Introduction

Greetings, everyone! Let's turn to the thirty-fourth chapter of Genesis. This chapter presents a considerable challenge. Consider Jacob's reaction to this event. If you were in his shoes, I suspect you'd be in quite a fix. Today's theme is "The Attitude of a Spiritual Person Facing Humiliation." Our church has been built step by step, and the most frequent task we undertake is training people to endure injustice and humiliation. Sometimes this is difficult. For instance, if I humiliate you, I feel bad, and you feel bad too. Who has time to humiliate you for no reason? Then, as the person involved and also the pastor, I have to pull you back. This is really not easy. Sometimes, before I even start to humiliate someone, they feel like I already have. So, this requires practice, and the church is a training ground.

Jacob is the Protagonist

When reading the Bible, be careful not to misinterpret it. There are four main characters in Genesis: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. This chapter is about Jacob's attitude towards humiliation. If we focus on Shechem being killed or Dinah being defiled, we'll be completely off track. And if we focus on Simeon and Levi killing people, it becomes even more problematic. The protagonist of this chapter is Jacob, and his reaction to this situation is worth learning from. You see the whole event and Jacob's reaction, even decades later, Jacob still remembered this event before his death. Jacob is truly remarkable.

Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women 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 violated her. (Genesis 34:1-2)

If a person's emotions are unstable, their spiritual condition cannot be good. A good emotional state is a concrete manifestation of spiritual well-being. If someone loses their temper easily, offers various explanations, and mixes everything together, that's not a spiritual person. In fact, our brothers and sisters still need to learn the lessons from Jacob. Many years ago, when I led everyone to read Genesis 34, we all misinterpreted it. We need to correct this. Perhaps five years later, when we read it again, we'll find that this year's reading was also off. So, we need to start knowing that reading the Bible means reading about people who are pleasing to God. If we read about people who are pleasing to God and we don't accept them, that's just foolish! I often say "foolish child," not to scold anyone, but out of heartfelt regret.

How should we read the Bible? We should read about the people in the Bible who are pleasing to God. If you read about someone in the Bible who is pleasing to God, then learn from them. No matter what you think, if God approves of someone, what right do we have to disapprove? God is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Jacob's name is even associated with God's name. Are you going to pick him apart and criticize him for this and that? You need to know that doing so carries a risk. You might end up cursing Jacob, and those who curse Jacob will be cursed.

If we examine our own emotional state, we can get a sense of our spiritual condition. Everything is fine when nothing is happening, as long as it doesn't involve us. When we're ministering to others, we're quite clear-headed. But when we encounter our own problems, as soon as I mention it to you, your reaction immediately goes south. When I see your reaction, I quickly stop. It's okay, it's okay. Go back and think about how foolish you are. This emotional instability really needs to be dealt with properly.

Jacob's Emotions are Extremely Stable

My emotions are very stable. If you want to push me to the limit, I think you'll need some skill. If it weren't for the sake of ministry, I wouldn't get angry. When I get angry, it's for your benefit. Don't think that I'm really angry inside. I'm not. Even if I tell you my bottom line, you still won't be able to tell whether I'm angry inside or just putting on a show. With your level of discernment, you probably won't be able to tell. That's how a spiritual person should be.

Jacob was facing the fact that his daughter had been raped. In this situation, most fathers couldn't handle it. Don't even talk about fathers; grandfathers couldn't handle it either. Fathers and grandfathers might even take up arms to kill people for the sake of the family's honor. The issue isn't just the act of rape itself, but the fact that it's escalated into a stain on the family, an insult to the entire family, and something that brings shame to the entire family. Rape is not a small matter, but losing face is unbearable. Other things can be tolerated, but can this be tolerated?

However, Jacob's emotions didn't collapse when he heard about this, because spiritual people don't collapse easily. When something happens, it happens. Jacob might have thought, why didn't I stop my child from going out to play with those people? Jacob blamed himself, not the local people. You see, most people in this world, when something happens, don't say they didn't handle it well. They always pass the buck.

Two children were sitting at a table, with four legs under the table. While they were sitting there, one child's slipper ended up on the other child's foot. The child asked the other why they were wearing their slipper. I wondered why they didn't ask themselves why they didn't take care of their own slipper. Not taking care of your own slipper is your own problem, so you should be more careful next time. Many people always talk about other people's problems and never talk about their own. When something goes missing, the first thing they think is, who took it? They don't think that they didn't manage the situation well. Their first reaction is to pass the buck.

Many of us have the surname "Pass-the-Buck." We always blame others. How can our emotions be stable? Have you noticed that when you blame yourself, your emotions are quite stable, but when you blame others, your emotions become unstable? Can you guess why my emotions are stable? It's because I always blame myself. When something goes missing, I blame myself for not taking care of it, and I treat it as a lesson learned. When I'm deceived, it's because I was foolish, and I don't blame the con artists for trying to deceive me. I don't often blame God, and I don't ask God why.

A few days ago, I ministered to someone who seemed quite spiritual on the surface, but kept saying, "God, why is this happening?" Later, another person came along and said the same thing. They were passing the buck to God, which is quite audacious. They felt that they were never at fault, and if they couldn't find anyone else to blame, they'd blame the moon. Their emotions definitely couldn't be good. They'd want to kick the moon down.

When I played soccer as a child, I never managed to kick the ball. I thought that when I had money, I'd buy everyone a ball. That would be a great solution. It didn't matter that I couldn't kick the ball. Even if people laughed at me, I'd laugh too. The ball would roll towards me, and just as it reached my feet, I'd start to kick. By the time I pulled my foot back, the ball would have passed. It was because I didn't control the timing well. When I sang off-key as a child and was kicked out of the choir, I didn't blame anyone. What's the point of blaming anyone?

One of the sisters in our group got angry when I was ministering to her. Another sister said, "Teacher, don't say any more to her. She's already blaming herself." She felt that she wasn't good enough and had let us down. I thought, does anyone feel bad for letting others down? It seems like everyone feels that others have let them down, and they argue and compete with them, and then go home feeling bad. So, she was angry because she felt that I had let her down. There's no one in this world who feels bad for letting others down. They all feel bad because others have let them down, and they argue and compete with them. In other words, if you want to stabilize your emotions, the best way is not to pass the buck.

When Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter, his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came. (Genesis 34:5)

Even though his daughter had been raped, Jacob wasn't anxious, because this situation wasn't like a computer where you can undo and then redo. There are many things in this world that can be undone, but being defiled or raped can't be undone. Jacob was a spiritual person, and spiritual people accept things as they are. If they owe someone money, they owe it. If someone borrows money and doesn't pay it back, they don't pay it back. They don't care too much about anything. If people spend their whole lives worrying about things, it's not very meaningful. It's better for people to have stable emotions, and all illnesses are related to emotions.

Traditional Chinese medicine says that a person's seven emotions and six desires are closely related to the five internal organs. Anger damages the liver. If your liver is not good, who told you to get angry all the time? Similarly, fear damages the kidneys, and joy damages the heart. In other words, too much happiness can be too much for the heart. Also, sadness damages the lungs, and overthinking damages the spleen. The Chinese medicine knowledge I'm talking about here is just the tip of the iceberg. Poor health is closely related to emotions.

I've read many Chinese medicine books and concluded that bad emotions are more toxic than anything else. If a person has bad emotions, they shouldn't worry about whether the food they're eating is gutter oil or has pesticide residue. The toxins produced by bad emotions are much more than those from pesticides and gutter oil. This is the biggest source of waste, and all the illnesses come out when you get old. As soon as I lead a prayer, brothers and sisters say that their mothers have leg pain, their grandmothers have this problem, that problem. As soon as I hear what the illness is, I know that they must be hating someone. I'm always right.

So, emotional stability is very important, and the most important source of emotional stability is not to pass the buck. If you blame everything on others, your emotions can't be good. If you blame everything on yourself, for example, if your car is stolen, it's because the place you went to is prone to car theft. You blame yourself for not doing your homework before going there. If it's stolen, it's stolen, and you won't feel sad or anxious. Now you understand, right?

Jacob is Not Confused

I really don't see any confusion in Jacob in this chapter. If Jacob had passed the buck, his emotions would have been bad. The reason why Jacob wasn't confused is because he always looked for problems within himself. The biggest confusion I see in Christians is that they often ask God why things are the way they are. If you're the kind of person who often says this, you need to be careful. That's called passing the buck to God. You'll be cursed if you pass the buck to Jacob. Try passing the buck to God! You ask God why things are the way they are. Do you think God made a mistake?

I often say that God doesn't make mistakes, and the devil doesn't make mistakes. It's just that we often make mistakes. Spiritual people are not confused. They don't ask God why things are the way they are. They always say that they didn't handle things correctly. Dinah being defiled is closely related to Jacob. We're not saying whether Jacob raised his children well, but in reality, Jacob deeply loved Rachel, and as a result, he spoiled Rachel with all kinds of bad habits. In the previous chapters, we talked about Laban setting up a stone and leaving, but the idols in their house weren't found. Rachel had hidden them under her butt. Later, Rachel put the idols in Jacob's tent and worshiped them.

Rachel followed Jacob in trusting in the Lord God, but she also had an idol, which is hard to understand. No matter how great a husband is, if he spoils his wife and lets her do whatever she wants, things can easily go wrong. The worst thing is that you can't say anything, because she'll get angry if you do. Jacob thought that Dinah being raped was related to the fact that he, as the head of the household, hadn't done a good job. Because he spoiled Rachel too much, he didn't dare to say anything about her having an idol. How could the spiritual Jacob have done such a foolish thing? It's because love is a very strange thing that can make people very blind.

If Shechem hadn't believed in so-called love, he wouldn't have ended up the way he did. Later, the entire house of Shechem was killed because he loved a woman. When people fall in love, they become brain-dead. Among us, there must still be people who are willing to dedicate themselves to this beautiful love. But I have to tell you that that thing is not reliable. It's not easy for people to love God without being blind, but when they love people, they easily become brain-dead.

The reason why Jacob wasn't confused is because he knew where the root of the problem was. He himself was the root of the problem. In the next chapter, he made a decision to remove the idols. Later, Rachel had a difficult childbirth and died, which was all related to this. If Jacob had insisted on a bit of spiritual principle, things wouldn't have turned out this way. Spiritual uncleanness is called spiritual adultery, which will bring worldly disasters.

So, don't ask God why things are the way they are. Everyone understands that God doesn't make mistakes, and the devil doesn't make mistakes. It's just that we make mistakes. Jacob's daughter Dinah was raped. Some people wonder why Rachel herself had the idols, but the misfortune fell on Leah's daughter. Dinah was the daughter that Leah bore to Jacob, so sometimes you really don't know who the evil spirits will attach themselves to.

And Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as you say to me; only give me the young woman to be my wife.” (Genesis 34:11-12)

In fact, Shechem really wanted to marry Dinah. As a result, Jacob's two sons deliberately tricked him into being circumcised. But when they were really circumcised, they took advantage of them and killed them.

All who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. Now it happened on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males. (Genesis 34:24-25)

After Jacob knew about it, he said that what his two sons had done had made his name stink there.

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my house and all.” (Genesis 34:30)

Jacob Cares About His Reputation

A spiritual person, when facing humiliation, must first care about their reputation. You can't be unethical. Not only must you be ethical, but you also can't always like to rely on swords. If you sort out the things that Jacob encountered in his life, it's really remarkable. Over the years, many people have put a bad name on Jacob, saying that Jacob deceived people and was deceived. However, those who have really read Genesis carefully know that Jacob has never deceived anyone, nor has he ever taken advantage of anyone. Jacob cares about his reputation. On the contrary, Jacob is often taken advantage of and bullied by others, but he keeps silent when he encounters things.

Everyone needs to know this logic. Don't believe the nonsense that Jacob deceived people. Jacob's birthright was obtained through exchange, bought. Although there are no legal documents to prove it, there are angels and God as witnesses. It was Jacob's right to receive his father's blessing. At that time, Jacob had already obtained the birthright, and Esau didn't value the birthright. Who can he blame?

Furthermore, Jacob didn't take a penny from his father, nor did he take back any property from his brother Esau. Not only that, but he also gave his brother a lot of money, which would be worth several million dollars at today's value. That's not a small amount. Jacob is willing to suffer losses in his life, because his hope is not on earth, but in heaven. He cares about his reputation, because the path he has walked will be recorded in eternity.

So, when Jacob comes before God in the future, he will be upright and righteous. His sons killing the Shechemites has nothing to do with Jacob. Everyone, look, this is what Jacob said before he died.

“Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:5-7)

Jacob has never agreed with what his sons have done. A spiritual person needs to know what is important and what is not important. Do you care about your reputation? If you haven't cared about your reputation before, start caring about your reputation now. It's okay to be willing to suffer some losses. Some brothers said that their siblings were going to divide the family property, and they insisted on getting a share. I advised them to give their share to them and not to argue with them. But this brother didn't agree. Telling him not to argue didn't work, and telling him to rob them didn't work either. Then go ahead and argue properly. Don't come and ask me again. What I want to say is, don't really care about it. Care about your reputation. It's terrible to have a reputation for arguing and robbing.

Brothers and sisters may not understand, but there is one thing I care about very much, which is that it is a matter of course for a person to take care of their parents. Don't say that you have forsaken your parents when you are taking care of them. It sounds strange. That's not really forsaking them. Brothers and sisters need to know that there is a big difference between what we mean by forsaking and what you understand in your own mind. It is a matter of course to be filial to your parents. It's not the forsaking that you think it is.

I'm too lazy to be friends with people who are not filial. If there are still people among us who are not filial, the pastor will kick them out as soon as they are discovered. These people tell me that they have forsaken everything and have seen through everything. What they mean by "seeing through" is that they don't care whether they live or die, and they don't care whether their parents live or die. It sounds to me like something is wrong. They are twisting my words.

Your parents gave birth to you and raised you, whether they are your biological parents or your adoptive parents. It was very difficult to feed you from the time you couldn't eat, one bite of milk and one bite of food. You are still arguing and competing with the people who raised you like this, and you are still telling me about the reasons for your parents. You have really mastered the ability to discern good and evil. Among us, pastors will kick out people like this as soon as they encounter them. If you treat your parents who raised you like this, and your parents have so much grace on you and you don't have any gratitude, then I have nothing to do with you. After you're done with me, you still bite me. Then the story of the new era of "the farmer and the snake" will be staged.

Everyone needs to care about their reputation. Taking advantage of people and killing them is completely unreasonable. It stands to reason that if a daughter is raped, it would be over if the man married the daughter. Why would he kill people? I tell you, God really cares about every life. Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man. From the time of Noah, it has been like this. God kills people or destroys those people because God has that qualification, but we don't have that qualification. If Jacob were to make the decision, he would really marry his daughter. As for losing face or the story spreading, Jacob wouldn't care. Even if Jacob walked down the street and people gossiped, commented, or even jeered at him and threw a broken shoe at him, Jacob wouldn't care at all. I tell you, God doesn't care about this either.

If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and violates her and is found, then the man who violated her shall give to the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has violated her; he shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days. (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)

There is really such a record in the Bible. When this kind of thing happens, God requires the man to give the woman's parents a dowry, fulfill them, and let him marry the woman. It's not about stoning her to death at all. Among us, there are still people who think that the woman should be stoned to death. The difference between you is still a bit big.

Jacob Did Not Approve of Violence

Jacob did not approve of violence. To this day, history has smeared Christianity quite a bit because of the Crusades, the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, and all sorts of unsavory things pinned on Christianity. But Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never approved of violence; rather, people like Esau did. That is to say, there are many people like Esau in Christianity, but not many like Jacob. This is actually closely related to evil spirits. If you approve of violence like Jacob's two sons, Simeon and Levi, then you are as cursed as they are, no different from Esau. Esau lived by the sword, but Jacob lived by God's blessing.

Let me give you another piece of advice: if you are misled by historical stories, you will be similarly misled when reading Genesis 34. A truly spiritual Christian would never advocate violence, because those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Jesus did not advocate violence. When have you ever seen Jesus leading his disciples in revolt? Anyway, Jesus could feed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, solving the problem of provisions. He could turn stones on the ground into silver dollars with a breath, and with another breath, he could have anything he wanted. If he wanted artillery shells, he could get them with a breath—HIMARS, intercontinental missiles, all at his disposal.

But Jesus is not that kind of God. If Jesus had really started a rebellion, we who believe in God should have followed him, but Jesus willingly allowed himself to be nailed to the cross. Many Christians advocate violence; they are not descendants of Abraham and Jacob, but descendants of Esau. They are cursed people in the spiritual realm. As soon as people get angry, evil spirits push Simeon and Levi to do such things. And some people put the blame on Jacob, even though it has nothing to do with him. But most people immediately feel that Jacob cannot escape responsibility.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we must begin to re-examine Jacob. We must constantly reflect on our attitude towards humiliation. Do not solve problems through violence. Solving problems through violence is definitely not Christian faith, nor is it the Bible, especially not what Genesis advocates.

When Abraham's wife was taken away by the King of Gerar, Abraham did not use violence to resolve the situation. When Isaac's wife was taken by Abimelech, he did not use violence either. Jacob also did not advocate violence, but rather advocated God's blessing. Whether you have listened or not, start adjusting from now on. Regardless of whether you agree or not, Genesis 49 makes it very clear that Jacob personally cursed such behavior. All those who shed innocent blood like Simeon and Levi will be cursed.

Jacob Was Not Happy for the Money

Jacob's sons came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks and their herds and their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. And they captured all their wealth, their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, and plundered them (Genesis 34:27-29).

If a person's core interest is money, they would be very happy in their heart. Seeing the property double immediately, the property of the Shechem family, as well as those women and children, became slaves. With so much gain, they must be very happy. But Jacob did not look happy, because doing so ruined his reputation. According to the world's view, if that person defiled his daughter, it would be reasonable to kill him at will and rob him of his property. But the difference between a spiritual person and a worldly person can be seen from their attitude towards humiliation.

They said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?” (Genesis 34:31)

Levi and Simeon's thoughts were completely untrue. Shechem did not treat Dinah as a prostitute. This world often exaggerates things and makes itself miserable. Even if they gain wealth, they are not happy; even if they are humiliated, they do not want to use violence. This is what a truly spiritual person is like.

Summary

Everyone should carefully ponder Jacob's thoughts and his attitude towards handling things. This is the height and character that a spiritual person should have. Do you think my sharing makes sense?

May God bless everyone!

Genesis Chapter 34 Scripture

34:1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land.
34:2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he seized her and lay with her, and violated her.
34:3 His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke kindly to the girl.
34:4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as my wife.”
34:5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came.
34:6 Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.
34:7 And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing which ought not to be done.
34:8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him as wife.
34:9 And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves.
34:10 So you shall dwell with us; and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”
34:11 Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you ask me I will give.
34:12 Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as wife.”
34:13 But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister,
34:14 and said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us.
34:15 But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, that every male of you is circumcised,
34:16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
34:17 But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and depart.”
34:18 And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son.
34:19 So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was more honorable than all the household of his father.
34:20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city and spoke with the men of their city, saying:
34:21 “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in our land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters.
34:22 Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.
34:23 Will not their livestock, their property, and all their animals be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”
34:24 And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
34:25 Now it happened on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males.
34:26 And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out.
34:27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.
34:28 They took their flocks and their herds and their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field.
34:29 And they captured all their wealth, their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, and plundered them.
34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”
34:31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”