Genesis 34:18-23

2009.Jun.05 09:30

Speaking Power to Fools

Read Genesis 34:18-23 | Full Chapter

Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his father’s house.
(Genesis 34:18-19, ESV)

In last week’s episode, Dinah’s brother had just pulled off a bit of deception, convincing Hamor and Shechem to make not just themselves but their whole city vulnerable, having all the males trained in fighting being down and out recovering from circumcision. Hamor falls for it hook, line and sinker, even to the point that he’s feeling his people are getting the best deal. At the cost of short-term pain, he reasons (as seen in verse 23, below), Jacob’s family will be assimilitated into the group Hamor rules. His power will increase.

Shechem’s reasons seem to have little to do with political or economic power, but power none the less. His gain for circumcision will be over Dinah. He has already raped her, but his lustful appetite has only grown with that act. Now he wants her to be his wife, and I don’t think in the way, say, that I am delighted that my wife is married to me. I can’t say for sure, but I don’t believe Shechem is seeking a relationship, a partnership, a family. Rather, he is seeking the sort of power and fame that high school boys think they are to gain by having sex with the hot virgin. Shechem–I am inclined to assume–wants to possess Dinah and thereby to proclaim himself as her master and a man of power. Even though he already is the most honored in the household of a local ruler.

So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, "These men are at peace with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us to become one people–when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. Will not their livestock, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us."
(Genesis 34:20-23, ESV)

We now watch their plea to the people, and the reasoning is much the same: more for us (Note they fail to mention the reason why this has all come up). We will suffer a little to gain. Actually, that’s not an inherently bad thing if you leave it general like that. After all, we followers of Jesus are called to accept suffering for his sake, knowing that our reward is beyond anything this world can offer. It’s the details that are the problem. The gain here is \ just worldly power, and that hope blinds the people to wisdom.

In their rush to gain, the men of this town make themselves vulnerable, and die for their foolishness. The sons of Jacob acted deceptively, but the men (and perhaps women) of Succoth are really deceived by the promise of wealth and power. Again, these things are not inherently evil. But the love of them, the lust for them and pursuit of them at the expense of greater things–love, faith, obedience, wisdom–is truly destructive.

Genesis 11:2-9

2006.Dec.09 13:13

Long Division

Read Genesis 11:2-9 | Full Chapter

I’d like to start by quoting myself

[A]ny unity between humans tends to result first in greater sin against God, then in division with each other. It is that we humans, in our quest for godhood, will ally ourselves with those we deem less powerful (up to all other humans) in order to prove our godhood against Him who most certainly is greater.

Bearing that thought in mind:

[The settlers in Babylonia] said: Let’s build a city with a tower that reaches to the sky! We’ll use hard bricks and tar instead of stone and mortar. We’ll become famous, and we won’t be scattered all over the world.But when the LORD came down to look at the city and the tower, he said:These people are working together because they all speak the same language. This is just the beginning. Soon they will be able to do anything they want.
(Genesis 11:3-6, CEV)

God’s solution is to make the people speak different languages,

So the people had to stop building the city, because the LORD confused their language and scattered them all over the earth. That’s how the city of Babel got its name.
(Genesis 11:8-9, CEV)

The settlers are a group of Noah’s descendents who have stopped in Babylonia ("a plain in the land of Shinar" (Genesis 11:2, KJV) ). Having settled for a moment, they decide to build a large, brick tower. Their stated goals are two-fold:

1. To be known by other groups of people (to be famous).
2. To retain their group’s unity; perhaps under the assumption that this tower would be an easily identifiable gathering point.

My statement above discusses humanity unifying in sin against Jehovah, but it initially seems a leap from the building of this tower with the above purposes to some sort of attack against God. The first goal is not really noble, and certainly implies pride, but who hasn’t longed for a bit of fame? (Probably lots of people, but lets ignore them for the sake of cheesy rhetoric, ‘kay?) The second point can be seen as a pretty good thing.

The clarity of this group’s sin can be seen in omission. There is no record of this group at all acknowledging Jehovah. They are using new technologies and their “unity” to build something that is about themselves and for their own purposes; they rely on other humans instead of God (possibly each saying to him/herself that he/she is using the others).

God, in reviewing the construction, makes a fascinating statement: “Soon they will be able to do anything they want.” I have to assume that this is not an admission of potential omnipotence of humanity, but rather that God sees how humans will convince themselves of their omnipotence. In fame and power (e.g. via technology), this group would more easily ignore God in their own self-worship and perceived self-sufficiency.

To confront this, Jehovah confuses their language and scatters the group “all over the earth”. In this case God directly divides up the settlers, although this usually is an activity humans perform on our own. Without this “unity”, and in particular without the ability to effectively communicate, Jehovah causes humans to reveal to ourselves our own self-destructiveness and impotence; that is, to see our godhood for what it is: a lie built on pride. As I said in my last entry, God clearly desires intra-human unity, but it must be built on a relationship with Him to be true unity. History clearly demonstrates that what we normally call unity is really explotation. God, instead, desires a body which works together and acknowledges the need for each part to be working in harmony. And, then, a shared language will be a blessing, not a tool for the most proud and ambitious to exploit those slightly less-so.