INSPIRATION “The practice of deception was so constant with her that it got to be a kind of truth.” Have you ever been around a person who made it impossible for you to know whether they were telling the truth? Unfortunately, I think we all, within our lifetime, run into individuals who lie so frequently and with such ease that we can’t distinguish between an honest answer and a blatant lie. What I have found, when dealing with an individual who uses lying as a normal way of behaving, is that not only do you lose all confidence in anything they say, but you call into question your own judgment. For if someone tells you a lie long enough, it is our human nature to sometimes believe the lie. We question our own ability to tell what is truth or error. This is why “truth” becomes such a cornerstone in the building blocks of our lives. As we have witnessed over and over again in Jacob’s life, dishonesty, deceit and lying were almost treated as “normal” activities. Rebecca and Jacob deceived Isaac, their husband and father. Laban deceived Jacob and his two daughters, Leah and Rachel. And all during their lifetimes, the children involved in today’s story, Simeon and Levi, had watched this deceitful behavior unfold. Lying became a part of their common behavior. But there was one other thing these boys also had witnessed. This was the favoritism and special treatment their father, Jacob, showered upon his beloved wife, Rachel. Simeon and Levi were Leah’s number two and number three sons. They had been part of the group that was put in front of Rachel and Joseph when Esau, Jacob’s brother, came calling with 400 armed men. With this background, our story today begins with the father of the love-smitten Shechem, Hamor, coming to commune with Dinah’s dad, Jacob. The Hebrew translation of the word “commune” gives us a broader view of what this little gab session might have been like. Hamor, in an “arranged” meeting came to “entreat and talk with” Jacob. This dad came on behalf of his son.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 11:10:22 +0000
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