English Language Bible Study Guide for February 8, 2008
Jacob and his family blend in with their neighbors. Or not.
Genesis 34
I. The prince’s Di (1-5:)
1: “Going out” is not a crime is it? Wanting to “see” what’s going on around you is not a crime is it?
2: A significant point is that Shechem “defiled” Dinah. (Compare “defiled”/”humbled” in verses 5 & 13, “folly” in verse 7, “as with a harlot” in verse 31.)
3: Is this affection a turn of events?
II. The pre-wedding proposal (6-17:)
6, 8-12: Negotiating for a bride
9-10: Why can’t we just get along with one another?
11-12: Shechem speaks with Dinah’s father
14-17: Using religion as an excuse for sin
III. Love and greed can make a man do the most painful things (18-24:)
19: At least Shechem wasn’t thinking about the money as were his neighbors
23: It’s like a big corporate takeover–we give a little with this circumcision thing, but then we get a lot when we have our people in place.
IV. Slaying the innocent with the guilty (25-31:)
25: How much boldness does it take to charge the enemy when his pants are down?
26: Dinah was in the house? Voluntarily?
27-29: Spoiling the enemy. Or were they?
30: Sons #2 and #3 disgrace themselves, dishonor their father and endanger their families.
31: Yes, Shechem had done wrong. But that doesn’t justify Simeon and Levi’s conduct.
Meditation Points:
- Innocent amusement often leads us into trouble, whether we ask for it or not.
- It may not be possible, at this late date, to determine Dinah’s part, if any, in encouraging Shechem; but surely her brothers thought that she had been mistreated.
- Laban said that custom forbad Rachel’s marrying before Leah’s; Jacob’s sons go one better and plead that religious custom requires all in-laws to be circumcised.
- Greedily the men consented to circumcision, not suspecting what would occur 3 days later
- Can anyone justify the mass murder that took place?
- Simeon and Levi remove themselves from the line of Messiah’s descent.
Genesis 35
I. Out with the images once for all (1-5:)
2: Jacob knew that people in his household were holding (and using) idols/images
4: But all false religion must be put away if he and they were to walk with God
4: Earrings?
5: Fear of God in the hearts of would-be attackers kept Jacob’s family safe
II. The covenant confirmed (again) (6-15:)
6: As instructed, Jacob journeyed back to Bethel
10: The name change revisited
11: El-Shaddai. The God of Abraham
14: The drink offering is poured out–not drunk.
III. The twelfth son (16-20:)
18: With her dying breath Rachel named him “Benoni”, but Jacob called him “Benjamin.”
20: Jacob erected another pillar
IV. Jacob visits his father before Isaac dies (21-29:)
22. Reuben, the firstborn, removes himself from the line of descent
23-26: Jacob’s 12 sons listed
27: Finally back home
28-29: Isaac died at age 180.
Meditation Points:
- Do you have any idols or images which you should bury?
- Are your father and grandfather believers?
- Pillars, reminders of having met God. Do you carry any reminders of precious seasons of fellowship with God?
- Often, when we are trying hardest to please God, others close to us jump into sin.
- Isaac was old and weak-eyed at the time of Jacob’s departure. But God graciously granted that Jacob could see his father again after more than 20 years apart.
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