Daily Devotions
Genesis
"I entreated Your favour with my whole heart; Be merciful to me according to Your word." Psalm 119:58
Text: Genesis 34:1-31
SILENCE ON JACOB’S PART
To any other person, Hamor’s offer would have been snapped up immediately! But Jacob was strangely silent after he heard the offer of Hamor. What made him hesitate?
1. Jacob was already wealthy
Hamor’s offer of acquisition of more wealth may not have appealed to Jacob, because he was already wealthy. His success was due to his skill in animal husbandry. Even more importantly, Jacob knew that he owed his wealth to the Lord his God. He would not rely on Hamor to gain further wealth. To accept Hamor’s offer would be to betray the Lord!
2. The main issue
Jacob knew that the main issue lay in the matter of his faith in God. His father, and he himself had not married any of the local women on grounds of faith! Hamor and Shechem did not share their faith! How could Dinah be unequally yoked with Shechem? Could any offer be tempting enough to compromise his faith in God?
AN IMPASSIONED APPEAL
Shechem noticing the silence of Jacob extended his father’s offer. Perhaps Hamor had not offered enough to Jacob. Surely Dinah was worth far more! He was willing to pay any amount as bride price for Dinah!
“Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers,
‘Let me find favour in your eyes, and whatever you say to me
I will give. Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give
accordingly to what you say to me; but give me the young woman
as a wife.'”
GENESIS 34:11-12“Whatever you say to me I will give”
Shechem must have loved Dinah to make this offer to Jacob! He was prepared to pay whatever dowry that was demanded from him! Perhaps Jacob’s tribe had different customs from that of the Hivites. Perhaps they wanted much higher dowries and gifts! Whatever marriage customs Jacob wanted to follow, Shechem was prepared to meet those demands! Shechem truly loved Dinah!
“Give me the young woman as a wife”
This impassioned plea must have been a truly moving thing to hear! If only Shechem had not violated Dinah, he might have stood a better chance. If he had expressed a spiritual desire to discover more about the faith of Jacob, he might have been better received. But Shechem’s rape of Dinah was something that her brothers could not overlook or forgive!