Continuing to follow Jacob’s life story, these chapters describe catastrophic wrong choices and their tragic consequences. The first glaring discrepancy in Jacob’s decision making following his reconciliation with Esau is where he decides to take his family. What’s Jacob doing in the city of Shechem? God directed him to Bethel but instead he makes a choice for all the wrong reasons, i.e. his apparent personal preference for urban life. Sadly, then as now, big cities can be dens of iniquity and Jacob’s selfish choice brought severe and horrifying events upon his family. Who among us can say they’ve never made a wrong choice in life, even after praying? We move forward with a decision thinking it’s right but discover afterward it’s not. The problem with wrong choices is that there are usually unintended ramifications not only for ourselves but even some which negatively impact the lives of others, especially our family or close friends. That’s what happened to Jacob. His wrong choice of where to live caused him to shirk his responsibility as a father by exposing his family recklessly to the sinful influence of a pagan culture. The crime against his daughter Dinah and the disastrous response of her brothers is difficult to read. No one can always make perfect choices. But sometimes wrong choices are caused by simply acting too quickly, decisions made under the duress of an imagined deadline. Patience and waiting, “making haste slowly,” more often than not will eliminate most mistakes. The good news is that God knows the end from the beginning and while we plan our way, he orders our steps (Prov. 16:9).
Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisors they succeed (Prov. 15:22, ESV).
Rev. Harold Hazen
