Out of all of Jacob’s children, only one girl is mentioned–his daughter Dinah.
Dinah, Jacob’s daughter by Leah, went to visit some of the Canaanite women.
A Hivite named Shechem took one look at her and instantly fell in love. “He took her and raped her,” Genesis 34:2 reports.
He tried to win her affection, to no avail. He told his father, “I want you to get this girl for me as my wife.”
Hamor, Shechem’s father, tried to persuade Jacob and her brothers to let Shechem marry Dinah.
Knowing what had happened, her brothers told Shechem and his father, “We cannot let our sister marry a man that is not circumcised; that would be a disgrace for us. We can agree only on the condition that you become like us by circumcising all your males.”
Right after the men had been circumcised, Simeon and Levi, two of Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and went into the city and killed all the men, including Shechem and his father, Hamor. Afterward, Jacob’s other sons took everything in the city and in the fields–their women, children and everything in their houses–as revenge for Dinah’s rape.
What do we learn from this story? We learn that if we just hold our peace, our older brother, Jesus, will fight our battles for us, that He will give us justice for our pain and trouble.
God told Moses in Exodus 14:14 (TEV), “The Lord will fight for you, and all you have to do is keep still.” The King James Version says “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”
If we try to fight our own battles, in our own strength, we will fail every time. If we turn the situation over to God, if we keep a good attitude and stand in faith, the Lord will fight for us.
Think about that for a moment: God, the Creator of the Universe, Himself will fight for you.
But you must do your part. You can’t get even, or say nasty things about the person who has wronged you.
Give the situation to God. You might pray something, such as, “Although I don’t understand why this is happening, Lord, I trust You, and I know that you are turning this evil around for my good.”
Then you are giving God permission to make a miracle out of your situation. You might not see anything right away. At the perfect time, though, you will see that God has been fighting for you all along.
