Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20060611.htm

1 AND 2 CHRONICLES: GAINING DIRECTION OUT OF THE AIMLESSNESS OF APOSTASY
Part I: Gaining Direction From God's Work In Our History From Furthest Antiquity, 1 Chronicles 1-9
B. Gaining Direction From Noting God's INTERACTION With Past Groups In The Faith, 1 Chronicles 4-8
2. Gaining Direction By Noting God's Work With The Tribe Of Simeon
(1 Chronicles 4:24-43)
  1. Introduction
    1. One way to gain God's insight into the direction He has for us is to trace how He has worked with others.
    2. God's work with the Simeonites offers a lesson in leaving vengeance with God and not turning violent:
  2. Gaining Direction By Noting God's Work With The Tribe Of Simeon, 1 Chronicles 4:24-43.
    1. The author of 1 Chronicles mentioned the tribe of Simeon after giving the genealogy of the tribe of Judah, for (1) the Simeonites were small in number, (2) they received no tribal inheritance and (3) dwelt within the borders of the large population of Judah, cf. Joshua 19:1, 9; Bible Knowledge Com., O. T., p. 596.
    2. For the most part, the Simeonites remained relatively few in number (1 Chr. 4:27) until they destroyed various people groups to seize their lands and so multiply in number, 1 Chronicles 4:39-41, 42-43.
    3. This history of the tribe's being (1) relatively few in number (2) only to grow due to destroying others forcefully and unjustly occurred as the fulfillment of a prophecy made by patriarch Jacob because of the heartless, self-willed, vengeful and excessive violence done by their tribal founder, Simeon (as follows):
      1. When Jacob dwelt near Shechem (Gen. 33:18-20), his daughter, Dinah unwisely (in view of Gen. 24:3; 26:34-35; 28:1-2) sought to fellowship with godless Canaanite women in the area, Genesis 34:1.
      2. While Dinah was visiting these women, she went unprotected, and Hamor the Hivite, a Canaanite prince, forcefully raped her, taking Dinah's virginity from her, Genesis 34:2.
      3. Yet, after this Hamor loved Dinah, and tried to gain her hand in marriage from, Jacob, Genesis 34:3-6.
      4. Jacob's sons were enraged at Hamor's errant humbling of their sister, so they plotted calamity against him: they told Hamor they could not give Dinah to him in marriage unless he was circumcised like they were, so they suggested that all the men of Hamor's town of Shechem be circumcised as the condition of establishing a relationship with them in order for to sanction the marriage, Genesis 34:7-17.
      5. Hamor agreed to have himself and the men of Shechem submit to circumcision. Once they had the procedure done and were helpless to defend themselves while recovering from their surgeries, Jacob's son Simeon led his younger brother, Levi (cf. Gen . 29:33-34) to kill all the men of Shechem, both Hamor and all the other men of Shechem who were innocent of Hamor's deed, Genesis 34:18-29.
      6. Jacob expressed his dismay at this violence by Simeon and Levi and that their deed had made him hated by the land's inhabitants, Gen. 34:30. However, Simeon and Levi did not accept Jacob's critique, but justified it before him, claiming Hamor should not have treated Dinah as a harlot, Genesis 34:31.
      7. So, when Jacob later gave the patriarchal blessing to his twelve sons, he isolated himself from their deed (Gen. 49:6) and predicted that their descendants, like their ancestral heads, would be violent and self-willed, and would not inherit property. Rather, they would be dispersed as a tribe, Genesis 49:5-7.
      8. Thus, the record of the tribe of Simeon reveals their tribal ancestor's nature lived out in their history:
        1. The Simeonites historically remained small in number just as Jacob had predicted, Genesis 49:5, 7c.
        2. They received no inheritance, but were scattered in Israel due to this prediction, Genesis 49:5, 7d.
        3. What land they did attain was gained by excessive violence, 1 Chr. 4:40-43 NIV: (a) they destroyed Meunites who were descendants of Esau, the brother of their ancestor, Jacob, people whom God did not want Israel to harm, Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to 1 Chr. 4:41; Deut. 2:4-5. (b) They also took land that God had not granted that Israel seize, land in mount Seir which is in Edom though it was then ruled by Amalekites, 1 Chr. 4:42-43; Ibid., B.K.C., O.T.; Deut. 2:4-5.
Lesson: The tribe of Simeon was marked by God's limiting His blessing upon them for the way they adopted their tribal ancestor's self-willed, violent, vengeful bias regarding the wrong done unto Dinah!

Application: (1) May we let God take vengeance for us rather than taking it ourselves, Romans 12:19-20. (2) If we must punish as overseers, may we "in wrath remember mercy," Hab akkuk 3:2d! (3) May we watch the company of those with whom we keep fellowship to avoid being abusively treated as was Dinah, thus avoiding temptations toward vengeance in the first place, cf. 2 Timothy 3:1-5.