The Best Way to Gain God's Promises-Genesis 32:13-34:31; Psalm 14; Proverbs 3:19-20

When Jacob arrived back in Canaan with his family, he was able to acquire a little bit more of the land God had promised him. It cost him 100 pieces of silver, but Jacob had land in Canaan to call his own.

 

And then another opportunity came up when Jacob’s daughter Dinah was seduced and possibly raped (the NIV says “violated,” Genesis 34:2). How could this be an opportunity? Shechem, the young man who violated Dinah’s purity, was the ruler’s son. And he decided he wanted Dinah to be his wife. He was in love with her. So he and his father approached Jacob with an offer of peace, an offer to allow Jacob’s family free access to their Canaanite soil. All they had to do was allow Shechem to marry Dinah.

 

This could have been a tempting proposition. This was, after all, the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And God is able to bless His people even through other people’s evil behavior.

 

But Jacob and his sons rejected the offer. I’m not sure they rejected the offer entirely because of faith in God to fulfill His promises without Canaanite help. And Jacob was certainly distressed with the way his sons rejected the offer – deceiving and killing every male in Shechem’s city. But still, they were not willing to barter their sister’s honor for personal gain. Immorality and compromise are not the way to gain God’s promises.

 

It seems as though it would have been better for Jacob’s sons simply to let Hamor and Shechem know that they were not willing for Dinah to be Shechem’s wife. It would have been scary because the rejection might have invited war; Shechem had already shown an inclination to take what he wanted by force. But Jacob’s family served the God who makes and keeps His promises, who protects His people. They would have been safe.

 

While they did not demonstrate that kind of faith, they showed that immorality is not the route to personal gain. Even in making that statement, their sinfulness and destructiveness went too far. But the statement was made.

 

Father, help me not to compromise when people encourage me to permit sin to continue by offering me personal gain. Help me to trust You. Help me to stand for righteousness. Help me to leave vengeance in Your hands, unlike Jacob’s sons. But remind me to pursue You and to cling to Your way of receiving good things. You are my Provider. You are my all-in-all. I can live with Your gifts; they are enough. And I can live with Your promises, looking forward to their fulfillment; they are glorious! I would gain nothing by trading Your promises for earthly comfort, wealth, or prestige.