Dinah

1Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4And Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as my wife.”  Genesis 34:1-4
I have often wondered about this story, why is it in the Bible? Here a young man of the land where Israel and his family are dwelling sees Dinah Israel's daughter and rapes her. The human condition has been in men's hearts forever. The Bible tells the good and the bad. Shechem, the man that raped Dinah wanted her for his wife. He asks his father to get Dinah for him for his wife. Hamor the father of Shechem comes to talk to Jacob (Israel) for this purpose. Jacob has been a deceiver for much of his life. He got Esau's birthright for a bowl of soup. He deceived his elderly father for the blessing that was supposed to go to Esau. Working for Laban, Jacob was also deceived and ended up working for and marrying both Leah and Rachael. He cared for Laban's flocks and would manipulate the offspring of the herds he cared for to increase his wages. Here again, Israel and his sons deceived the townspeople. They make a promise to give Dinah to Shechem as his wife if the men of the city will be circumcised as they are. While the men of this city are hurting from their circumcision, Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi attack these men and kill them and plunder the city to avenge Dinah's rape. There always has seemed to be the good, the bad, and the ugly all through time. It is no different today. We have swindlers every day that will deceive us if they can and take what is ours. I am really not sure what to say about this. I remember the first time I read about this rape, why is this story put in the Bible? But there it is. Mankind has been evil from the beginning and that is why we need Jesus, to clean and change our hearts from the sinful nature that is in each of us.  God bless, LVZ.