Genesis 34:25–31
The Bible4Jesus.com Podcast
About this episode
We live in an age that is allergic to sharp edges. Our culture, and sadly much of the church, has embraced a soft, effeminate version of righteousness that equates niceness with godliness. We want our heroes to be gentle, our saviors to be therapists, and our justice to be restorative, which is to say, non-existent. When confronted with a real, heinous evil, the modern impulse is to form a committee, start a dialogue, or light a candle. The idea of a righteous, masculine, and violent response to wickedness is seen as toxic, primitive, and frankly, embarrassing. And then we come to a passage like Genesis 34. This is not a story for the faint of heart. It is a story of rape, deceit, and mass slaughter. It is a story that makes our modern sensibilities recoil. And it is precisely for this reason that we must pay close attention.