Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #10 of Genesis 34.  We are going to begin by reading Genesis 34:11-19:

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.

In our last study, we were looking at the word “Shechem,” this man’s name and its meaning.  And we saw there is a related word in Strong’s Concordance that has the same consonants (so it is the same Hebrew word), and it is translated as “shoulder.”  We went to Isaiah 9, and we found it used a couple of times.  It says in Isaiah 9:4:

For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.

This is referring to Satan, spiritually, as in the next chapter God speaks of “the Assyrian,” or the king of Assyria, who is also a type and figure of Satan.  It said in Isaiah 10:27:

And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

This reference has to do with God’s plan to set the captives free, or deliver His people out of the hand of Satan.  Also, it says in Isaiah 9:6-7:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of JEHOVAH of hosts will perform this.

There is no mistaking that Jesus is the child that is born.  Therefore, it is His shoulder that the government shall be upon.  We find further reference to “shoulder” in Isaiah 22:20:

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah:

By the way, the Hebrew name “Eliakim” means “God of rising.”  The word “el” is God, and the rest of the word is “rising,” or “God of raising,” which would tie in with the God of resurrection.  Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 22:21:

And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand…

Again, we can see that Christ is in view because of the word “Eliakim,” and all the language here, especially where it says, “…and I will commit thy government into his hand,” which is similar to what we just read in Isaiah 9:6.  Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 22:21-22:

… and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder…

This man called Eliakim is a type and figure of the Lord Jesus Christ, and “the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder.”  And that can only refer to the Lord Jesus.  For example, we read in Revelation 3:7:

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

Now this is not some “mere man” named Eliakim speaking.  That is the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He has the key of the house of David, and it is upon His shoulder, according to Isaiah 22:22.  Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 22:22-23:

…so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.

We are being given an additional spiritual picture of Christ identified as a nail.  He is the nail.  This ties in with Judges 4 when Jael took the nail of the tent and a hammer, and she struck the nail into the temple of Sisera.  The “nail” is Christ, the Word of God.   Jael pictures the elect of God that study to shew themselves approved, workmen that need not be ashamed.  So the work is performed in the Scriptures, and as we declare the Word of God, Christ comes as a “nail” that can condemn and destroy, as in the case of Sisera.

But here it says, “And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.”

Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 22:23-25:

And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for JEHOVAH hath spoken it.

This would be a dual reference.  One would be a reference to the spiritual house of God which can never be cut off.  But the secondary meaning would be the corporate house, the outward house of God on the earth, which was cut off, and that is when the nail is removed.  Christ has removed out of the midst of the churches and congregations.

So we see that Shechem’s name can identify with Christ.  Does that mean he is a picture of Christ?  I am still not sure.  It is such a difficult passage to prove that when considering all these verses.  I am having a hard time doing that.  But from all we know about him (which is in this chapter), Shechem was doing things the right way, apart from his initial sinful encounter with Dinah when he lay with her, defiled her, and took her to his house.  Once that had happened (and that was sin against the Law of God), he seemed to have been conducting himself in an honorable way, as he is actually described in Genesis 34:19:

… and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.

We can see this in numerous ways, if we go back to Genesis 34:3:

And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.

The word “clave” is the same word used in Genesis to refer to a man “cleaving” unto his wife.  Then he wanted to marry her.  Now contrast that with Amnon, the son of David, in 2Samuel 13, when he forced Tamar.  Then as he attempted to send her way, she said, “Do not this evil.  Speak to the King.  He will not withhold me from you.”  That is, the king would give her to him in marriage.  But Amnon wanted nothing more to do with her, and he said, “Get out of her!” And he commanded his servants to bolt the door.  That was dishonorable.  That was not according to the Word of God.  And God does give Laws concerning this kind of situation.  That is, He gave the Law concerning if a man has gone into a damsel and humbled her, and He stipulates what should then happen.  But before we get to that, there are other reasons we can see where Shechem was acting honorably.  One would be in Genesis 34:11:

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.

The word “grace” is the same word the Bible typically uses.  It is the same word we find in Genesis 6:8:

But Noah found grace in the eyes of JEHOVAH.

This word is also translated as “favor.”  And “grace” is to grant forgiveness of sins for His people.  Through His salvation program, these sins were paid for by Christ at the foundation of the world.  And the elect of God receive this grace, and it has nothing to do with merit, or with deserving it in any way.  It is unmerited favor: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” 

So Shechem is using this word “grace.”  “Let me find grace in your eyes.”  He said to her father and her brethren: “Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. “  He was acknowledging his wrong.  You do not ask for grace if you have done nothing wrong; grace is bestowed to evildoers, the ones that have committed offense.  He was acknowledging that an offense had been done, and he was beseeching Jacob and his sons for grace concerning it.  We can see how this would fit in with the Gospel as the Gospel went out to a world of sinners that have transgressed the Law of God and broken His covenant.  They are offenders against God, and they are in need of grace.  And that was the Gospel call that children of God (which the children of Israel typify) proclaimed to the people of the world, a Gospel where grace was possible.  It was all of grace, and not of works in anyway, and that was the emphasis that was to be presented as the Gospel – that we have all come short of the glory of God, and yet God is a merciful and gracious God, full of compassion. 

So Shechem was coming to those that had identification with God and His kingdom, and His Word, and he was beseeching for grace.  But he did not receive grace.  And that is certain when we read the chapter, and this is one of the reasons that Jacob said of his sons Simeon and Levi, in Genesis 49:5-7:

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.

That is, there was no grace or forgiveness, and they (Simeon and Levi) did not bring the Gospel of God, but rather, it was an exercise of their own anger, not the anger of God.  And it was according to their self-will, not the will of God.  And their anger was fierce; and their wrath was cruel.  All of this would identify with what we read in the context of Genesis 34 with the request for grace.  Then Shechem said, in Genesis 34:12:

Ask me never so much dowry and gift…

Maybe in our next study we will look at this word “dowry” a little closer because it ties in with some other information that may help us to understand the things said here.

Again, it says in Genesis 34:12:

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.

He is saying these things to them, and he is actually speaking according to the Law of God because God lays out precisely this very situation for a man who has “humbled” a virgin not betrothed.  There is dowry involved.  So, again, Shechem is showing himself to be honorable by bringing this up and showing his willingness to pay the dowry, according to the Law of God.

But it says in Genesis 34:13:

And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:

You see, this is a key that they are lying.  They are lies mixed with truth because it goes on to say in Genesis 34:14:

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:

That was the truth.  Every male was to be circumcised, and God had much to say against those that identify as His people entering into mixed marriages with the people of the world, the Gentiles.  That was not to be.  Then they went on to say in Genesis 34:15-17:

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.

All those statement are fine.  It was all true, according to God’s Word.  They were saying, “If you want to marry Jacob’s daughter, and if you want to pay dowry and enter into marriage with a virgin daughter of Israel, then you must become like one of us.  You must become circumcised.  Take upon yourself the sign of the covenant and identification with God and His kingdom.  Then there can be a lawful marriage according to the Word of God.”  Again, all of that was just fine, but the problem is that they did not mean it; they were using the Law of God, or using the Bible, God’s Word, to set a trap in order to bring their own wrath.  And that was a terrible and cruel thing done by the sons of Jacob.