20250831_IWillNotLeaveThee

[0:00] Well, we come to one of those times that's a little less than I might like to think sometimes.

[0:12] ! But nevertheless, it's here. And I'm thankful that God in His grace and His mercy and His hand gets His plan done in spite of people, not because they're all up for it.

[0:38] He called Abraham from idol worship. Brought him out. Now, Abraham, and here we have our hope.

[0:50] Abraham believed God and it was reckoned as righteousness. Now, did Abraham do everything righteously?

[1:03] Not everything. So, we do see, we do see even before, and this was before the law, of course. But, even then, there is a difference in position and practice.

[1:21] Now, I'm not saying there should be. We ought to be striving to make my practice conform to my position. The Apostle Paul, regularly in his letters, says, This is what you are in Christ.

[1:38] This is what God has done for you. This is your position. Therefore, do this. Or, therefore, don't do that.

[1:51] So, I'm thankful for that. So, last week, Jacob purchased a field from Shechem.

[2:03] Right? Okay. Let's go ahead with this week. Beginning with chapter 4, or 34, and right in the beginning, verse 1.

[2:21] As you read down through there, you get a bit of a picture. Okay, now, here's my first lesson.

[2:33] Dinah begins a social life. Right? Why do I say that? Right.

[2:49] So, she went to socialize. Now, while she's socializing, what happens? What happens? Well, okay.

[3:05] So, let's look at this a moment. Who is, if you will, king or chieftain over this region?

[3:19] Hamor. Or, how do you spell it? Right. I thought you said hammer, as in claw hammer.

[3:30] But, Hamor. Hamor. Who's Hamor's son? I'm sorry?

[3:44] Shechem. He's pretty important. He's pretty important. In fact, later on, we're going to see that he was, in just a few verses, you'll notice, your King James says he was more honorable than all of them.

[4:02] That doesn't mean that he had honorable behavior. It means he was highly esteemed amongst those people.

[4:14] Amongst the Canaanites in that region. So, Dinah goes out for a social life.

[4:27] And she gets noticed by Shechem. Now, Shechem's a pretty important guy. Okay, now, what happens?

[4:40] Nobody wants to say this part. I don't either. But, so it says that Shechem takes her.

[4:57] And lies with her. That they have sexual relationship. And, what does it say about him?

[5:14] In his, or how he thinks of Dinah? Okay. It, well, specifically, it says, in verse 3, the words there say that his soul or his life clave to her, clung to her.

[5:38] He wanted her to be his wife. Now, there's no reason to think that the Canaanites' sense of morality is going to be that of Israel's and Jacob's sense of morality.

[5:59] There's, there's no reason to think that they would be. So, he does what? Well, by the way, look at verse 3.

[6:16] Who has King James Version? Okay. How is that read? Okay. He spake kindly to her.

[6:36] Okay. What does your New American Standard say? He spoke tenderly. Does anyone have a New International? Good.

[6:48] No. No. He spoke tenderly. Literally, it says, he spoke to her heart. Now, whether this was forcible or not, it was illicit.

[7:08] And, whether he forced her or he seduced her, it's still wrong. And, and it behooves me to be careful.

[7:25] In fact, the Apostle Paul will tell the Corinthian church, be careful. Evil communication, if you're in King James, evil communication, or in New American Standard, it'll say, it doesn't say, bad company, it says, I forget how it words it.

[7:46] But, evil communication corrupts good morals. The analogy's not perfect, but bear with me.

[8:02] When you go, when you go working in the, when you're pitching manure, you're probably going to wear gloves. Right?

[8:14] Now, does the manure get cleaner? No, the gloves get dirty. The gloves get dirtier, the dirt never gets glovier.

[8:27] The same thing goes for my behavior, usually. I can say all I want, well, I'm trying to be a good influence.

[8:39] And maybe I am. But I do need to be careful. I do need to be careful in my social interactions. Because in Dinah's case, there's no indication she went out, intending this.

[9:02] Nevertheless, she went out amongst a crowd that didn't mind that. So, there is a warning in there.

[9:15] So, he spoke, literally, to her heart. And then he says to his father, what? What? specifically, he says, get me this girl.

[9:33] girl. Now, by the way, the damsel business that you're seeing there, she's young.

[9:45] In our society, she's young. So, he says to his father, now, why does a grown man who has an important position ask his dad to get her for a wife?

[10:03] It's custom of the time. He's asking for a go-between. You go to her father and you make a deal.

[10:16] See, that's, well, we're going to get to that. So, that's how it was done, apparently. We're by verse 5 now, so you're reading on.

[10:31] Now, oh, one last thing about that he spoke to her heart. Just so we get a picture of what that means.

[10:44] We usually use this around Christmas time, if we use this verse. We use it around Christmas time, usually.

[10:56] Isaiah chapter 40, verse 1. Go ahead and turn there, if you would, please. And someone read that verse to us. Actually, two verses, one and two.

[11:12] Isaiah 40. This is a prophecy of Messiah, isn't it? Okay. Okay.

[11:48] It's literally, this is a prophecy after the tribulation, but Handel used it in Messiah as an approach to a messianic prophecy.

[12:04] It is a messianic prophecy, but not the incarnation part. Nevertheless, speak comfortably to my people.

[12:15] That's the same word as Shechem used with Dinah. So, that gives us a perspective on how the scripture uses that word.

[12:28] Okay. Back to continuing with verse 5. When Jacob heard about this, what did he do? Okay.

[12:47] It says he held his peace. He kept quiet about it. He's not going to react. Now, I don't know if he did or did not say anything to his sons.

[13:07] If he did, I'm not sure what he thought was going to happen. Nevertheless, let's go on. Hamor then does come to Jacob for Shechem.

[13:21] What does Hamor do? Okay.

[13:38] What are they negotiating? The marriage. Yes. They're negotiating for a marriage. So, Dinah's brothers hear what has happened.

[13:53] What's their response? Says they were very angry and grieved.

[14:08] All right. why? Why? Because a disgraceful thing was done in Israel.

[14:20] Your new American standard renders that disgraceful. Your King James renders that folly. Now, folly meant something when the King James was translated that we have lost in later generations.

[14:44] And we want to be careful that we don't approach the Bible as commonly society is approaching history now.

[14:56] And that is there seems to be an arrogance because I'm younger I'm writer. Have you ever heard anything like that?

[15:08] Oh, you're on the wrong side of history. How do you get on the wrong side of history? History is history, right? Okay, here it is.

[15:20] The word folly means a whole lot more than what it meant in common usage today. It doesn't mean just foolishness.

[15:34] In fact, I'll just give you some references if you want to look them up. I'm not going to go through all of this.

[15:45] It's not all very pretty, but folly as is used for two or three times otherwise in scripture. In Deuteronomy chapter 22 verses 13 through 21, God in the law given to Moses has declared something about marriage and a husband that says stuff about his wife and if it be true they beat if it be false if it be found false they beat the husband and said you have to she's your wife forever you can never divorce her if it's found to be true they burn her and they call it or God calls it because she hath wrought folly in Israel now that's not just foolishness is it that's a big deal in

[16:55] Joshua and you know this one Joshua chapter seven remember when they went into Jericho what had God said about everything in Jericho you remember it's all under the ban it says or it's that is everything in Jericho because it was the first fruit of Canaan every single thing men women children cattle gold everything was devoted entirely to God all the living things were to be killed all the gold was to go into the tabernacle they weren't allowed to keep any spoil of war what did Achan do Achan saw some gold and he took some stuff and he buried it in his tent you remember this now it's coming isn't it he buried it in his tent then they sent some people over to

[18:11] AI they're going to conquer the next town and they said oh they're just a few hundred people there just send a few thousand and they got whipped badly and they mourned and God told Joshua somebody's taken the ban he has wrought we are going to get rid of folly in Israel and God destroyed Achan and his whole family it's not a little thing when they say he has wrought folly there's a judges chapter 19 through 2048 is the story of a Levite and his concubine that is a very ugly story but there again it's called folly in

[19:12] Israel so God does not look on it as a mistake does he by the way when you go you've read through Proverbs right and you've seen you've seen more than just these but you predominantly you see types of persons mentioned in Proverbs you see the wise you see the simple you see the fool now we sometimes and here again is the connotations have changed over years and instead of instead of teaching me how to read it I have taught me how to ignore it or say it doesn't apply anymore it's the wrong thing teach me how to read it that by the way that's where schools first came into being in the in the before we were the

[20:29] United States when we were still part of England schools came into being to teach people how to read the Bible so! we've come a long way haven't we so the fool is condemned as a moral failing in Proverbs and elsewhere see that's not just being goofy that's not what it means the fool is a person who does wrong and doesn't care that's the idea behind it so God does not look lightly upon that aren't you thankful for grace I'm thankful for grace okay so they were very angry and

[21:42] Hamor says look please give me Dinah for Shechem's wife now he not only asks for Dinah's betrothal to Shechem but he makes another suggestion what is it okay well yeah good okay how does he word it right let's let's let's mix it up a little bit let I'll give you my daughter you give me yours we'll all become one people hey buy land for yourself get possessions in it there's plenty of room

[22:51] I'm thankful for grace but I still need to be careful because there's that temptation to take the daughter of some metaphorically speaking to take the daughter of some behavior that God says no you shouldn't be doing this you belong to me the Corinthian church was an example of this weren't they the Corinthian church made a lot of leeway for grace now did Paul say you're not saved no right in the beginning he calls them saints what does that mean set apart sanctified holy was their behavior a sanctified behavior well no no so

[24:14] I'm thankful for grace but I need to be careful because Paul is going to wind up threatening the Corinthian church with apostolic authority which was no small thing the apostles and here we need to be careful with our words because the apostles were chosen by God for a specific office there are no more apostles because they acted on behalf of God in the world so when Jesus is getting ready to ascend after his resurrection he said and here's where rightly dividing becomes pretty important doesn't it I have given all authority to you and whatever you bind on earth is going to be bound in heaven that's not a small deal that's not a small deal whatever you loose on earth will be that's a big big big deal and so when

[25:41] Ananias and Sapphira come to Peter when all the people there in Jerusalem are giving up their properties they sold a field they kept back part of it but they said they gave it all what did Peter say you've let Satan enter your heart you have lied not to men but to the Holy Spirit!

[26:10] but upon power but upon power that's miraculous power he threatened them with apostolic authority and he said you choose am I going to come gently or am I going to come in judgment so back to here Hamor says it behooves me by the way then to to be careful with what I make room for in my life so here

[27:21] Hamor suggests let's intermarry let's all become one group so how did that work out let's look we're we're at least as long as verse 11 so keep reading Shechem now is going to speak directly to Jacob and Jacob's sons heretofore Hamor had been speaking now Shechem is going to address them directly what does he say this will be verse 11 in case you're looking for it right and in verse 12 ask me ever so much dowry and

[28:23] I'll give it whatever your price you name the price I'll do anything I can do to get her for my wife alright now Jacob's somewhat familiar with this right with the seven years of 14 years 20 years he's somewhat familiar with this kind of an idea now how do Dinah's brothers answer why alright now let's be careful let's there is a qualifying!

[29:24] there is a qualifying clause in there what is it Santa sorry I had to do that what's the Santa what's the Santa clause what's the qualifying clause they answered deceitfully we're going to see how that's going to work out in a minute now were they deceitful in saying we have to be circumcised was that deceitful did they have to be circumcised why okay well there is yeah but at this point there's no nation of

[30:25] Jews but God did say to Abraham if all your offspring and everybody in your household has to be circumcised in order to be part of the promise this was a sign of the promise so was that part deceitful in saying we have to be circumcised that wasn't the deceit was it it's how they're going to use that that's going to come in a couple of verses so by the way I I appreciated this lesson my father was didn't have much education he had a fourth grade education he was from eastern

[31:28] Kentucky when you know boys went to school to 12 girls sometimes to 14 and after that they were expected to to work but he used to teach us he said you know we would try to fudge the truth use a portion of the truth maybe even say the whole truth but in a wrong way that is our intention was different and he would say something along this line you can use the truth but if you're doing it to deceive it's as much a lie as if none of it was true see they're going to use the truth but they're not using it for what they act like they're using it for was it all right in

[32:40] God's eyes God used it it's amazing well when you read through this you see the story of my life don't you well don't answer that I see the story of your life that's what I'll say when I read this I see the story of my life and that is God's grace and his design is going to happen God will be true though every man on earth be found false there there will there will be no man and no group of men though it be everyone on earth that is going to stop

[33:44] God's plan God's sovereign he says so and he says you may not he says to the unbeliever well who says well that's okay for you but I don't believe that does that make God tremble upon his throne no he says I'm offering it to you please believe it but if you don't it won't stop see what I believe and by the way the same thing goes in my in my practical theology doesn't it what I think about God will in no wise change

[34:45] God what I believe about him doesn't change him now what I believe about him matters to me and my life and my joy but what I believe about God or say about God will not change God that's why we have his word which does not change and that's why God says of himself I am the Lord I change not that's why even James not withstanding what maybe Martin Luther thought about him but that's why James says with whom there is no shadow of turning that is God is who he is irrespective of what I think so I need to remember that so back to this integrity business they answer him deceitfully but they do answer him with some truth they have been circumcised and in order for their for her children for

[36:05] Dinah's children to be part of the promise her children would have to be circumcised and therefore they're not going to give her as a wife to an uncircumcised that part is true but that's not really what they were intending was it they weren't intending to keep the promise secure we'll see in a moment so they answer him deceitfully and they say this and what does what does Shechem and Hamor say or what do Shechem and Hamor say okay hey okay that's fine he really wants this woman to be his wife so we'll do this now now you get the verse there in verse 19 Shechem was more honorable or held in higher esteem than all the others he was basically second in line to his father

[37:19] Hamor in estimate in who was the chieftain of this area all right so their deceitful response did work as they had hoped it would didn't it now there's another matter though there are still some men back in the encampment or in the town if you will and they haven't been here so Shechem and Hamor are going to have to go convince them and we will get to this how do they address their own people these guys are peace and we can marry their women they can marry ours here's the selling point isn't it here's the selling point all of this will wind up being ours because we're going to just absorb them alright so the men say okay we'll get wealthier so it works and we're going to have to stop there because we don't have time for the outcome but god willing next week we will finish the outcome and find out what yeah to be continued by the way find out which two it is which two brothers are see

[39:32] Dinah has all these brothers who are half brothers and then she has two brothers that are full brothers the same mother right okay fine you tell us who they are have a great week