Read Genesis 33:18-34:31.

Introduction⤒🔗

The warmth of the Christmas holiday was still with me as I drove up to the house.

“Lana, I’m home,” I called as I stomped my snow-covered boots on the mat outside the door of our mountainside home. I carried the groceries inside and placed them on the kitchen table.

“Honey, I’m home!” I repeated. No answer.

A little shiver went through me as I took off my heavy jacket. Smiling to myself, I thought that Lana and our little three-year-old son, Morgan, were probably playing tricks on daddy again. I went stealthily down the basement stairs, looked around, but no one was there. Back upstairs, I wandered from room to room, expecting the two of them to come jumping out at me from their hiding place. But they were not there. Looking into my little son’s empty room, an uneasy feeling came over me. “Maybe Morgan got hurt,” I mused, “and Lana had to take him to the doctor.”

Once again, a chill went through me. Where was Lana? She always left a note when she went away. Trembling, I snatched up the telephone and began calling family and friends, neighbors, hospitals, and finally the police.

My turmoil was interrupted by the thought of my 16-year-old nephew, Johnny. He had spent time in a juvenile detention center and just recently was released. He had the habit of popping in at odd times, and when he did, he gave Lana the creeps.

I decided to check on Johnny and find out if he had any answers. When I arrived, Johnny was lying on his bed. As soon as he saw me, he bolted upright and whined, “I didn’t do anything, Uncle Morgan!” The turmoil inside of me mushroomed. Confused and dazed, I returned home.

The police questioned me for several hours as the search got under way. Deep inside, I knew something was terribly wrong and that Johnny was somehow involved.

At dawn the search was resumed. It was mid-morning when the police officer entered the house. “We found them,” he said. “They are both deceased. I’m very sorry.”

My nephew Johnny was apprehended and charged with two counts of criminal homicide. I longed for revenge.¹

When we learn of moral atrocities, and especially when we are personally victimized by them, we are tempted to seek revenge by taking matters into our own hands. Such was the case with Jacob’s sons, when they learned what had been done to their sister, Dinah. But we must resist the temptation to take justice into our own hands, because we must honor the timing and the purposes of God.

Don’t Take Justice into Your Own Hands, by Personally Carrying Out God’s Judgment←⤒🔗

Genesis 34:2 records how Shechem took Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, “and lay with her...and brought shame upon her”—in other words, he raped her. When the sons of Jacob hear what had been done to their sister, they were grieved, and they were very angry, “because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel” (Gen. 34:7).

When Shechem requests Dinah for his wife, and expresses a willingness to do whatever is requested, the sons of Jacob answered him “with deceitful cunning” (Gen. 34:11-13). Jacob’s sons tell Shechem they will consent to give their sister to him only on the condition that he and all his fellow townsmen be circumcised (Gen. 34:15). On the third day, when all the men were sore and incapacitated by their circumcisions, Simeon and Levi lead an assault on the whole community (Gen. 34:25). When Jacob, their father, protests what they have done, they reply, “Should [Shechem] have treated our sister like a harlot [and get away with it]?”

In Genesis 49, referring back to this incident as he lies on his deathbed, Jacob says:

⁵Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence. ⁶O my soul, do not enter into their council, for in their anger they killed a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. Gen. 49:5-6

Do not take matters into your own hands, by personally carrying out God’s judgment—because that is not your right, it belongs to God Himself, and to those whom He has ordained to administer His justice. Speaking of the civil magistrate, Romans 13:4b declares, “he does not bear the sword for no reason; for he is a servant of God, an agent of wrath to execute punishment on the man who does evil.” Note, too, Romans 12:19-21,

¹⁹Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but allow God to express his wrath, for it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the LORD. ²⁰But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for by doing so you shall heap coals of fire upon his head. ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom. 12:19-21

The intended effect of ministering mercy to the offender would be the conviction of his conscience, (which is expressed by the phrase, “heaping coals of fire upon his head”), which may be the greatest kindness of all, for it may lead to repentance.

On a later occasion, Joseph refused to personally take vengeance upon his brothers despite the wrongs they had committed against him:

¹⁵when Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully repay us for all the evil we did to him... ¹⁹But Joseph said to them, Fear not; for am I in the place of God [that I should administer vengeance]? Gen. 50:15,19

Don’t Take Justice into Your Own Hands, by Pre-Maturely Carrying Out God’s Judgment←⤒🔗

In Genesis 34:7, we read that Jacob’s sons were grieved and very angry because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing “in Israel.” The sons of Jacob recognize that the land of Canaan is going to become the land of Israel—it is going to be a land holy unto the LORD as the earthly center of His heavenly kingdom. Consequently, they take it upon themselves to administer the judgment of God and purge the land of its sinful inhabitants.

The judgment they execute against the town of Shechem is the same kind of judgment that would be carried out by Israel in the days of Joshua, compare Genesis 34:25-29 with Joshua 8:24,27,

²⁵On the third day, when they were sore [due to the circumcision procedure], two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, attacked the unsuspecting city, and slaughtered all the males. ²⁶They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the blade of the sword, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and left. ²⁷The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and plundered the city, because those men had defiled their sister. ²⁸They took their flocks and herds and donkeys, they took all that was in the city and all that was in the field. ²⁹They carried away all their wealth, as well as their children and their wives, taking as plunder everything that was in their houses. Gen. 34:25-29

²⁴After Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the field and in the wilderness where they had pursued them—after they had all been killed by the blade of the sword until they were all destroyed, then all the Israelites returned to Ai and put to death by the blade of the sword all who lived in the city... ²⁷But Israel carried off for themselves the cattle and the plunder of that city, in accordance with the word of the LORD, which he commanded Joshua. Josh. 8:24, 27

The only difference is that the judgment executed by Simeon and Levi was premature: it was done presumptuously before God’s appointed time. Remember Genesis 15:16, where the LORD tells Abraham, “in the fourth generation your descendants shall come [into Canaan] again; for the iniquity of the Amorite has not yet reached its full measure.”

Do not take justice into your own hands, by prematurely carrying out God’s judgment. The prophecy of Psalm 149:5-9 does declare,

⁵Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. ⁶Let the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a double-edged sword in their hands, 'to execute vengeance upon the nations, and punishments upon the peoples; ⁸to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with shackles of iron; ⁹to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the honor given to all his saints. Praise the LORD.

But that prophecy will not be fulfilled until the day of Christ’s return in glory as the sovereign Judge of the nations:

¹¹Then I saw heaven opened, and there before me was a white horse, and he who sat upon it was called Faithful and True. With righteousness he judges and wages war... ¹⁴The armies of heaven followed him upon white horses, dressed in fine linen, white and cleanRev. 19:11, 14

Notice that Psalm 149:5 speaks of “the saints,” and Revelation 19:14 describes those who join the Lord Jesus in carrying out the righteous judgment of God as being “dressed in fine linen, white and clean.” In other words, it is only when the redeemed have in fact become perfectly like Christ in holiness—which shall not occur until the Last Day—that we shall be fit to join Christ Jesus in carrying out His righteous judgment. 1 John 3:2b declares, “when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” It is then, and only then, that we will be suited to participate with Christ in the carrying out of the truly righteous judgment of God.

Don’t Take Justice into Your Own hands, because You are Not Yet Suited to Carry Out God’s Judgment←⤒🔗

Jacob’s sons were “grieved and very angry’ by the sin that had been perpetrated “in Israel” against their sister. Theirs was actually a righteous and God-like response to evil, as becomes clear when we compare their response to the evil perpetrated against their sister with the LORD’s response when He looked upon the sinfulness of mankind:

⁵And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every conception of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶And the LORD repented that he had made man on the earth, and it brought grief to his heart. ⁷And the LORD said, I will destroy man, whom I have created, from off the face of the ground; both man, and beast, as well as creeping things, and the birds of the heavens; for I regret that I have made them. Gen. 6:5­-7

God’s “repenting” of having created beings who have devoted themselves to evil is expressing His perpetual abhorrence of evil—which is fully actualized in God at all times—as it manifests itself in the presence of the evil perpetrated by creatures whom He intended to exhibit and reflect His righteousness. The fact that the LORD should exhibit “regret” over creating beings that have become devoted to evil reveals the depths of God’s immutable moral revulsion toward evil.

But Simeon and Levi overlooked the sin that was still present in their own lives. For one thing, there is their use of guile, or, deceitful cunning, in their dealing with Shechem. Guile is a character trait always associated with the devil, as becomes clear from Genesis 3:1,13,

¹Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field that the Lord GOD had made... ¹³And the Lord GOD said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled [or, deceived] me.

Then, too, there is their abuse of the sacred sacrament of circumcision. What the LORD intended to be an instrument of blessing, symbolizing entrance into His covenant, they turn into an instrument of death.

Furthermore, their relationship to the LORD is tainted and polluted by their possession of “foreign gods;” note Genesis 35:2,4,

²Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, Get rid of the foreign gods that you have among you and purify yourselves, and change your garments... ⁴So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession, together with the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak, which was near Shechem.

In the latter chapters of Genesis, we shall also come to see their hatred and envy of their brother Joseph:

⁴his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than all the brothers; so they hated him and could not speak peaceably with him. ¹¹And his brothers envied him.Gen. 37:4,11

Their enmity against Joseph was so strong that they would even endeavor to kill him:

²⁰Come now, therefore, and let us kill him, and then throw his body into one of the pits. We will say, A wild animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what will become of his dreams. Gen. 37:20

Do not take justice into your own hands, because none of us are yet suited to carry out God’s righteous judgment. When we join with the Lord Jesus Christ in the judgment of the Last Day, we shall be prepared to share with Him in that awesome responsibility, because at that time we shall be made worthy by His sanctifying and transforming presence: “We know that when Christ shall be revealed, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he really is” (1 Jn. 3:2b).

Conclusion←⤒🔗

Morgan Hahn struggled with his intense desire for revenge: “I wanted to kill Johnny. My hatred for Johnny had come to consume me. It was my one pre-occupation.”

One night, in desperation, he cried out, “LORD, I can’t handle this any longer!”

As he wept before the LORD, the Holy Spirit’s power settled upon him with a peace he had not known before.

When we learn of moral atrocities, and especially when we are personally victimized by them, we are tempted to seek revenge by taking justice into our own hands. But rather than do so—in thought or in deed—we must be like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Like Him, we must extend forgiveness to offenders and seek their restoration: “Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk. 23:34). Like Him, we must commit ourselves and the matter of justice into the hands of God our Father, the One who judges with righteousness:

²³When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he did not threaten; rather, he committed himself to the one who judges with righteousness. 1 Pet. 2:23

Let us look to the Lord Jesus Christ for the grace to be like Him.

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. Compare Jacob’s situation as described in Genesis 33:18 with that described in Genesis 34:30a Have you ever encountered the hostility of an unbelieving community at work, or even in your neighborhood? How you ever been the cause of that hostility due to a sinful act or unchristian conduct? If so, what should you do? See Prov. 15:1.

¹⁸When Jacob returned from Paddan-aram, he came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, and encamped before the city. Gen. 33:18

^30aThen Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, 'You have brought trouble upon me, you have made me a stench to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites.'Gen. 34:30a

¹A contrite answer turns away wrath; but a harsh word stirs up anger. Prov. 15:1

Note: A “contrite response” is one that humbly admits guilt and seeks forgiveness.

2. Can we ever expect to experience unjust treatment simply because we are Christians? See 1 Pet. 4:3-4 What should we do on such occasions? See 1 Pet. 4:15-16, 19; 1 Pet. 2:21-24.

³You have spent enough time in the past doing what the Gentiles choose to do: living for debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. ⁴Engaged in such a lifestyle, they think that it is strange for you not to plunge with them into the same flood of dissolute living, so they malign you. 1 Pet. 4:3-4

¹⁵May none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer, nor as a troublemaker. ¹⁶But if [anyone should suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; rather, let him glorify God by this name...¹⁹Therefore, let those who are suffering in accordance with the will of God commit their souls in doing what is right to a faithful Creator. 1 Pet. 4:15-16, 19

²⁰What credit is there if, when you sin and are beaten, you bear it? But if you bear it when you do what is right and suffer for it, this is pleasing to God. ²¹This is [part of] your calling, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example with the intention that you should follow in his footsteps. ²²He committed no sin, neither was [any] deceit found in his mouth. ²³When they insulted him, he did not insult them; when he suffered, he did not threaten; rather, he committed [himself] to him who judges righteously. 1 Pet. 2:20-23

3. What did Shechem do to Dinah? See Gen. 34:1-2, 5a How do Dinah’s brothers react to this? See Gen. 34:7 How would you have reacted? What do the Scriptures teach us about expressing our anger? See Eph. 4:26-27; Eccl. 7:9.

¹Now Dinah, the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to meet the women of the land. ²When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and so he brought shame upon her...^5aNow Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter...Gen. 34:1-2, 5a

⁷When they heard what had happened, the sons of Jacob came in from the field. They were grieved and very angry, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that ought not to be done. Gen. 34:7

²⁶Be angry, but do not sin. Do not let the sunset on your anger; ²⁷do not give a place to the devil. Eph. 4:26-27

⁹Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry; for anger rests in the bosom of fools. Eccl. 7:9

4. What do Dinah’s brothers do? See Gen. 34:13-15, 25-29 Do they view their act as justifiable? See Gen. 34:31; note, too, 34:7 How does Jacob describe their act? See Gen. 49:5-6 What do the Scriptures warn us about taking matters of justice into our own hands? See Rom. 12:19 How can we avoid being like Simeon and Levi and overcome our desire for vengeance? See Zech. 4:6.

¹³Now the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceitful cunning, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. ¹⁴So they said to them, We cannot do this thing, we cannot give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised; that would be an offence against us. ¹⁵Only on this condition will we consent to you: if you will become as we are, if every male among you will be circumcised... Gen. 34:13-15

²⁵On the third day, when they were sore due to the circumcision procedure, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, attacked the unsuspecting city, and slaughtered all the males. ²⁶They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the blade of the sword, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and left. ²⁷The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and plundered the city, because those men had defiled their sister. ²⁸They took their flocks and herds and donkeys, they took all that was in the city and all that was in the field. ²⁹They carried away all their wealth, as well as their children and their wives, taking as plunder everything that was in their houses. Gen. 34:25-29

³¹But they said, 'Should he have treated our sister like a harlot?' Gen. 34:31

⁷When they heard what had happened, the sons of Jacob came in from the field. They were grieved and very angry, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter—a thing that ought not to be done. Gen. 34:7

⁵Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence. ⁶O my soul, do not enter into their council, for in their anger they killed a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. Gen. 49:5-6

¹⁹Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but allow God to express his wrath, for it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the LORD. Rom. 12:19

⁶This is the word of the LORD... 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.'Zech. 4:6

5. Compare Gen. 34:25-29 (printed above) with Josh. 8:24 and 27. What is the same about these two accounts? What is different? With regard to the Joshua account, note Gen. 15:16 and Josh. 8:18. When Christ comes to carry out the Final Judgment, who shall join with Him in that awesome task? See Psl. 149:5-9 Why will we at that time be worthy to join with the Righteous Judge as He carries out His righteous judgment? See 1 Jn. 3:2b.

²⁴After Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the field and in the wilderness where they had pursued them—after they had all been killed by the blade of the sword until they were all destroyed, then all the Israelites returned to Ai and put to death by the blade of the sword all who lived in the city... ²⁷But Israel carried off for themselves the cattle and the plunder of that city, in accordance with the word of the LORD, which he commanded Joshua. Josh. 8:24, 27

The LORD informs Abram: ¹⁶...in the fourth generation your seed shall come here again; for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full. Gen. 15:16

^18aAnd the LORD said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai; for I will give it into your hand... Josh. 8:18a

⁵Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. ⁶Let the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a double-edged sword in their hands, ⁷to execute vengeance upon the nations, and punishments upon the peoples; ⁸to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with shackles of iron; ⁹to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the honor given to all his saints. Praise the LORD. Psl. 149:5-9

^2b...we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 1 Jn. 3:2b