Dinah the Diner...

Every day is a new beginning. Treat it that way. Stay away from what might have been, and look at what can be. Marsha Petrie Sue

Anyone ever read the story of Dinah in the bible? She was the seventh (7th) child and the only daughter Leah bore to Jacob. A lot have been said about her twelve brothers;being the ones who became the twelve tribes of Israel. For obvious cultural reasons in those days, we may not have thought that Dinah would have been included as the “thirteenth” tribe of Israel being a woman, but being a daughter of such a great patriarch; one would expect that her name would have resonated at different parts of the bible and her legacy mentioned from generation to generation just like her brothers.

Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. (Genesis 34:1 NKJV).

We are in the world but not of the world. We may be in the land but we are not of the land. Dining with people of the land sometimes puts us in jeopardy. In her innocence and in a bid to familiarize herself with the environment, Dinah went to visit the daughters of the land. Needless to say that God had always warned the Israelites not to associate with people who served other gods, perhaps she didn't think her visit was going to bring any harm but as we would see in the rest of the story, as a result of her visit, not only was Dinah affected, her visit also fuelled a lot of catastrophic occurrences. - Rape, bloodshed and a relocation of the entire family. Let’s cut her some slack, being the only daughter, she definitely needed companionship but fate played a fast one on her.

And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her. 3His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman. Gen 34: 2

A casual visit to the girls became a life-changing one for Dinah and her family. No one ever prays to be raped but we see the wickedness of men abounding in the numerous cases of rape reported on a daily basis. We hear of fathers violating their children, uncles; their nieces, cousins their cousins and all sorts. It’s a menace that people indulge in and it’s evil, devilish and wicked. Life could have very funny twists as we all know but only the courageous would take whatever life hurls at them and make something good out of it.We remember the five daughters of Zelophehad  in the book of Numbers (chapter 27), who rose to claim their rights in the absence of a male heir in their family. Because they demanded for it, they got it !

If God is involved in your life, only good will emanate from it at the end of the day. Dinah was blossoming in her youth; she was a proud daughter of her dad, probably his favourite after Joseph. She grew up as the only daughter amongst men and so she must have been pampered. We see her brothers rising to her defence after the incident and they took justice into their hands and following that was a lot of  bloodshed and chaos.

 She was a beautiful young lady with great aspirations for the future. She was bold enough to have gone out to see the daughters of the land but because of what happened, she never bounced back. Subsequently, all the sons of the patriarch-Jacob are mentioned in the bible but we hear nothing again of Dinah. The budding and blossoming lady faded into obscurity. Life at times isn't fair but we must not allow external conditions to condition our minds, lives and future. Yes we are being admonished to be careful of what we do but in cases where we are victims of circumstances or factors beyond our control, we must know that in Christ, there is salvation, deliverance and healing:  healing for everyone who has been raped or abused either physically or emotionally.

Dinah wasn't the only who had a disadvantage in the bible. Do you remember Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Rahab who was a harlot? Tamar was Judah’s daughter in law who lost her husband and at some point, she disguised herself as a harlot and got herself impregnated by her father in law, bearing him a set of twin boys; Perez and Zerah, and yet, Tamar’s name is mentioned Christ’s genealogy in Matthew chapter 1. Bathsheba had an unholy relationship with David yet, her offspring became the preferred for the throne.  Who would believe that Rahab the harlot would become David's great grandmother? Whilst I do not encourage sinning wilfully, I just deem it necessary to mention that your past mistakes or whatever debilitating situation you might have gone through in life should not hinder you from attaining greatness in life. God qualifies those whom the world calls unclean.  These four women had questionable pasts but somehow, life worked out something good for them and they made it into Jesus’ genealogy.  

Dinah was part of the people who went into Egypt but we didn't hear anything about her or her posterity subsequently. Her name was mentioned only in 3 chapters of Genesis (Gen 30, 34 and 46). Even though she had an enviable pedigree, being a great granddaughter of Abraham and the only mentioned daughter of Jacob, life dealt her a great blow, as she never anticipated what was going to happen on a simple visit to town when the unexpected happened.  And yes, the worst happened but it didn't mean the end of life. 

I'll quickly mention the story of Tamar; David’s daughter who was defiled also, however by her brother. 

And Absalom her brother said to her, “Has Amnon your brother been with you? But now hold your peace, my sister. He is your brother; do not take this thing to heart.” So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house. (II Samuel 13:20 NKJV).

She chose to remain desolate in her brother's house all her life; a daughter of a renowned King David. The other Tamar we mentioned earlier, orchestrated things such that she got impregnated by her father in law Judah and God still reckoned with that lineage. 
Your mistakes will become God's take when you surrender to Him. God doesn't consult our past to give us a great future, He is willing to give everyone who comes to Him a new beginning!It doesn't matter where you are coming from. You must decide a bounce back today from whatever has bounced you. 

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