When I was a teenager, I was one of the few students at West Davidson Sr. High School who listened to heavy metal music. Although my buddies enjoyed it to some extent, they were a little bit spooked by some of the darker groups I chose. This was mainly because they were all good church-going boys and I was not. I’d use this to my advantage to torment my religious buddies from time to time. One of my favorite groups was an obscure band from Germany named Krokus. They released songs with edifying names like “Eat the Rich” and “Screaming in the Night.” The song that I loved to chant to my buddies was titled “Ready to Burn.” One of my friends, who is now a Methodist pastor, told me not to sing or play that song in his presence. He assumed that it concerned someone’s eager decision to burn in hell and he wanted none of it. I laughed at his religious sensitivity and then confessed, “It’s not about burning in hell. It’s about drag racing.” (Lee may want to use it for inspiration on the track.)
All was not as it seemed. There was more-than-meets-the-eye with that song.
The same is true with this morning’s Bible story. At first Genesis 34 seems to be a simple, but horrible story about rape, trickery, and retaliatory bloodshed. But if you dig past the surface, that’s not really the point at all. In many Bibles this story has the heading, “The rape of Dinah.” Dinah appears to be the main character, but she’s really not. She just happens to be the excuse for the story. We know nothing about her feelings or what happened afterward.
She probably wasn’t raped either. The verb used for Shechem’s actions can signify rape (2 Samuel 13:12-14), but also consensual sex outside of marriage (Deuteronomy 22:24). Shechem may have initially forced himself on the 15 year old Dinah, but it appears that she was a willing victim because at the end of the story her brothers ask: “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?” Being raped does not make one a prostitute. In those days, however, any unmarried girl or woman who engaged in consensual sex was considered a prostitute.
This story is really about the tension that exists in a life of faith. Most of us are pulled at one time or another between two extremes: religious quack or religious quisling. A quack is a fanatic who is often a faker. People like Jim Jones, David Koresh, or even Muslim suicide bombers come to mind. A quisling is a compromiser, a person who betrays their core beliefs. Quislings are turncoats, Benedict Arnolds, and fair-weather friends. You can’t tell a Christian quisling from an American atheist because they do everything in their power to blend in.
The great challenge for us as people of faith is to live in the balance somewhere between quack and quisling. Tweaking the words of Jesus (John 17:14-16) a bit, some Christians call this being “in the world, but not of the world.” If you’re a quack people will tend to keep you at arms length and not take you seriously. If you’re a quisling you’re so compromised that your life is a witness against you. God desires us to be a distinct and holy people, but not religious weirdoes.
In the story, Jacob previously had an incredible encounter with God. His life had changed radically. God brought him safely back into the Promised Land. His duty and the duty of his descendants was to make the living God known to the rest of the world beginning with the land of Canaan. You can’t make God known unless you have relationships with people who don’t know Him. Jacob and his family were supposed to connect with the Canaanites, but not be assimilated by them. In their effort to build relationships and make God known to these ungodly people there was the possibility that they’d compromise and lose their godly distinctiveness. On the other hand, if they remained separate and aloof, the Canaanites would remain in spiritual darkness. The story before us is an example of extremes. Rather than effectively make God known, they acted as quacks and quislings. The result was death and destruction.
Evading the Extremes that Make Us Ineffective
Jacob’s sons played the role of quacks. How effective were they in bringing the knowledge of God to the nations? Not at all. They massacred and enslaved the filthy unbelievers. They were rightly outraged by Shechem’s sin, but to say they went overboard is putting it mildly. Jacob’s sons exhibited the religious extremism that we must avoid to be faithful witnesses.
Before we look at why they did what they did, I need to preface this. Some people will label you a weirdo simply because you have a biblical worldview. Just because a nonChristian (or a Christian for that matter) calls you a quack or fanatic doesn’t mean that you are one on the order of Jacob’s sons. You might be labeled such by nonreligious people because your perspective and way of life is foreign to them. Once they get up close they’ll rethink their opinion. If another Christian labels you an extremist it’s probably because you have a higher level of commitment than they do. It makes them feel better and they can dismiss you by calling you a name.
1. Build religion upon relationship
Jacob’s sons were the real deal. They were religious quacks. One reason for this is that they had religion without relationship. They knew all the information about God. They practiced the religious rituals He had given them. Yet they did not really know God personally.
We can see this in the way they treated the sign of the covenant: circumcision. God had given them this ordinance to set apart the children of Abraham as His special people. Circumcision was supposed to reflect trust in His promises and a willingness to obey His commands. The sons of Jacob used this precious sign between themselves and God as a cheap trick to successfully attack the Shechemites. They observed the ritual, but knew nothing of the Spirit behind it, therefore they treated circumcision with contempt.
At various times throughout history, Christian quacks have misused God’s loving symbols. During the early Middle Ages it was not uncommon for Christian conquerors to force subjugated people groups to undergo baptism at the point of a sword. Power hungry clergy, at various times, have denied political enemies access to worship and the Lord’s Supper to bend them to their will.
Modern Christian quacks go through the motions of religion, but it’s evident that they do not know the Lord. They may read and study the Bible diligently, but they fail to seriously live it out. They go to church religiously and will judge you if you don’t, but they’re not too big on serving others, giving, or bearing other peoples’ burdens. They’ve filled out their salvation card, prayed the Sinner’s prayer, or walked forward at an altar call, but strangely have no capacity to forgive as they’ve supposedly been forgiven. Religion without relationship can make one a quack and totally ineffective in your witness for Christ.
2. Avoid adding to God’s word
Adding to God’s word or misinterpreting it to one’s own advantage is also the technique of a quack. Let’s say Shechem really did rape Dinah, what should have happened? According to the Law of God he, and he alone, should have been executed. If Shechem only had sex with her outside of marriage, the Law said he was supposed to marry her, pay a hefty fine to her family for the dishonorable deed, and never be allowed to divorce her. Jacob’s sons slaughtered all the men. Someone might object that God had not yet given His Law so they couldn’t have known. Most of God’s Law, given through Moses, can be found in other ancient legal documents like Hammurabi’s Code which predates Moses. There’s this thing called Natural Law which consists of absolutes that all societies everywhere hold to be true. The Bible tells us that God has written His Law on the human heart, that’s why legal codes and standards of morality are so similar the world over. Jacob’s sons would have known that their actions were overkill. They added more punishment than the Law required and turned justice into a crime.
I’ve noticed a peculiar trait among religious quacks who follow this path. What they add to God’s word is always in their self-interest. Jim Jones and David Koresh read God’s word and discovered that they were the Messiah. Somehow God’s word allowed them to indulge in multiple marriages with the young girls in their cults. Although I believe Amish Christians are sincere in their faith, they’re a bit quacky too. In no place does the Bible prescribe mustache-less beards for men or the prohibition of technology. Some are such hair splitters that they’ll use diesel powered machinery but not gasoline because one requires an electric spark to work and the other doesn’t.
I find that Christians do this all the time, but in more subtle ways. They come up with rules and regulations that aren’t biblical and use those rules and regulations to judge or exclude. Don’t dance. Why? The Bible says so. Where is that and how did David get away with stripping to his underwear and dancing through the streets of Jerusalem? Don’t drink because it’s a sin to touch alcohol. Really? Where is that prohibition? Drunkenness is condemned, but there’s even a place where Paul advises Timothy to drink a little wine and not water alone. Don’t you dare work on Sunday. Where’s that? “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” The Sabbath was on Saturday. The point of the Bible is to take one day a week off for personal renewal and connection with God. Colossians makes it clear that the day you choose doesn’t matter at all.
Being a religious quack is selfish and destructive. Not only does it render you ineffective as a witness for the living God, it puts a bad taste in the mouth of nonbelievers toward all followers of Christ.
Let’s talk for just a minute about quislings. In the story, Jacob functioned as a quisling. He knew God probably more than anyone in the story, but he utterly compromised his beliefs. Had his sons not intervened, Jacob was set to intermarry his whole clan and become one people with the Hivites. His family’s covenant relationship with God was threatened because of his quisling ways.
Although Jacob was a man of God, he lacked in a particular area and it made him vulnerable to compromise. He failed to act in immediate an full obedience.
3. Act in immediate and full obedience
In chapter 31 God told Jacob to go back to the land of his fathers. He was supposed to return to the place from which he had departed. That place was Bethel where he had a dream about God and promised to offer a tithe if God would keep him safe and make him prosperous. God called him back and completely fulfill His part. Jacob’s part was to return to Bethel and make good on his vow.
Jacob was partly obedient. He returned to Canaan, but not Bethel, not immediately. Instead, he bought land and pitched his tend near Shechem. It appears that he dwelt there around 10 years. He had plenty of time to build an altar, locate a tomb, and dig a well. Why did he stall? Maybe he wanted to recoup some of his losses after sending that extravagant bribe to his brother Esau. Maybe he had no intention of truly fulfilling his vow hoping that God had forgotten. Who knows? Whatever the case he wasn’t fully obedient, and always remember that partial obedience is disobedience. Jacob compromised his word and put his family in jeopardy.
When God tells you to do something, don’t put it off. Follow through as soon as possible or you’ll find yourself making excusing and stalling. It’s inevitable because God usually calls us to do difficult or risky things and it’s our nature to procrastinate. Once you head down that road you’ll start neglecting other commands of God just as Jacob nearly neglected the prohibition against marrying Canaanites.
This is akin to what happens with illegal immigrants in this country. Once they make the decision to break the law and illegally cross the border, it’s much easier to break other laws like paying taxes, purchasing insurance for your vehicle, consuming illegal substances.
Once you take the first step down the road of compromise it’s easier and easier to take the next one and become a full-fledged quisling. Give up just one moral standard and you’ll soon call all the rest into question. Apply the same concept to positive commands. Sleep in once rather than go to the time and trouble to worship the God of the universe who save your sorry soul and it gets much easier to repeat the pattern after you get past that initial conviction. Don’t share your faith that one time because you fear rejection and it gets much easier to dodge the responsibility every other time. Act in full and immediate obedience
4. Prevent personal convenience that leads to compromise
Jacob also fell into quisling ways for the sake of personal convenience. The author of Genesis made sure to mention that Shechem was a Canaanite city to remind the reader that Canaanites were renowned for their immorality. Shechem was the most honorable man of his household yet he was still a spoiled, despicable brat. Knowing the character of the Canaanites, why did Jacob choose to live near them? The Bible doesn’t really tell us, but it’s probably because the people were friendly enough to sell him land, there was plenty of pasture for grazing and a constant supply of water. There’s every indication that Jacob desired to settle down just like his great uncle Lot who pitched his tent near Sodom. We remember how that one turned out.
Although it is unspoken in the text, it appears that Jacob adopted his neighbors’ ways. Clearly, he had no fear of their immorality because he allowed his unmarried, teenage daughter to walk right into that sensuous city unchaperoned. This was a big “no-no” in ancient times, but Jacob allowed it. Dinah was probably just following his lead. If the Shechemites and their way of life were okay with dear old dad, they were okay by her. Her father’s quisling ways led to Dinah’s defilement and set this entire tragedy into motion. Sadly, the ruin had it’s origin in compromise for the sake of personal convenience.
I wonder how many moms and dads will lose their children to our corrupt culture simply because they pitched their family tent in front of godless images on a TV or computer screen? I wonder how many young Christians will waste their lives because they pitched their dreams beside the idol of success? I wonder how many churches will lose the transforming power of God’s Spirit because they’re trying to be like the world to attract the world? You can go along to get along, but understand that you’ve got to give up to go up. Spiritual advancement and bringing positive change to this world in Jesus’ name only come when we’re inconvenienced for Christ’s sake and for the commitments we’ve made to Him. Author Samuel Butler once said (I’m paraphrasing), “The realistic person conforms himself to the world. The unrealistic person makes the world conform to himself. All positive change depends on the unrealistic person.”
Although Jacob and his sons brought death and destruction through their extremism, nearly 2,000 years later Jesus reversed the story. “There is good reason to believe that the Samaritan village of Sychar, mentioned in John 4, is identical to Shechem (Genesis 33:19, 48:22; John 4:5-6). At the least, it was located near, if not on top of, Shechem. At Sychar, Jesus met a woman who, like Dinah, hadn’t fared well at the hands of men. This place marked Jacob’s failure as a father to his daughter” when he played the quisling. It was in this same place that the inhabitants of an entire city were brutally butchered or enslaved. “Hundreds of years later, a similar woman, who even called Jacob “our father,” in the patriarchal sense, spoke with Jesus. The woman asked him, ‘You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?’ With Genesis 34 in the background, perhaps we should hear pain in this woman’s voice. She would hope to meet someone greater than Jacob. In describing this interaction, John leaves it up to us to draw a conclusion that goes something like this: ‘Oh, dear woman, you have no idea. You have no idea how much greater Jesus is than Jacob.’ Whereas Jacob’s sons ‘came upon the city’ and killed its men because one of them [defiled] their sister, this woman urges the men of the city to ‘come out’ of the city to meet Jesus. Indeed, they ‘went out of the city,’ and many came to believe in Him. Jesus came to Sychar as” neither a quack nor a quisling “to redeem its residents, and the new Dinah, and rewrite the ugly story of Genesis 34.*
*Quoted material in the paragraph is from another source, but I lost the author and website. If this belongs to you, let me know so I can give you credit.
