A Violent Action, A Violent Overreaction

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>A Violent Action, A Violent Overreaction</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id583.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gods Work of Reconciliation"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id586.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Closing Spiritual Open Loops"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"A Violent Action, A Violent Overreaction," </B><A HREF="http://www.tniv.info/bible/passagesearch.php?passage_request=Genesis 34&tniv=yes" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.tniv.info/bible/passagesearch"><U><B>Genesis 34</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, January 29, 2006</B></div> <bR> <div>      Our story today is a very ugly story. Stuff like this, the violation of other human beings, happens every day in America and around the world.</div> <div>      Be encouraged. People in the Bible, heros of the faith, lived messy lives in a messy world. If you are stuggling to figure out how to live for God in a messy world, this kind of story reminds us that they never had it easy. There was never a time since Adam and Eve in which sin did not corrupt the human race and therefore human relationships.</div> <div>      There are several potential lessons in the story, based on the examples that we will read about. No one in this story got it right. Let's look at the story, then we will see one lesson from it. Please turn to <A HREF="http://www.tniv.info/bible/passagesearch.php?passage_request=Genesis 34:1-31&tniv=yes" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.tniv.info/bible/passagesearch"><U>Genesis 34:1-31</U></A>.</div> <bR> <div> <B>I. Jacob's family experienced a tragedy.</B></div> <div>      Last we saw, Jacob was settling down near Shechem. About 10 years have passed, and his kids were growing up into young adults.</div> <bR> <div> A. Dinah was raped by Shechem, who then professed his love for her (vss. 1-4).</div> <bR> <div> B. Hamor and Jacob's family worked out a deal for Dinah's marriage and a uniting of peoples (vss. 5-24).</div> <div>      Jacob and his sons reacted differently (vss. 5-7). Jacob was passive, while his brothers were rightfully outraged.</div> <div>      Hamor and Shechem offered a joining of societies (vss. 8-12), so Shechem could marry Dinah. Notice, they offered no apology.</div> <div>      In response, Jacob's sons' worked out a deal with deceit (vss. 13-17). Jacob had taught his sons well. Circumcision was the sign of participation in God's covenant with Abraham, so it was an act of faith in Jacob's God. This was a horrible idea. Their outrage, which was right, was leading them into actions which were wrong.</div> <div>      Hamor and Shechem agreed, and convinced the rest of the men to agree (vss. 18-24). Hamor also deceives, by telling two different storys. To Jacob he said, “we can be one people.” To his own people, he said, “we can rip them off!”</div> <bR> <div> C. Dinah's brothers overreacted in their vengeance (vss. 25-31).</div> <div>      Levi and Simeon (Dinah's full brothers) attacked and “raped” the city (vss. 25-29). Dinah may have been held captive in the city all this time, or else went with Shechem when the deal was agreed to. They were right to be outraged, but they were not right to enact such violence on everyone in the city.</div> <div>      Jacob finally speaks up, but he only revealed his fear (vss. 30-31). This is probably why he did not do anything in the first place. He was insecure in the environment in which he settled.</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. Lesson: Go where God wants you to go and do what God wants you to do. </B></div> <div>      Jacob should not have settled down for 10 years in sight of this pagan city. He was supposed to go to Bethel, where he had met God on his way to Laban's house. But if you hang out around violent people, you will learn and experience violence. Eventually, because Jacob settled his family in the wrong place, too close to danger, a disaster happened, which probably would <I>not</I> have happened had he  followed God's leading and fulfilled his vows. In Genesis 35:1, after all this mess, God had to remind Jacob of his vow to build an altar at Bethel. Go where God wants you to go and do what God wants you to do.</div> <div>      There are two things to avoid, as you seek to be where God wants you to be and do what God wants you to do:</div> <bR> <div> A. Avoid spiritual complacency.</div> <div>      Keep growing closer to God. Grow more faithful in service and more sensitive to the leading of God in your life. Don't “settle down.” In what specific ways do you plan to grow in your relationship with God in 2006?</div> <div>      Paul of all Christians could have gotten away with resting on his past works and settling down. But he kept pressing on. He said in Philippians 3:10-14, “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” </div> <bR> <div> B. Avoid inappropriate influences.</div> <div>      It was inappropriate for Jacob to even think about tying his fortunes and his future to the Canaanite people of Shechem. They did not share the values of his faith in Abraham's God. But he ran such risks by living so close for so long. Are you flirting with sinful, unhealthy influences in your life? You can get away with it for awhile, maybe even enjoy it. But it will catch up with you sooner or later. And it will always hinder your ability to pursue the will of God with a passion.</div> <bR> <div>      Go where God wants you to go and do what God wants you to do. Without fail. It is the safest and best way to live. In coming weeks, after we conclude the Jacob stories, we will talk about how to discover God's will for your life.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2006, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>