Genesis 34

The Explanation

Long ago there was a girl. Her name was Dinah. Dinah was the daughter of Jacob. Jacob had many sons. Dinah was their little sister.

One day Dinah went outside. She wanted to look at the other girls in the land. It was a strange land, far from home.

But something sad happened. A man saw Dinah. His name was Shechem. He did something very wrong. He hurt Dinah. He took her to his house. He would not let her go home.

Dinah cried. She wanted her father. She wanted her brothers. But she had to stay there.

What Does This Mean?

Jacob heard the sad news. His heart hurt. His sons came home from the field. They were angry. Very, very angry. Someone had hurt their little sister!

Then Shechem's father came to Jacob. He said kind words. But the brothers were still angry inside.

The brothers made a plan. A sneaky plan. They said, "Okay, we will make peace." But they did not mean it.

Then two brothers, Simeon and Levi, took their swords. They went into the town. And they did something terrible. They killed the men there. All of them. They took Dinah back home.

Jacob was shocked. "What have you done?" he said. "Now everyone will be scared of us! Now everyone will be angry!"

The brothers said, "But he hurt our sister!"

This is a hard story. Nobody in this story does what is good. Not Shechem. Not the brothers. It is a story full of tears.

The Common Thread

Do you know what is special? God did not leave His people. Even when things went very wrong. Even when people hurt each other.

God kept loving Jacob's family. God had a plan. From this family, one day, Jesus would come. Jesus, who never hurts anyone. Jesus, who makes everything right again.

Jesus loves little girls like Dinah. Jesus loves boys too. Jesus sees when you are sad. Jesus sees when someone is not nice to you.

For You

Sometimes people do things that hurt. Someone pushes you. Someone says a mean word. Then you feel sad inside. Or angry.

You can go to Daddy. You can go to Mommy. You can tell them everything. And you can go to God too. God always listens. Always.

God sees you. God knows your name, just like He knew Dinah's name. You are safe with Him.

Talk About It

When someone hurts you, who can you go to?

Did you know that God sees you, always? How does that feel?

Praying Together

Dear Father in heaven,

Thank You that You see me. Thank You that You see everyone who is sad. Please help me when someone is not nice. And help me to be kind too. Thank You for Jesus, who loves me so much.

Amen.