Daily Bread: Friday, Mar 27, 2020

1. Dinah was dishonored (1-12) Jacob was not careful to protect Dinah around a dangerous neighbor. Shechem, son of the ruler easily dishonored the covenant people by raping Dinah, the daughter of Leah. He had no guilt, no apologies. He thought the marriage could be arranged by the bride-price. Hamor, Shechem's father further tempted Jacob even to intermarry between two peoples by settling down in Sukkoth. That might cause Jacob to assimilate into the Canaanite culture. God's redemptive history was in danger. 2. Simeon and Levi killed all the males (13-31) Simeon, Levi and Dinah's brothers deceived Shechem to circumcise their men and then they attacked and killed all the males and took women and their properties as spoils. This was excessive. Jacob feared of being destroyed by neighboring forces. Why did all these tragedies happen? It was because Jacob broke his vows to God to come back to Bethel (28:2 -22). Instead, he chose Sukkoth to live according to his own convenience. Behind all these incidents God was leading Jacob to keep his covenant to remain in redemptive history.

Prayer: Lord, life on earth can be like Dinah's tragic story when we don't live before God. Help us live to keep up with the word of God. Thank God for the painful love to return us to live as a covenant people.

One Word: Live up to the word of God!