What if Dinah Didn’t Go To The Kitchen?

“Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the region. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the region, saw her, he seized her and lay with her by force. And his soul was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the girl, and spoke tenderly to her. So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl to be my wife.” Now Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his cattle in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him, just as the sons of Jacob came in from the field. When they heard of it, the men were indignant and very angry, because he had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done. But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The heart of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him in marriage. Make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. “Let me find favor with you, and whatever you say to me I will give. Put the marriage present and gift as high as you like, and I will give whatever you ask me; only give me the girl to be my wife.” The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. Only on this condition will we consent to you: that you will become as we are and every male among you be circumcised. Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people.” Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his family. So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, “These people are friendly with us; let them live in the land and trade in it, for the land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters in marriage, and let us give them our daughters. Only on this condition will they agree to live among us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised.” And all who went out of the city gate heeded Hamor and his son Shechem; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city unawares, and killed all the males. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. And the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled.” Genesis 34:1-27

I named this devotion “What if Dinah Didn’t Go To The Kitchen?” for a reason – as if I need a reason since I am the one writing the devotion. But let me give you a peek into my thinking. The old camp fire song goes like this: “Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah; Someone’s in the kitchen I know o o o.” Within the story of Dinah is rape, deceit, and murder. One could say that if Dinah had not had the urge to visit the women of the region, then the massacre of the men of Shechem would have been avoided. Now I know I have to be careful, for this could sound like I am making a judgment similar to “Well if she hadn’t dressed that way, she wouldn’t have been attacked” as if I am blaming the woman. But we are in an ancient culture, the Land of Canaan, and Jacob has bought a piece of land to live upon with his wives, sons and daughter. Women were not held in high esteem – although there will be women who will become prophets, and disciples, and even rulers. Some scholars suggest that if Dinah had not gone to “flaunt her beauty among the men and women of Canaan”, or if she “didn’t have a need to go sight-seeing”, the men of Shechem would not have suffered such a fate.

Look, rape is a horrible crime. Murder should not be the punishment for any crime. But these people lived in an “eye for an eye” style of retribution. And there is more to the story….for their crime, Simeon and Levi received a curse instead of a blessing from Jacob their father as he spoke to his sons on his death bed.

If Shechem had not forced Dinah into the “kitchen” – the fate of many people would have been different. It is a horrible story – with no winners – and many losers. As such, if you think the Bible is a boring book to read, you haven’t read the Bible enough.

Pastor Dave

What if Lydia Was Terrified of Snails?

“On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.” Acts 16:13-15

While it is not certain whether Lydia was of Jewish descent, we can say that she was at least a Jewish proselyte. “She worshipped God,” we are told. Often business people are so engrossed in their affairs they have no time for religion. But Lydia, in spite of all her secular obligations, found time to worship according to the Jewish faith. And because she made her way to the riverside for prayer, she was there when Paul appeared. Being in the business of extracting dye for the color purple was expensive, and time consuming. Purple dye was derived from the mucus of the hypobranchial gland of Murex shellfish (snails). These snails were prominent in the waters of Thyatira. The snails (12,000 were needed to extract just 1 ½ grams of pure dye) were gathered in autumn or winter and kept alive until they had the proper amount. Smaller shells were crushed while larger shells were pierced allowing the milky fluid to flow. The extract was placed into brine where vinegar was added and the entire batch was set in the sun until the color gradually changed – a final boiling would further concentrate the liquid. One website claims:

“One gram of purple dye was valued more than ten grams of gold and a pound of wool dyed with a favored purple could be sold for 1,000 denarii, a sum that would take a laborer three years to earn. A whole cloak of such material might cost three times that amount.” (trivialdevotion.blogspot.com, Lydia: Purple Peddler, Sept. 2, 2011)

Perhaps it was because she was in such a lucrative business that she had the time to join the women’s prayer group. If she was terrified of snails, perhaps she would not have been in this business, and then would not have had the luxury to join the women’s prayer group, and then would not have been there to meet Paul, and she and her family would not have been baptized.
Sometimes we think our jobs and our faith are two different worlds. I think this attitude narrows the sphere of our faith experiences – and our potential mission field.

Pastor Dave