Why We Need to be Women of Virtue

Genesis 33-35
Dinah was Leah's daughter. Now that the family has settled in the city of Shechem, Dinah decides to go out and see the "women of the land." It is possible that the translation of this carries negative connotations. Earlier in 27:46 Rebekah speaks out against Jacob marrying "one of the women of the land." It is possible that Dinah was wanting/seeking to be a woman not exactly looked upon in the best way. The Bible does not say exactly, but it is possible because of what happens next that these women lived a life similar to prostitution. Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, who was the prince of the land, saw Dinah and lusted after her. He then seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. He raped her. It is possible that had Dinah not been seeking the kind of lifestyle of the "women of the land" that the rest of the events of the chapter could have been totally avoided. Is that to say that it was all Dinah's fault? No. Shechem lusted and then committed a sin against Dinah, but was Dinah presenting her body in a way that might have welcomed his actions? It is very possible.

We as women, need to be presenting ourselves ALWAYS as godly, virtuous women. Does that mean that we cover our heads with a veil and wear long sleeves and skirts to the floor for fear men will see any sign of skin? No Way! Modesty goes much farther than the clothes that we wear. We need to be virtuous in apparel, conversation, and actions. What do I mean?

Obviously, when I speak about apparel I am talking about wearing appropriate clothing that does not draw attention to your body. Some people take this as far as not wearing pants. I do not agree with this (my opinion). Obviously, there are many times where pants are completely modest! Skirts and dresses are just plain feminine. You can't argue with that. They just are. But you can be completely immodest when wearing a skirt or a dress. You know what I am talking about. Figure out what you need to wear that is modest for the occasion. The big thing today seems to be to make a statement with what you wear. Everything is bring and fun. And thats not necessarily a problem. But what kind of statement are you making with your apparel? What kind of statement should you be making? Let us strive to state to the world that we are women of God. We are not caught up in the latest fashions because we are living for eternity! Dress nicely, yes. But in a way that can honor and glorify God.

We need to be virtuous in our conversation. What topics do you discuss each day? How do you talk? Are you very showy with your conversation? Does your conversation draw others closer to God or to the things of this world? We need to be honoring God with our conversations. We need to talk about things that a woman seeking God's heart would talk about.

And we need to be virtuous in our actions. What are you doing today that would point others to Christ? How did you react when your children did not behave correctly or our husbands made us angry? Would God be honored? What do we allow to influence our actions? Do we allow what we watch or read or hear to influence our actions? Or do we allow our actions to be controlled by God and His word?

If we are presenting ourselves as women of virtue then we can be sure that we have not caused others to stumble, but rather to aspire to be like us and ultimately that will be to lead others to Christ because they see a difference in our lives.

The consequences of Deception to later generations.
Because of what happened to Dinah, her brothers became very very angry. Yes, this is rightfully so. But they allowed their anger to take over them and control their actions and attitudes. Jacob had influenced his sons lives. Jacob was known as being deceptive - his name means 'he who deceives.' His sons learned to be deceptive through watching their father, and so they deceived Shechem and his father Hamor. When Shechem came to them asking that he be allowed to marry Dinah in return for whatever they asked for, the brothers asked Shechem to have every male circumcised as they were. Circumcision was introduced as the sign of the eternal covenant between God and Abraham in chapter 17. Those who are circumcised acknowledge Abraham as their father. Circumcision was also intended by God to bring divine blessing. So, even though it was right for Jacob's sons to insist that all males be circumcised in order for both groups to become one people, they used it in the wrong way.
On the third day, when all the men were sore, two on Jacob's son's - Simeon and Levi - came into the city and killed all the men. These two brother's allowed their anger to overtake them.
Even though all of Jacob's son's were part of the deceptive plan against Shechem and Hamor (they all plundered the city afterwards), Simeon and Levi are set apart as bringing the most trouble on Jacob's household. It is feared that the Canaanites and Perizzites may attack.
Again, we see how a father's deceptive nature influences his son's. Let us be so careful as mother's to lead our children to ALWAYS do what is right in God's sight.