COMING UP EMPTY-HANDED

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind. 11:29a 
The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live. 15:27

Proverbs 11:29a, 15:27

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Consider the story of Levi and Simeon from Genesis, Chapter 34:

Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her. His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman. So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”

And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came. Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing which ought not to be done. But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”

Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”

But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us. But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”

And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was more honorable than all the household of his father.

And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying: “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.” And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled. They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field, and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?” Genesis 34:1-31 (NKJV)

In sum, Shechem, a Gentile, took sexual liberties with Dinah, a Jew. Interrelations between Jews and Gentiles were forbidden and so Dinah became defiled when Shechem violated her. Shechem was so infatuated with Dinah that he asked his father, Hamor, to make arrangements for them to get married.

And so Hamor and his son went and met with Jacob to discuss the matter and while they were there, Jacob’s two sons, Simeon and Levi, came and became involved in the discussion. Scripture tells us they were incensed at Shechem over what he had done to their sister.  

Hamor, after listening to the sons’ anger, was not discouraged in what he had come to do. We know this because he made the following proposition to Jacob and his sons:

“The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves. So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”

In addition to this, Shechem made his own plea:

“Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”

The offer seemed reasonable. Although Shechem had taken sexual liberties with Dinah, he loved her and longed for her. Hamor proposed that Jacob and his sons intermarry with the Gentiles, dwelling with them and enjoying all the land could offer. It’s obvious that this would lead to them growing in wealth and material gain. Shechem was willing to meet whatever demands they might have for a dowry in order to take Dinah as his wife.

So would Jacob and his sons accept the offer?

Of interest, it isn’t Dinah’s father, Jacob, who speaks first but her brothers and they answer Hamor and Shechem with their own proposal, one that the scriptures tell us right up front is deceitful. Here’s how they replied:

“We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us. But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised, then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”

It seemed simple enough to Hamor and Shechem. The major problem at hand seemed to be that they and their people were Gentile while Jacob and his family was Jewish. With this, the sons of Jacob agreed to the proposal for Shechem to marry Dinah on one condition:

Every male in Hamor’s community had to be circumcised so that they would become Jews, the circumcision of the males representing their commitment to the covenant the Jews had with God. Once they were circumcised, then all would be fine and intermarrying would not be an issue to include Dinah and Shechem becoming husband and wife.

We read where this ultimatum was favorable to Hamor and Shechem who went back home and began to work on responding to the request from the sons of Jacob. Shechem first was circumcised and then he and his father convinced the rest of the men to follow suit. All seemed to be working out as planned.

Too bad that Simeon and Levi were lying and scheming in order to exact revenge. They had no intention of carrying through with their part of the bargain. Instead, they had plotted all along to commit murderous retribution to redeem their sister’s honor, or so they believed. Of interest here is that they never discuss their thoughts with their father or with God. They were set on their own program.

And so when the men of Hamor’s land were recovering from their circumcision procedures, Simeon and Levi each took his sword and went boldly upon Hamor’s city, killing all males including Hamor and Shechem before taking away their sister Dinah. After killing the men, they plundered the city, taking the sheep, oxen, and donkeys as well as all that was in the field and in the city. All the wealth of Hamor’s land was theirs and they took the wives and children of the murdered men into captivity.

As payback for Shechem’s actions against Dinah, Simeon and Levi had committed far more atrocity than what had been committed against their family and without even consulting their own father. Not a whole lot of honor in that and remember that one of God’s commandments was to honor your father and mother. There wasn’t anything honorable about what Simeon and Levi had done out of their rage and as we read the words of Jacob, we learn that they actually placed their entire family in harm’s way through their actions:

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

Simeon and Levi thought they were doing something honorable. What they had done is imperil everyone in the family for as word of what had happened to Hamor and his fellow Gentiles had spread, revenge from the other Gentiles, the Canaanites and Perizzites, would be coming and Jacob’s household would be no match against them.

So what do we see in this Old Testament story?

We find this proverb come alive.

Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind. 11:29a

We ought to heed this word of God because there is no shortage of people in our world today who act just like a Simeon and Levi, committing acts that bring ruin on their family. The ruin doesn’t need to be a result of a murderous scheme. Maybe it is behaving in some way that brings dishonor to your family, damaging their reputation. Maybe it’s mistreating and abusing your relatives within the family circle, bringing dysfunction and fractured relationships. Maybe you have deceived a family member into getting something entitled to another (remember Jacob and Esau and the birthright deceit that happened with their father Isaac?).

There are plenty of ways to bring some form of ruin on a family. This is certain. What is also certain is that anyone who takes this approach is going to end up empty-handed, just like someone who tries to hold onto the wind. You can’t do it.

So does God’s word show us an example of this becoming truth?

Absolutely for look at how things turned out for Simeon and Levi.

And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:

“Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father.”

“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council; let not my honor be united to their assembly; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.”

Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.   Genesis 49:1, 5-7 (NKJV)

Simeon and Levi had dishonored his father and family through their murderous cruelties. And so when it came time for Jacob to pass on honor to his sons, none was to be had for the two brothers who chose to willfully butcher an entire community. Instead of a blessed inheritance, they would experience a cursed one, the people in their tribes divided and scattered.

Friends, our dealings within our families matter to God. If they didn’t, then His word wouldn’t address them in such a strong fashion. Are we willing to learn from the word of God today and seek His guidance and counsel in all matters so we can avoid behaving sinfully while carrying out our will? Or will we choose to allow sin to lead and guide us into actions that will damage our families, and most of all, our relationship with our Father in heaven, the Father we should always be seeking to honor above all.

Pursuing His righteousness leads to blessing. Rejecting righteousness for wickedness will only leave one empty-handed.

So what will it be?

God is ready to respond in your life accordingly.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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