When a local prince raped Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, that prince had done “something that should never be done” (v. 7). Jacob’s sons talked the men of that town into circumcising themselves to form an alliance. But while the men were all recovering, Dinah’s two full brothers Simeon and Levi “slaughtered every male” (v. 25). Jacob scolded his sons for making their family a stench in the nostrils of the Canaanite people.
Revenge takes justice beyond what is just. Revenge wrong to right a wrong. This sobering story reminds me of the depravity of people. It reminds me that even the “good guys” can behave badly. And yet God still loves them all. And he still loves us.
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