Genesis 34 narrates the darkest hours of Jacob’s life. Not only in terms of things that happen to him, but also in terms of his own sin in response to those things. His only daughter, Dinah, is raped. Jacob responds with what seems like apathy – clearly the rotten fruit of favoritism (Dinah being Leah’s […]
Jacob
Favor with God
In Genesis 34 there is a young man named Shechem who rapes Jacob’s daughter, Dinah. It is a terrible thing. Strangely, Shechem falls in love with Dinah, the girl he most certainly did not love while he was taking advantage of her. In love as he is, Shechem goes to Jacob to seek Dinah’s hand […]
A Gospel Application from Genesis 34
Genesis 34 is a dark and difficult chapter in Jacob and his family’s life. To begin the chapter, Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, is raped. As the story unfolds, the young man, Shechem, who took advantage of Dinah, ends up wanting to marry her. Dinah’s brothers who are justifiably outraged, deceitfully strike a deal with people of […]
The Divine Wrestler
The latter portion of Genesis 32 contains the event of Jacob wrestling with God. It is a Sunday school story those of us who grew up in church know, but not one we understand. While it is what we might call a “cool” story it often leaves us a bit puzzled. I think one of […]
Resurrection in Genesis 31
Genesis 31 contains the narrative that describes Jacob’s exodus, or departure, from Laban after working for him for 20 years. If you are familiar with the story, you will know that Laban didn’t treat Jacob with the most integrity. Laban famously tricked Jacob into marrying Leah, Laban’s eldest daughter, whom Jacob did not want to […]