2 Tim. 3:16 says that all Scripture is God-breathed. Do you believe that Gen. 34, the chapter which we shall consider in this message, is God-breathed? We need to look to the Lord that He would show us how this portion of the Word is the breath of God. When I was young, after I had read chapters like Genesis 34 once or twice and the story had been fixed in my memory, I skipped over them. Whenever I came to this chapter in my reading of the Old Testament, I would remember that Jacob's daughter was defiled and that his sons mercilessly killed people and plundered the city, and I passed over it. However, the Lord has shown us that even this chapter is the breath of life. Although there is life in this portion of the Word, it takes experience to appreciate it.
In order to apprehend the life in chapter thirty-four, we must look both backward and forward. Prior to this chapter, Jacob had been delivered out of all his troubles. For twenty years, Jacob was retained under Laban's squeezing hand, and he was very troubled by this. Eventually, it was impossible for Jacob to stay with Laban any longer and he left his uncle's home. God had told Jacob that He wanted him to return to the land of his fathers. Jacob, however, could not forget what had happened there, for it was there that he had deceived his father Isaac and had supplanted his brother Esau. Although he was willing to return to the land of his fathers, he had to confront the great problem of facing his brother Esau. Nevertheless, taking the word of the Lord and utilizing his skill and cleverness, he stole away from Laban, not informing him that he was leaving. By stealing away from Laban, he overcame his first difficulty, that of being under Laban's squeezing hand. But then there was a second trouble: Laban pursued Jacob and finally caught up with him. But God intervened, telling Laban not to say anything either good or bad to Jacob. Thus, Jacob was wholly delivered from the hand of Laban. But the greatest trouble — facing Esau — still lay in front of him. Because of this, he had a long night of wrestling with an unidentified opponent who actually was the Lord Himself. But Jacob passed through this crisis, and the Lord delivered him from the problem with Esau. After this, Jacob had no more difficulties for a while.
After he had been delivered out of all these troubles, "Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle" (Gen. 33:17). Succoth was on the east side of the Jordan. This indicates that while Jacob was at Succoth, he had not yet crossed the Jordan River to enter into the heart of the land of Canaan. Genesis 33:17 does not say that Jacob came to Canaan. The land of Canaan is not mentioned until the next verse, where we are told that Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, "which is in the land of Canaan" (v. 18). In God's eyes, when Jacob journeyed to Succoth and built himself a house there, he had not yet come back to the heart of the good land. By Jacob's building a house for himself and booths for his cattle, we see how much Jacob was still natural and for himself. He certainly neglected the dream he had had at Bethel. After Jacob had fled from Esau, he had a dream in which he saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven. When he awoke from that dream, he called the name of that place Bethel and poured oil upon the stone which he had used for a pillow, saying, "This stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house" (28:22). At Bethel, Jacob made a vow to God, promising that the stone would be the house of God. In other words, he promised God that he would build a house for Him. Surely, Jacob forgot about this. If I had been there, I would have asked Jacob, "Jacob, why did you come back? Does God want you to build a house for yourself and booths for your cattle? What about the house of God?" When Jacob was a stranger in a foreign land, we could sympathize with him, for it is difficult for anyone to be an alien. But now he has come back to the territory of the land of God's promise.
If you read the Old Testament carefully, you will see that the territory east of the Jordan was never recognized as being the best part of the good land. But when the two and a half tribes of Israel came to this territory, they were attracted by it. This caused Moses to be unhappy with them. These two and a half tribes did receive this land, but they lost some of God's blessing. When the Assyrians came to attack the children of Israel, they firstly came to the land east of the Jordan, and these two and a half tribes were the first to be captured (1 Chron. 5:26). The strategic cities, such as Jerusalem and Bethlehem, are in the heart of the land west of the Jordan. Therefore, the territory east of the Jordan, where Succoth was, was not in the heart of the land of God's promise.
The Bible affords us a very brief record of Jacob's stay at Succoth. Eventually, Jacob realized that Succoth was not the proper place for him to stay with God, and he crossed over the Jordan and journeyed to Shechem. In his journey back to the good land, Jacob crossed three rivers: the Euphrates, the Jabbok, and the Jordan. In coming to Shechem, Jacob was following the footsteps of his forefather Abraham (cf. 12:5-6). This indicates that Jacob had been brought on to the right track. In Shechem Jacob erected a tent and built an altar (vv. 18-20). This reveals that he had begun to live the tent life and to have the altar testimony. This was far better than building a house for himself and booths for his cattle. In Succoth Jacob built nothing for God. In Shechem, on the contrary, he built nothing for himself or for his cattle; rather, he built an altar for God and erected a tent for his living. How good it was that he not only followed the steps of his forefather, but also had the tent life and the altar testimony.
This was good, but it was not Bethel. If you read chapter twelve you will see that after Abraham arrived at Shechem, he continued onward to Bethel (Gen. 12:6-8). Jacob had his dream at Bethel (Gen. 28:10-22). When he was told by the Lord to return to the land of his fathers, that was an indication that he should return to Bethel to fulfill his vow to build a house for God. I simply cannot understand whether he forgot this dream or whether he was unwilling to pay the price. But he firstly came to Succoth and then continued onward to Shechem. In Shechem he began to live as a called one. Before then, Jacob never lived as a called one. Using today's Christian terms, Jacob never lived the Christian life. Prior to that time, he was supplanting all the time. That was the life he had lived since birth. He supplanted others and held on to their heel. However, by the time Esau came to meet him, Jacob had been broken. Although Esau came to him with an honest and good heart, Jacob, even after he had been broken, was still supplanting. Supplanting until the very last minute, Jacob arrived safely at Shechem, where he began to live a tent life with an altar testimony.
Although Jacob had a tent with an altar in Shechem, this fell short of God's standard. There was a tent for Jacob, but there was no house for God. An altar had been built for God, but God still did not have a house. According to the Old Testament, the building of the altar must bring us to the building of the temple. In the rebuilding of the temple, the first item to be recovered was the altar (Ezra 3:1-3). In front of both the tabernacle and the temple was the altar. It is the same in our experience. Firstly, we have an absolute consecration and build an altar; then we continue until we come to the building of the church, the house of God.
Although what Jacob had at Shechem was good, he still needed the dealing in his circumstances (Gen. 34:1-31) because he had not yet come back to Bethel. Jacob must have been very happy and content in Shechem, which means "shoulder" and signifies strength. After Abraham arrived in Shechem, he was strengthened. Jacob's experience must have been the same. Jacob even purchased a parcel of land there and spread his tent on it (Gen. 33:19). Surely he was strengthened to live there as one of God's called ones. But he had not yet attained God's goal. One day, something suddenly happened: his only daughter, Dinah, was defiled (Gen. 34:1-2). At that time, Jacob had eleven sons and one daughter. If he had had eleven daughters and one son, the situation would have been much different. For one of eleven daughters to be defiled would have meant a great deal less than for his only daughter to be defiled. It was a most serious thing for Jacob's only daughter to be defiled.
This unusual and extraordinary happening must have been of God. Dinah went to see the daughters of the land (Gen. 34:1). If she had not done this, she never would have been defiled. By going to see the daughters of the land, she found herself in difficulty, and this unfortunate event took place. Do you think that this was an accident? Jacob and his household might have thought it was, but in God's eyes it was not; it took place under His sovereign hand. This does not mean that God intended that Jacob's daughter be defiled. It means that this unfortunate occurrence transpired under the sovereign hand of God to perfect Jacob, His chosen one.
The principle is the same today. God had a purpose with Jacob and He certainly has a purpose with every one of us, His called ones. God's purpose with Jacob was not that Jacob might follow his forefather's footsteps, erect a tent, build an altar, be strengthened, and be settled. None of these is the fulfillment of God's purpose. In brief, God's purpose is to have His house on earth, to build Bethel here on earth. Shechem was good for Jacob, but it could never satisfy God's desire. Therefore, while Jacob was settled, satisfied, and happy, this unfortunate event happened to him.
If Jacob had had eleven daughters and just one son, the one son would have been unable to do anything about this and could have caused no difficulty. But when the one daughter of Jacob was defiled, all of his sons rose up (vv. 7-31). They could not tolerate this. Eventually, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, slew all the males in the city of Shechem and plundered the city. Consider Jacob's situation. He was the one who had been chosen and called by God and he was God's testimony on earth. He was following the track of the pioneer of God's called ones, living in a tent and worshipping God by an altar. He was the unique testimony of God on earth. But look at what happened! His only daughter was defiled. How could this happen to a man who had just begun to live the life of God's called ones, the life of a tent with an altar? If I had been Jacob, I probably would have been doubtful, saying, "What is this? I love the Lord more than ever. As soon as I begin to have a proper life, following the footsteps of Abraham, this happens to me. Why?"
Following their father's deceptive methods, Jacob's sons devised a scheme to get revenge. They accepted the claim of Hamor and Shechem in a deceptive way, saying that Shechem and Hamor could take Dinah on the condition that all the males among them be circumcised (vv. 13-17). This proposal was pleasing to Hamor and Shechem, and they promptly accepted it (vv. 18-19). Then, on the third day, when all the males were sore from the circumcision, Simeon and Levi, brothers of Dinah, "took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out" (vv. 25-26). After this, they went on to plunder the city and to seize all the sheep, oxen, asses, wealth, wives, and children. They even plundered everything that was in the house (vv. 27-29). Jacob refers to this slaughter in Gen. 49:5-7.
In Exodus 32 the slaughtering hand of Levi became a blessing. When the children of Israel worshipped the golden calf, Moses said, "Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me," and "all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him" (Exo. 32:26). Then, when Moses said, "Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses" (Exo. 32:27-28). Here in Genesis 34, Levi, along with Simeon, slaughtered all the males of Hamor's city. Later, near Mount Sinai, Levi's descendants slaughtered the worshippers of the golden calf. Furthermore, in Num. 25:7 and Num. 25:8 one of Levi's descendants slaughtered the fornicators. Due to the action taken in Exodus 32, the Levites became priests to God.
Consider the situation Jacob faced in this chapter: his daughter was defiled and his sons deceived people, killed them, and plundered their city. Is this the family of God's called one, the family of one who is the unique testimony of God on earth? Why did all this happen to Jacob? Dinah, the eleven sons, and all the slaughtered people were a sacrifice for the perfecting of one man — Jacob. Perhaps you cannot believe that the Lord will sacrifice many for your sake. But to sacrifice many for the perfecting of one is a great thing. In Genesis 34 this one was the unique person in, with, and through whom God's eternal purpose was to be fulfilled. Dinah, the eleven sons, and all the men in the city of Shechem might have been spared, but if Jacob, the unique one, had been damaged, what would have happened to God's eternal purpose? Often the Lord will sacrifice others for the sake of perfecting you. I have seen and experienced this myself. If you have the insight, you will be able to see that even today the Lord is sacrificing many others that you might be perfected. Shechem, Hamor, all their countrymen, and even Dinah and Jacob's eleven sons were sacrificed for Jacob's sake. Everything recorded in this chapter was for his perfection.
In Gen. 34:30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Jacob seemed to be saying, "You have made everything miserable for me. You have caused me to stink among all the people in the land. Now I don't have any peace or safety. If the people attack us, we will all be killed." Jacob had come to Shechem in peace and safety. Now he was in a situation where all his safety had vanished. Probably he could no longer sleep well. His daughter had been defiled and now, due to the trouble caused by his sons, he could not remain at Shechem.
In Gen. 35:1 God spoke to Jacob, saying, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother." Notice the word "and" at the beginning of this verse. This indicates that this word spoken to Jacob by the Lord immediately follows the events of the previous chapter. After what had happened to him, Jacob was able to take in whatever God wanted to say. If God had spoken the same word to him a few days earlier, Jacob might have said, "Would God say this? This must be my imagination. I have been following my forefather's footsteps, living the tent life and worshipping God with the altar in the proper way. Why must I leave this place?" Undoubtedly, God intended to speak this word to Jacob a lot earlier. In Shechem, everything was good for Jacob, but it could not satisfy God's desire. Prior to the difficulty in chapter thirty-four, God could not speak to Jacob. If He had spoken to him, Jacob would not have listened. But now, after the daughter had been defiled, after the sons had caused trouble, and after Jacob had lost his peace and safety and was considering what to do, God intervened and spoke to him, telling him to go up to Bethel. After all this had taken place, Jacob could heed God's word about going up to Bethel. Without being in a difficult environment, we are often unable to listen to the word of God. God is not so foolish as to speak a word to us in vain. Rather, He waits until certain things happen to us.
God told Jacob to go up to Bethel. However, according to geography, Bethel is south of Shechem. Since Bethel is southward, why did God not say, "Go down to Bethel"? We cannot understand this according to our natural view. God seemed to be saying to Jacob, "Jacob, you are still down, for you are not up to the level of My desire. You must arise and go up to Bethel." God spoke to Jacob in a very meaningful and careful way, telling him to go up to Bethel, to dwell there, and to build an altar to the God who had appeared to him when he was fleeing his brother Esau. This word is short, but its significance is profound. In other words, God seemed to be saying, "Jacob, you have forgotten your vow. At the least, you have neglected to fulfill it. After that dream at Bethel, you vowed to build a house for Me. What about it? I asked you to come back, delivered you out of the hand of Laban, rescued you out of your trouble with Esau, and brought you back peacefully and safely to the land of your forefathers. But I did not do this that you might settle down. This is not My purpose. My purpose is that you go to the place where you had the dream, the place where you vowed to build a house for Me. Don't remain at Shechem, for this should not be your dwelling place. This is merely a place on the pathway to Bethel. Now go up to Bethel, dwell there, and build an altar to the very God who appeared to you."
Do not simply regard this as a story about Jacob. You must take it as your biography. I can testify that I have done the same thing as Jacob. I simply forgot my vow, my consecration. I believe that all of us have made a consecration to the Lord, especially during a time of trial or difficulty. We made a vow, saying, "O Lord, if You will bring me through these difficulties safely, I will consecrate myself to You and take You as my God and build a house in this place for You." In principle, we all have made a vow similar to this. But have you fulfilled your vow? Probably none of us has. By this we see that we all are Jacobs. His history is actually our autobiography. To make a vow to the Lord and to consecrate ourselves to Him is one thing, but to fulfill our vow and to carry out our consecration may require the sacrifice of a daughter, eleven sons, a Shechem, a Hamor, and many other people and things.
The Christian life is often a stormy life. When we first heard the gospel, we might have thought that after becoming a Christian our lives would be peaceful and that there would be no storms. Perhaps we thought that our boat would sail safely in Christ without a storm. But throughout the more than fifty years I have been a Christian, there has been one storm after another. Eventually, I came to realize that the Christian life is full of storms. What is the purpose of these storms? Although I was not clear fifty years ago, I am very clear today. Actually, it is not a matter of storms or peace — it is absolutely a matter of whether or not we are being transformed for God's building to fulfill God's purpose. Your life is stormy because you are stubborn, because you are so much like Jacob. You need many storms because you have not yet been transformed into Israel. You may say to yourself, "I am at Shechem and everything is safe. Let us sail on peacefully." This peace may last a short time, but suddenly a storm comes, your Dinah is defiled, and everything is in turmoil. This is our life. Do not blame Him; it is we who make it so difficult for Him to work on us. Although we never prayed, "Lord, send us a storm," all kinds of storms have come. But no storm has killed us. After fighting through so many storms, we are still living. The Lord certainly has sacrificed much for our sake. Dear ones, many of you are still young. You are now on the boat and it is too late for you to repent and jump out. You need the storms.
What happened to Jacob in chapter thirty-four made a profound impression on him. When he was old and was bestowing his blessing on his twelve sons, he was unable to forget what Simeon and Levi had done. In Gen. 49:5-6 Jacob said, "Simeon and Levi are brethren; their swords are weapons of violence. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their company, my glory, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung oxen" (Heb.). According to Jacob's word, Simeon and Levi not only killed men but also hamstrung oxen, cutting the nerves to cripple them. Jacob never forgot that. This was the worst trouble he had ever passed through. It was much heavier than his difficulty with Esau. It greatly terrified him, causing him to fear that the people of the land would attack him and kill him. Even at the time of the blessing of his sons, Jacob could put no trust in them. He said, "O my soul, come not thou into their secret," that is, stay away from them. The trouble Simeon and Levi caused Jacob touched him in the depths of his being. After that happened, Jacob immediately took the word of the Lord to go up to Bethel. From that moment Jacob began to be transformed. Prior to that time, he had had no change.
Jacob had left Padan-aram and, having been pursued by Laban, was delivered out of his hand. He was also rescued out of his trouble with Esau, and came to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and booths for his cattle. I believe that Jacob did not have the peace to remain there. Thus, he traveled onward to Shechem, following the steps of his forefather and beginning to have the proper tent life with the altar testimony to live as God's called one. But his life at Shechem was not up to God's standard. God's goal is to have Bethel, His house on earth. Like Jacob, many brothers and sisters today are still living in Shechem. They have followed the footsteps of the forerunners and they have been strengthened. They have the tent life with an altar testimony and they are living as God's called ones. But God's desire is not satisfied because they are not yet up to His level. Because of this, certain unfortunate things happen to them again and again in order to prepare their heart to listen to God's word to arise, to go up to Bethel, to dwell there, and to build an altar. We need to see all these steps. In the next message we shall see that, in chapter thirty-five, Jacob began to be transformed. His transformation began after the Lord spoke to him about going up to Bethel.
Today, nearly all seeking Christians are like Jacob, living a good life in Shechem but neglecting God's goal in Bethel. But in the Lord's recovery He wants us to pass through Shechem and go up to Bethel, to pass through our individual life to go up to the corporate church life. If we have not arrived at the corporate church life, we still fall short of God's goal. This is why however good we are in Shechem, we do not have the satisfying peace and safety. This forces us to take the Lord's word to leave Shechem and to go up to Bethel to have the proper church life in His house on earth.
