. He puts them foremost. And then he puts Leah, the tender-eyed Leah and her children afterwards. And then last, most precious to him, he puts Rachel and Joseph. And again, we see a lot of things in Jacob that show he has remaining corruptions within him. And I would even go so far as to say that Jacob in some ways is kind of an anti-type to Christ here, because what happens with Christ? With Christ, there is no partiality. There's no favoritism. And yet Jacob is showing this kind of favoritism within his own family as he's lining up. If they wipe out Bilhah and Zilpah and their sons, I still have Leah and her children. If they wipe her out, I still have Rachel, beloved Rachel, and Joseph. But at least to his credit, he goes out first. He's the tip of the spear. He goes first. Look at verse three. It says, he passed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, a fullness of times. And then we're gonna see in verse four, the reaction of his brother. Verse four, and Esau ran to meet him and embraced him. and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. As you read this, is there a scene in the New Testament this reminds you of? Someone running out and embracing someone and kissing them. It reminded me of Luke chapter 15, the parable of the lost son, the prodigal son, where the father is scanning the horizon, and he sees the son who doesn't deserve forgiveness, and he runs out and embraces him. In fact, when our Lord told that parable, I wonder if he didn't have in mind, because he knew the scriptures inside and out, this very account. But here, by God's grace, Esau acts mercifully toward his brother. Esau asked him, in verse 5, he sees the entourage of all the women and the children coming afterward in the flocks, and in verse 5 Esau says, who are those with thee? And Jacob answers, the children which God hath graciously given unto thy servants. And then he brings forth The handmaids, in verse 6, and their children, they bow. Leah, verse 7, her children come and they bow themselves. Then Joseph and Rachel, they come and bow themselves. And then Esau asks, verse 8, what meanest thou by all this drove which I met? See, the wave of the nine herds of various flocks had come before. Jacob says, these are to find grace in the sight of my Lord. And then notice the response of Esau in verse nine. He said, I have enough, my brother, keep that thou hast unto thyself. When I read that, I thought, you know, that's really the response of someone who's truly forgiven someone else. I have enough. You've said you were sorry. You've come. You've bowed before me. You don't need to do anything else. You don't need to add anything else. I'm not weighing out and counting what else you have to do for us to be reconciled. I have enough. Wow. If you're ever in a situation where someone has wronged you, and they come to you and they ask for your forgiveness, will you be able to say to them like Esau did, that is enough. It's enough. It's cast into the sea of forgetfulness. There's no need for us to talk about it and worry about it anymore. It's enough. It's a pretty powerful, pretty powerful scene. But Jacob, Jacob is always the negotiator. And he's like, no, no, no, you must. It reminds me of a lot of, we talk about this conversations in the South, you know, that if you go to someone's house and they offer you, you know, something to drink or eat, you always refuse the first time and you refuse the second time. And then maybe about the third time you might say, okay, I'll take it. That used to be at least a social custom in the South that you refused the first couple of offers. And here is Jacob pressing upon him, verse 10. Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at hand. And in verse 11, he says, take, I pray thee, my blessing, which is brought to thee, because God hath dealt graciously with me. I think that's some indication here that Jacob realizes that He did not win Esau's favor through sending those herds and herds of animals before him as gifts. That was his human endeavoring to win the heart of his brother, the heart of an estranged brother. But actually it had been God who had been doing it. It had been God's work. And then, Finally, Moses records into verse 11, and he urged him and he took it. Finally, Esau says, okay, okay, I'll take it. And then Esau graciously says to him in verse 12, let us take our journey, let us go, and I will go before thee. I think offering his men that he had brought as protection. But Jacob also, tables are turned, he says no, He makes the excuse, he's there with his children and the flocks. He says in verse 13, the children are tender. In verse 14, he says, I will lead on softly according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children are able to endure. And then Esau says, well, in verse 15, at least let me leave some of my men as a residue to protect you. He says in verse 15, let me now leave with these some of the folk that are with me. And Jacob's response is, what needeth it? Let me find grace in the sight of my Lord. And so we have a full reconciliation between these two formerly estranged brothers and Esau goes his way and Jacob travels on in his way. And then the last few verses, We see this parting the ways. Verse 16, Esau returned that day on his way to Seir, the land of Edom. And then we're told in verse 17, Jacob journeyed to a place called Sukkot. And if you know a little bit of Hebrew, you know that Sukkot means booths. Jews to this day have a festival called Sukkot, the feast of booths. And here was a place where Jacob made booze for the cattle, the place was called Sakot. And he goes a bit further, verse 18, he comes to a place called Shalem. Sounds like the word Shalom or Salem, a place of peace. There's a city there of Shechem, and it is in the land of Canaan. And it says in verse 18, he pitched his tent before the city. Now, if we've been paying attention to this narrative, the very wording of this might bring us some concern because who else have we read about in this narrative who pitched his tent toward a pagan city and then later came into great difficulty? Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom. And again, here we see Jacob is still a man with remaining corruptions. God has delivered him. He's brought about reconciliation with Esau. And yet he comes into the land of Canaan and he pitches his tent towards this town of Shechem. We're told in verse 19, he bought a parcel of a field where he spread his tent. And he bought this from the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father. And now we're introduced to these two men, Hamor, and his son Shechem, he bought this for a hundred pieces of money, we're told. The authorized version in the notes, they say that word could also mean lambs for 10 lambs or 10 pieces of money. And then finally in verse 20, it says he erected there an altar and called it El El Ohe Israel. And so this is another, I think, sign Again, there's some troubling signs here, pitching his tent toward the city of Shechem. But on the other hand, when he arrives there, much as Abraham had done in his journeyings, he erects an altar, he establishes a place of worship, and he calls upon God, the God of Israel, L-L-O-H-E, Israel, God, the God of Israel. And so as we come to the end of chapter 33, this chapter about reconciliation, again, we see Jacob as a penitent man. He's a humble man. He's a praying man. He's a man who wrestles with God in prayer. He's a changed man. He's a redeemed man. He's a man given a new name, a new identity. He is reconciled to his brother with whom he had previously been at odds. And it ends with kind of an exclamation mark. He's a worshiping man. He's a man who is trying to raise in the land of Canaan an altar to the one true God. That's the description of every Christian who's living in this in-between age. We're raising an altar to the one true God in a strange land. It'd be nice to just end right there, wouldn't it? Wow. But there's chapter 34. and it's a story about vengeance. So we move from a scene of reconciliation to one of horror, violence, conflict, and vengeance. And it begins in verse one with the account of this young woman who is shamefully abused by a young man. It says in verse one, and Dinah, the daughter of Leah, which she bared to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. You'll remember that Dinah was Jacob's only named daughter, that she had been conceived and born to Leah, and that Jacob had 11 sons up to this point. Benjamin has not yet been born to complete the 12 tribes of Israel. She was given the name Dinah, which is like the name Dan. It's a feminine form of the name Dan, Dan means judge, or judgment, or righteousness, and this is her name. She's a righteous girl, a righteous daughter of Israel, and yet we're told at the end of verse 1 that she went out to see the daughters of the land. She went out to see the Canaanite women, and One wonders perhaps if there are not overtones here of Jacob's failure, perhaps as a bleeding father to protect his daughter. He lets her go unaccompanied among the pagans of the land. And sadly she falls into danger. In verse two, we read about a man named Shechem, bears the same name of the city he's from. Probably tell you something of his standing. He comes from the founding fathers of this city. He's the son of a man named Hamor, the Hivite. He is a prince of the country. And look at the description in verse two, it's very staccato. He saw her, he took her, he lay with her and defiled her. And so he violates the seventh commandment He does not approach her chastely, but he violates this young woman. And in some ways this account reminds us of future events that will be described in the Old Testament. You remember the story in 2 Samuel chapter 13 when Amnon lusted after David's daughter Tamar. And he forced himself upon her and this led to David's son Absalom striking down Amnon in vengeance. And that leads to a civil war between David and Absalom. But if you remember that account, there are also some things that are different because when Amnon defiled Tamar, we are told that afterwards Amnon hated Tamar. And the inspired author tells us in 2 Samuel 13, 15 that Amnon's hatred for Tamar after he had defiled her was greater than the supposed love that he had for her when he had lusted after her. In this case, however, if you look at verse 3 of Genesis 34, it says that Shechem's soul clave unto Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. And in fact, in verse four, it says that Shechem went to his father, Hamor, and he said, get me this damsel to wife. He seems obsessed with her even after attacking her. And he also seems, doesn't he, like a spoiled brat. He seems like a boy who's been indulged by his father, given everything he's ever asked for. And he says, get me this woman as a wife. And then in verse five, we read that Jacob heard of this. He heard that Shechem had defiled Dinah, his daughter. And when he gets the news, his sons are out working with his cattle in the field. And we're told at the end of verse five, Jacob held his peace until they were come. Jacob held his peace until they were come. This is perhaps another sign of Jacob's maturity and especially his spiritual maturity. Perhaps a sign of him possessing what Paul will call in Galatians the fruit of the spirit, which include the fruit of temperance or self control. Perhaps it was merely a pragmatic matter that made him hold his peace because his sons weren't there to help him fight a fight if he needed to. But for whatever reason, he demonstrates temperance or self-control. And then right away, verse six, Hamor, the father of Shechem, goes to Jacob, we're told to commune with him. to have fellowship with him and speak with him. And in verse seven, we're told the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it. And now we get the response of these brothers to the defilement of their sister. It says, and the men were grieved and they were very wroth because he, meaning Shechem, had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter, which thing ought not to be done." This is another place where there's a parallel with what happened with Tamar and Amnon. If you were to look at in 2 Samuel 13, 12, Tamar had said to Amnon when he had attacked her, she said, nay, my brother, do not force me, for no such thing ought to be done in Israel. Do not vow this folly. Now imagine these 11 brothers with one little sister. I tell you, if they're a group of brothers who have only one sister, how do they feel about that sister? You better not touch my sister. you better stay away from my sister. Brothers, the maleness in them will make them want to defend and protect the women in the family, but especially a little sister. And brothers, the brothers who are here in the room, if you have sisters, we treat our sisters right, don't we? We treat our sisters kindly, and we protect them. We're there to protect them. And so these brothers are angry, they're rough. And look at what they say, this man has done which thing ought not to be done. I read that, I thought, that's a pretty good description of all kinds of sin, isn't it? All kinds of sin, does that be sexual sin? What is sin? It is doing that which ought not to be done. In our Baptist catechism, sin is defined as the want of conformity unto or the transgression of the law of God. Lack of conformity, lack of doing God's law, and also breaking God's law. Which thing in Israel ought not to be done? And so we can anticipate what these brothers are going to do, what they're thinking. But they're still listening to Hamor. Look at verse eight, and Hamor communed with them, speaking to the brothers and saying, the soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter. I pray you give her him to wife. And so he says, my son Shechem really wants Dinah as wife. He's already defiled her. Why don't you give her as a wife to him? And then beyond that, he presses a little further, verse nine, and make ye marriages with us and give your daughters unto us and take our daughters unto you. And so what he's suggesting here now is intermarriage between the family of Jacob and the people of Shechem. And in many ways, when you look at this, this seems very pragmatic, doesn't it? It seems a way to assimilate, to incorporate, These two peoples, the family Jacob, which had just arrived with the culture of Shechem, no doubt this sort of thing had been done many, many times over the years with various alien people as they had settled in this land, but the people of Jacob, the people of Israel, were not like all the other nations. They were not like the Shechemites. They worshiped and served the one true God, Jehovah. Later on in the Bible, as the people of Israel stand at the foot of Mount Sinai, as the law is about to be given, the Lord addresses the people of Israel in Exodus 19, verses five and six, and he calls them a peculiar treasure unto me above all people. and an holy nation. We already saw previously in this narrative how Jacob and Rebecca and Rachel rather, or sorry, Isaac and Rebecca had been grieved at Esau's marriage to pagan women. And this is why they had sent Jacob back to their homeland, that he would find a wife who knew the Lord. But Hamor now is urging this plan of total assimilation. It continues in verse 10, and ye shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade ye therein and get your possessions therein. And so he's appealing basically to their greed. You will prosper materially if you will just compromise and we will just intermarry and our gods will be your gods. That's what's unstated here. Our gods will be your gods. All you have to do is compromise your spiritual convictions and we'll all intermarry and we'll all become one people and you will give up your attachment to Jehovah. That's essentially what is being offered. In verse 11 we learn for the first time that Shechem was also there and Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren let me find grace in your eyes and what you shall say unto me I will give. Can you imagine the blood boiling in the brothers? You want to find grace in her eyes after what you have done? And can you imagine the chutzpah of this guy, Shechem, coming into the presence of the father of the girl he has defiled, and the brothers of that girl, and trying to work a deal with them? He basically says whatever you ask of me I'm willing to do it, and we also see within this fellow he's sort of a figure for the man who is overwhelmed by his passions, a man who is overwhelmed by his lusts, and he's willing to part with anything to get what he desires. And so the brothers Well it continues, look at verse 12. Ask me never so much dowry and gift, I will give according as ye shall say unto me, but give me the damsel to wife. And in verse 13 we see that the brothers begin to formulate a response. Verse 13, And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and notice the adverb there, deceitfully They answer deceitfully. They have their own scheme that they're gonna work out. And again, this is one of those places where, are we meant to be approving of this? Is it ever okay to lie and act deceitfully? No. But remember the distinction we've made several times in this study of Genesis between descriptive and prescriptive. Sometimes what we're seeing is just describing what actually happened, including the sinful parts, the ugly parts. though it's not prescribing this is how we should behave, but this is what happened. So they acted deceitfully and they justified it because he had defiled Dinah, their sister. Verse 14, and they said unto him, we cannot do this thing to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised for that were a reproach unto us. And so they said, oh, it's such a great deal, but, uh, You see, we can't do it because we're Jews and God told us that we have to be circumcised. And they go back to that account that's in Genesis 17 of when the Lord told Abraham that all the males were to be circumcised. They would physically, literally stand apart in comparison to others. And so they're sort of using this covenant command in a sort of deceitful way, sort of really unnerving the way they do this. So you really ought to be circumcised. Look at verse 15, but in this will we consent unto you, if ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised, then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if ye will not hearken unto us to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and we will be gone. And so they deceitfully offer this counter suggestion. Oh, all you have to do is just all be circumcised. Well, Hamor and Shechem respond in the way that we've seen that they've acted previously. And that is foolishly. And they accept this. Look at verse 18. And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son. And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter. Again, we see a man controlled by his passions. He deferred not to do the thing. He couldn't wait to get circumcised, if he could get Dinah. That shows how out of control his passions were. He was literally willing to inflict pain to himself if he thought he could get the object of his lust. Shechem is a figure here for the man whose passions are out of control. And it says, there's kind of a, how do we take this note into verse 19? And he was more honorable than all the house of his father. I think it's meant to be a knock at the Shechemites. The most honorable man in their household was a rapist, basically, who had no control over his passions. Well, these guys go, Hamor and Shechem, they have a lot of influence, and they go and they negotiate the deal with the men of Shechem. Look at verse 20. And Hamor and Shechem, his son, came into the gate of their city and communed with the men of their city, saying, these men are peaceable with us. Therefore, let them dwell in the land and trade therein for the land. Behold, it is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. And then they give the promise of the material prosperity, sort of the carrot, this out in front of them. Verse 23, shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? Only let us consent unto them and they will dwell with us. So this account is not just showing the problems of lust, it's also showing the problems of greediness and materialism. And they're able to do it. They know the art of the deal. Verse 24, and unto Hamor, and unto Shechem, his son, hearkened all that went out of the gate of the city. Every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of the city. Aha, now the trap was laid, and now the brothers of Dinah, the sons of Jacob, are going to spring the trap. And so we're told after they had made this rash and foolish decision, which would seal their fate, the fate of their city, the fate of their very lives. We're told in verse 25 that on the third day, why did they wait for three days? Well, they waited perhaps. to make sure that all the men had gone through the procedure. They waited perhaps to allay any fears. They showed patience. They waited until the third day. And then at that time, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, why Simeon and Levi? They were also sons of Leah and Jacob. They were full natural siblings with Dinah and had a special bond with her. And so we're told in verse 25, each man took his sword, came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. Verse 26 tells how they slew Hamor and Shechem, his son, and they took Dinah, they rescued her from the household for rapist, and they went out. And then the other brothers came, verse 27, They came upon the slain and spoiled the city because they had defiled their sister. They took their sheep and their oxen and their asses and that which was in the city and that which is in the field. And see, they lost all that material, all those material goods they thought they were gonna gain from Jacob. They lost what they had. Verse 29, and all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives took they captive and spoiled even all that was in the house. In verse 30, however, we have the response of Jacob, who apparently was unaware of this plan of his sons. In verse 30, we read, and Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed. I and my house. And so what do we make of Jacob's response? Two things. Perhaps we are seeing here in Jacob another sign of spiritual maturity. He chastens his sons for taking this matter of vengeance into their own hands, perhaps rather than trusting in the justice of God. Jacob's frame of mind may match that of the Apostle Paul's in Romans 12, verse 19, when he said, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place under wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord. Secondly, though, Jacob also, ever the pragmatic man, saw the great risk that was hazarded in these actions against the Shechemites, and perhaps he was also fearful of the threats that were being made, spiritually speaking, to the promises that had been given to Abraham, Isaac, and now to him, that if the surrounding nations, they became a stink to them and they wiped them out, the promises God had made would not be fulfilled. But the brothers justify their actions, verse 31, the last word of this account. And they said, should he deal with our sister, as with an harlot. And we're left to ponder this action. Well, friends, we've worked through our passage, two chapters, two chapters, two chapters, yes. Perhaps already the spirit has drawn connections that you might make, might be applied in your life. Let me hasten to just share a few more thoughts about, spiritually speaking, what we might draw from this. Let's think about these two chapters. Let's start with chapter 33, the scene of reconciliation. In chapter 33, we see how the Lord himself worked out reconciliation between Jacob and Esau. God himself altered Esau's heart so that rather than meeting Jacob with the sword, he ran to embrace him, fall upon his neck, kiss him, and they wept at that reconciliation. By looking at the pattern of Jacob's life, as I suggested earlier, we might fruitfully examine our own lives. We might ask questions like this. Have I humbled myself before the Lord? Have I ever said to the Lord with all sincerity, I am not deserving of the least of thy mercies or of thy truth. I'm not deserving of what you have shown to me of thyself. Have we approached the Lord with lowliness of heart? We might ask, am I a praying man, a man who wrestles with God? And am I also then, as Jacob was, a changed man, a redeemed man? Have I been given a new name and a new nature by God? We might ask, have I been reconciled to my brethren? Is there an Esau out there? I asked this last week. Ask it again, is there an Esau with whom you might need to be reconciled? And I might also ask, am I a worshiping man? Have I raised an altar to God, the God of Israel in the midst of Canaan? And then let's turn to chapter 34, a few thoughts on chapter 34. Are you guys familiar with the Precious Moments figurines that, I don't know if they're still made, but it used to be when there were brick and mortar Christian bookstores, you'd go into an evangelical bookstore and there were these little Precious Moment figurines. I'm guessing there's never been a Precious Moment figurines made for Genesis 34. It's a horrible, horrible account. I wouldn't want to, my mind is thinking now of the Precious Moments figurines for this. It's a horrible account, but what might we learn from it? Well, one thing we learn is that we're like Jacob and the people of God at this time. We are a peculiar people and a holy nation living in a pagan land. And if there's one thing positive we can say about Jacob and his sons, whatever we might debate about what they did in their fallenness here is, they did have an unswerving commitment to the Lord and they did not accept the deal that was offered to them by Hamor and Shechem, that they would become fully integrated with the Shechemites. They resisted. the promises of prosperity and being one people with the men of Shechem. Instead, they had a zeal, however misguided it might have been at points, for set-apartness and for holiness. In 1 Peter, the apostle Peter, drawing upon the book of Leviticus, exhorted the believers. 1 Peter 1, 15 and 16. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. There is indeed also a theme here of God's protection for his covenant people throughout the entirety of these two chapters. God's protection for his covenant people. There's reconciliation with Esau, the Edomites. There's vengeance upon the Shechemites. And yet, this whole passage from here in Genesis, the arc of the whole narrative going through the Bible will eventually lead us to something greater that's in the New Testament. Paul wrote about it in his epistle to the Colossians. The mystery that is going to be revealed, that salvation will come to the nations. The risen Lord will give the great commission to his apostles in Matthew 28, 19 and 20. Go and teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you. And lo, I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world. Go teach all nations, Edomites and men of Shechem, and men who are part of the physical seed of Abraham, Jews, and men who are not part of the physical seed of Abraham can be made the spiritual seed of Abraham by faith in Christ. Here's another interesting thing here. If you look at the Gospels, John chapter four, John chapter four, and if you look there at verse 12, actually a couple of verses earlier than that, if you look there in John four, the Lord Jesus goes to a place in Samaria, and it's a place that's called Sychar, and it sounds a bit like Sheket, And it's a place where there is a well that's called Jacob's well. And the Lord Jesus meets there a Samaritan woman. And you know the story. He offers her living water. He says, I can give you living water. And she says back to him, that's in John 4, 12. Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself and his children and his cattle? You can give me living water. And he tells her, if you have the water, if you drink this water from this well, you'll get thirsty again. He basically says, I can give you water and you'll never be thirsty again. I can give you the living water. And of course he was talking about faith in him, knowing him, satisfying your spiritual thirst. And she says, are you greater than our father Jacob? And what's the answer to that? Yeah, he is. Yes. He's the new and greater Jacob. And he makes the offer of living water to men of all nations, Edomites, Shechemites, Jews, and Gentiles. Those who trust in him may be reconciled to God through Christ, through the blood of the cross, which Paul talked about in Colossians 1. Those who reject him on the other hand face not only temporal consequences for the wages of sin is death, but also eternal ones. After looking at these scenes from the life of old Jacob, let us turn to the new and better Jacob and drink of the living water. Amen. Let me invite you to stand together. Let's join in prayer. Gracious and loving God, we give thee thanks for thy scriptures and especially these ancient accounts of the people of God of old. And although there are many things that separate us in time and culture and language from those saints of old, there is something that is exactly the same and nothing has changed. We are fallen men in a fallen world and you have sent forth in the fullness of time thine own dear son. And so we give thee thanks for this account and let it draw us closer unto Christ. We ask this in his name and for his sake. Amen.