Genesis 34:25

Genesis 34:25 says, And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.  Diana's brothers had never planned to accept Shechem as her husband.  Their plan had been to kill him Shechem and all the males of his city when they were basically incapacitated from being circumcised.  We cannot use the gospel, or anything that identifies us as God's people, as a method to harm or destroy others, and we especially cannot use it to destroy whole groups of people.  Shechem was the one who was guilty, and maybe Hamor was guilty of not punishing him, but all the men were destroyed.  We are not told that these brothers asked God's guidance in there actions.  I don't believe that we can ever have a "just kill them all and let God sort it out" attitude.  We are to reach out to even our enemies with God's love.  Verse twenty-six states, And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.  The brothers killed Hamor and Shechem and took Dinah home.  Shechem should have been held accountable for his actions, and Hamor held accountable for not doing so.  Still, the question is were the brothers justified in using an act that identified people as God's people to enable them to be judge, jury, and executioner of so many people.  Even though it seems that Hamor and Shechem were intending to use this identification with God's people to their advantage, we have to ask if this justified the action of Dinah's brothers.  We cannot allow the possible actions of others to dictate our actions as followers of Christ, but must always act under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Verse twenty-seven declares, The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.  Then verse twenty-eight adds, They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,  Then verse twenty-nine concludes, And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house.   Not only did the brothers kill all the males of the city, but they took all of their possessions as well.  Basically, they profited by what had happened to Dinah.  We cannot allow something bad happening to another follower of Christ to be an excuse for us to profit materially from the action.  Verse thirty declares, And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.  Jacob told Simeon and Levi that they had brought trouble to him, since the people around him outnumbered his group.  Jacob was still not relying on God's promise as he should have.  As followers of Christ, we do not have to live in fear of those around us, but we also must not use our relationship to God as a means to mistreat them.  Verse thirty-one asks, And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?  Though the brothers had a reason to make sure that Shechem was held accountable for his actions, what they did was much more than that.  We cannot justify destroying groups of people simply because of the actions of a few or because of what they might do in the future, and we should never profit materially from such actions.  They also took the women and children, but I don't believe that they took the to become a real part of their family.