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The Seduction of Shechem: The Peril of Covenantal Compromise (Genesis 34:8-12) · Reformed Thinking

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Have you ever been offered, you know, a deal that looked
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absolutely brilliant on paper, but your gut just screamed that
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something was fundamentally wrong?
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Oh, that is such a real tension. Right.
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Like the numbers made perfect sense, the people across the
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table were smiling, the terms were incredibly generous, but
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your conscience was just setting off massive alarms.
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Yeah, that happens a lot. Welcome to Reformed Thinking.
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Today we are taking a deep dive into the seduction of
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pragmatism. We really are.
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We are going to examine a specific, honestly pretty
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chilling passage of Scripture from the book of Genesis.
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Chapter 34. Yes, specifically chapter 34,
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verses 8 through 12. Our mission today is to look at
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the mechanisms the world uses to lure the Church into trading its
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holy birthright for, well, a superficial, comfortable piece.
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Yeah, we want to uncover how the culture tempts believers to
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negotiate away their convictions precisely.
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And to do that, we really have to set the stage, because when
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we think about spiritual warfare, our minds usually go
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straight to the spectacular. The big stuff.
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Yeah, we picture the fiery darts, the open persecution, the
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cultural hostility that forces the church underground.
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We look for the drawn sword. Right.
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But believers constantly watch for the devil's roar, and they
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are often undone by his whisper. That is so true.
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The danger in this text is not a drawn sword.
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The danger is a smiling diplomat offering a lucrative trade deal.
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Yeah, and the historical background here is incredibly
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grim. You have to understand the
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darkness of the context to grasp the sheer audacity of the
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negotiations we are about to study.
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You really do. So we are in the valley of
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Shechem. Jacob has returned to the
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promised Land after decades of exile.
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He has settled near this Canaanite city and a horrific
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violation has just taken place. It is awful.
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It is Shechem, the Hivite Prince.
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He's the son of the city's ruler has assaulted Dinah, the
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daughter of Jacob. It is a moment of horrific
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darkness, defilement and family trauma.
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Jacob's family is devastated. Yes, Dinah has been violated and
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is being held in Shechem's house and the very next thing that
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happens is not a battle. No it.
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Isn't it is a business meeting? Yeah, and that transition from
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violence to diplomacy is jarring.
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I mean Ham or the father of Shechem comes out to meet
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Jacob's family. And he does not come to confess
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a crime. He does not come seeking justice
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at all. He comes with the language of a
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commercial treaty. Wow.
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He is attempting to mask this stench of his son's sin with a
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perfume of progress and unity. We are observing A cosmic
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struggle for the purity of God's people.
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The world says, you know, give us your daughters and take ours.
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But God has already spoken the mandate.
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Right. Be holy, for I am holy.
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Yeah, Hammer and Shechem attempt to normalize serious sin through
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desire, diplomacy, and payment. Revealing the deceitfulness of
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sin in a way that is incredibly relevant for the modern church.
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Well, let us look right at the linguistic mask of sin in
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Genesis 34, verse 8. This is where Hammer makes his
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opening pitch. Let's look at it.
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The text says and Hammer communed with them saying the
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soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter.
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I pray you give her him to wife. He completely ignores the
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assault he. Glosses right over the violence.
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He acts as if the crime never occurred, and the original
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Hebrew text exposes the manipulation brilliantly.
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Unpack that for us. Well, the word ham more uses for
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longs is the Hebrew word hashak. OK, this is a highly significant
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term in the wider context of the Pentateuch.
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Hashak often denotes a holy set apart affection.
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Wait, clarify that for me. What do you mean by a holy
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affection? Give me an example of how that
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word is normally used. Sure.
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A perfect example is in Deuteronomy Chapter 7 verse 7.
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Moses uses this very verd hashak to describe God's covenantal
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love for Israel. Oh wow.
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Yeah, Moses tells the people that the Lord did not set his
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love upon them nor choose them because they were more in number
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than any people. The phrase set his love upon is
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that word hashak. So it's a good thing.
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It describes a deep, clinging covenantal attachment.
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It is a beautiful sacred term describing divine grace.
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So hashar takes a word used for God's holy love and uses it to
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describe a violent assault. That is spot on.
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It is like a slick defense attorney trying to rebrand a
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felony as a crime of passion. That's a great way to put it.
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You know, the attorney stands before the jury, ignores the
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victim entirely, and tries to make the perpetrator look like a
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victim of his own overwhelming emotions.
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Like, oh, my client just loved too much.
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He was overcome by his feelings. That is a very accurate analogy.
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Haymore hijacks a beautiful covenantal term to sanitize a
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violent act of defilement. He takes the language of holy
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affection and applies it to unholy lust.
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This is the first stage of the world strategy softening guilt.
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So true. If sin can be renamed, if it
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could be closed in the vocabulary of strong emotion,
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then society will demand accommodation rather than
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justice. That shift in focus is
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incredibly manipulative. I mean, the wrong person recedes
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into the background. Notice Dinah does not speak.
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No, she doesn't. She is just an object to be
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exchanged and the wrongdoers emotional state becomes the
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absolute center of attention. Right?
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Haymore is asking Jacob's family to have sympathy for Shechem's
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intense desire, completely bypassing the wrath of God
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against the violation. Haymore wants everyone to look
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at Shechem's feelings instead of Shechem's actions.
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How often does our modern culture use the vocabulary of
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love or sincere desire to justify behavior that God
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explicitly condemns? Oh, we see this everywhere.
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We do. Society takes a transgression,
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wraps it in the language of strong, undeniable feeling, and
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suddenly to oppose the action is to oppose love itself.
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It feels like the oldest trick in the book.
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And if you are listening to this on your commute or while doing
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dishes, think about how often we do the same thing in our own
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lives. Oh yes, we have a massive
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tendency to sentimentalize our own sin.
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We want to domesticate it. We really do.
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We rename our moral failures to make them sound softer.
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We do not call it lying to the client.
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We call it managing expectations.
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Yeah, and we do not call it gossip, we call it sharing
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prayer requests or venting. Oh, that's a classic 1.
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We do not call covetousness what it is, we call it ambition or
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drive, and we certainly do not call less to what it is.
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We frame it as a struggle with intimacy or seeking connection.
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Right. We want to bypass repentance and
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go straight to accommodation. We want to be understood rather
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than forgiven. Hey, Moore is giving us a master
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class in how to avoid dealing with objective guilt by
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appealing to subjective feelings.
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He throws up this emotional smokescreen.
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He does. And once he gets Jacob's family
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listening to this language of longing instead of demanding
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justice, he immediately moves to the next phase.
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The pivot. Yeah.
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He transitions from personal feelings to broad social
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integration. That is the precise sequence we
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move from personal desire in verse 8 to communal diplomacy in
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verses 9 and 10. OK, he more expands his offer
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from a single marriage to a complete society wide merger,
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right? He says, Make marriages with us,
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and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you,
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and you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you
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dwell, and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.
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He is offering them the world intermarriage, shared land,
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unrestricted commerce. Yeah, he zeroes in on the
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practical benefits of assimilation.
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He certainly does. The Hebrew word here for trade
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is sahar. Sahar.
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This word means the freedom of a merchant to move about and
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profit without restriction. Oh, interesting.
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In the ancient Near East, economic survival was difficult.
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You needed grazing rights for your flocks, access to wells and
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safe passage through territories.
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So it's a big deal. It's a huge deal.
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Hammer is offering Jacob a seat at the table of Canaanite
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wealth, provided Jacob abandons his distinct identity as the
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bearer of the covenant. I see the trap, but let me play
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devil's advocate here for a second.
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Sure, Jacob's family is a small all tribe of nomads.
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They are vastly outnumbered by the Canaanites and the
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parasites. They need to eat, they need to
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survive. Yes.
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Isn't peaceful trade a good thing?
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I mean, we aren't called to complete isolationism.
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We buy groceries from secular stores.
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We work in secular companies. We sign contracts with non
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believers. The distinction between living
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in the world and compromising with the world is vital here.
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OK, break that down. Him OR is not offering a simple
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business transaction. A simple business transaction is
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buying grain at the market right humor is demanding the erasure
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of the covenant line. The catch is the intermarriage.
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Make marriages with us. He is offering a broad
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ecumenical unity that is lethal to true religion.
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I hear you, but pragmatically, if Jacob says no, his family
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might be slaughtered. That's the fear.
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And more controls a fortified city.
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Are you saying God expects Jacob to choose certain death over a
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bad treaty? On the surface, it sounds like
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Hemor is just offering a mutually beneficial economic
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zone. He is saying let's stop the
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tribal hostility, let's integrate our economies, let's
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build a prosperous society together.
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To a pragmatist, that sounds like a massive win.
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You secure the safety of your family and gain access to a
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booming market. That is the pragmatic calculus
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Hemor is counting on. But God does not expect Jacob to
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choose certain death. God expects Jacob to trust the
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promises he already made. God promised to protect Jacob
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and multiply his seed. Ham, or his offer of trade is
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contingent upon theological and biological syncretism.
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He is saying you can have our wealth, but you must become US.
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The cost of doing business is their identity.
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Yes, in the ancient Near East, and specifically within the
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patriarchal narratives of Genesis, marriage is never just
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a domestic arrangement. It is the mechanism for
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preserving the holy seed. Think back to Abraham.
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He made his servant swear a solemn oath not to take a wife
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for Isaac from the Canaanites. Rebecca was grieved over Esau's
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Hittite Wise. So the lineage matters.
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The entire redemptive plan of God relies on a distinct,
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separate people through whom the Messiah will eventually come.
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So this is a direct assault on the doctrine of the Church as
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they called out assembly. It is a Frankel assault.
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In Reformed theology. We look to the Westminster
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Confession of Faith, chapter 19, which concerns the law of God.
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OK. The confession requires that
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God's people remain separate from the Pagan practices of the
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surrounding nations. Yeah, the moral law binds all
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people, but the covenant people are commanded to maintain their
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holy distinction. Haymore's proposal aims to erase
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that line completely. This is a hostile takeover
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disguised as a corporate merger. That's a brilliant way to phrase
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it. And this translates directly to
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how the Church operates today. We see the lure of pragmatism
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everywhere, valuing what works and what pays over what is true.
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We can critique modern seeker sensitive movements on this very
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basis. Oh, absolutely.
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These movements often dilute sound doctrine, soften the sharp
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edges of the gospel, and blur the lines between the church and
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the culture. Why do they do it?
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To gain a favorable standing in the secular marketplace.
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Yeah, they want people in the seats.
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They want the freedom to trade, to be accepted, to have cultural
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influence, but they trade theological purity for cultural
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access. Peace bought at the price of
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covenantal purity is a prelude to spiritual death.
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The Church cannot trade as holiness for market share.
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That is a stark warning. You cannot secure the future of
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the Church by selling its soul to the culture.
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No, you can't. But Hammer's diplomacy actually
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hits a brick wall in this specific moment because Jacob's
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sons are already furious. They heard what happened to
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Dinah and they are indignant. The text tells us they are very
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angry because Shechem had wrought folly in Israel, so the
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PR campaign fails. The smooth talk about
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intermarriage and free trade doesn't work on the brothers.
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It doesn't. And when the smooth words don't
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close the deal, what does a wealthy Prince do next?
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He reaches for his wallet. Shechem discards the statecraft
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and goes straight to the leverage of the purse.
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In verses 11 and 12, Shechem finally speaks up.
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OK, he bypasses his father's diplomatic approach and speaks
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directly to Jacob and his sons. What does he say?
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He says, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what you shall
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say unto me I will give. Ask me never so much dowry and
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gift, and I will give according as you shall say unto me, but
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give me the damsel to wife. He offers an absolute blank
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check. He assumes that every moral
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failure has a financial solution.
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He does, and to understand his arrogance we need to break down
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the two Hebrew financial terms he uses, the Mohar and the
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Matan. All right, let's hear it.
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These are distinct concepts. In ancient Near Eastern law, the
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Mohar is the standard legal bride price.
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OK. It was the customary
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compensation paid to the bride's family for the loss of her labor
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in the household. Right.
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So it was a legal requirement, a standard fee.
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Yes, but then Shechem adds the matan.
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What is that? The matan is a voluntary
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additional present. It is an over the top bribe
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designed to secure favor and overwhelm the offended party
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with sheer wealth. Wow.
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Shechem is essentially saying name the legal fee and then name
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an illegal bribe on top of it and I will pay both.
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Just give me the girl. I look at Shechem's offer and it
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feels like a disgraced billionaire today attempting to
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buy his way out of a severe moral failing.
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Oh, very much so. A massive scandal breaks.
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A CEO is caught in terrible abusive of behavior and the
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board is panicking. The very next day, the CEO
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announces a $50 million philanthropic initiative to
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build a new hospital wing. It is APR move masquerading as
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repentance. Spot on.
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The media praises the generosity, the public gets
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distracted by the shiny new hospital wing, and the original
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victims are completely sidelined.
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The perpetrator thinks his net worth can counterbalance his
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moral bankruptcy. He thinks he can purchase grace.
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But the logic is completely twisted.
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Shechem actually uses the word grace.
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He says let me find grace in your eyes, but he wants to buy
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it. By definition, if you can buy
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it, it isn't grace. It is a transaction.
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Is a transaction, and it exposes a terrible theological error.
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This text violently refused the prosperity gospel and the
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creeping secular philosophy that plagues so many pews today.
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Yes, so. Well, the prosperity gospel
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suggests that spiritual standing and earthly wealth are
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intrinsically linked. Shechem embodies this error.
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He represents the man who believes he can atone for his
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own transgressions with the currency of this world.
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He thinks that what lust has corrupted wealth can secure.
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Explain how this ties into the Reformed doctrine of total
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depravity, because people hear that phrase and they think it
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means human beings are as evil as they could possibly be, like
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cartoon villains. That is a common
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misunderstanding. Total depravity does not mean
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man is as bad as he could possibly be.
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It means that every part of man, his mind, his will, his
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affections, his reasoning, is tainted by sin.
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So it touches everything. Everything.
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Because of this taint, he is completely unable to save
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himself or please God on his own merits.
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Shechem's depravity is shown in his violent act, Yes, but it is
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equally shown in his reasoning afterward.
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Interesting. He assumes his gold can bridge
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the chasm created by his sin. He does not ask how he can make
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confession. He does not ask how to satisfy
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the wrath of God. He just asks for their price.
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He wants an outward settlement without an inward cleansing.
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Precisely. As Reformed believers, we tie
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this directly to the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 11,
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which covers justification. The Confession states
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unequivocally that acceptance by God is never based on anything
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done by us or paid by us. Amen.
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We are justified freely by His grace.
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Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
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God pardons our sins and accounts us righteous, not
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because of our good works and certainly not because of our
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wealth, but for Christ's sake alone.
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Which means Shechem's bribe is a direct insult to the concept of
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true justification. He is trying to bypass the need
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for a substitute. It is an insult, and yet human
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nature always prefers to negotiate terms rather than bow
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in genuine repentance. From a psychological standpoint,
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that makes perfect sense. Think about it.
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Writing a check hurts your bank account, but it protects your
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pride. It does.
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You remain in control of the situation.
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You are the benefactor. You are the one driving the
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negotiation. Right, But true repentance.
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Repentance requires you to relinquish control.
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It requires you to admit you are morally bankrupt.
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Yeah, a person would much rather suffer financial loss than
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humble their pride before a holy God.
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We would rather pay a fine than admit we are wicked.
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Shechem is perfectly willing to bankrupt his estate if it means
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he does not have to break his heart.
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Wow. He wants Dinah, He wants to
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resolve the awkward family tension, and he wants to walk
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away feeling like he handled the situation like a powerful
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Prince. This sounds like what the
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Apostle Paul talks about in Corinthians regarding worldly
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sorrow versus godly sorrow. It is the perfect illustration
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of it. Worldly sorrow wants the
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consequences relieved. Godly sorrow wants the sin
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forsaken. Shechem exhibits pure worldly
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sorrow. He wants the obstacle removed so
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he can acquire what his flesh desires.
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Right, He says. Ask me never so much, but give
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me the damsel to wife. The acquisition of the woman
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remains his controlling motivation.
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The method shifts from violence to negotiation, but the
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self-centered orientation remains entirely unchanged.
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He's attempting to achieve by transaction what he first seized
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by sin. And Scripture teaches that sin
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cannot be bought off, it must be judged.
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Which makes the next part of the narrative so agonizing.
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With such an offensive, blasphemous offer on the table,
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an offer that tries to put a price tag on a daughter of the
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covenant and bypass the holiness of God, you would expect the
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patriarch of the family to rise up in righteous anger.
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You really would. You would expect Jacob to flip
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the table, refuse the money, and demand true justice.
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But he does is not. The narrative gives us a
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chilling absence of leadership. Throughout this entire wicked
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negotiation, Jacob remains completely silent.
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Yes, from verse 5 when he first hears the defilement and holds
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his peace all the way through Hamor and Shechem's long
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speeches, Jacob says absolutely nothing.
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He allows the ungodly to set the terms of the discussion.
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He lets these Pagan Princess walk into his camp and treat his
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daughter like a commodity. It is infuriating to read.
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History has judged Jacob's silence severely.
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John Calvin, the great Genevan Reformer, offers a harsh
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critique of Jacob's sluggishness in his commentary on Genesis.
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What does Calvin say? Calvin points out that Jacob's
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silence was a dereliction of his duty to protect the sanctity of
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his house. In the biblical framework we
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refer to complementarian headship.
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Break that phrase down for us. What does complementarian
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headship look like in this context?
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It means that God assigns different roles to men and women
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within the family in the church. OK, the father is called to be
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the spiritual head, the protector and the guardian of
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the family's covenantal purity. He is like a watchman on the
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wall. When an enemy approaches, the
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watchman is supposed to blow the trumpet.
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Jacob abdicates his God ordained role.
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He stands by while his daughter's honor and his
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family's spiritual future are bartered over like livestock.
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Let me push back on Calvin's critique for a moment.
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Go for it. Put yourself in Jacob's sandals.
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He is a stranger in a strange land.
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He does not have a massive standing army.
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Haymore is the ruler of a fortified city.
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True, if Jacob speaks up in righteous anger and demands
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justice, he risks a slaughter. So isn't he just being a careful
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diplomat? Well, perhaps he is being
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shrewd, letting the enemy speak first, trying to de escalate A
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volatile situation before it leads to a bloodbath.
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Many modern leadership seminars praise that kind of conflict
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avoidances, emotional intelligence, or strategic
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patience. Right.
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You listen. You.
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To evaluate the terms and you find a non violent resolution.
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But we cannot give Jacob a pass here.
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There was a vast difference between strategic patience and
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moral cowardice. So you're saying neutrality in
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the face of blatant evil is complicity?
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Absolutely. Jacob's survival was already
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guaranteed by the promises of God.
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Oh, that's right. God told him at Bethel that he
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would be with him and keep him. Jacob's failure is a failure to
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trust the indicative of God's promise.
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Stop right there. Define indicative for us in this
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theological sense. In theology and indicative is a
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statement of fact about what God has done or promised to do.
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OK. The imperative is the command of
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what we must do. The imperative always flows from
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the indicative. Give me an example.
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God says I have saved you and promised to protect you.
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That is the indicative. Therefore do not fear the
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Canaanites. That is the imperative.
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Got it. Jacob forgets the indicative.
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He reverts to fleshly calculation instead of
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covenantal fidelity. And because he forgets God's
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promise, he creates a vacuum. When Jacob fails to speak the
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clear no of God's law to the world's bribes, his sons are
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left vulnerable. The vacuum of leadership Jacob
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creates is immediately filled by the deceit and violence of
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Simeon and Levi. Because the father will not
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execute justice, the sons take matters into their own hands.
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And they do it in a horrific. Way it is brutal.
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They misuse the sacrament of circumcision as a weapon.
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They tell the men of Shechem they will intermarry only if all
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the men are circumcised. And while the men of the city
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are recovering and in pain, Simeon and Levi's slaughter them
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all. They turn a holy sign of the
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covenant into a biological weapon.
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They do. Jacob's initial passivity
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directly contributes to the eventual chaotic and violent
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reaction of his sons. When fathers and office bearers
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failed to establish clear righteous boundaries, the next
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generation often swings into radical, ungodly extremes.
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Jacob permitted the world to think the covenant was for sale,
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and his sons responded with unhinged vengeance.
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The passivity of the father leads to the violent chaos of
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the sons. If you are a father, a business
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leader, or an elder in your local congregation, you need to
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hear this. Yes.
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Are you remaining silent while the culture dictates the moral
22:17
terms in your own home or in your church?
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When a worldly philosophy disguises compassion enters your
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community, do you speak up? Or do you hold your peace like
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Jacob when the world offers your church a blank check of social
22:30
approval, provided you stop talking about sin and
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repentance? Do you stand at the gate and say
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no, or do you quietly consider the terms?
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That is a tough question. Jacob's silence is a mirror for
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the modern church. We often think our silence is
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polite, but in the spiritual realm, silence in the presence
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of defilement is an endorsement of the enemy's terms.
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And Jacob's failure forces us to look beyond the patriarchs for
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our hope. The book of Genesis is
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remarkably honest about the flaws of its heroes.
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It really is. Abraham lied about his wife.
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Isaac played favorites. Jacob was a deceiver and here a
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passive coward. His sons are violent and
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vengeful. If the earthly father fails to
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protect the bride, if the patriarchs themselves are
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corrupted by fear and pragmatism, where do we look?
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We look to the Canon of scripture to find the true
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bridegroom. The Holy Spirit designs these
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narratives to show us the adequacy of human leadership and
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human remedies. We are meant to feel the despair
23:28
of Genesis 34 so that we can rejoice in the provision of the
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Gospel. We move from the ancient
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historical context to the grand redemptive historical narrative.
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This dark text points us directly to Jesus Christ through
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a sharp, beautiful contrast. Let's lay that Christological
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contrast out. Clearly.
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We have Shikam on one side, representing the false
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bridegroom, and we have Christ on the other, the true
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bridegroom. Shikam seeks a bride through
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fleshly possession, defilement, and violence.
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He takes what is not his, ruins it, and then tries to buy his
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way out of the guilt. Yes, he comes to a woman who was
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whole and leaves were broken and then tosses gold on the table to
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make up for it. The contrast with Christ is
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staggering. Christ finds his bride, the
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Church, already defiled. We were the defiled 1.
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Defiled by the fall, defiled by our own sin, hostile to God, and
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covered in moral filth, Christ does not exploit us.
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He comes to us in our ruin, and instead of offering corruptible
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silver and gold to buy our affection, He gives his own
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lifeblood to wash us white as snow.
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Shechem demands the bride and offers cash.
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Christ sacrifices himself to purify the bride.
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It is the exact inverse of the Genesis narrative.
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The Apostle Peter addresses this contrast directly.
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Where is that? In first Peter chapter 1 he
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writes, for as much as ye know, that you were not redeemed with
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corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
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conversation received by tradition from your Father's,
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but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
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blemish and without spot. That is beautiful.
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Shechem believed the favor of the covenant family could be
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bought with the currency of Canaan.
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He offered a massive Mohar, a bride price of earthly wealth.
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But the price of our union with God was not a negotiation of
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terms. It was a substitution of
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persons. A substitution of persons.
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Unpack that in light of the Westminster Confession.
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This aligns perfectly with the Westminster Confession of Faith
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Chapter 7 regarding the covenant of grace.
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OK. In the covenant of grace, God
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freely offers unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ.
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He requires faith in Him and promises to give His Holy Spirit
25:32
to make them willing and able to believe.
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Christ is the perfect satisfaction of divine justice
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that Shechem attempted to bypass.
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Shechem tried to throw money over the chasm of his guilt.
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Christ did in the chasm, took the wrath of the Father upon
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Himself, and fulfilled the righteous requirements of the
25:50
law. Christ did not negotiate around
25:52
justice. He satisfied it completely.
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That is it 100%. And we also have to recognize
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the absolute necessity of the biological and spiritual
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preservation of Israel in this specific historical moment.
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Think about the cosmic stakes of this trade deal.
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It's massive. If Jacob had agreed to this
26:10
merger, if he had taken the money and let his sons
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intermarry with the Hivites, the distinct line of the Messiah
26:16
would have vanished. The family of promise would have
26:18
been swallowed up into Canaanite culture.
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They would have started worshipping the local gods,
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adopting the local customs, and the holy seed would have been
26:26
lost in a single generation. Gone.
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The promise God made in Genesis 3 that the seed of the woman
26:32
would crush the serpent's head required a physical lineage.
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God's faithfulness preserved that line.
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Even despite Jacob's cowardice and his son's violence.
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God ensured the line remains separate so that Jesus, the lion
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of the tribe of Judah, could actually arrive in history.
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The preservation of Israel in Genesis 34 was not about tribal
26:51
superiority or ethnic pride. It was a required preparation
26:55
for the incarnation of the Word. From Genesis to Revelation, God
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is preserving A distinct people. As Reformed believers, we see
27:03
the continuity of the covenant. God's faithfulness overrules
27:07
human corruption. Praise God for that.
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He keeps His promise alive in a hostile world.
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Christ is the true Israel who succeeded where the sons of
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Jacob failed. He perfectly guarded the purity
27:17
of God's name. Understanding this theological
27:20
reality has to change how a believer actually lives.
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Theology that doesn't touch the ground is useless.
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Amen. If Christ is the true Bridegroom
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who purchased us with His blood, then our response cannot be the
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passive pragmatism of Jacob. We are called to live, work and
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worship in light of this union. This brings us to practical
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application, head, heart, hands and liturgy.
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In reformed circles, we often talk about the law having 3
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uses. Remind us of those.
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The first use is as a mirror to show us our sin and drive us to
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Christ. The second use is as a curb to
27:52
restrain evil in society through civil government, and the third
27:56
use is as a guide for the Christian life.
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Let's focus on that third use. Because we are joined to priced
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the true bridegroom, we are actually empowered to say no to
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the world's bribes. Yes, we do not separate
28:08
ourselves from the world by gritting our teeth and relying
28:10
on our own willpower. That is just legalism.
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Legalism fails because it relies on the flesh.
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We live out the third use of the law out of gratitude.
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The Holy Spirit empowers us to reject the blank checks of the
28:23
culture because we already possessed the riches of Christ.
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But how does this play out in the corporate gathering?
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How should a Reformed Church integrate a heavy, challenging
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text like Genesis 34 into Sunday worship?
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A. Reformed Church views the
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worship service as a seamless means of grace where every
28:39
element reinforces the word preached.
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We adhere to the dialogical principle of worship.
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God speaks and we respond. OK, the liturgy is highly
28:47
intentional for a text like this.
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The service should begin with a call to worship from the Psalms,
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perhaps Psalm One or Psalm 2. Psalm 2 is perfect for this.
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Why do the nation's rage and the people plot a vain thing?
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It immediately establishes the distinction between the
29:03
righteous and the wicked nations.
29:05
He points out to the congregation that God sits
29:07
enthroned in heaven and laughs at the vain plots of the kings
29:10
of the earth. Hammer's plotting is laughable
29:13
to God. Wow, yeah.
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Following this, the confession of sin must be specific.
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We lead the congregation to repent of the very sins exposed
29:21
in the text, our own pragmatic compromises, our tendency to
29:24
value career advancement over spiritual purity, and our Jacob
29:28
like silence in our homes and workplaces.
29:30
The confession hurts, but it prepares the heart for the
29:33
gospel. And then comes the assurance of
29:35
pardon. You announced to the
29:37
congregation that they are bought with the true
29:39
bridegroom's blood. You remind the weary St. who's
29:43
been compromising all week that their guilt is covered not by
29:46
silver and gold, but by Christ. That is the good news.
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But the climax of the liturgy, especially connecting to this
29:52
text, has to be the Lord's Supper.
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Consider the striking contrast here.
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Him or offered an unholy feast of assimilation.
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He invited Israel to sit at the Canaanite table, eat their food,
30:05
intermarry and lose their identity entirely.
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The Communion table is the exact opposite.
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It is the holy feast of Christ standing in direct opposition to
30:15
the world's offer. When we come to the table, we
30:18
feast upon the Christ who separated us from the world.
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The Lord's Supper is the visible word.
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It fulfills the principles laid out in the Westminster
30:25
Confession, chapter 21 on religious worship right at the
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table. We do not trade with the world,
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we commune with the Savior. The bread and the cup serve as
30:33
the seal of our covenantal distinction.
30:36
They prove that our union with Christ is what empowers our
30:38
obedience. When you eat the bread and drink
30:41
the cup, you are publicly declaring that you reject the
30:44
diet of Shechem. You are declaring that the blood
30:47
of Christ is sufficient and you do not need the bribes of the
30:50
world to secure your future. The liturgy takes the historical
30:53
narrative of Genesis, applies the theological truth of the
30:57
Gospel, and physically enacts it in the sacrament.
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And that physical enactment challenges the affections of the
31:03
heart. We must recognize that any piece
31:06
purchased with compromise is but a gilded cage.
31:10
I want to challenge you, the listener right now.
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Do you love the glory of God more than the gold of the
31:16
culture? Think about the specific areas
31:18
in your life where you are tempted to compromise.
31:20
That's a vital question. To the singles and the youth
31:23
listening, guard your hearts against the shechems of this
31:26
age. Do not enter into unequal yokes.
31:28
Do not date or marry someone outside the faith thinking you
31:31
can assimilate an unbeliever into the Kingdom through
31:33
compromise. It is a trap.
31:35
You will end up sacrificing your covenant fidelity for
31:37
companionship. And to the unbeliever who might
31:40
be listening, this text is a warning.
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You are currently trying to buy God's favor with your own gifts.
31:46
You think your morality, your charity, or your good intentions
31:50
will serve as a bride price to get you into heaven, but your
31:54
payment is completely insufficient.
31:56
Catch yourself entirely on the mercy of the true bridegroom.
31:59
The call is urgent. The world's proposals are
32:02
designed to look like opportunities, but they are
32:05
traps designed to swallow the distinct identity of God's
32:08
people. But the final encouragement for
32:10
the believer is incredibly hope filled.
32:12
You're standing before God is not based on your own diplomatic
32:15
skills, thank God. It is not based on your ability
32:18
to out mover the culture or your strength to resist every
32:21
temptation perfectly. You're standing rests entirely
32:24
on your union with Christ. He has already overcome the
32:27
world. He has perfectly guarded the
32:29
purity of the covenant. Yes, when you rest in him, you
32:32
are safe from the seductions of the Hivites, because you belong
32:35
to a Kingdom that cannot be shaken.
32:37
That is the beautiful, liberating truth of the gospel.
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We do not have to negotiate for our survival because our King
32:44
has already secured the victory. To wrap up our deep dive today,
32:48
we have seen that the siren song of Shechem still echoes.
32:51
It really does. The world is constantly offering
32:54
us blank checks. They say we will give you
32:56
influence, we will give you a platform, we will give you
32:58
economic security if you just tone down the exclusive claims
33:03
of Christ, if you just blend in. It is the whisper of the devil,
33:07
but we belong to the true bridegroom who bought us with
33:10
his blood. I want to leave you with a
33:12
final, lingering thought to ponder as you go through your
33:14
week. We started by talking about the
33:16
Devil's roar versus his whisper. We worry about persecution and
33:21
the drawn sword. But one of the most lethal
33:24
threat to your soul this week isn't a culture that openly
33:27
hates you, but a culture that warmly invites you to sit at its
33:29
table as long as you leave your convictions at the door.
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Thank you for joining us on Reformed Thinking.
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Rest safely in the grace of the true Bridegroom.