Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #5 of Genesis 34, and we are reading Genesis 34:1-7:

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.

I will stop reading there.  In our last study, we saw that there are two other passages (Dueteronomy22 and 2Samuel 13) that are related to this account in Genesis 34 because they have many of the same ingredients, especially the statement about folly being wrought in Israel.  Also there is a matter of “forcing,” which we see, especially in 2Samuel 13. 

So we were looking at these other passages, and I hope we will have time in this study to go back to Deuteronomy 22 to take a closer look at the spiritual meaning of that passage.  But first I want to point out that there is another passage that also seems to relate.  It has five of the common characteristics we find in Genesis 34 and these other passages.  It is found in Judges 19:1-2:

And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Bethlehemjudah. And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father's house to Bethlehemjudah, and was there four whole months.

Here, there is a woman said to be a concubine, but that is a wife.  For the people of that time, she was a “lesser wife,” but in the eyes of God she is still a wife.  So we see that marriage is in view, and this concubine “played the whore.”  She was acting as a harlot.  That was in view in Genesis 34.  Remember the statement that was made at the end of that chapter when Levi and Simeon responded to their father, “Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?”   So that seems to be a common thing we find in these similar passages.

A little further down in Judges 19, we see that this man went into a city of Benjamin to spend the night after he had retrieved his concubine from her father’s house.  They were traveling late at night, and they came to this city of Benjamin, and it says, “the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about.”  It is a very similar situation to Genesis 19 when the “two angels” came to Sodom.  Here, the man who had taken in the Levite and his concubine is said to be the master of the house, and he said to the men, in Judges 19:23:

And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them, and said unto them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into mine house, do not this folly.

He even offered them his own daughter, but the men would not listen.  It says in Judges 19:25-28:

But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light. And her lord rose up in the morning, and opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way: and, behold, the woman his concubine was fallen down at the door of the house, and her hands were upon the threshold. And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. But none answered. Then the man took her up upon an ass, and the man rose up, and gat him unto his place.

When he got back home, he cut her up into twelve pieces, and sent a piece of the woman to each of the twelve tribes of Israel, and they were horrified that such a thing was done in Israel: “There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day.”  It was such an awful thing that happened to someone who was an Israelite in the land of Israel.

Then we find that the tribes spoke to the tribe of Benjamin to turn over the men of that city, and Benjamin refused to do so, which left them no choice, and they determined to come together and fight against the tribe of Benjamin.  And the end result was a catastrophe, as they almost completely wiped out the men of Benjamin, and there were only a few hundred left at the end of this fight. 

We read in Judges 20:3-4:

(Now the children of Benjamin heard that the children of Israel were gone up to Mizpeh.) Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness? And the Levite, the husband of the woman…

Here, it refers to the husband of the woman, so there was a marriage despite the use of the word “concubine.”  Again, it says in Judges 20:4-5:

And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to lodge. And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and beset the house round about upon me by night, and thought to have slain me: and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead.

The word “forced” is the other word that was used in Genesis 34:2 in regard to Shechem, that he “saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.”  That is the word translated as “forced,” and it is also translated as “humbled.”  It is the word used in 2Samuel 13 regarding what Amnon did to Tamar; he forced her.  It also appears in Deuteronomy 22.

So I just wanted to bring up the passages in Judges, which means that our chapter of Genesis 34 has some information in it that is fairly widespread in the Bible.  We read similar things in Deuteronomy 22, 2Samuel 13, and Judges 19 and 20.  So this is an important issue.  We may not understand all that is in view at this point, but God is spending so much time in the Bible using these same words and terms in similar situations regarding “folly in Israel” that typically leads to death.  The man who forced Tamar was killed.  Shechem, who forced Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, was killed.  And the men of the city that forced the concubine were killed.  So this is very curious, and it gets all the more curious when we find more Scripture that identifies with what we are reading in Genesis 34.

So let us go to Deuteronomy 22, and we are going to read that passage there again.  And as we do so, we will try to understand it spiritually.  We read in Deuteronomy 22:13-21:

If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: And the damsel’s father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him; And they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.

There is that reference to “folly in Israel,” and there is death.  The one who works “folly in Israel” dies, as is typically the case.  It was also the case, if you recall, with what we read in Joshua 7 concerning Achan who “troubled Israel” because he coveted and took some items from the fallen city of Jericho – some gold, silver and a goodly Babylonish garment.  It was said of him in Joshua 7:15:

And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of JEHOVAH, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.

Again, one who has wrought folly in Israel typically dies.  They later stoned Achan with stones, and he died, just as it said of this woman in Deuteronomy 22:21:

Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house…

This language is becoming more familiar to us, but what does it mean in this passage?  What is the spiritual meaning?  Who is the man who takes the wife, and who does he represent?  Who does the woman represent?  Why is it  that  the husband is said to hate her and has given occasion to speak against her, but if the mother and father of the damsel can produce the token of virginity, then the man is chastised, fined, and he must stay married to her for the rest of their lives?  What is the spiritual picture God is painting here? 

There are a few things that will help us.  Let us go back to Deuteronomy 22:13-14:

If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, And give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:

Regarding the reference to “occasions of speech,” it also appears in verse 17 where the father speaks of this man, in Deuteronomy 22:17:

And, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid…

Twice there is a reference to “occasions of speech,” and we are helped immediately when we understand that the word “speech” in both verses is the Hebrew word “daw-bawr',” and that is the Hebrew word that is often translated as “word,” as in the Word of God.  It is “occasions of word” against her.  How does that help us?  It is because the Word of God is the same thing as the Law of God.  It is “occasions of law,” and that makes sense because if the woman was not a virgin, she has violated the Law of God.   If she is found not to have been a true virgin, the penalty is stoning to death because she has broken the Law of God.  And that is what is in view here if the cloth cannot be produced.  So if the man is giving “occasions of the law” or “occasions of the word” against the woman because she has broken the Law, then who can the man represent?  He can represent the Law of God because the Bible teaches us that mankind is married to the Law of God.  Everyone is married to the Law of God, at least initially.  We read in Romans 7:1-2:

Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

Then it says in Romans 7:4:

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another…

That is the teaching of the Bible.  All people are married to the Law of God.  We are bound to the Law, and we must obey the Law because obedience in the marriage relationship indicates faithfulness.  It is what a wife is commanded to do: “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands…”   And “submit” means to “obey,” because the husband is the head of the house.  As we search this out, we can trace it back to the spiritual marriage between mankind (the creature God created in His own image) and the Law of God.  Obey your Husband, and you will live.  When God established the Law in the Garden of Eden, He said, “In the day ye eat thereof, ye shall surely die,” and that is because when man violates the Law of God and transgresses the Law, he has engaged in an act of spiritual adultery.  And the Law stipulates that the one who breaks the Law must die.  All adulterers and adulteresses that engage in adultery shall die. 

The Bible teaches that mankind is married to the Law, and because we all sin, the Law condemns us.  And in the Day of Judgment, the “angry husband” is the Law of God that is taking vengeance upon every sinner who has offended it.  The only exceptions are those that have become “dead to the law,” and all of God’s elect have become “dead to the law” through the body of Christ, and they are “married to another,” who is Jesus Himself.  That is why the Bible speaks of the “bride of Christ.”  We are legitimately free to marry Him because of what He has done for us (in salvation). 

So the spiritual picture here is of a man taking a wife, going in unto her, and then hating her because she is not a virgin.  In the Bible, God uses the word “virgin” to point to purity, and purity points to one who is faithful to the Word of God.  That is, there is no sin.  That really is the essence of what being a virgin points to in the Bible.  One is attired in righteousness, as it were, and that is why God speaks of those professed Christians (either wise or foolish) as being “virgins” because in their profession, they are saying their sins have been forgiven, and that they have experienced the cleansing of sin that has purified their souls, supposedly.  Of course when God comes “to visit” to see if that profession is true, He brings judgment upon those that are false professors.  But in a way God, as it were, accepts the profession: “You say you are Christian and that you are saved, so you are saying you are a virgin.  Very well, but I will discover the truth.”  Since there was a marriage between Christ and Israel, Israel could be in view to some degree along with this.  And although God did not enter into a spiritual marriage with the churches, there was an intimate relationship that He did have with the corporate church, which Israel can be a figure of, so there could be a carry-over effect into that.

But we have to ask a question.  The man is the Law of God, and the Law completely identifies with God, so it is a marriage with God.  So God has taken a wife, and He has gone into her, or discovered this intimate secret about her, and because He has discovered it, He hates her.  And He gives “occasions of speech” or “occasions of law” against her, and He brings up this evil name upon her, and He says, “I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid.”  So would that be consistent with what we find the Law of God does with individual people, as well as with the corporate body?  And the answer is, “Yes.”  God does hate the sinner, does He not?  “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”  And God does hold the institutions of Old Testament Israel and the New Testament churches accountable.  He finds out their sins, and it is due to their disobedience to His Word, the Law of God, and He pronounces their guilt, and He makes it public.  He publicly shames and humiliates the sinner, as well as those outward institutions that represented His kingdom on the earth.

So this was the accusation of the Law, but then the parents got involved, and the parents produced the tokens of the damsel’s virginity, which was the cloth.  We will have to wait until our next study, but it will get interesting because the damsel’s parents will either produce the cloth, or fail to produce the cloth, and that determines whether folly has been wrought in Israel.