The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/genesis/33.htm

In this chapter, Jacob sees Esau and, as his servant had told him, 400 men coming. And much to Jacobs surprise, Esau came, hugged him and kissed him and wept. Perhaps we should be forgiving as Esau.

Then Esau asked Jacob why he sent all of the gifts he had sent, and Jacob explained, in my words, they were a peace offering. But Esau told Jacob he had more than enough and for Jacob to keep his gifts. And Esau met Jacobs wives and children, then he urged Jacob to following him back home. But Jacob’s group were tired, and Jacob told Esau they would come, but at a slow pace that everyone could tolerate.

So it was a good reunion between twin brothers.

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/genesis/34.htm

Chapter 34 tells an account of an incident with Jacobs daughter Dinah, and a man named Shechem, to which a city is named after.

Dinah had went out to meet some of the women in the land of Canaan, and this man named Shechem saw her, and was attracted to her. You can read the text for yourself, and as always, pray to God for understand, but it is not clear to me if Shechem raped Dinah, or if she was a willing partner and he simply stole her virginity. Whatever the case, Jacob and his sons found out about it. And although Jacob held his peace, the sons were very angry.

Shechem explained that he was very attracted to Dinah and wanted her for his wife, so he came to ask for her hand in marriage. The brothers told them they could not allow their sister to be married to a group of men who were uncircumcised, and if they all circumcised, they would allow the marriage.

But while the men were still sore and in pain from the circumcision, Simeon and Levi attacked the city, killed the men, and took “plumder” as the Bible says.

And Jacob was angry at them because they likely brought a bad name against Jacob.

So even though Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were God’s Chosen, they still were not without sin. But then again, it was starting to be a sinful world once again. Obviously there was rape or at the very least, sexual conduct outside of marriage. Jacobs sons lied and were deceitful to Shechem and his family, tricking them into circumcising themselves so they were in pain and defenseless.

And while the actions of Simeon and Levi to defend and protect their sister were honorable, was it necessary to punish the entire city for the actions of one man?

It is important that you try to think about the time these events occurred, what life was like, the raw emotion they were guided by such as “family” and “loyalty” (unlike today where emotion is guided by what you see on social media or by what your are told by the news media). So yes, it is difficult to understand.

But it is also important to understand…this is a reminder that we are all born into sin. No matter how much we read the Bible, how much we go to church, how much money we donate to charity, no matter how many good deeds we do, we are all sinners and we need a Messiah to save us. And always, pray to God for forgiveness for our sins. We have to acknowledge our sins, and confess every one we know to him. And trust me, he is our very loving Father. He wants to forgive us providing we show him that we have learned a lesson from our actions.