Dinah Is Defiled, Israel Responds

Genesis 34 is the account of the defiling of Jacob’s daughter Dinah, and how Israel responds to this tragedy.

Though we might feel eager to hurry through the scandalous material in the chapter, God doesn’t seem to feel the same as he inspires Moses to write this. Moses devotes 31 verses to this event! Why? What does this chapter teach us about Israel, about ourselves, and about God?

The primary issue in Genesis 34 is this: how do God’s people respond when He allows suffering in their lives? Will they trust God's covenant promises, or look to their own solutions? And this, of course, is a question that is still imminently relevant today.