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DINAH

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Michigan · Apr 16, 1901

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 16.

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DINAH

By Mrs. S. N. Haskell

MRS. S. N. HASKELL
“DINAH the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.” Quite an ordinary occurrence! Jacob had moved into a new neighborhood; and when Dinah made the request, I suppose Jacob and Leah talked it over much as modern Jacobs and Leahs do, and decided that it was not best to keep the girl at home, that her life was lonely without any sisters for companions, and that it would be all right for her to enjoy the companionship of the better class of Gentiles.
She must have gone among the best class of society as she became acquainted with the prince of the land. But alas! it brought sorrow and anguish of soul, and resulted in the disgrace of Dinah and all the family. We can imagine the sorrow of Leah, and Jacob’s state of mind as he waited for his sons to return from the field. When those twelve stalwart brothers heard of the disgrace of their only sister, the record says they were “grieved” and “very wroth.” We can picture the scene; for human nature has ever been the same. She was the one ewe lamb of the household, tenderly loved and cared for, the only daughter among twelve brothers. We have the record of the plan to cover up the shame, and adjust the matter in as respectable a manner as possible. But the wrath of Simeon and Levi could not be quenched by this adjustment; and they secretly vowed revenge, and murdered all the men of the city, and brought Dinah home with them.
Poor Jacob is now overwhelmed with sorrow, and tries to remonstrate with his sons; but their wrath still burns hot as they reply, “Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?” What shall they do? They have Dinah at home, forever disgraced, and the whole country is in an uproar on account of the murder. Their only hope is to take Dinah and move into a new neighborhood, where their disgrace will not be publicly known. Like many modern Jacobs under similar circumstances, they prepare to set out for a different locality.
God did not leave them in their extremity, although their reputation was gone, so that Jacob could say, “Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land.” Yet God was their friend, and directed them to go to Beth-el.
Jacob realized there was a work to be done for his household before they entered a new place, or the past would be repeated. He saw that the family had conformed to the world, that the secret of Dinah’s downfall was that she had been dressing like the Gentiles. He called his family around him, and in humility of heart requested them to join with him in a new consecration around the altar he would erect at Beth-el. He asked them to put away the strange gods, be clean, and change their garments. To be clean they would need to put on clean garments; but he adds, “Change your garments,” showing they were to change their manner of dress. They took their ornaments and all offensive things and hid them under an oak in Shechem. They were now ready to start for their new home, living and dressing as God would have them.
Why is all this recorded? Is it not to help parents of this age of the world to escape the same sorrow?
Jacob, poor man! applies the remedy too late to save the disgrace of his daughter. It is written for our admonition.
Fathers and mothers with your daughters around you in their purity, hear the warning now. Say to your daughters, Come, let us consecrate ourselves anew to God. Let us put aside all these useless ornaments that make you like the world, and let us worship the Lord together. If your daughters dress like the world, they will be sought out by worldly companions. Many pious Seventh-day Adventist fathers’ hearts have been rent with the same sorrow that Jacob experienced.
Fathers and mothers who are dressing your daughters in the fashion of the world, do not wait, like Jacob, until it is too late to apply the remedy. Strike the blood upon the lintel of your doors, and call your children inside, before the destroying angel of shame visits your home. If Dinah had dressed as a woman professing godliness should dress, the daughters of the land would not have sought her company. Worldly people do not care to associate with those who are plainly dressed.
Profit by Jacob’s experience, and apply the remedy before trouble comes. Save your daughters from the snares of the world. The Lord needs them as workers in the closing work of the Third Angel’s Message.