Easter Devotional - Day 02

"Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, 'Look what you've done! Now I'm in real trouble with the Canaanites and Perizzites who live around here. There aren't many of us, and if they attack, they'll kill everyone in my household.' They answered, 'Was it right to let our own sister be treated that way?'" Genesis 34:30-31


Jacob and Leah's daughter, Dinah, had been raped by a man who then decided he wanted her for his wife. Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, were rightfully angry. They hatched a scheme to have all the men of the offending tribe circumcised in anticipation of the proposed wedding. Without their father's knowledge, while all the men were sore and incapacitated, the two brothers sneaked into the village and slaughtered all the men. The other brothers carried off the tribe's plunder, along with the herds of animals, the women, and the children. Eventually, word reached Jacob's ears, and too late, he confronted them.


The brothers had been indignant. They were angry. They had wanted some kind of response that would expunge the violence against their sister and her dignity. They were afraid Jacob would simply let things lie and overlook the travesty wreaked upon Dinah and her family's honor. They were concerned the proposal of marriage would be allowed to hide the stain of violence their sister had suffered. They wanted revenge. They wanted retaliation. They wanted to somehow reverse time and expunge all knowledge of Dinah's experience.


Killing the perpetrator was not enough in their eyes. Dinah was still injured. Killing his father along with him was also insufficient. It did not make up for the violence committed. Killing the perpetrator and his father would cause problems with their neighbors and the rest of the tribe. They had decided on wiping out the whole tribe in retribution for the misdeed and the tribe's failure to make amends. Interestingly enough, the offer of marriage was exactly what Mosaic Law would later stipulate as appropriate—marriage with no option for divorce. The man would be required to care for the woman for the rest of her life.


What did Simeon and Levi really accomplish? With the tribe killed, Dinah's memory was still intact. The pain of her experience was still lingered. She could not just ignore it now that the perpetrator and his kin were dead. It was still real. Furthermore, as Jacob said to her brothers, the rest of the nations among whom they lived would likely seek retribution for the slaughter enacted by Simeon and Levi.


There is just seemingly no end to cycles of violence and revenge. Retribution is never sufficient. Causing pain to another in return for pain we experience just does not erase our injuries. How often we hear reports of court proceedings enacted to cause pain against the other party for perceived wrongs. We consider retribution through the courts as justice. When Christ Jesus was flogged, shamed, and killed, however, his response was wholly different. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!" Will we ever learn to love and forgive after the example of Christ, or will we sit back like the two brothers, hiding behind the line that something had to be done.

Give your hurt, anger, and pain to the One who died for you. Allow his mercy to be yours.

"Lord, help me let go of my desire for retaliation, accepting grace as your way of life."


—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/