13/05/2023 - THERE WAS NO CHOICE

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But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.     Genesis 34.17

People often refer to the son who acts like his father, saying, “Like father, like son”. This applies to Jacob’s sons, who proved to be good strategists. They must have separated themselves a little from Hamor and Shechem, in order to reason together, and they became aware of the malicious idea of these two and agreed to offer them circumcision. The owners of the land liked this and went to the others to ask them to agree to circumcision, because there was no other choice.

It was take it or leave it; so Hamor and his son took it. They had no idea how much pain Shechem’s insane act would bring to their home and their people. The problem was bigger than they imagined. The same will happen to those who disrespect their neighbor’s home, who touch a child, or buy someone’s silence in order not to be denounced or punished. At the Last Judgment, no one will be able to get rid of their sins.

God’s eyes sees everything. Even if a person does something hidden, it will be required at the judgment seat of Christ. Jesus knows even the intentions of the heart: For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4.12). Woe to the transgressor!

Sometimes even those who work alongside God’s servants think they can hide their iniquities. Gehazi, an assistant to the prophet Elisha, made the general of Syria give him gifts, even though he knew that the prophet accepted nothing when he healed him of leprosy. He further said to the general that Elisha sent for some things, because an assistant had suddenly arrived and would need to help him. When he returned, the prophet asked where he had gone!

Instead of telling the truth, the helper denied that he had gone anywhere. He knew of the anointing that hovered over Elisha. Then came the rebuke: Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants? (2 Kings 5.26). Mercy!

Then, ashamed, Gehazi heard Elisha give the Lord’s sentence for his lying attitude: Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever. And he went out from his presence leprous, as white as snow (2 Kings 5:27). The question remains: didn’t he know that the prophet was used by God in this way, to the point of hearing everything that the king of Syria spoke to his generals from 300 kilometers away? He paid the price for his actions!

Jacob’s sons made the proposal that left no doubt. If they said yes, everything would be fine; if they refused, they would take Dinah and go far away and never see Shechem again. Father and son could not believe what they heard, for they had already offered much more. Now, all they had to do was let themselves be circumcised and everything would be fine.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares