The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: The Family

Family Sins Part 2 of 2

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Family Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2012-02-02

Synopsis: In this second part of the 'Family Sins' series, Pastor John Weaver continues his exposition of Genesis 34, focusing on the sins of Simeon and Levi and the broader family sins of Jacob's household. He demonstrates how sin is interconnected, with Jacob's initial disobedience leading to Dinah's vulnerability and the brothers' violent revenge. The lecture emphasizes that while individuals are accountable for their own sins, their actions inevitably affect others, especially within families. Weaver calls for personal and family repentance, warning against unrighteous anger and the danger of passing sins to future generations.

[John Weaver] Genesis 34, beginning there with verse 1. We're going to take up today on the message that I started last Sunday, entitled Family Sins. And I will take a moment to review. But notice Genesis 34, verse 1. And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she barren to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, He took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. And his soul claimed unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamer, saying, Give me this damsel to wife. And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they were come. And Hamer the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it, And the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel, and lying with Jacob's daughter, which thing ought not to be done.

[John Weaver] And Hamer communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter. I pray you, give him to wife. Make you marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. And you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. And Shechem said unto his father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes and what you shall say to me. I will give Ask me never so much dowry and gift and I will give according as you say it to me but give me the damsel to wife and The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and hammer his father deceitfully and said because he defiled down of their sister and they said unto him We cannot do this thing to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised for that were reproaching to us But in this will be consented to you If you will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised, then we will give our daughters unto you, and we will take your

[John Weaver] daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if you will not hearken unto us to be circumcised, then will we take our daughter and be gone. And their words pleased Hammer, and Shechem, Hammer's son. And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delighted Jacob's daughter, and he was more honorable than all the house of his father. and Hamer and Shechem his son came into the gate of their city and communed with the men of their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade therein. For the land, behold, it is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us, our wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them and they will dwell with us.

[John Weaver] And unto Hamer and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city and every male was circumcised all that went out of the gate of his city. And it came to pass on the third day when they were sore that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword and came upon the city boldly and slew all the males. And they slew Hamer and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went out. sons of Jacob came upon the slain and spoiled the city because they had defiled their sister. Then took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, and all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives, took their captives. They captive and spoiled even all that was in the house. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have troubled me to make me stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites.

[John Weaver] And I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed in my house. And they said, should he deal with our sister as with a harlot. We're going to continue today on the second part of this message on family sins. I suppose one of the greatest proofs that the Bible is indeed the word of God is that it does not endeavor to cover up the imperfections, the faults, the failures and sins even of godly individuals. We have to remember, however great and however godly men are, or however great and godly some families are, they are still human and therefore they are still sinners.

[John Weaver] Let me very quickly dispel this from anyone's thinking. Here is a clear biblical statement. There are no perfect individuals. Contrary to what I tell Alice, there are no perfect individuals and there are no perfect families. Now, the very fact that there are no perfect individuals and the very fact that there are no perfect families should not hinder us from desiring and falling after perfection. Although we have to understand that perfection is unattainable in this life.

[John Weaver] The apostle Paul said it like this in the book of Philippians chapter 3 and verse 12. He says, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I also am apprehended of Jesus Christ. So Paul said, I'm not perfect. I haven't attained. But he said, that doesn't hinder me from following after. In other words, Paul's attitude was this. I may not be able to be perfect in this life, but I want to be as holy and as godly as I can be by the grace of God. And certainly that should be our attitude. We understand we cannot be perfect. We understand we cannot have a perfect family. But we still should endeavor to be as holy and as godly and as obedient as we could be by the grace of God.

[John Weaver] Now I'm going to review just a little bit from last week, but let me reinforce in your mind, two basic principles that we looked at, and I'm going to show you how these principles stand side by side. I told you that we have been correctly and biblically taught that each individual is answerable and accountable for his own sins. Let me say that again. Each individual is answerable and accountable for his own sins.

[John Weaver] God said in the book of Ezekiel chapter 18 in verse 20, listen carefully. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father. Neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. Also in the book of Deuteronomy 24 and verse 16, God said this, the father shall not be put to death for the children. Neither the children shall be put to death for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sins.

[John Weaver] So here's a clear principle from scripture. Each one of us is answerable and accountable for our sins. However, there is another principle. that stands equally alongside of that. You find that in Romans 14 in verse 7, where the Word of God says this, For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Now listen to what he said, None of us liveth to himself, and none of us dieth, or no man dieth to himself.

[John Weaver] In other words, what we are and what we do always affects others. We're not living in a vacuum. We do not live by ourselves nor do we die by ourselves. I pointed out last week that there are many shared family sins. These shared family sins are usually learned behavior patterns such as greediness and selfishness and anger and lustfulness and rebellion and as I pointed out even idolatry. In fact, These sins can be so much a family sharing that God warned in 2nd Chronicles 30 in verse 8, He told the people this, Now be ye not stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord and enter into His sanctuary. In other words, what did God tell the children? Don't be like your fathers.

[John Weaver] He said the same thing in the book of Zechariah. Be not as your fathers. So there are indeed such things as shared family sins. Many have learned their sins, their attitudes, their dispositions from their parents. And consequently, they also bring upon themselves the judgment of God as well.

[John Weaver] Now in the book of Exodus chapter 20 and verse 5, listen to this. God says, thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them. I'm talking about false gods. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."

[John Weaver] Now let me ask a question. Why does God visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and the children's children, and the children's children's children? And the answer is very simple. because the children continue in the same sins of the fathers. In other words, it has learned behavior patterns. It has shared family sins.

[John Weaver] Now last week, I took the whole time to show you the sins of Jacob and the sins of Dinah. I pointed out, I demonstrated from scripture where God had told Jacob to arise and he said, go back to your country and to your kindred. But Jacob did not return to his kindred. He returned to his country. He stopped at Succoth, according to Genesis chapter 33 it is, and verse 17. And then when you get down to verse 18, he went to Shechem and dwelt there in the land. God told him to return, not just to his country, but also to his kindred. Why in the world would you stop and buy property when you're not where God told you to be? And I showed you from scripture after scripture how Jacob basically disobeyed God.

[John Weaver] He was not where he should have been. Then we secondly consider Dinah's sin. When Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land, remember the daughters of the land were Hivites, Canaanites. They were wicked, they were corrupt, they were depraved. And I pointed out how Dinah was about 13 to 15 of age when this happened.

[John Weaver] Now, she was either raped or seduced, I don't know which, but the point being, she got herself in problems. Have you ever stopped to think about this? Had Jacob been where he was supposed to have been, Dinah never would have gotten into the trouble that she had gotten in. And of course, I pointed to her sins. She defied her parents' authority. She probably left without their permission. She certainly was without their protection because this came upon her. The point I tried to make last week is this that sins are interconnected usually.

[John Weaver] Sin does not exist by itself. I'm going to show you this again today that sin begets sin and usually when there is sin in one member of the family there's sin in other members of the family as well. So just simply pointed out last week how the sins of Jacob and the sins of Dinah are interconnected. Now, today we're going to come to the third point. We want to consider the sins of Simeon and Levi. Now, Simeon and Levi, of course, were the brothers of Dinah. They were the sons of Jacob. And let me just go ahead and tell you up front that all of the sins that we've talked about, the sins of Jacob, the sins of Dinah, the sins of Simeon and Levi, And I will show you later, the sins of the whole family are all connected. The principle that I want you to learn is this, that sin does not exist by itself. Sin always begets other sins. One sin can set in motion a whole series of sins, which will ultimately result in great harm.

[John Weaver] It was Jacob's sin that ultimately set in motion all of the sins that we read about in Genesis chapter 34. Now, Jacob was in the wrong place. Dinah was in the wrong place. And of course, something happened that should not have happened.

[John Weaver] Now let me just point this out while not defending the actions of Shechem by any stretch of the imagination. What you do have to admit from scripture is this, that at least Shechem endeavored to make things right. He should not have taken Dinah. That is a fact. He should not have raped her or seduced her, whichever the case may be. I don't know. His sin cannot be overlooked. His sin cannot be excused by any stretch of the imagination. He was guilty.

[John Weaver] But you've got to remember something else. was a prince. His father was undoubtedly the king over this tribe or this group of people, however large they may have been. And you've got to remember, many in that day, like the politicians in our day, believe that they have a free hand and they can do whatever they want to do. Well, who's going to bring charges against a prince? Who's going to bring an accusation against the second in command in a country?

[John Weaver] Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. Whatever Shechem did, whether he raped her, whether he seduced her, I don't know. Whatever he did was wrong, but at least he tried to make things right. If you will look in your Bibles at verse 19, notice what is said concerning Shechem. The Bible says in Genesis 34 and verse 19, And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delighted Jacob's daughter, watch, and he was more honorable than all the house of his father."

[John Weaver] In other words, he was now willing to marry Dinah. He was not only willing to marry Dinah, he was willing to pay the dowry according to the custom of the land. Look if you would in Genesis chapter 34, And let's begin reading there with verse 3. We're talking about Shechem now, and his soul claimed to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. And he loved the damsel and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem said to his father, Hamer, get me this damsel to wife. Skip down if you would, please, to verse 8. And Hammer communed with them, saying, the soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter. I pray you, give her him to wife. and make you marriages with us and give your daughters unto us and take our daughters unto you and you shall dwell with us and the land shall be before you dwell you and trade therein and get you possessions therein and shechem said unto her father and to her brethren let me find grace in your eyes and what you shall say unto me I will give now look what he says ask me never so much dowry and gift and I will give according as you say unto me but give me the damsel to wife.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to note that Shechem was not only willing to marry her, he was also willing to pay the dowry. He was also willing to pay more than the normal custom of a dowry.

[John Weaver] Now let me show you how clear biblical law is. I want you to hold Genesis 34 but turn in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 22. Look in Deuteronomy chapter 22 And notice if you would, beginning there with verse 28. Deuteronomy 22 and verse 28. We're going to see how God's law governs a situation like this. Notice Deuteronomy 22 and verse 28. The Bible says, If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found, Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he hath humbled her.

[John Weaver] He may not put her away all of his days." Now notice what God says. God says if this happens and the man lays with a young woman, fine. He is to marry her, he's to pay the dowry, and he can never ever under any circumstances put her away. In other words, there can never ever be a divorce. So according to Deuteronomy chapter 22 then, the man would be obligated to marry the woman and obligated to stay with her and could never divorce her. Now there was only one way out of this where he would not be obligated to marry the young woman. You say, what way is that? Well, if you'll go back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 22, you will see the only way the man would not be obligated to marry the woman. Notice if you would, Exodus chapter 22 and begin there with verse 16. Exodus 22 verse 16.

[John Weaver] The Bible says, And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, that is, she's not married, not engaged, if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife. In other words, here is marriage. He must marry her, but here is the only way he can get out of marrying her. Watch verse 17.

[John Weaver] If her father utterly refused to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. I want you to note that the father still has the final say as to whom his daughter marries or does not marry. He also has the final say when she marries. Now, God said if the father utterly refuses to give her unto him, that he should pay the dowry according to virgins. You know how much a dowry was in Bible times? A dowry was normally two to three years wages.

[John Weaver] Let me just break it down for you. Let's say in this community, the annual wage is 50,000 Federal Reserve notes. That means if the man did not marry the girl, if the father utterly refused to give her unto him, he would owe the young lady $150,000. You see, that dowry was to be hers in case something happened to her husband It would give her something to live on until she remarried. Now, I want you to note something.

[John Weaver] Look in your Bibles back to Genesis 34 and verse 12. Now, you stop and think about this. That the dowry was normally 2 to 3 years worth of wages. And when you look in Genesis 34 and verse 12, here's what Shechem said. to Jacob and his sons, ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as you shall say to me, but give me the damsel to wife. Isn't that interesting? He said, I don't care if you ask me five years wages or 10 years wages, I'll pay it.

[John Weaver] I just want to marry the young woman. So in this sense of the word, the one thing you could say that at least Shechem was trying to make amends and do what was right. That is not excusing his sin. That is not overlooking his sin. But at least he said, I'm willing to marry her and I'm willing certainly to give the dowry. And incidentally, by the way, most people do not know this. But you know, life insurance, I know it's become really corrupt in this day and time, especially the life insurance companies. But do you know who began the life insurance in this country? It was preachers. Because preachers believed in a biblical dowry, and some of them did not have the money up front. And so this concept of life insurance came in.

[John Weaver] If I die, she'll be taken care of. In other words, the life insurance literally took the place of the dowry. In other words, it gives the woman something to live on. And interestingly enough, some of the leading companies, like Prudential, originally had the name something like this, the Prudential Widows and Orphans Fund. Isn't that amazing? Everything's totally gotten out of hand, but I'm just simply saying, preachers began the insurance company because they believed in the dowry.

[John Weaver] Now, notice if you would, he's willing to pay the dowry. Never so much. But look if you would please in verse 7. Of course, Jacob has heard what has happened. The sons hear what has happened. Verse 7, And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it. And the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel, and lying with Jacob's daughter.

[John Weaver] Which thing ought not to be done? Now, the Bible tells us these brothers were grieved and very, very wroth. Why? Because he had wrought folly in Israel.

[John Weaver] Now, the word folly refers to that which is senseless, vile, immoral, sinful, dishonorable. In other words, he's wrought something that is absolutely immoral and sinful.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you, I am sure, I am absolutely sure that these brothers, as well as Jacob, was not only upset because of what Shechem had done, but they were also upset with whom he was. Shechem was a Hivite. You say, what's that mean? Well, the Hivites were descendants of Canaan, who was the son of Ham, who was the son of Noah. You remember, Noah cursed Canaan, the son of Ham. The Hivites were descendants from Canaan. Shechem was not only a Hivite, Shechem was also a Canaanite, which means it is these people that God ordered to be destroyed when He brought Israel out of Egypt. So I can assure you they were not only upset with what Shechem had done, but with whom he was as well.

[John Weaver] Because they understood that they were not to intermarry with the Canaanites. They were not to mix the professors of faith with the profane. And that type of intermarriage, of course, is totally forbidden, not only in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament as well. And when you get to Exodus 34 verses 15 through 16, God specifically says not to intermarry with these people. When you get to Deuteronomy 7 verses 1 through 6, He says you not only don't intermarry, you don't even make any kind of covenant with them. And that's why in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 14 through 20, that's where the Apostle Paul said, What communion hath the temple of God with idols? What communion hath light with Belial? What part hath he that agreeth with an infidel? None. That's why I said, come ye up from among them and be ye separate. Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. Here was Shechem who was a profane, wicked, Hivite and Canaanite. At least he was trying to do that which was honorable in the sense he was trying to make amends.

[John Weaver] He was willing to marry Dinah, although it was not necessarily right for him to do so, but he was willing to do so and he was willing to give the dowry. Although Shechem may have been a little honorable, his father Hamer was not necessarily that honorable. Because if you look back in verse 19, the Bible said that the young man deferred not to do the thing because he had delighted Jacob's daughter, and he was more honorable than all the house of his father. Now wait a minute. How can I say then that the father was not necessarily honorable? Look in verse 20. And Hammer and Shechem his son came into the gate of their city and communed with the men of their city saying, now look what Hammer the king said, these men are peaceable with us, therefore let them dwell in the land and trade therein for the land behold it is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us for wives and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us to dwell with us to be one people If every male among those be circumcised as they are circumcised.

[John Weaver] Now watch if you would shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be hours. Only let us consent to them and they will dwell with us. And under hammer and the check of his son, Harkin, all that went out of the gate of his city, every male that was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city. Now, what was hammer saying? Let's integrate. and confiscate.

[John Weaver] Let us intermarry, and shall not everything they have become ours. Shechem may have been interested in Dinah, but Hammer was interested in what Jacob and his sons had. He wanted that.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to note something. I believe that Hammer was probably acting deceitfully toward Jacob and his sons. Okay? But at the same time, the sons of Jacob were acting deceitfully toward him. When you look back in verse seven, Genesis 34 and verse seven, and the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it and the men were grieved and were very rough.

[John Weaver] The word wrath literally means to burn with anger. They were very, very angry.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you what has happened. Hammer, although he may have been acting deceitfully and although he may have wanted what Jacob and his sons had, what Hammer suggests is this, is a treaty or a correlation of forces on a working agreement between his people and Jacob's family. That's why he said these men are peaceable with us. Let them dwell in the land. Let them trade in the land.

[John Weaver] Let them give us their daughters. Let us give them our daughters. We're such sharp traders that eventually everything they're going to have is going to be ours anyhow. We'll get it. So what he was suggesting then was a coalition based upon A trade agreement.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to notice something that Jacob did in one sense of the word, it's wise. In another sense of the word, it may have had a little bit of foolishness in it, but look in verse five and Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah's daughter. Now his sons were with the cattle in the field and Jacob held his peace until they came. Let me ask you, think about this, whose daughter was Dinah? Jacob's.

[John Weaver] Who had the responsibility and the authority to settle this issue? The answer is Jacob's. But he waited on his sons. So the sons come in and they tell Shechem and Hamer, now look, you want us to get together on a trade agreement. No, we can't do that. We have to get together religiously. In other words, if there's an agreement worked out upon us, you have to consent to become like we are. We're circumcised.

[John Weaver] It's based upon our religion. It's the seal of our covenant.

[John Weaver] Now I don't care what you say, I don't care how much money you have, I don't care what you're willing to give, unless you become like we are, we can't work with you, we can't prosper together. Now let me tell you, and of course you can see this from the scripture in just a moment, that Simeon and Levi had other plans. Their plans was not trading or prospering. They said, this is the only way it's going to work. And of course, when Hammer and Shacob heard that, I mean, that's a simple little act. I mean, it's, you know, doesn't require any money. Yes.

[John Weaver] They said, we'll all be circumcised. All the men will be circumcised. We can do this religiously because the Canaanites were idolaters. Anyhow, they could care less just so it They prospered in it. And on the third day, after having been circumcised, when the men were so sore they could barely move, you know what happened. Simeon and Levi took their swords and went in and slew every man in that village, in that town. They took Dinah, their sister, out.

[John Weaver] They then captured all the wives and children. They took all the sheep, cattle, all the riches, everything that belonged to Shechem, Hammer, and all those Hivites they took.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to listen to what Matthew Henry wrote on this subject. Listen to what he said. Talking about saving Levi. The intention was malicious. as appears by the sequel of the story. All they aimed at was to prepare them for the day of slaughter. Note, bloody designs have often been covered and carried on with a pretense of religion. Thus they have been accomplished most plausibly and most securely.

[John Weaver] But this dissembled piety or this hypocritical piety is doubtless double iniquity. Religion is never more injured nor are God's sacraments more profaned than when they are thus used for a cloak of maliciousness. Nay, if Jacob's sons had not had this bloody design, I do not see how they could justify their offering the sacred sign of circumcision, the seal of God's covenant, to these devoted Canaanites who had no part or lot in the matter. Those who have no right to the seal have no right to the promise.

[John Weaver] It is not meat to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. But Jacob's son valued not this while they could make it serve their turn or their purpose. In other words, Matthew Henry's hitting the nail right on the head when he said they had no right to offer the seal of circumcision, these Canaanites, because the Canaanites had no part of the promise. Having no part of the promise, having no part of the covenant, They had no right to the seal.

[John Weaver] Simeon and Levi murdered an entire group of men for the sin of one man. Now listen to me. If Shechem had raped Dinah, he deserved the death penalty. But if he deserved the death penalty, it was Shechem and Shechem alone who was to die. Do you not remember Ezekiel 18 in verse 20? God said, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor the father shall bear the iniquity of the son. God said, you shall not visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, nor the iniquity of the sons upon the father. Everyone who sins shall die. If Shechem deserved to die, it was Shechem alone. The conduct of Simeon and Levi was not only wicked, atrocious, vile, and hateful, it was also extremely stupid. How can I say it was extremely stupid?

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something. Angry people do not think. Angry people only strike out. My father, when he was a young man, used to box professionally. And I never will forget one thing he told me. He said, son, if you're ever in a fight and you really want to whip the man, make him angry. And that's right. Because when you get angry, you've lost it. You don't think. You strike out.

[John Weaver] And when you start Not thinking and not protecting yourself. That's when you get hurt. These boys were extremely wicked. They were extremely angry. Notice Genesis 34 and verse 30. Here's why I'm saying they were stupid. Look what Jacob said. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, you have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And I, being few in number, They shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Simeon and Levi may have won the battle, but they could not win the war. Jacob said, what in the world are you thinking about?

[John Weaver] Yes, you whipped that one little village. Yes, you killed all those men. But there are plenty of other parasites and hivites out here, and now they're going to surround us. We don't have enough men to fight the whole country. You've endangered the entire family. You know what saved Jacob? If you'll look in Genesis 35 and verse 5, look what the Bible says. And they journeyed in the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them. And they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. The only thing that saved Jacob and his family was a sovereign act of God, where God placed his fear upon those people that they did not follow after and destroy Jacob and his sons. Had God not intervened, surely they could have been destroyed. Now I want you to look back. to Genesis 34 and verse 30. I want you to look again what Jacob said.

[John Weaver] And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. Now look what he said. You've acted stupidly, boys. You've put the whole family in danger. And I want you to note their only defense, verse 31, and they said, Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot? Jacob could have rightly responded, no, he should not have done so.

[John Weaver] But what did these other men do whose lives have been forfeited because of your unrighteous and wicked anger and rage? Why did they deserve to die? You see, the sins of Levi and Simeon were indeed very, very grievous. I want to show you how grievous those sins were. Turn over in your Bibles to Genesis 49. Years later, when Jacob was dying, Genesis 49, notice verse five, Jacob begins to bless his sons, but look what he has to say concerning Simeon and Levi. Genesis 49 verse five. He says, Sibbon and Levi are brethren instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

[John Weaver] Oh, my soul come not bow into their secret under their assembly. Mine honor. Be not thou united, for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they dig down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Years later, Jacob still has not forgotten the self-will and the anger of Simeon and Levi.

[John Weaver] Now listen to me, listen carefully. I understand that Simeon and Levi are responsible for their actions, that they are accountable for their sins. And Jacob said as much in Genesis 49, he said, my soul is not coming into that sin. My honor is not being united with them. They did things that I, that I would never do and should never have been done. I'm not even going to identify with that. I understand that Simeon and Levi are responsible for their sins, but let me ask you this question.

[John Weaver] Have you ever stopped to think? Had Jacob been where he was supposed to be, Dinah would have been where she was supposed to be. None of this would have ever happened. And Simon and Levi would never have killed all those people. I'm just trying to show you how one sin begets more sins.

[John Weaver] Now watch, look what happens in Genesis 35 in verse one. And God said unto Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. And make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Obviously Jacob was not where he was supposed to be. For God says, now you need to get back to Bethel. You need to go back to where I first appeared to you and dwell there.

[John Weaver] I want you to understand something folks. Romans 14 verse seven says it again like this. No man live to himself and none of us die to himself. Whatever we do affects other people. We may be answerable. We may be accountable for our sins. but our sins still have an effect upon other people. Now, fourthly, I want you to consider with me today the sins of the family as a whole. We've looked at the sins of Jacob, the sins of Dinah, sins of Levi and Simeon, now the sins of the family as a whole. We singled out the sins of Dinah, and Jacob and Levi and Simeon because they were the main actors in this theater of wickedness. Yet there was more wickedness than that which I've just pointed out. God did use this wicked incident to stir up Jacob. God did use this wicked incident to let him see firsthand what happens when you're out of the will of God. He allowed him to have a glimpse of what happens when people place their will above God's will and their way above God's way.

[John Weaver] God allowed Jacob to see and understand in a real way when one is not right with God, nothing is right. Now, look at verse one in Genesis 35 again. And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there. And make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee, when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Now, if you will turn back to Genesis 28, We read this last week, I will read it again this week. Notice Genesis 28 and verse 16, Jacob is on the way to Padan Aram to get him a wife and God reveals himself. Genesis 28 and verse 16, and Jacob awaked out of his sleep and he said, surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not. And he was afraid and said, how dreadful is this place? This is none other but the house of God This is the gate of heaven.

[John Weaver] And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he put for his pillars and set it for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel, which means the house of God. But the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in the way which I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house, and all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. Now God said, Arise, get thee to Bethel.

[John Weaver] You remember I pointed this out last week, and it's very important. God had told Jacob to arise, go back to your country, and to go back to your kindred. I showed you where Isaac was in Hebron. If Jacob had gone where God had told him to initially, Bethel would have been less than 30 miles from Hebron. But Jacob stops in Shechem. He buys a parcel of land, he builds an altar there, and nowhere in the Bible was an altar supposed to be built in the Old Testament except where God particularly and peculiarly revealed himself. And that's why God says, Jacob, you get up and you go back to where I made a revelation of myself to you. You go back to Bethel. Now the call to return to Bethel was a call to return to the God of Bethel. If he's going to return to the God of Bethel, He must do so in repentance. Now listen carefully. If he returns to the God of Bethel, he must forsake his sins, he must forsake his false gods.

[John Weaver] It is impossible to serve the one true and the living God and hold on to our idols and our sins at the same time. Our Lord said in Matthew 6 and verse 24, No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he'll hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You can't serve but one God. Paul, in writing these Thessalonians, in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 9 says, For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God. You have to turn to God from, you can't hold on to your idols and God both. So if you're going to serve God, you have to repent. You have to let go of your idols. I want to show you something.

[John Weaver] We've seen the sin of Jacob, the sin of Dinah, the sins of Levi and Simeon. You don't have family sins. Watch this. Let's read verse one. And Jacob said, and God said to Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. and make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when thou fled from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household and to all that were with him, put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean and change your garments and let us arise and go up to Bethel and I will make there an altar unto God who answered me in the day of my

[John Weaver] distress and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand and all their earrings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem." What? What? Jacob said unto his household, his wives, his sons, his daughters, his grandchildren, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments.

[John Weaver] It seems as if every family member had their secret sins. Every family member had their earrings. And in the Bible, these earrings were associated with idolatry. Earrings in those days were not simply ornamental. They were amulets, they were charms. They were usually consecrated to some god or formed under some constellation on which magical powers and magical images were drawn and worn in honor of a false god. Let me ask you, is it possible to determine the effect of these false gods and these earrings upon Jacob, Dinah, Simeon, and Levi. Who knows? Who can tell what influence, what effect was upon them? I know each one of us is responsible and accountable for their sins. But how did these secret sins and these false gods influence these people? Suffice it to say this, God said in Numbers 32 and verse 23, be sure your sins will find you out. Guess what? They found out Jacob. They found out Dinah, Simeon, and Levi. God told Jacob, arise and return to Bethel. At that point, Jacob told his house, get rid of your false gods, get rid of your superstitions, get rid of your secret sins, wash you, make you clean, put on new garments.

[John Weaver] In other words, that was supposed to be indicative of the fact that there was now a change of heart and a change of mind and they were going to serve God. You cannot serve the one true and the living God and hold on to your sins. You hold on to these secret sins, they'll destroy you. They'll destroy your family. They'll destroy your friends. They'll destroy your church. They'll destroy your state and even your nation. Now, let me ask you one thing. What did it take to get Jacob back right with God?

[John Weaver] You say, Brother Weaver, that was a hard price to pay. Well, it's true. It was a hard price to pay. But let me tell you what finally woke Jacob up. It was not the rape of Dinah. It was not even the murder of all those people. What really woke Jacob up was this. Look in verse 1. And God said unto Jacob, it took God speaking to Jacob to open his eyes. Let me tell you something, folks. It will take nothing less than a word from the sovereign God of heaven and earth to open our eyes and our ears. It'll take nothing less than the sovereign God of heaven and earth to save our families. It will take nothing less than a word from the sovereign God of heaven and earth to bring order out of chaos and confusion in our lives, in our families. David said it like this in Psalm 85 in verse 8, he said, I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace unto His people and to His saints, but let them not turn again to their folly."

[John Weaver] Like Jacob, it's come to the point we need to hear God speak. We need to hear what He says to us in His Word.

[John Weaver] Now let me make some applications. Listen carefully. According to Scripture, the father and the husband is the head of the home. And he's responsible for the leadership and the direction of the family. You say, I'll buy that. That's very plain in Scripture. Yes, it is. But let me point something else out. When the father is wrong, The whole family's wrong. That was true in Jacob's case. He allowed things he should never have allowed. When the father will not be right and do right, how can he expect his wife and children to be right and do right?

[John Weaver] There's an awful lot of responsibility with headship and authority. The second application is this. We have to learn that our sins affect others, even those in our families. And let me tell you, our sins may be secret. They may not be open. Our sins may be secret, yet there is an effect that is often communicated through our spirit and through our attitude that reaches to every member of our family.

[John Weaver] I never will forget, I was in one place and observed this one man and I had this sinking feeling in my stomach and something in my mind told me something's not right. And it was true, because when the man's sins were made public, it was exactly as I thought, exactly as I supposed it would be. I did not know of his sins as of yet, but I just knew there was something wrong It had a chilling effect upon me. Consequently, I no longer even wanted to be around the man. I'm just simply saying, it doesn't matter if your sins are secret.

[John Weaver] There's going to be an attitude. There's going to be a disposition. There's going to be a spirit communicated that's going to affect everyone else. No one lives to himself and no one dies to himself. Third application is this. If we want our families to be right with God, if we want our families to have God's blessings, we must repent individually. When every individual in the family repents, that means the family has repented. That's why Jacob said to his wives and to his sons and his children, up, put away your false gods and your silly superstitions.

[John Weaver] Wash yourself and be clean. You do it. I'm to do it. You're to do it. You cannot have family repentance without everyone in the family repenting. The fourth application is this. We must be aware of the consequences of unrighteous and uncontrolled anger and rage. There is such a thing as a righteous anger. but it always manifests itself in a biblical manner. Any anger that is unrighteous will ultimately not only destroy the angry individual, but others as well.

[John Weaver] You can certainly see that in seeming Levi's actions. The fifth application is this shared sins. Family sins are unbiblical attitudes and dispositions. and conduct that we learn from our parents, our brothers, our sisters, and other family members. Now listen to this. Here's what it all boils down to. If we do not stop and repent and change our lives, we will be passing our sins down to our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, And as we pass down our sins, we also pass down the judgment of God upon those sins. The only answer is for you and I to obey God and make sure that we deal with our sins openly, honestly, biblically, and genuinely repent of them and bring our lives in conformity to the Word of God.

[John Weaver] It's interesting when Jacob got where he was supposed to be, he had the blessings of God upon him. We need to be right smack dab in the middle of the will of God for our lives. Let's pray. Father, we want to bow to Thee this day. We want to ask You for Your grace and Your mercy in our lives. We recognize, Lord, there are so many times that we fail to comprehend the simple fact that although we are responsible and accountable for our sins, our sins also affect others. We pray that You would give us the gift of repentance, that You would give us obedience and faith and help us to live for Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Family Sins Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	VWUKOpxK3gw
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: The Family
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-02
Dictation Name
Book	Book 034: Family Sins — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	81

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Review

Weaver reviews the previous week's message on the sins of Jacob and Dinah, emphasizing that the Bible does not hide the failures of godly people and that no individual or family is perfect.

Genesis 34, beginning there with verse 1. We're going to take up today on the message that I started last Sunday, entitled "Family Sins." And I will take a moment to review. But notice Genesis 34, verse 1: "And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they were come. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done."

Scripture Reading — Genesis 34:1-31

"And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife. And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister: And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us: But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised; Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone. And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son. And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father. And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us." "And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city. And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?"

We're going to continue today on the second part of this message on family sins. I suppose one of the greatest proofs that the Bible is indeed the Word of God is that it does not endeavor to cover up the imperfections, the faults, the failures, and sins even of godly individuals. We have to remember, however great and however godly men are, or however great and godly some families are, they are still human, and therefore they are still sinners. Let me very quickly dispel this from anyone's thinking. Here is a clear biblical statement: There are no perfect individuals. Contrary to what I tell Alice, there are no perfect individuals, and there are no perfect families. Now, the very fact that there are no perfect individuals and the very fact that there are no perfect families should not hinder us from desiring and following after perfection. Although we have to understand that perfection is unattainable in this life.

The apostle Paul said it like this in the book of Philippians chapter 3 and verse 12. He says,

Scripture Reading — Philippians 3:12

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus."

So Paul said, "I'm not perfect. I haven't attained." But he said, "That doesn't hinder me from following after." In other words, Paul's attitude was this: I may not be able to be perfect in this life, but I want to be as holy and as godly as I can be by the grace of God. And certainly that should be our attitude. We understand we cannot be perfect. We understand we cannot have a perfect family. But we still should endeavor to be as holy and as godly and as obedient as we could be by the grace of God.

Two Biblical Principles: Individual Accountability and Shared Influence

Weaver explains that each person is accountable for their own sins (Ezekiel 18:20), yet no one lives to himself (Romans 14:7); our actions always affect others, leading to shared family sins.

Now I'm going to review just a little bit from last week, but let me reinforce in your mind two basic principles that we looked at, and I'm going to show you how these principles stand side by side. I told you that we have been correctly and biblically taught that each individual is answerable and accountable for his own sins. Let me say that again. Each individual is answerable and accountable for his own sins. God said in the book of Ezekiel chapter 18 and verse 20, listen carefully:

Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 18:20

"The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."

Also in the book of Deuteronomy 24 and verse 16, God said this: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin."

So here's a clear principle from Scripture: Each one of us is answerable and accountable for our sins. However, there is another principle that stands equally alongside of that. You find that in Romans 14 and verse 7, where the Word of God says this:

Scripture Reading — Romans 14:7

"For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself."

Now listen to what he said:

Scripture Reading — Romans 14:7

"None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself."

In other words, what we are and what we do always affects others. We're not living in a vacuum. We do not live by ourselves, nor do we die by ourselves. I pointed out last week that there are many shared family sins. These shared family sins are usually learned behavior patterns such as greediness and selfishness and anger and lustfulness and rebellion and, as I pointed out, even idolatry. In fact, these sins can be so much a family sharing that God warned in 2 Chronicles 30 and verse 8, He told the people this: "Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary." In other words, what did God tell the children? "Don't be like your fathers."

He said the same thing in the book of Zechariah: "Be not as your fathers." So there are indeed such things as shared family sins. Many have learned their sins, their attitudes, their dispositions from their parents. And consequently, they also bring upon themselves the judgment of God as well. Now in the book of Exodus chapter 20 and verse 5, listen to this. God says,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 20:5

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them"

—I'm talking about false gods—

Scripture Reading — Exodus 20:5

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."

Now let me ask a question. Why does God visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and the children's children, and the children's children's children? And the answer is very simple: because the children continue in the same sins of the fathers. In other words, it has learned behavior patterns. It has shared family sins.

Now last week, I took the whole time to show you the sins of Jacob and the sins of Dinah. I pointed out, I demonstrated from Scripture where God had told Jacob to arise and He said, "Go back to your country and to your kindred." But Jacob did not return to his kindred. He returned to his country. He stopped at Succoth, according to Genesis chapter 33 and verse 17. And then when you get down to verse 18, he went to Shechem and dwelt there in the land. God told him to return, not just to his country, but also to his kindred. Why in the world would you stop and buy property when you're not where God told you to be? And I showed you from Scripture after Scripture how Jacob basically disobeyed God.

The Sins of Simeon and Levi

Weaver details how Simeon and Levi deceitfully used religion to massacre the men of Shechem, acting out of uncontrolled anger and endangering the entire family.

Sin does not exist by itself. I'm going to show you this again today that sin begets sin and usually when there is sin in one member of the family there's sin in other members of the family as well. So I just simply pointed out last week how the sins of Jacob and the sins of Dinah are interconnected. Now, today we're going to come to the third point. We want to consider the sins of Simeon and Levi. Now, Simeon and Levi, of course, were the brothers of Dinah. They were the sons of Jacob. And let me just go ahead and tell you up front that all of the sins that we've talked about—the sins of Jacob, the sins of Dinah, the sins of Simeon and Levi, and I will show you later, the sins of the whole family—are all connected. The principle that I want you to learn is this: that sin does not exist by itself. Sin always begets other sins. One sin can set in motion a whole series of sins, which will ultimately result in great harm.

It was Jacob's sin that ultimately set in motion all of the sins that we read about in Genesis chapter 34. Now, Jacob was in the wrong place. Dinah was in the wrong place. And of course, something happened that should not have happened.

Now let me just point this out while not defending the actions of Shechem by any stretch of the imagination. What you do have to admit from Scripture is this: that at least Shechem endeavored to make things right. He should not have taken Dinah. That is a fact. He should not have raped her or seduced her, whichever the case may be. I don't know. His sin cannot be overlooked. His sin cannot be excused by any stretch of the imagination. He was guilty.

But you've got to remember something else. He was a prince. His father was undoubtedly the king over this tribe or this group of people, however large they may have been. And you've got to remember, many in that day, like the politicians in our day, believe that they have a free hand and they can do whatever they want to do. Well, who's going to bring charges against a prince? Who's going to bring an accusation against the second in command in a country?

Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. Whatever Shechem did, whether he raped her, whether he seduced her, I don't know. Whatever he did was wrong, but at least he tried to make things right. If you will look in your Bibles at verse 19, notice what is said concerning Shechem. The Bible says in Genesis 34 and verse 19, "And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father." In other words, he was now willing to marry Dinah. He was not only willing to marry Dinah, he was willing to pay the dowry according to the custom of the land. Look if you would in Genesis chapter 34, and let's begin reading there with verse 3. We're talking about Shechem now: "And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem said unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife." Skip down if you would, please, to verse 8: "And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give." Now look what he says: "Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife."

Now I want you to note that Shechem was not only willing to marry her, he was also willing to pay the dowry. He was also willing to pay more than the normal custom of a dowry. Now let me show you how clear biblical law is. I want you to hold Genesis 34 but turn in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 22. Look in Deuteronomy chapter 22 and notice if you would, beginning there with verse 28. Deuteronomy 22 and verse 28. We're going to see how God's law governs a situation like this. Notice Deuteronomy 22 and verse 28. The Bible says, "If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days."

Now notice what God says. God says if this happens and the man lies with a young woman, fine. He is to marry her, he's to pay the dowry, and he can never ever under any circumstances put her away. In other words, there can never ever be a divorce. So according to Deuteronomy chapter 22 then, the man would be obligated to marry the woman and obligated to stay with her and could never divorce her. Now there was only one way out of this where he would not be obligated to marry the young woman. You say, what way is that? Well, if you'll go back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 22, you will see the only way the man would not be obligated to marry the woman. Notice if you would, Exodus chapter 22 and begin there with verse 16. Exodus 22 verse 16.

The Bible says, "And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed"—that is, she's not married, not engaged—"if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife." In other words, here is marriage. He must marry her, but here is the only way he can get out of marrying her. Watch verse 17. "If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins." I want you to note that the father still has the final say as to whom his daughter marries or does not marry. He also has the final say when she marries. Now, God said if the father utterly refuses to give her unto him, that he should pay the dowry according to virgins. You know how much a dowry was in Bible times? A dowry was normally two to three years' wages.

Let me just break it down for you. Let's say in this community, the annual wage is 50,000 Federal Reserve notes. That means if the man did not marry the girl, if the father utterly refused to give her unto him, he would owe the young lady $150,000. You see, that dowry was to be hers in case something happened to her husband. It would give her something to live on until she remarried. Now, I want you to note something. Look in your Bibles back to Genesis 34 and verse 12. Now, you stop and think about this: that the dowry was normally 2 to 3 years' worth of wages. And when you look in Genesis 34 and verse 12, here's what Shechem said to Jacob and his sons: "Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife." Isn't that interesting? He said, "I don't care if you ask me five years' wages or ten years' wages, I'll pay it."

I just want to marry the young woman. So in this sense of the word, the one thing you could say is that at least Shechem was trying to make amends and do what was right. That is not excusing his sin. That is not overlooking his sin. But at least he said, "I'm willing to marry her and I'm willing certainly to give the dowry." And incidentally, by the way, most people do not know this. But you know, life insurance—I know it's become really corrupt in this day and time, especially the life insurance companies—but do you know who began the life insurance in this country? It was preachers. Because preachers believed in a biblical dowry, and some of them did not have the money up front. And so this concept of life insurance came in.

If I die, she'll be taken care of. In other words, the life insurance literally took the place of the dowry. In other words, it gives the woman something to live on. And interestingly enough, some of the leading companies, like Prudential, originally had the name something like this: the Prudential Widows and Orphans Fund. Isn't that amazing? Everything's totally gotten out of hand, but I'm just simply saying, preachers began the insurance company because they believed in the dowry.

Now, notice if you would, he's willing to pay the dowry. Never so much. But look if you would please in verse 7. Of course, Jacob has heard what has happened. The sons hear what has happened. Verse 7: "And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter." "Which thing ought not to be done." Now, the Bible tells us these brothers were grieved and very, very wroth. Why? Because he had wrought folly in Israel.

Now, the word "folly" refers to that which is senseless, vile, immoral, sinful, dishonorable. In other words, he's wrought something that is absolutely immoral and sinful. Now, let me tell you, I am sure, I am absolutely sure that these brothers, as well as Jacob, were not only upset because of what Shechem had done, but they were also upset with whom he was. Shechem was a Hivite. You say, what's that mean? Well, the Hivites were descendants of Canaan, who was the son of Ham, who was the son of Noah. You remember, Noah cursed Canaan, the son of Ham. The Hivites were descendants from Canaan. Shechem was not only a Hivite, Shechem was also a Canaanite, which means it is these people that God ordered to be destroyed when He brought Israel out of Egypt. So I can assure you they were not only upset with what Shechem had done, but with whom he was as well.

Because they understood that they were not to intermarry with the Canaanites. They were not to mix the professors of faith with the profane. And that type of intermarriage, of course, is totally forbidden, not only in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament as well. And when you get to Exodus 34 verses 15 through 16, God specifically says not to intermarry with these people. When you get to Deuteronomy 7 verses 1 through 6, He says you not only don't intermarry, you don't even make any kind of covenant with them. And that's why in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 14 through 20, that's where the Apostle Paul said, "What communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" None. That's why he said, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate." Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. Here was Shechem who was a profane, wicked Hivite and Canaanite. At least he was trying to do that which was honorable in the sense he was trying to make amends.

He was willing to marry Dinah, although it was not necessarily right for him to do so, but he was willing to do so and he was willing to give the dowry. Although Shechem may have been a little honorable, his father Hamor was not necessarily that honorable. Because if you look back in verse 19, the Bible said that the young man deferred not to do the thing because he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he was more honorable than all the house of his father. Now wait a minute. How can I say then that the father was not necessarily honorable? Look in verse 20: "And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised."

Now watch if you would: "Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city." Now, what was Hamor saying? Let's integrate and confiscate. Let us intermarry, and shall not everything they have become ours? Shechem may have been interested in Dinah, but Hamor was interested in what Jacob and his sons had. He wanted that.

Now I want you to note something. I believe that Hamor was probably acting deceitfully toward Jacob and his sons. Okay? But at the same time, the sons of Jacob were acting deceitfully toward him. When you look back in verse 7, Genesis 34 and verse 7: "And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth." The word "wrath" literally means to burn with anger. They were very, very angry.

Now, let me tell you what has happened. Hamor, although he may have been acting deceitfully and although he may have wanted what Jacob and his sons had, what Hamor suggests is this: a treaty or a correlation of forces on a working agreement between his people and Jacob's family. That's why he said, "These men are peaceable with us. Let them dwell in the land. Let them trade in the land." "Let them give us their daughters. Let us give them our daughters. We're such sharp traders that eventually everything they're going to have is going to be ours anyhow. We'll get it." So what he was suggesting then was a coalition based upon a trade agreement.

Now I want you to notice something that Jacob did. In one sense of the word, it's wise. In another sense of the word, it may have had a little bit of foolishness in it, but look in verse 5: "And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come." Let me ask you, think about this: Whose daughter was Dinah? Jacob's. Who had the responsibility and the authority to settle this issue? The answer is Jacob. But he waited on his sons. So the sons come in and they tell Shechem and Hamor, "Now look, you want us to get together on a trade agreement. No, we can't do that. We have to get together religiously." In other words, if there's an agreement worked out upon us, you have to consent to become like we are. We're circumcised.

It's based upon our religion. It's the seal of our covenant. Now I don't care what you say, I don't care how much money you have, I don't care what you're willing to give, unless you become like we are, we can't work with you, we can't prosper together. Now let me tell you, and of course you can see this from the Scripture in just a moment, that Simeon and Levi had other plans. Their plans were not trading or prospering. They said, "This is the only way it's going to work." And of course, when Hamor and Shechem heard that, I mean, that's a simple little act. I mean, it's, you know, doesn't require any money. Yes.

They said, "We'll all be circumcised. All the men will be circumcised. We can do this religiously because the Canaanites were idolaters anyhow, they could care less just so it prospered them." And on the third day, after having been circumcised, when the men were so sore they could barely move, you know what happened. Simeon and Levi took their swords and went in and slew every man in that village, in that town. They took Dinah, their sister, out. They then captured all the wives and children. They took all the sheep, cattle, all the riches, everything that belonged to Shechem, Hamor, and all those Hivites they took.

Now I want you to listen to what Matthew Henry wrote on this subject. Listen to what he said, talking about Simeon and Levi: "The intention was malicious, as appears by the sequel of the story. All they aimed at was to prepare them for the day of slaughter. Note, bloody designs have often been covered and carried on with a pretence of religion. Thus they have been accomplished most plausibly and most securely.

But this dissembled piety or this hypocritical piety is doubtless double iniquity. Religion is never more injured nor are God's sacraments more profaned than when they are thus used for a cloak of maliciousness. Nay, if Jacob's sons had not had this bloody design, I do not see how they could justify their offering the sacred sign of circumcision, the seal of God's covenant, to these devoted Canaanites who had no part or lot in the matter. Those who have no right to the seal have no right to the promise. It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. But Jacob's sons valued not this while they could make it serve their turn or their purpose." In other words, Matthew Henry's hitting the nail right on the head when he said they had no right to offer the seal of circumcision to these Canaanites, because the Canaanites had no part of the promise. Having no part of the promise, having no part of the covenant, they had no right to the seal.

Simeon and Levi murdered an entire group of men for the sin of one man. Now listen to me. If Shechem had raped Dinah, he deserved the death penalty. But if he deserved the death penalty, it was Shechem and Shechem alone who was to die. Do you not remember Ezekiel 18 and verse 20? God said, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son." God said, you shall not visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, nor the iniquity of the sons upon the father. Everyone who sins shall die. If Shechem deserved to die, it was Shechem alone. The conduct of Simeon and Levi was not only wicked, atrocious, vile, and hateful, it was also extremely stupid. How can I say it was extremely stupid?

Let me tell you something. Angry people do not think. Angry people only strike out. My father, when he was a young man, used to box professionally. And I never will forget one thing he told me. He said, "Son, if you're ever in a fight and you really want to whip the man, make him angry." And that's right. Because when you get angry, you've lost it. You don't think. You strike out.

And when you start not thinking and not protecting yourself, that's when you get hurt. These boys were extremely wicked. They were extremely angry. Notice Genesis 34 and verse 30. Here's why I'm saying they were stupid. Look what Jacob said: "And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Simeon and Levi may have won the battle, but they could not win the war. Jacob said, "What in the world are you thinking about?"

"Yes, you whipped that one little village. Yes, you killed all those men. But there are plenty of other Perizzites and Hivites out here, and now they're going to surround us. We don't have enough men to fight the whole country. You've endangered the entire family." You know what saved Jacob? If you'll look in Genesis 35 and verse 5, look what the Bible says: "And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob." The only thing that saved Jacob and his family was a sovereign act of God, where God placed His fear upon those people that they did not follow after and destroy Jacob and his sons. Had God not intervened, surely they could have been destroyed. Now I want you to look back to Genesis 34 and verse 30. I want you to look again what Jacob said.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 35:5

"And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Now look what he said: "You've acted stupidly, boys. You've put the whole family in danger." And I want you to note their only defense, verse 31: "And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?" Jacob could have rightly responded, "No, he should not have done so. But what did these other men do whose lives have been forfeited because of your unrighteous and wicked anger and rage? Why did they deserve to die?" You see, the sins of Levi and Simeon were indeed very, very grievous. I want to show you how grievous those sins were. Turn over in your Bibles to Genesis 49. Years later, when Jacob was dying, Genesis 49, notice verse 5. Jacob begins to bless his sons, but look what he has to say concerning Simeon and Levi. Genesis 49 verse 5: "Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

Jacob's Rebuke and the Consequences of Anger

Jacob rebukes his sons for making him a stench among the inhabitants, and Weaver highlights the long-term curse Jacob pronounces on Simeon and Levi in Genesis 49.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 35:5

"And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Now look what he said: "You've acted stupidly, boys. You've put the whole family in danger." And I want you to note their only defense, verse 31: "And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?" Jacob could have rightly responded, "No, he should not have done so. But what did these other men do whose lives have been forfeited because of your unrighteous and wicked anger and rage? Why did they deserve to die?" You see, the sins of Levi and Simeon were indeed very, very grievous. I want to show you how grievous those sins were. Turn over in your Bibles to Genesis 49. Years later, when Jacob was dying, Genesis 49, notice verse 5. Jacob begins to bless his sons, but look what he has to say concerning Simeon and Levi. Genesis 49 verse 5: "Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." Years later, Jacob still has not forgotten the self-will and the anger of Simeon and Levi. Now listen to me, listen carefully. I understand that Simeon and Levi are responsible for their actions, that they are accountable for their sins. And Jacob said as much in Genesis 49, he said, "My soul is not coming into that sin. My honor is not being united with them. They did things that I would never do and should never have been done. I'm not even going to identify with that." I understand that Simeon and Levi are responsible for their sins, but let me ask you this question.

Have you ever stopped to think? Had Jacob been where he was supposed to be, Dinah would have been where she was supposed to be. None of this would have ever happened. And Simeon and Levi would never have killed all those people. I'm just trying to show you how one sin begets more sins.

The Sins of the Whole Family

God commands Jacob to return to Bethel, prompting Jacob to instruct his household to put away their strange gods and purify themselves, revealing hidden idolatry throughout the family.

I want you to understand something, folks. Romans 14 verse 7 says it again like this: "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." Whatever we do affects other people. We may be answerable. We may be accountable for our sins. But our sins still have an effect upon other people. Now, fourthly, I want you to consider with me today the sins of the family as a whole. We've looked at the sins of Jacob, the sins of Dinah, sins of Levi and Simeon, now the sins of the family as a whole. We singled out the sins of Dinah, and Jacob, and Levi and Simeon because they were the main actors in this theater of wickedness. Yet there was more wickedness than that which I've just pointed out. God did use this wicked incident to stir up Jacob. God did use this wicked incident to let him see firsthand what happens when you're out of the will of God. He allowed him to have a glimpse of what happens when people place their will above God's will and their way above God's way.

God allowed Jacob to see and understand in a real way when one is not right with God, nothing is right. Now, look at verse 1 in Genesis 35 again:

Scripture Reading — Genesis 35:1-4

"And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother."

Now, if you will turn back to Genesis 28, we read this last week, I will read it again this week. Notice Genesis 28 and verse 16: Jacob is on the way to Padan-aram to get him a wife and God reveals himself. Genesis 28 and verse 16: "And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

"And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee." Now God said, "Arise, get thee to Bethel."

You remember I pointed this out last week, and it's very important. God had told Jacob to arise, go back to your country, and to go back to your kindred. I showed you where Isaac was in Hebron. If Jacob had gone where God had told him to initially, Bethel would have been less than 30 miles from Hebron. But Jacob stops in Shechem. He buys a parcel of land, he builds an altar there, and nowhere in the Bible was an altar supposed to be built in the Old Testament except where God particularly and peculiarly revealed Himself. And that's why God says, "Jacob, you get up and you go back to where I made a revelation of myself to you. You go back to Bethel." Now the call to return to Bethel was a call to return to the God of Bethel. If he's going to return to the God of Bethel, he must do so in repentance. Now listen carefully. If he returns to the God of Bethel, he must forsake his sins, he must forsake his false gods.

It is impossible to serve the one true and the living God and hold on to our idols and our sins at the same time. Our Lord said in Matthew 6 and verse 24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." You can't serve but one God. Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 9 says, "For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." You have to turn to God from—you can't hold on to your idols and God both. So if you're going to serve God, you have to repent. You have to let go of your idols. I want to show you something.

We've seen the sin of Jacob, the sin of Dinah, the sins of Levi and Simeon. You don't have family sins. Watch this. Let's read verse 1: "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem." What? What? Jacob said unto his household, his wives, his sons, his daughters, his grandchildren, "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments."

It seems as if every family member had their secret sins. Every family member had their earrings. And in the Bible, these earrings were associated with idolatry. Earrings in those days were not simply ornamental. They were amulets, they were charms. They were usually consecrated to some god or formed under some constellation on which magical powers and magical images were drawn and worn in honor of a false god. Let me ask you, is it possible to determine the effect of these false gods and these earrings upon Jacob, Dinah, Simeon, and Levi? Who knows? Who can tell what influence, what effect was upon them? I know each one of us is responsible and accountable for their sins. But how did these secret sins and these false gods influence these people? Suffice it to say this, God said in Numbers 32 and verse 23,

Scripture Reading — Numbers 32:23

"Be sure your sin will find you out."

Guess what? They found out Jacob. They found out Dinah, Simeon, and Levi. God told Jacob, "Arise and return to Bethel." At that point, Jacob told his house, "Get rid of your false gods, get rid of your superstitions, get rid of your secret sins, wash you, make you clean, put on new garments."

The Need for Divine Intervention

Weaver stresses that only God's direct word to Jacob awakened him, and that only God's sovereign intervention can bring order to chaotic lives and families.

You say, "Brother Weaver, that was a hard price to pay." Well, it's true. It was a hard price to pay. But let me tell you what finally woke Jacob up. It was not the rape of Dinah. It was not even the murder of all those people. What really woke Jacob up was this. Look in verse 1: "And God said unto Jacob." It took God speaking to Jacob to open his eyes. Let me tell you something, folks. It will take nothing less than a word from the sovereign God of heaven and earth to open our eyes and our ears. It'll take nothing less than the sovereign God of heaven and earth to save our families. It will take nothing less than a word from the sovereign God of heaven and earth to bring order out of chaos and confusion in our lives, in our families. David said it like this in Psalm 85 and verse 8, he said, "I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly."

Like Jacob, it's come to the point we need to hear God speak. We need to hear what He says to us in His Word. Now let me make some applications. Listen carefully. According to Scripture, the father and the husband is the head of the home. And he's responsible for the leadership and the direction of the family. You say, "I'll buy that. That's very plain in Scripture." Yes, it is. But let me point something else out. When the father is wrong, the whole family's wrong. That was true in Jacob's case. He allowed things he should never have allowed. When the father will not be right and do right, how can he expect his wife and children to be right and do right?

Applications for Today

Weaver applies the lessons: the father's leadership affects the whole family; secret sins still impact others; family repentance requires individual repentance; uncontrolled anger destroys; and unrepented sins are passed to future generations.

Now let me make some applications. Listen carefully. According to Scripture, the father and the husband is the head of the home. And he's responsible for the leadership and the direction of the family. You say, "I'll buy that. That's very plain in Scripture." Yes, it is. But let me point something else out. When the father is wrong, the whole family's wrong. That was true in Jacob's case. He allowed things he should never have allowed. When the father will not be right and do right, how can he expect his wife and children to be right and do right?

There's an awful lot of responsibility with headship and authority. The second application is this. We have to learn that our sins affect others, even those in our families. And let me tell you, our sins may be secret. They may not be open. Our sins may be secret, yet there is an effect that is often communicated through our spirit and through our attitude that reaches to every member of our family.

I never will forget, I was in one place and observed this one man and I had this sinking feeling in my stomach and something in my mind told me something's not right. And it was true, because when the man's sins were made public, it was exactly as I thought, exactly as I supposed it would be. I did not know of his sins as of yet, but I just knew there was something wrong. It had a chilling effect upon me. Consequently, I no longer even wanted to be around the man. I'm just simply saying, it doesn't matter if your sins are secret. There's going to be an attitude. There's going to be a disposition. There's going to be a spirit communicated that's going to affect everyone else. No one lives to himself and no one dies to himself. Third application is this. If we want our families to be right with God, if we want our families to have God's blessings, we must repent individually. When every individual in the family repents, that means the family has repented. That's why Jacob said to his wives and to his sons and his children, "Up, put away your false gods and your silly superstitions.

Wash yourself and be clean. You do it. I'm to do it. You're to do it." You cannot have family repentance without everyone in the family repenting. The fourth application is this. We must be aware of the consequences of unrighteous and uncontrolled anger and rage. There is such a thing as a righteous anger, but it always manifests itself in a biblical manner. Any anger that is unrighteous will ultimately not only destroy the angry individual, but others as well.

You can certainly see that in Simeon and Levi's actions. The fifth application is this: shared sins. Family sins are unbiblical attitudes and dispositions and conduct that we learn from our parents, our brothers, our sisters, and other family members. Now listen to this. Here's what it all boils down to. If we do not stop and repent and change our lives, we will be passing our sins down to our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren. And as we pass down our sins, we also pass down the judgment of God upon those sins. The only answer is for you and I to obey God and make sure that we deal with our sins openly, honestly, biblically, and genuinely repent of them and bring our lives in conformity to the Word of God.

It's interesting when Jacob got where he was supposed to be, he had the blessings of God upon him. We need to be right smack dab in the middle of the will of God for our lives. Let's pray. Father, we want to bow to Thee this day. We want to ask You for Your grace and Your mercy in our lives. We recognize, Lord, there are so many times that we fail to comprehend the simple fact that although we are responsible and accountable for our sins, our sins also affect others. We pray that You would give us the gift of repentance, that You would give us obedience and faith and help us to live for Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Interconnectedness of Sin

Summary: Sin does not exist in isolation; one sin sets off a chain reaction of further sins, as seen in how Jacob's disobedience led to Dinah's trouble and the brothers' massacre.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'Sin does not exist by itself. I'm going to show you this again today that sin begets sin and usually when there is sin in one member of the family there's sin in other members of the family as well.'

Individual Accountability and Corporate Influence

Summary: While each person is answerable for their own sins, no one lives in a vacuum; our actions inevitably affect others, especially within families.

Evidence: Weaver cites Ezekiel 18:20 and Romans 14:7 to show the dual principles of personal accountability and the inescapable influence on others.

The Danger of Uncontrolled Anger

Summary: Simeon and Levi's fierce anger led to deceit, mass murder, and long-term consequences, illustrating how unrighteous anger destroys both the angry person and others.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Angry people do not think. Angry people only strike out.' and points to Jacob's curse in Genesis 49.

The Necessity of Repentance and Putting Away Idols

Summary: True return to God requires forsaking all idols and secret sins; Jacob's household had to physically put away their strange gods before going to Bethel.

Evidence: Weaver reads Genesis 35:2-4 and emphasizes: 'You cannot serve the one true and the living God and hold on to your sins.'

The Father's Leadership and Its Impact

Summary: The father's spiritual state sets the direction for the whole family; when the father is wrong, the family suffers.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'When the father is wrong, the whole family's wrong. That was true in Jacob's case.'

Generational Transmission of Sin and Judgment

Summary: Unrepented sins are learned and passed down to children, bringing God's judgment on subsequent generations.

Evidence: Weaver warns: 'If we do not stop and repent and change our lives, we will be passing our sins down to our children... and as we pass down our sins, we also pass down the judgment of God.'

Key Arguments

Jacob's Disobedience Set the Stage for Family Tragedy

Summary: Had Jacob obeyed God and returned to his kindred, Dinah would not have been in Shechem, and the subsequent sins would have been avoided.

Evidence: Weaver argues: 'Had Jacob been where he was supposed to have been, Dinah never would have gotten into the trouble that she had gotten in.'

Simeon and Levi's Revenge Was Disproportionate and Wicked

Summary: Even if Shechem deserved death, the brothers murdered an entire city, violating God's principle of individual punishment.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'If Shechem had raped Dinah, he deserved the death penalty. But if he deserved the death penalty, it was Shechem and Shechem alone who was to die.'

The Family Was Complicit in Idolatry

Summary: When Jacob called for purification, the whole household surrendered strange gods and earrings associated with idolatry, indicating widespread secret sins.

Evidence: Weaver notes: 'It seems as if every family member had their secret sins. Every family member had their earrings.'

Only God's Sovereign Word Brings True Awakening

Summary: Jacob was not moved by Dinah's rape or the massacre, but only when God spoke directly to him did he take action.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'It took God speaking to Jacob to open his eyes.'

Secret Sins Still Communicate a Destructive Spirit

Summary: Even hidden sins affect others through a person's attitude and spirit, creating a chilling effect on those around them.

Evidence: Weaver shares a personal observation: 'I had this sinking feeling in my stomach... I just knew there was something wrong.'

Scripture References

Genesis 34:1-31

Context: The entire chapter is read and expounded as the narrative of Dinah's defilement and the revenge of Simeon and Levi.

Ezekiel 18:20

Context: Cited to establish individual accountability for sin; the son does not bear the father's iniquity.

Deuteronomy 24:16

Context: Quoted alongside Ezekiel to reinforce that each person dies for their own sin.

Romans 14:7

Context: Used to show that no one lives or dies to himself; our actions affect others.

Exodus 20:5

Context: God visits iniquity on subsequent generations of those who hate Him, explained as children continuing in the same sins.

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

Context: The law requiring a man who lies with a virgin to marry her and never divorce, cited to show Shechem's willingness to comply.

Exodus 22:16-17

Context: The law allowing the father to refuse the marriage but still requiring the dowry, showing the father's authority.

Genesis 35:1-4

Context: God commands Jacob to go to Bethel; Jacob tells his household to put away strange gods and purify themselves.

Genesis 35:5

Context: The terror of God was upon the cities so they did not pursue Jacob's family, showing divine protection.

Genesis 49:5-7

Context: Jacob's dying curse on Simeon and Levi for their cruelty and anger.

Genesis 28:16-22

Context: Jacob's vow at Bethel, referenced as the place God first appeared to him.

Matthew 6:24

Context: No man can serve two masters; you cannot serve God and mammon, applied to holding onto idols.

1 Thessalonians 1:9

Context: Turning to God from idols to serve the living God, used to illustrate repentance.

Numbers 32:23

Context: Be sure your sin will find you out, applied to the exposure of family sins.

Psalm 85:8

Context: I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people; applied to the need for God's word.

Philippians 3:12

Context: Paul's statement that he has not attained perfection but presses on, used to encourage pursuit of holiness.

2 Chronicles 30:8

Context: God's warning not to be stiffnecked like their fathers, illustrating shared family sins.

Zechariah 1:4

Context: Be not as your fathers, another call to break from ancestral sins.

Exodus 34:15-16

Context: God's command not to intermarry with the Canaanites, referenced as background for the brothers' anger.

Deuteronomy 7:1-6

Context: Command not to make covenants with the Canaanites, reinforcing the prohibition of intermarriage.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 34

Context: Weaver quotes Matthew Henry's condemnation of Simeon and Levi's deceitful use of religion and their offering of circumcision to Canaanites.

Prudential Widows and Orphans Fund

Context: Weaver mentions that life insurance in America was started by preachers who believed in the biblical dowry, with Prudential originally named the Prudential Widows and Orphans Fund.

Important Quotes

Sin does not exist by itself. I'm going to show you this again today that sin begets sin and usually when there is sin in one member of the family there's sin in other members of the family as well.

Significance: Encapsulates the central thesis of the interconnectedness of sin within a family.

Angry people do not think. Angry people only strike out.

Significance: Highlights the irrational and destructive nature of uncontrolled anger, as exemplified by Simeon and Levi.

You cannot serve the one true and the living God and hold on to your sins.

Significance: Summarizes the call to repentance and the impossibility of mixing true worship with idolatry.

It took God speaking to Jacob to open his eyes.

Significance: Emphasizes the necessity of divine intervention for spiritual awakening.

If we do not stop and repent and change our lives, we will be passing our sins down to our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren. And as we pass down our sins, we also pass down the judgment of God upon those sins.

Significance: Warns of the generational consequences of unrepented sin, a key application of the message.

When the father is wrong, the whole family's wrong.

Significance: Stresses the father's pivotal role in family spiritual health.

Discussion Questions

How does the principle 'none of us liveth to himself' (Romans 14:7) challenge the idea that our private sins don't affect others?

Context: Weaver emphasizes that even secret sins communicate a spirit that impacts family members.

In what ways can anger be righteous, and how can we distinguish it from the unrighteous anger displayed by Simeon and Levi?

Context: Weaver acknowledges righteous anger but condemns the brothers' uncontrolled rage.

What 'strange gods' or idols might modern families need to put away to truly return to God?

Context: Jacob's household surrendered physical idols; Weaver applies this to secret sins today.

Why do you think Jacob waited for his sons before acting on Dinah's defilement, and what does this reveal about his leadership?

Context: Weaver notes Jacob held his peace until his sons came, raising questions about his passivity.

How can we break the cycle of generational sin in our families?

Context: Weaver warns that unrepented sins are passed down, and the answer is genuine repentance and obedience.

Applications

Fathers must lead spiritually

Summary: The father is the head of the home and responsible for the family's direction; when he is wrong, the whole family suffers.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'When the father is wrong, the whole family's wrong. That was true in Jacob's case.'

Recognize the ripple effect of personal sin

Summary: Even secret sins affect others through our spirit and attitude; we must be aware that no sin is truly private.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Our sins may be secret, yet there is an effect that is often communicated through our spirit and through our attitude that reaches to every member of our family.'

Pursue individual and family repentance

Summary: Family repentance requires each member to personally put away idols and sins; we cannot have family revival without individual repentance.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'When every individual in the family repents, that means the family has repented.'

Guard against uncontrolled anger

Summary: Unrighteous anger leads to destructive actions and long-term consequences; we must deal with anger biblically.

Evidence: Weaver warns: 'Any anger that is unrighteous will ultimately not only destroy the angry individual, but others as well.'

Break generational patterns of sin

Summary: We must repent and change our lives to avoid passing our sins and God's judgment to our children.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'If we do not stop and repent and change our lives, we will be passing our sins down to our children... and as we pass down our sins, we also pass down the judgment of God.'

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T13:58:51Z

Clean Transcript

Family Sins Part 2 of 2

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Genesis 34, beginning there with verse 1. We're going to take up today on the message that I started last Sunday, entitled "Family Sins." And I will take a moment to review. But notice Genesis 34, verse 1: "And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his cattle in the field, and Jacob held his peace until they were come. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done."
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"And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife. And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister: And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us: But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised; Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your
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daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone. And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son. And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father. And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us."
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"And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city. And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites:
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and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?" We're going to continue today on the second part of this message on family sins. I suppose one of the greatest proofs that the Bible is indeed the Word of God is that it does not endeavor to cover up the imperfections, the faults, the failures, and sins even of godly individuals. We have to remember, however great and however godly men are, or however great and godly some families are, they are still human, and therefore they are still sinners.
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Let me very quickly dispel this from anyone's thinking. Here is a clear biblical statement: There are no perfect individuals. Contrary to what I tell Alice, there are no perfect individuals, and there are no perfect families. Now, the very fact that there are no perfect individuals and the very fact that there are no perfect families should not hinder us from desiring and following after perfection. Although we have to understand that perfection is unattainable in this life.
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The apostle Paul said it like this in the book of Philippians chapter 3 and verse 12. He says, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." So Paul said, "I'm not perfect. I haven't attained." But he said, "That doesn't hinder me from following after." In other words, Paul's attitude was this: I may not be able to be perfect in this life, but I want to be as holy and as godly as I can be by the grace of God. And certainly that should be our attitude. We understand we cannot be perfect. We understand we cannot have a perfect family. But we still should endeavor to be as holy and as godly and as obedient as we could be by the grace of God.
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Now I'm going to review just a little bit from last week, but let me reinforce in your mind two basic principles that we looked at, and I'm going to show you how these principles stand side by side. I told you that we have been correctly and biblically taught that each individual is answerable and accountable for his own sins. Let me say that again. Each individual is answerable and accountable for his own sins.
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God said in the book of Ezekiel chapter 18 and verse 20, listen carefully: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." Also in the book of Deuteronomy 24 and verse 16, God said this: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin."
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So here's a clear principle from Scripture: Each one of us is answerable and accountable for our sins. However, there is another principle that stands equally alongside of that. You find that in Romans 14 and verse 7, where the Word of God says this: "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." Now listen to what he said: "None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself."
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In other words, what we are and what we do always affects others. We're not living in a vacuum. We do not live by ourselves, nor do we die by ourselves. I pointed out last week that there are many shared family sins. These shared family sins are usually learned behavior patterns such as greediness and selfishness and anger and lustfulness and rebellion and, as I pointed out, even idolatry. In fact, these sins can be so much a family sharing that God warned in 2 Chronicles 30 and verse 8, He told the people this: "Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary." In other words, what did God tell the children? "Don't be like your fathers."
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He said the same thing in the book of Zechariah: "Be not as your fathers." So there are indeed such things as shared family sins. Many have learned their sins, their attitudes, their dispositions from their parents. And consequently, they also bring upon themselves the judgment of God as well.
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Now in the book of Exodus chapter 20 and verse 5, listen to this. God says, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them"—I'm talking about false gods—"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."
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Now let me ask a question. Why does God visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and the children's children, and the children's children's children? And the answer is very simple: because the children continue in the same sins of the fathers. In other words, it has learned behavior patterns. It has shared family sins.
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Now last week, I took the whole time to show you the sins of Jacob and the sins of Dinah. I pointed out, I demonstrated from Scripture where God had told Jacob to arise and He said, "Go back to your country and to your kindred." But Jacob did not return to his kindred. He returned to his country. He stopped at Succoth, according to Genesis chapter 33 and verse 17. And then when you get down to verse 18, he went to Shechem and dwelt there in the land. God told him to return, not just to his country, but also to his kindred. Why in the world would you stop and buy property when you're not where God told you to be? And I showed you from Scripture after Scripture how Jacob basically disobeyed God.
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He was not where he should have been. Then we secondly considered Dinah's sin. When Dinah went out to see the daughters of the land, remember the daughters of the land were Hivites, Canaanites. They were wicked, they were corrupt, they were depraved. And I pointed out how Dinah was about 13 to 15 years of age when this happened.
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Now, she was either raped or seduced, I don't know which, but the point being, she got herself in problems. Have you ever stopped to think about this? Had Jacob been where he was supposed to have been, Dinah never would have gotten into the trouble that she had gotten in. And of course, I pointed to her sins. She defied her parents' authority. She probably left without their permission. She certainly was without their protection because this came upon her. The point I tried to make last week is this: that sins are interconnected usually.
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Sin does not exist by itself. I'm going to show you this again today that sin begets sin and usually when there is sin in one member of the family there's sin in other members of the family as well. So I just simply pointed out last week how the sins of Jacob and the sins of Dinah are interconnected. Now, today we're going to come to the third point. We want to consider the sins of Simeon and Levi. Now, Simeon and Levi, of course, were the brothers of Dinah. They were the sons of Jacob. And let me just go ahead and tell you up front that all of the sins that we've talked about—the sins of Jacob, the sins of Dinah, the sins of Simeon and Levi, and I will show you later, the sins of the whole family—are all connected. The principle that I want you to learn is this: that sin does not exist by itself. Sin always begets other sins. One sin can set in motion a whole series of sins, which will ultimately result in great harm.
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It was Jacob's sin that ultimately set in motion all of the sins that we read about in Genesis chapter 34. Now, Jacob was in the wrong place. Dinah was in the wrong place. And of course, something happened that should not have happened.
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Now let me just point this out while not defending the actions of Shechem by any stretch of the imagination. What you do have to admit from Scripture is this: that at least Shechem endeavored to make things right. He should not have taken Dinah. That is a fact. He should not have raped her or seduced her, whichever the case may be. I don't know. His sin cannot be overlooked. His sin cannot be excused by any stretch of the imagination. He was guilty.
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But you've got to remember something else. He was a prince. His father was undoubtedly the king over this tribe or this group of people, however large they may have been. And you've got to remember, many in that day, like the politicians in our day, believe that they have a free hand and they can do whatever they want to do. Well, who's going to bring charges against a prince? Who's going to bring an accusation against the second in command in a country?
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Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. Whatever Shechem did, whether he raped her, whether he seduced her, I don't know. Whatever he did was wrong, but at least he tried to make things right. If you will look in your Bibles at verse 19, notice what is said concerning Shechem. The Bible says in Genesis 34 and verse 19, "And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father."
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In other words, he was now willing to marry Dinah. He was not only willing to marry Dinah, he was willing to pay the dowry according to the custom of the land. Look if you would in Genesis chapter 34, and let's begin reading there with verse 3. We're talking about Shechem now: "And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem said unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife." Skip down if you would, please, to verse 8: "And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give." Now look what he says: "Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife."
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Now I want you to note that Shechem was not only willing to marry her, he was also willing to pay the dowry. He was also willing to pay more than the normal custom of a dowry.
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Now let me show you how clear biblical law is. I want you to hold Genesis 34 but turn in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 22. Look in Deuteronomy chapter 22 and notice if you would, beginning there with verse 28. Deuteronomy 22 and verse 28. We're going to see how God's law governs a situation like this. Notice Deuteronomy 22 and verse 28. The Bible says, "If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days."
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Now notice what God says. God says if this happens and the man lies with a young woman, fine. He is to marry her, he's to pay the dowry, and he can never ever under any circumstances put her away. In other words, there can never ever be a divorce. So according to Deuteronomy chapter 22 then, the man would be obligated to marry the woman and obligated to stay with her and could never divorce her. Now there was only one way out of this where he would not be obligated to marry the young woman. You say, what way is that? Well, if you'll go back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 22, you will see the only way the man would not be obligated to marry the woman. Notice if you would, Exodus chapter 22 and begin there with verse 16. Exodus 22 verse 16.
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The Bible says, "And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed"—that is, she's not married, not engaged—"if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife." In other words, here is marriage. He must marry her, but here is the only way he can get out of marrying her. Watch verse 17.
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"If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins." I want you to note that the father still has the final say as to whom his daughter marries or does not marry. He also has the final say when she marries. Now, God said if the father utterly refuses to give her unto him, that he should pay the dowry according to virgins. You know how much a dowry was in Bible times? A dowry was normally two to three years' wages.
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Let me just break it down for you. Let's say in this community, the annual wage is 50,000 Federal Reserve notes. That means if the man did not marry the girl, if the father utterly refused to give her unto him, he would owe the young lady $150,000. You see, that dowry was to be hers in case something happened to her husband. It would give her something to live on until she remarried. Now, I want you to note something.
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Look in your Bibles back to Genesis 34 and verse 12. Now, you stop and think about this: that the dowry was normally 2 to 3 years' worth of wages. And when you look in Genesis 34 and verse 12, here's what Shechem said to Jacob and his sons: "Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife." Isn't that interesting? He said, "I don't care if you ask me five years' wages or ten years' wages, I'll pay it."
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I just want to marry the young woman. So in this sense of the word, the one thing you could say is that at least Shechem was trying to make amends and do what was right. That is not excusing his sin. That is not overlooking his sin. But at least he said, "I'm willing to marry her and I'm willing certainly to give the dowry." And incidentally, by the way, most people do not know this. But you know, life insurance—I know it's become really corrupt in this day and time, especially the life insurance companies—but do you know who began the life insurance in this country? It was preachers. Because preachers believed in a biblical dowry, and some of them did not have the money up front. And so this concept of life insurance came in.
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If I die, she'll be taken care of. In other words, the life insurance literally took the place of the dowry. In other words, it gives the woman something to live on. And interestingly enough, some of the leading companies, like Prudential, originally had the name something like this: the Prudential Widows and Orphans Fund. Isn't that amazing? Everything's totally gotten out of hand, but I'm just simply saying, preachers began the insurance company because they believed in the dowry.
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Now, notice if you would, he's willing to pay the dowry. Never so much. But look if you would please in verse 7. Of course, Jacob has heard what has happened. The sons hear what has happened. Verse 7: "And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter."
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"Which thing ought not to be done." Now, the Bible tells us these brothers were grieved and very, very wroth. Why? Because he had wrought folly in Israel.
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Now, the word "folly" refers to that which is senseless, vile, immoral, sinful, dishonorable. In other words, he's wrought something that is absolutely immoral and sinful.
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Now, let me tell you, I am sure, I am absolutely sure that these brothers, as well as Jacob, were not only upset because of what Shechem had done, but they were also upset with whom he was. Shechem was a Hivite. You say, what's that mean? Well, the Hivites were descendants of Canaan, who was the son of Ham, who was the son of Noah. You remember, Noah cursed Canaan, the son of Ham. The Hivites were descendants from Canaan. Shechem was not only a Hivite, Shechem was also a Canaanite, which means it is these people that God ordered to be destroyed when He brought Israel out of Egypt. So I can assure you they were not only upset with what Shechem had done, but with whom he was as well.
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Because they understood that they were not to intermarry with the Canaanites. They were not to mix the professors of faith with the profane. And that type of intermarriage, of course, is totally forbidden, not only in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament as well. And when you get to Exodus 34 verses 15 through 16, God specifically says not to intermarry with these people. When you get to Deuteronomy 7 verses 1 through 6, He says you not only don't intermarry, you don't even make any kind of covenant with them. And that's why in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 14 through 20, that's where the Apostle Paul said, "What communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" None. That's why he said, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate." Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. Here was Shechem who was a profane, wicked Hivite and Canaanite. At least he was trying to do that which was honorable in the sense he was trying to make amends.
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He was willing to marry Dinah, although it was not necessarily right for him to do so, but he was willing to do so and he was willing to give the dowry. Although Shechem may have been a little honorable, his father Hamor was not necessarily that honorable. Because if you look back in verse 19, the Bible said that the young man deferred not to do the thing because he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he was more honorable than all the house of his father. Now wait a minute. How can I say then that the father was not necessarily honorable? Look in verse 20: "And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised."
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Now watch if you would: "Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city." Now, what was Hamor saying? Let's integrate and confiscate.
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Let us intermarry, and shall not everything they have become ours? Shechem may have been interested in Dinah, but Hamor was interested in what Jacob and his sons had. He wanted that.
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Now I want you to note something. I believe that Hamor was probably acting deceitfully toward Jacob and his sons. Okay? But at the same time, the sons of Jacob were acting deceitfully toward him. When you look back in verse 7, Genesis 34 and verse 7: "And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth."
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The word "wrath" literally means to burn with anger. They were very, very angry.
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Now, let me tell you what has happened. Hamor, although he may have been acting deceitfully and although he may have wanted what Jacob and his sons had, what Hamor suggests is this: a treaty or a correlation of forces on a working agreement between his people and Jacob's family. That's why he said, "These men are peaceable with us. Let them dwell in the land. Let them trade in the land."
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"Let them give us their daughters. Let us give them our daughters. We're such sharp traders that eventually everything they're going to have is going to be ours anyhow. We'll get it." So what he was suggesting then was a coalition based upon a trade agreement.
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Now I want you to notice something that Jacob did. In one sense of the word, it's wise. In another sense of the word, it may have had a little bit of foolishness in it, but look in verse 5: "And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come." Let me ask you, think about this: Whose daughter was Dinah? Jacob's.
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Who had the responsibility and the authority to settle this issue? The answer is Jacob. But he waited on his sons. So the sons come in and they tell Shechem and Hamor, "Now look, you want us to get together on a trade agreement. No, we can't do that. We have to get together religiously." In other words, if there's an agreement worked out upon us, you have to consent to become like we are. We're circumcised.
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It's based upon our religion. It's the seal of our covenant.
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Now I don't care what you say, I don't care how much money you have, I don't care what you're willing to give, unless you become like we are, we can't work with you, we can't prosper together. Now let me tell you, and of course you can see this from the Scripture in just a moment, that Simeon and Levi had other plans. Their plans were not trading or prospering. They said, "This is the only way it's going to work." And of course, when Hamor and Shechem heard that, I mean, that's a simple little act. I mean, it's, you know, doesn't require any money. Yes.
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They said, "We'll all be circumcised. All the men will be circumcised. We can do this religiously because the Canaanites were idolaters anyhow, they could care less just so it prospered them." And on the third day, after having been circumcised, when the men were so sore they could barely move, you know what happened. Simeon and Levi took their swords and went in and slew every man in that village, in that town. They took Dinah, their sister, out.
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They then captured all the wives and children. They took all the sheep, cattle, all the riches, everything that belonged to Shechem, Hamor, and all those Hivites they took.
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Now I want you to listen to what Matthew Henry wrote on this subject. Listen to what he said, talking about Simeon and Levi: "The intention was malicious, as appears by the sequel of the story. All they aimed at was to prepare them for the day of slaughter. Note, bloody designs have often been covered and carried on with a pretence of religion. Thus they have been accomplished most plausibly and most securely.
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But this dissembled piety or this hypocritical piety is doubtless double iniquity. Religion is never more injured nor are God's sacraments more profaned than when they are thus used for a cloak of maliciousness. Nay, if Jacob's sons had not had this bloody design, I do not see how they could justify their offering the sacred sign of circumcision, the seal of God's covenant, to these devoted Canaanites who had no part or lot in the matter. Those who have no right to the seal have no right to the promise.
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It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. But Jacob's sons valued not this while they could make it serve their turn or their purpose." In other words, Matthew Henry's hitting the nail right on the head when he said they had no right to offer the seal of circumcision to these Canaanites, because the Canaanites had no part of the promise. Having no part of the promise, having no part of the covenant, they had no right to the seal.
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Simeon and Levi murdered an entire group of men for the sin of one man. Now listen to me. If Shechem had raped Dinah, he deserved the death penalty. But if he deserved the death penalty, it was Shechem and Shechem alone who was to die. Do you not remember Ezekiel 18 and verse 20? God said, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son." God said, you shall not visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, nor the iniquity of the sons upon the father. Everyone who sins shall die. If Shechem deserved to die, it was Shechem alone. The conduct of Simeon and Levi was not only wicked, atrocious, vile, and hateful, it was also extremely stupid. How can I say it was extremely stupid?
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Let me tell you something. Angry people do not think. Angry people only strike out. My father, when he was a young man, used to box professionally. And I never will forget one thing he told me. He said, "Son, if you're ever in a fight and you really want to whip the man, make him angry." And that's right. Because when you get angry, you've lost it. You don't think. You strike out.
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And when you start not thinking and not protecting yourself, that's when you get hurt. These boys were extremely wicked. They were extremely angry. Notice Genesis 34 and verse 30. Here's why I'm saying they were stupid. Look what Jacob said: "And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Simeon and Levi may have won the battle, but they could not win the war. Jacob said, "What in the world are you thinking about?"
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"Yes, you whipped that one little village. Yes, you killed all those men. But there are plenty of other Perizzites and Hivites out here, and now they're going to surround us. We don't have enough men to fight the whole country. You've endangered the entire family." You know what saved Jacob? If you'll look in Genesis 35 and verse 5, look what the Bible says: "And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob." The only thing that saved Jacob and his family was a sovereign act of God, where God placed His fear upon those people that they did not follow after and destroy Jacob and his sons. Had God not intervened, surely they could have been destroyed. Now I want you to look back to Genesis 34 and verse 30. I want you to look again what Jacob said.
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"And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Now look what he said: "You've acted stupidly, boys. You've put the whole family in danger." And I want you to note their only defense, verse 31: "And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?" Jacob could have rightly responded, "No, he should not have done so.
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But what did these other men do whose lives have been forfeited because of your unrighteous and wicked anger and rage? Why did they deserve to die?" You see, the sins of Levi and Simeon were indeed very, very grievous. I want to show you how grievous those sins were. Turn over in your Bibles to Genesis 49. Years later, when Jacob was dying, Genesis 49, notice verse 5. Jacob begins to bless his sons, but look what he has to say concerning Simeon and Levi. Genesis 49 verse 5: "Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
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O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." Years later, Jacob still has not forgotten the self-will and the anger of Simeon and Levi.
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Now listen to me, listen carefully. I understand that Simeon and Levi are responsible for their actions, that they are accountable for their sins. And Jacob said as much in Genesis 49, he said, "My soul is not coming into that sin. My honor is not being united with them. They did things that I would never do and should never have been done. I'm not even going to identify with that." I understand that Simeon and Levi are responsible for their sins, but let me ask you this question.
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Have you ever stopped to think? Had Jacob been where he was supposed to be, Dinah would have been where she was supposed to be. None of this would have ever happened. And Simeon and Levi would never have killed all those people. I'm just trying to show you how one sin begets more sins.
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Now watch, look what happens in Genesis 35 in verse 1: "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother." Obviously Jacob was not where he was supposed to be. For God says, "Now you need to get back to Bethel. You need to go back to where I first appeared to you and dwell there."
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I want you to understand something, folks. Romans 14 verse 7 says it again like this: "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself." Whatever we do affects other people. We may be answerable. We may be accountable for our sins. But our sins still have an effect upon other people. Now, fourthly, I want you to consider with me today the sins of the family as a whole. We've looked at the sins of Jacob, the sins of Dinah, sins of Levi and Simeon, now the sins of the family as a whole. We singled out the sins of Dinah, and Jacob, and Levi and Simeon because they were the main actors in this theater of wickedness. Yet there was more wickedness than that which I've just pointed out. God did use this wicked incident to stir up Jacob. God did use this wicked incident to let him see firsthand what happens when you're out of the will of God. He allowed him to have a glimpse of what happens when people place their will above God's will and their way above God's way.
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God allowed Jacob to see and understand in a real way when one is not right with God, nothing is right. Now, look at verse 1 in Genesis 35 again: "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother." Now, if you will turn back to Genesis 28, we read this last week, I will read it again this week. Notice Genesis 28 and verse 16: Jacob is on the way to Padan-aram to get him a wife and God reveals himself. Genesis 28 and verse 16: "And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
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"And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee." Now God said, "Arise, get thee to Bethel."
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You remember I pointed this out last week, and it's very important. God had told Jacob to arise, go back to your country, and to go back to your kindred. I showed you where Isaac was in Hebron. If Jacob had gone where God had told him to initially, Bethel would have been less than 30 miles from Hebron. But Jacob stops in Shechem. He buys a parcel of land, he builds an altar there, and nowhere in the Bible was an altar supposed to be built in the Old Testament except where God particularly and peculiarly revealed Himself. And that's why God says, "Jacob, you get up and you go back to where I made a revelation of myself to you. You go back to Bethel." Now the call to return to Bethel was a call to return to the God of Bethel. If he's going to return to the God of Bethel, he must do so in repentance. Now listen carefully. If he returns to the God of Bethel, he must forsake his sins, he must forsake his false gods.
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It is impossible to serve the one true and the living God and hold on to our idols and our sins at the same time. Our Lord said in Matthew 6 and verse 24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." You can't serve but one God. Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, in 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 9 says, "For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." You have to turn to God from—you can't hold on to your idols and God both. So if you're going to serve God, you have to repent. You have to let go of your idols. I want to show you something.
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We've seen the sin of Jacob, the sin of Dinah, the sins of Levi and Simeon. You don't have family sins. Watch this. Let's read verse 1: "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my
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distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem." What? What? Jacob said unto his household, his wives, his sons, his daughters, his grandchildren, "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments."
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It seems as if every family member had their secret sins. Every family member had their earrings. And in the Bible, these earrings were associated with idolatry. Earrings in those days were not simply ornamental. They were amulets, they were charms. They were usually consecrated to some god or formed under some constellation on which magical powers and magical images were drawn and worn in honor of a false god. Let me ask you, is it possible to determine the effect of these false gods and these earrings upon Jacob, Dinah, Simeon, and Levi? Who knows? Who can tell what influence, what effect was upon them? I know each one of us is responsible and accountable for their sins. But how did these secret sins and these false gods influence these people? Suffice it to say this, God said in Numbers 32 and verse 23, "Be sure your sin will find you out." Guess what? They found out Jacob. They found out Dinah, Simeon, and Levi. God told Jacob, "Arise and return to Bethel." At that point, Jacob told his house, "Get rid of your false gods, get rid of your superstitions, get rid of your secret sins, wash you, make you clean, put on new garments."
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In other words, that was supposed to be indicative of the fact that there was now a change of heart and a change of mind and they were going to serve God. You cannot serve the one true and the living God and hold on to your sins. You hold on to these secret sins, they'll destroy you. They'll destroy your family. They'll destroy your friends. They'll destroy your church. They'll destroy your state and even your nation. Now, let me ask you one thing. What did it take to get Jacob back right with God?
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You say, "Brother Weaver, that was a hard price to pay." Well, it's true. It was a hard price to pay. But let me tell you what finally woke Jacob up. It was not the rape of Dinah. It was not even the murder of all those people. What really woke Jacob up was this. Look in verse 1: "And God said unto Jacob." It took God speaking to Jacob to open his eyes. Let me tell you something, folks. It will take nothing less than a word from the sovereign God of heaven and earth to open our eyes and our ears. It'll take nothing less than the sovereign God of heaven and earth to save our families. It will take nothing less than a word from the sovereign God of heaven and earth to bring order out of chaos and confusion in our lives, in our families. David said it like this in Psalm 85 and verse 8, he said, "I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly."
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Like Jacob, it's come to the point we need to hear God speak. We need to hear what He says to us in His Word.
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Now let me make some applications. Listen carefully. According to Scripture, the father and the husband is the head of the home. And he's responsible for the leadership and the direction of the family. You say, "I'll buy that. That's very plain in Scripture." Yes, it is. But let me point something else out. When the father is wrong, the whole family's wrong. That was true in Jacob's case. He allowed things he should never have allowed. When the father will not be right and do right, how can he expect his wife and children to be right and do right?
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There's an awful lot of responsibility with headship and authority. The second application is this. We have to learn that our sins affect others, even those in our families. And let me tell you, our sins may be secret. They may not be open. Our sins may be secret, yet there is an effect that is often communicated through our spirit and through our attitude that reaches to every member of our family.
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I never will forget, I was in one place and observed this one man and I had this sinking feeling in my stomach and something in my mind told me something's not right. And it was true, because when the man's sins were made public, it was exactly as I thought, exactly as I supposed it would be. I did not know of his sins as of yet, but I just knew there was something wrong. It had a chilling effect upon me. Consequently, I no longer even wanted to be around the man. I'm just simply saying, it doesn't matter if your sins are secret.
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There's going to be an attitude. There's going to be a disposition. There's going to be a spirit communicated that's going to affect everyone else. No one lives to himself and no one dies to himself. Third application is this. If we want our families to be right with God, if we want our families to have God's blessings, we must repent individually. When every individual in the family repents, that means the family has repented. That's why Jacob said to his wives and to his sons and his children, "Up, put away your false gods and your silly superstitions.
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Wash yourself and be clean. You do it. I'm to do it. You're to do it." You cannot have family repentance without everyone in the family repenting. The fourth application is this. We must be aware of the consequences of unrighteous and uncontrolled anger and rage. There is such a thing as a righteous anger, but it always manifests itself in a biblical manner. Any anger that is unrighteous will ultimately not only destroy the angry individual, but others as well.
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You can certainly see that in Simeon and Levi's actions. The fifth application is this: shared sins. Family sins are unbiblical attitudes and dispositions and conduct that we learn from our parents, our brothers, our sisters, and other family members. Now listen to this. Here's what it all boils down to. If we do not stop and repent and change our lives, we will be passing our sins down to our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren. And as we pass down our sins, we also pass down the judgment of God upon those sins. The only answer is for you and I to obey God and make sure that we deal with our sins openly, honestly, biblically, and genuinely repent of them and bring our lives in conformity to the Word of God.
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It's interesting when Jacob got where he was supposed to be, he had the blessings of God upon him. We need to be right smack dab in the middle of the will of God for our lives. Let's pray. Father, we want to bow to Thee this day. We want to ask You for Your grace and Your mercy in our lives. We recognize, Lord, there are so many times that we fail to comprehend the simple fact that although we are responsible and accountable for our sins, our sins also affect others. We pray that You would give us the gift of repentance, that You would give us obedience and faith and help us to live for Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:26:43Z

Family Sins Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

In this second part of the 'Family Sins' series, Pastor John Weaver continues his exposition of Genesis 34, focusing on the sins of Simeon and Levi and the broader family sins of Jacob's household. He demonstrates how sin is interconnected, with Jacob's initial disobedience leading to Dinah's vulnerability and the brothers' violent revenge. The lecture emphasizes that while individuals are accountable for their own sins, their actions inevitably affect others, especially within families. Weaver calls for personal and family repentance, warning against unrighteous anger and the danger of passing sins to future generations.

Introduction and Review

Weaver reviews the previous week's message on the sins of Jacob and Dinah, emphasizing that the Bible does not hide the failures of godly people and that no individual or family is perfect.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 34:1-31

"And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife. And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister: And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us: But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised; Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone. And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son. And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father. And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us." "And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city. And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?"

The apostle Paul said it like this in the book of Philippians chapter 3 and verse 12. He says,

Scripture Reading — Philippians 3:12

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus."

Two Biblical Principles: Individual Accountability and Shared Influence

Weaver explains that each person is accountable for their own sins (Ezekiel 18:20), yet no one lives to himself (Romans 14:7); our actions always affect others, leading to shared family sins.

Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 18:20

"The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."

Scripture Reading — Romans 14:7

"For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself."

Now listen to what he said:

Scripture Reading — Romans 14:7

"None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 20:5

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them"

—I'm talking about false gods—

Scripture Reading — Exodus 20:5

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."

The Sins of Simeon and Levi

Weaver details how Simeon and Levi deceitfully used religion to massacre the men of Shechem, acting out of uncontrolled anger and endangering the entire family.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 35:5

"And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Now look what he said: "You've acted stupidly, boys. You've put the whole family in danger." And I want you to note their only defense, verse 31: "And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?" Jacob could have rightly responded, "No, he should not have done so. But what did these other men do whose lives have been forfeited because of your unrighteous and wicked anger and rage? Why did they deserve to die?" You see, the sins of Levi and Simeon were indeed very, very grievous. I want to show you how grievous those sins were. Turn over in your Bibles to Genesis 49. Years later, when Jacob was dying, Genesis 49, notice verse 5. Jacob begins to bless his sons, but look what he has to say concerning Simeon and Levi. Genesis 49 verse 5: "Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

Jacob's Rebuke and the Consequences of Anger

Jacob rebukes his sons for making him a stench among the inhabitants, and Weaver highlights the long-term curse Jacob pronounces on Simeon and Levi in Genesis 49.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 35:5

"And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house." Now look what he said: "You've acted stupidly, boys. You've put the whole family in danger." And I want you to note their only defense, verse 31: "And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?" Jacob could have rightly responded, "No, he should not have done so. But what did these other men do whose lives have been forfeited because of your unrighteous and wicked anger and rage? Why did they deserve to die?" You see, the sins of Levi and Simeon were indeed very, very grievous. I want to show you how grievous those sins were. Turn over in your Bibles to Genesis 49. Years later, when Jacob was dying, Genesis 49, notice verse 5. Jacob begins to bless his sons, but look what he has to say concerning Simeon and Levi. Genesis 49 verse 5: "Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

The Sins of the Whole Family

God commands Jacob to return to Bethel, prompting Jacob to instruct his household to put away their strange gods and purify themselves, revealing hidden idolatry throughout the family.

God allowed Jacob to see and understand in a real way when one is not right with God, nothing is right. Now, look at verse 1 in Genesis 35 again:

Scripture Reading — Genesis 35:1-4

"And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother."

Scripture Reading — Numbers 32:23

"Be sure your sin will find you out."

The Need for Divine Intervention

Weaver stresses that only God's direct word to Jacob awakened him, and that only God's sovereign intervention can bring order to chaotic lives and families.

Applications for Today

Family Sins Part 2 of 2

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	VWUKOpxK3gw
Subject	Family Government
Course	The Christian Family: Marriage and Household Order: The Family
Genre	Sermon
Date	2012-02-02
Dictation Name
Book	Book 034: Family Sins — Chapter 2
Source Timed Segments	81

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Review: Weaver reviews the previous week's message on the sins of Jacob and Dinah, emphasizing that the Bible does not hide the failures of godly people and that no individual or family is perfect.
Two Biblical Principles: Individual Accountability and Shared Influence: Weaver explains that each person is accountable for their own sins (Ezekiel 18:20), yet no one lives to himself (Romans 14:7); our actions always affect others, leading to shared family sins.
The Sins of Simeon and Levi: Weaver details how Simeon and Levi deceitfully used religion to massacre the men of Shechem, acting out of uncontrolled anger and endangering the entire family.
Jacob's Rebuke and the Consequences of Anger: Jacob rebukes his sons for making him a stench among the inhabitants, and Weaver highlights the long-term curse Jacob pronounces on Simeon and Levi in Genesis 49.
The Sins of the Whole Family: God commands Jacob to return to Bethel, prompting Jacob to instruct his household to put away their strange gods and purify themselves, revealing hidden idolatry throughout the family.
The Need for Divine Intervention: Weaver stresses that only God's direct word to Jacob awakened him, and that only God's sovereign intervention can bring order to chaotic lives and families.
Applications for Today: Weaver applies the lessons: the father's leadership affects the whole family; secret sins still impact others; family repentance requires individual repentance; uncontrolled anger destroys; and unrepented sins are passed to future generations.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Jacob's Disobedience Set the Stage for Family Tragedy

Had Jacob obeyed God and returned to his kindred, Dinah would not have been in Shechem, and the subsequent sins would have been avoided.

Weaver argues: 'Had Jacob been where he was supposed to have been, Dinah never would have gotten into the trouble that she had gotten in.'

Simeon and Levi's Revenge Was Disproportionate and Wicked

Even if Shechem deserved death, the brothers murdered an entire city, violating God's principle of individual punishment.

Weaver states: 'If Shechem had raped Dinah, he deserved the death penalty. But if he deserved the death penalty, it was Shechem and Shechem alone who was to die.'

The Family Was Complicit in Idolatry

When Jacob called for purification, the whole household surrendered strange gods and earrings associated with idolatry, indicating widespread secret sins.

Weaver notes: 'It seems as if every family member had their secret sins. Every family member had their earrings.'

Only God's Sovereign Word Brings True Awakening

Jacob was not moved by Dinah's rape or the massacre, but only when God spoke directly to him did he take action.

Weaver says: 'It took God speaking to Jacob to open his eyes.'

Secret Sins Still Communicate a Destructive Spirit

Even hidden sins affect others through a person's attitude and spirit, creating a chilling effect on those around them.

Weaver shares a personal observation: 'I had this sinking feeling in my stomach... I just knew there was something wrong.'

Scripture References

Genesis 34:1-31: The entire chapter is read and expounded as the narrative of Dinah's defilement and the revenge of Simeon and Levi.
Ezekiel 18:20: Cited to establish individual accountability for sin; the son does not bear the father's iniquity.
Deuteronomy 24:16: Quoted alongside Ezekiel to reinforce that each person dies for their own sin.
Romans 14:7: Used to show that no one lives or dies to himself; our actions affect others.
Exodus 20:5: God visits iniquity on subsequent generations of those who hate Him, explained as children continuing in the same sins.
Deuteronomy 22:28-29: The law requiring a man who lies with a virgin to marry her and never divorce, cited to show Shechem's willingness to comply.
Exodus 22:16-17: The law allowing the father to refuse the marriage but still requiring the dowry, showing the father's authority.
Genesis 35:1-4: God commands Jacob to go to Bethel; Jacob tells his household to put away strange gods and purify themselves.
Genesis 35:5: The terror of God was upon the cities so they did not pursue Jacob's family, showing divine protection.
Genesis 49:5-7: Jacob's dying curse on Simeon and Levi for their cruelty and anger.
Genesis 28:16-22: Jacob's vow at Bethel, referenced as the place God first appeared to him.
Matthew 6:24: No man can serve two masters; you cannot serve God and mammon, applied to holding onto idols.
1 Thessalonians 1:9: Turning to God from idols to serve the living God, used to illustrate repentance.
Numbers 32:23: Be sure your sin will find you out, applied to the exposure of family sins.
Psalm 85:8: I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people; applied to the need for God's word.
Philippians 3:12: Paul's statement that he has not attained perfection but presses on, used to encourage pursuit of holiness.
2 Chronicles 30:8: God's warning not to be stiffnecked like their fathers, illustrating shared family sins.
Zechariah 1:4: Be not as your fathers, another call to break from ancestral sins.
Exodus 34:15-16: God's command not to intermarry with the Canaanites, referenced as background for the brothers' anger.
Deuteronomy 7:1-6: Command not to make covenants with the Canaanites, reinforcing the prohibition of intermarriage.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 34: Weaver quotes Matthew Henry's condemnation of Simeon and Levi's deceitful use of religion and their offering of circumcision to Canaanites.
Prudential Widows and Orphans Fund: Weaver mentions that life insurance in America was started by preachers who believed in the biblical dowry, with Prudential originally named the Prudential Widows and Orphans Fund.

Important Quotes

Sin does not exist by itself. I'm going to show you this again today that sin begets sin and usually when there is sin in one member of the family there's sin in other members of the family as well.

Encapsulates the central thesis of the interconnectedness of sin within a family.

Angry people do not think. Angry people only strike out.

Highlights the irrational and destructive nature of uncontrolled anger, as exemplified by Simeon and Levi.

You cannot serve the one true and the living God and hold on to your sins.

Summarizes the call to repentance and the impossibility of mixing true worship with idolatry.

It took God speaking to Jacob to open his eyes.

Emphasizes the necessity of divine intervention for spiritual awakening.

If we do not stop and repent and change our lives, we will be passing our sins down to our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren. And as we pass down our sins, we also pass down the judgment of God upon those sins.

Warns of the generational consequences of unrepented sin, a key application of the message.

When the father is wrong, the whole family's wrong.

Stresses the father's pivotal role in family spiritual health.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How does the principle 'none of us liveth to himself' (Romans 14:7) challenge the idea that our private sins don't affect others?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes that even secret sins communicate a spirit that impacts family members.

[Question]

In what ways can anger be righteous, and how can we distinguish it from the unrighteous anger displayed by Simeon and Levi?

[Context]

Weaver acknowledges righteous anger but condemns the brothers' uncontrolled rage.

[Question]

What 'strange gods' or idols might modern families need to put away to truly return to God?

[Context]

Jacob's household surrendered physical idols; Weaver applies this to secret sins today.

[Question]

Why do you think Jacob waited for his sons before acting on Dinah's defilement, and what does this reveal about his leadership?

[Context]

Weaver notes Jacob held his peace until his sons came, raising questions about his passivity.

[Question]

How can we break the cycle of generational sin in our families?

[Context]

Weaver warns that unrepented sins are passed down, and the answer is genuine repentance and obedience.

Applications

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