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Good Parents, According to the LORD God – Part 2
Ruy Miranda (He is not a religious person)
 Bible Quotes Science Info
Nowadays, there is a great deal of controversy surrounding the issue of
how to raise children. The article that follows, as well as others
found in the archive index of this site, arise from the
biblical concept of God as Father. As God can only be thought of as
being a good Father, His behavior toward His children should serve as a
model for those who wish to be good parents. It will show how God acted
and then extrapolate this conduct for human parents, without making
value judgments. It should be noted that this series of articles is
confined to Old Testament passages so as to reach both Jewish and
Christian readers.
God, the Father, Protects Jacob’s Children and Family, the Sons
How should we act when our children do harm to
another person? We can find an answer to that question in God’s conduct
when some of His children committed atrocities. The episode is told in
Genesis 34 and 35.
Prior Events
Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, had a brother whose
name was Esau. There was an intense rivalry between the two caused by
Esau’s resentment, which had its origin in their mother Rebecca’s
blatant preference for Jacob and in Jacob’s wiles to exert power within
the family, also with Rebecca’s full support.
To keep Jacob from marrying a young girl from Canaan, the land in which
they lived, Rebecca convinced her husband, Isaac, to send him to the
house of her brother, Laban, who lived in another region, and there to
marry one of one of his cousins.
Jacob stayed in Laban’s country for twenty years and, during that time,
he married his uncle’s two daughters and became very wealthy. He then
decided to return to the land where his parents lived. Along the way,
however, he was advised that his brother, Esau, was on his way to meet
him with an army of four hundred men. Fearing that he, his family, and
his entourage would be killed, Jacob sent hundreds of heads of cattle and
other animals (goats, sheep, assess, camels, and cows) to Esau as a gift.
Soon afterward, he wrestled with an angel who told him that he would
thereafter be called Israel. The strategy worked. Esau accepted the
present after much insistence from his brother and Jacob, his family, and
his servants were spared.
Nevertheless, Jacob was still fearful, so he resolved to change routes to
avoid confrontation with his brother and settled near a city called Shalem.
A Young Man’s Love
Dinah, one of Jacob’s daughters, went out to
introduce herself to the young girls of the land. She was seen by
Shechem, son of the governor of the country, who then abducted her and
had sexual intercourse with her. Deeply in love with Dinah, the young
Shechem then asked his father to arrange for the girl to become his wife.
When Shechem’s father went to talk to Jacob about the marriage, Dinah’s
brothers, having heard how she had been defiled, were outraged. The
governor proposed a marriage between the two young people and a joining
of the two families, with the possibility of other marriages. Shechem,who had accompanied his father, begged Jacob to give his consent and
offered to give anything as a dowry, no matter how valuable the request
might be.
Jacob’s sons said that they could not give their sister to an
uncircumcised man (a man who had not been circumcised by having the
prepuce cut off) and that they would only accept the proposed marriage
and joining of the two families if all of the men of Shalem were circumcised.
Circumcision is a sign of the alliance between God and Abraham and,
therefore, is regarded as a sacred symbol.
Wickedness
Young Shechem did not hesitate to accept the
request and he went with his father to talk to the men of their city. The
two of them explained that the men of Jacob’s family were honorable and
that integrating the two peoples would be good for both sides. Convinced
by the argument, the men of Shalem agreed to be circumcised.
On the third day, while the men of Shalem were still in intense pain, two
of Dinah’s brothers took up their swords, entered the city, and killed
all of the city’s males, including Shechem and his father. Then, they
ransacked the houses and took all of the women and children, as well as
the cattle, oxen and assess that were within the city and in the fields.
God Intervenes
Jacob told his two sons that the inhabitants of
the land would march against them and kill them all.
Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and
make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the
face of Esau your brother.”
Jacob passed on the instructions to the members of his family and to all
of the others who were with him. Then there occurred the second
intervention by God.
And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were
all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
Comments
Take note that God:
1. Didn’t care that Jacob’s sons had use a sacred symbol, circumcision,
to betray and do harm.
2. Directed Jacob to take his family and all of his people from Shalem
and indicated a place where they would be safe from attack by the
neighboring cities.
3. Neutralized the reaction of these people.
Good Parents
It can be concluded that one of the
characteristics of a good parent is to remain silent in the face of our
children’s occasional mistakes, even if they be brutal acts, and hide
and protect them from those who seek vengeance.
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