Are you reading the Bible through with me? Grab your pen and journal, and get ready to write your thoughts as you journey through the Bible.
Today, read Genesis 34-36. Jacob’s daughter Dinah is raped by the son of the ruler of an immoral community. The son, Shechem, did wrong, but seemed to truly love Dinah and offered a proper dowry to marry her. His father, Hamor, offered friendship to Jacob’s family, suggesting his son be forgiven and their people join together in trade and intermarriage. But while Dinah’s brothers appeared to agree to the terms, they actually planned revenge. They twisted God’s covenant with Abraham and told Hamor that he and his community must be circumcised before the wedding. Right after the circumcisions, Jacob’s sons took revenge, killed the men, enslaved the women and children, and plundered the town.
It appears as though Jacob’s trickery with Esau came back to haunt him again with his own sons tricking an entire town. Perhaps they had learned this behavior from their father. But this also meant that Jacob had to constantly look over his shoulder and wonder if other neighboring towns would seek revenge on him and his sons for the massacre. Regardless, God had a purpose in this event.
What begins as a particularly brutal passage really culminates with God calling Jacob back to where he had first really met God -- Bethel. Sometimes, even after a life-changing encounter with God, we can get headstrong and focused on our own agendas and subtly slip away from God. God had warned his people not to intermarry with the pagans who worshiped other gods. Hamor and Shechem were certainly from that group. Now, years later, God calls Jacob back to the place where he first met Him. Evidently, Jacob and his family had drifted away from God.
If you ever feel far from God, if He ever seems distant and silent, guess who moved away? You did. If you ask, He will tell you when, how and why you slipped out of His presence, and He will forgive and restore you.
Write about the time when you first met God.
In what ways have you drifted away from Him?
What can you do to get back to a joyful relationship with Him?
Pray: Lord, forgive me for those times when I become so consumed with my life that I let it crowd You out. Forgive me for slipping away from Your Presence. Reveal to me how and when those things happen in my life and do not let me rest until I am reunited with You and experience in a fresh way the passion and power of the Holy Spirit in my life.
