Daddy's Little Girl - Part 7

Daddy’s Little Girl – Part 7

Good Morning, and praise the Lord.  We are continuing with this series, so please turn with me to Genesis chapter 33.

Genesis 33

And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, get me this damsel to wife. And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come. And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him. And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter: which thing ought not to be done. And Hamor communed with them, saying, the soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife. And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister: And they said unto them, we cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us: But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised; then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone. And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem, Hamor's son. And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honorable than all the house of his father.  And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, these men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs be ours? Only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city. And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field, and all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. And they said, should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

Here is the story about a man named Shechem, who fell in love with Jacob’s daughter, Dinah.  He was a prince, and the son of Hamor of the Hivites.  There goes those ites again.  Anyway, he saw the beautiful Dinah, and decided to kidnap and have his way with her.

After raping her, he tried to console her by speaking sweet nothings into her ear, and reassure the young woman that he wanted to marry her.  Now how twisted and backwards could this be?  All Dinah wanted to do was get away from this crazy dude, because of the customs of Israel, you were considered damaged goods if you had sex before marriage, no matter what the circumstances were.

So Shechem went to his father in order to try to convince him to get Jacob to allow his clan to intermarry with Hamor’s, so he could get Dinah.  Unfortunately, Hamor had no idea what his stupid son had done, and he innocently went to speak with Jacob to reason with him that this would be a good idea, along with his son.  Now Jacob and his sons had heard about the violent act that Shechem had done to Dinah, and although it didn’t appear that Jacob was going to say anything at first, at least until he had a chance to speak to his boys about it.

The guys were heated, and were talking amongst themselves to act on this crime.  When Hamor and Shechem met with Jacob, they tried to make their case.  The brothers answered for their father and let them think that they were all for it, and instructed them to have all of their males circumcised, and when they were healed, the transaction would take place.

Little did they know, they were in for a big surprise.  The men came back to their own region to tell the menfolk what they had to do, and they commenced to getting circumcised.  While they were healing, here comes Jacob’s sons to avenge their sister’s rape.  Dinah was being held in the palace while the men were healing.

The brothers came with a vengeance, and took out every single man in the palace, the city and the regions that had anything to do with the kingdom of Hamor.  Then they rescued their sister and returned to Jacob, but not before taking all the valuables from each household, and taking the wives captive and all their animals.

Jacob was not happy with this action, as the sons came back victoriously, having thought that this was a good plan to save Dinah’s honor.  He let the boys know that they have now caused them to be a target and created new enemies in the region because of what he saw as foolishness.  Their response was “…should he deal with our sister as a harlot?”

Now let me give you some food for thought.  In today’s society, rape is a crime, punishable by prison time.  However, oftentimes the woman is viewed as the perpetrator, rather than the victim.  Folks reason that somehow she asked for it, because she wasn’t dressed modestly.  Hear me clearly today; even though we need to talk about how modern women dress, no matter if she is walking the streets wearing nothing, that doesn’t give a man or a woman the right to take someone against their will and sexually abuse them for their gratification.

Ladies, can we talk about our dress, because I want to point out some important things that we need to consider.

1. I don’t care if you’re wearing a paper bag. Men are visually stimulated.  Women are emotionally stimulated, most of the time;
2. That being said, no matter what your looks are, there is some guy who will find you attractive;
3. Depending on what you wear, you will attract the attention, even if that isn’t your intention;
4. Unfortunately, there are some men who have been damaged, meaning they may have a warped sense of healthy and wholesome sexuality, because they may have been violated as children or in their teens. All men, and I repeat all men are not dogs;
5. No matter what encounters you may have had or are currently having, sex begins in the mind and in the eyes. Jesus said that if a man so much as looks at a woman with lust in his eyes, he has already committed adultery in his heart;
6. How we view ourselves is how we will dress and act accordingly;
7. Our self-esteem is tied into how we view ourselves, and what we put on is a reflection of the attention that we seek.

Sisters, we have to do better.  The word of God tells us how to be and act.  It gives us pointers on how we should dress.  As women of God, we don’t have to wear a dress down to the floor, but we shouldn’t wear one just to cover our backside either.  Do you see where I’m coming from?

We are the weaker sex, and that was by design.  The Lord made us with different shapes, sizes and curves, as well as different facial features.  As the one who looks and sounds like my mother the most, no matter how much weight I gain or lose, there are some things that won’t change about my body mass, even with diet and exercise.

Accept those things that you can’t change, and ask the Lord for guidance in every area of your life, including the simple things like what should I wear today.  You would be surprised at how He will help a sister out when we put Him first.

Brothers, we are Daddy’s little girls.  Make sure you take note in how you treat us.  If you’re looking for a wife, seek God, and follow His leading.  Just like all men are not dogs, all women are not thirsty gold diggers.  When you looking at the sisters, please don’t undress us with your eyes.  Sisters, don’t give them ammunition, either, and you know what I mean.

Dinah was a virgin, and I promise you that she wasn’t wearing a micro mini, a freakum dress or booty shorts when she was snatched up by Shecham.  I’m not shaming us, but we have to use wisdom.  Most of us want to be married, but when the brother approaches us, a lot of times he will get at us a certain way, based upon the package we present.  I’m just trying to help somebody today.

Back to the brothers.  No means no, even if you’re in the moments of passion.  Sisters, don’t send mixed messages by wearing the tightest and shortest outfits, bumping and grinding with the brothers at the club, but you’re saying with your mouth, I’m saved and waiting until marriage. If you can’t say amen, say ouch, because it’s the truth anyhow.

May the Lord bless you, and we’ll pick this up tomorrow, God willing.