1. Genesis Title: Genesis - Jacob: Life in Canaan (Dinah/Reuben/Simeon/Levi) Text: Genesis 34:1-31, 35: Genesis 34:30 (NIV84) 30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi,“You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the Canaanites 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.” By: Pastor Micah Adamson March 31, 2019
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2. Introduction: Last time in Genesis, we read the happy ending of Jacob’s story in Genesis 33.
Jacob returned from 20 years in exile in Babylon, back to the Promised Land.
Jacob overcame in his struggles with Laban his father-in-law, Esau his brother, and even the LORD his God, making peace with all of them through official covenants.
Jacob followed in Abraham’s steps by building an in Shechem as a public declaration that all good things he had were blessing from the LORD His God.
Jacob is back in God’s presence in the Promised Land, the new Garden of Eden, like heaven on earth.

3. Overview of Genesis 34-35: Jacob’s life in Canaan was marked by hardship in each location he lived.
Sin and death have been linked since Genesis 3, and continue to be linked, even in the promised land.
Gen. 34: Shechem (Shechem sleeps with Dinah)
Gen. 34: Shechem (Jacob’s sons kill the men of Shechem)
Gen. 35: Bethel/Luz (Rebekah’s nurse dies)
Gen. 35: Ephrath/Bethlehem (Rachel dies)
Gen. 35: Migdal Eder (Reuben sleeps with Bilhah)
Gen. 35: Mamre/Kiriath Arba/Hebron (Rachel dies)

4. Review of Genesis: Sin and death/sex and violence plays a big role in the storyline of all of Genesis.
Adam (Cain, Abel, Seth)
Murder (Cain) + Sexual Sin (Cain’s line)
Noah (Shem, Ham, Japheth)
Violence (Worldwide) + Sexual Sin (Sons of God + Canaan)
Terah (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)
Violence (Esau + War in Sodom) + Sexual Sin (Canaanites/Patriarchs)

5. Genesis 33:18-20 (NIV84) – Jacob moves to Shechem
18 After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. 19 For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. 20 There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.

6. Genesis 34:1-4 (NIV84) – Shechem’s crime against Dinah
1 Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her. 3 His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her. 4 And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”

7. Genesis 34:5 (NIV84) – Dinah’s Father’s Response
5 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.

8. Genesis 34:6-10 (NIV84) – Shechem’s Father’s Response
6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. 7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that should not be done.
8 But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9 Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it.”

9. Genesis 34:11-12 (NIV84) – Shechem’s Response
11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. 12 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.”

10. Genesis 34:13-17 (NIV84) – Dinah’s Brothers’ Response
13 Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob’s sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14 They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 15 We will give our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 16 Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We’ll settle among you and become one people with you. 17 But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our sister and go.”

11. Genesis 34:18-24 (NIV84) – Shechem’s City’s Response
18 Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man, who was the most honored of all his father’s household, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to their fellow townsmen. 21 “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. 22 But the men will consent to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. 23 Won’t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us give our consent to them, and they will settle among us.”
24 All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.

12. Genesis 34:25-29 (NIV84) – Dinah’s Brothers’ Crime
25 Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 26 They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. 27 The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. 28 They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29 They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.

13. Genesis 34:30-31 (NIV84) – Dinah’s Father’s Response to her Brother’ Crime
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the Canaanites 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.”
31 But they replied, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”

14. Genesis 35:21-22a (NIV84) – Reuben’s Crime
21 Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 22a While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.

15. What can we learn about God from Genesis 34?
God’s commitment to truth.
God’s ability to bring good out of evil.
God’s grace.

16. What can we learn about ourselves from Genesis 34?
Our need to be on our guard in the world.
Our need to confess our own sin.
Our need to share the good news of God’s grace with others.

17. 1 John 1:5-2:2 (NIV84)
God’s commitment to truth/Our need to be on our guard: 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. God’s ability to bring good out of evil/Our need to confess our own sin: 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. God’s grace/Our need to share God’s grace with the whole world: 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.