So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.” Genesis 35:2-3 (Genesis 34-35:15)
When Jacob returns to Canaan he buys a plot of ground near Shechem and makes his home there. Jacob and Leah’s daughter, Dinah, was out walking when the Prince of Shechem raped her. He quickly asks for her hand in marriage but he was refused because the men of Shechem were uncircumcised. So, all the men of Shechem are directed to have surgery to become like Jacob’s household. While they are in great discomfort from their circumcisions, Levi and Simeon, Dinah’s full brothers, kill every male in the city and then all her brother looted the community, rescue Dinah and take the women and children as slaves.
When Jacob discovered this horrific act of vengeance, he had no option but to pack up and leave. The shadow of his sons’ murderous act ruined any hope of abiding peace. The move brought him to Bethel, the place he first encountered God. Here, Jacob builds an alter, and God renews His covenant.
Jacob is not counted as saying much to his two sons about their behavior, but in chapter 49 he speaks to their minimized blessing as a result of their sin. Later, Levitical Law sets an-eye-for-an-eye as a standard judgement. No more no less.
Justice and revenge are not the same thing. The first is for the greater good, the later is borne of hatred. God alone is the Perfect Judge. Retaliation leaves no room for justice and the miracles of God’s wisdom and love. God sees and knows all and He is Holy and just. Let Him handle it!
Have a Great Wednesday!
Gretchen