YEA Lesson Library
Celebrity Rape Case
About This Lesson
This lesson teaches consequences of actions: following God’s laws (keeping oneself pure) leads to blessings, while sinning leads to curses, as exemplified in the case of Shechem raping Dinah.
WARNING: Discussion of rape and pornography.
Scriptures
Genesis 34:1-31
Genesis 35:1-12
Psalm 51:1-19
Proverbs 4:23
Proverbs 20:9
Proverbs 23:7
Words to Know
CIRCUMCISE - To cut off the prepuce of a male.
RAPE - The crime of having sexual intercourse with another person forcibly without her consent.
The Lesson
Somewhere in American, a woman is sexually assaulted every two seconds, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Some of these men could live next door to you, attend the college where you go, or even be a celebrity.
Some celebrities begin to think they are above the law - whatever they want they can have, with no consequences. Many famous athletes, actors, and political figures have been accused of raping a girl. Often the case has been settled without the celebrity going to jail. But a Celebrity Rape Case is not just a modern problem. There was a prince - a king's son - in the Bible who raped a girl. Unfortunately he underestimated the wrath of her 12 brothers.
Dinah must have been one beautiful girl. Shechem, the son of King Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah and lusted after her. He simply did not control his desires; he forced himself on her and raped her. Then he fell deeply in love with her and wanted to marry her.
When the word that Shechem had raped Dinah reached her 12 brothers, they were fit to be tied. Shechem had dishonored their sister, and he was going to pay for it.
The king went to talk with Jacob about this outrage and got there just as these 12 angry sons arrived from the field. The king explained to Jacob and his sons that Shechem was truly in love with Dinah and wanted to marry her. He extended an invitation to Jacob and his family to live among them and let his sons marry the king’s daughters. He even begged and said that he would give them whatever they required - dowry, gifts, or whatever.
"The Canaanites wanted to absorb Israel (see v. 16) in order to benefit from the blessings Jacob had received from the Lord (both his offspring and his possessions - vv. 21-23). This was a danger Israel constantly faced from other peoples and nations - either absorption or hostility, both of which are perpetual threats to the people of God" (NIV Study Bible).
The 12 sons protested that it would be a disgrace for Dinah to marry Shechem because he wasn't circumcised. But they made this concession. If every man of them would be circumcised, then they would intermarry with the king's family. Otherwise, they'd just take Dinah and be on their way.
Hamor and Shechem gladly agreed. They lost no time acting upon this request because Shechem loved Dinah very much. So King Hamor and Shechem went before their city council and explained what was happening, and all of the men agreed and were circumcised.
Three days later their wounds were sore and sensitive to every move they made. But Simeon and Levi's anger had not abated at all. They took their swords and entered the city and slaughtered Hamor, Shechem, and every one of Hamor's men without any opposition. That wasn't enough. They plundered the city because their sister had been dishonored. They confiscated the donkeys, herds, flocks, women, children, wealth of every kind, and everything they could lay their hands on. These were angry men!
Simeon's and Levi's actions frightened their father, Jacob, because he realized how small his family was compared to the Canaanites and Perizzites who were in that land. This stink could provoke them to crush Jacob's family.
So God told Jacob to take his family and move on to Bethel and settle there. Jacob instructed his family to destroy all of their idols they had brought with them, to wash themselves, and to put on fresh clothing. They headed out to Bethel as God had told Jacob to do. There was terror in all the cities they passed through, so they were not attacked. When they got to Bethel, Jacob built an altar and worshiped God. This was a place where God had appeared to Jacob when he fled from Esau.
God appeared to Jacob again in Bethel and blessed him. God's blessing was, “'You shall no longer be called Jacob ('Grabber'), but Israel (‘One who prevails with God’). I am God Almighty,' the Lord said to him, ‘and will cause you to be fertile and to multiply and to become a great nation, yes, many nations, many kings shall be among your descendants. And I will pass on to you the land I gave to you and to your descendants’" (Genesis 34:11-12). What an awesome blessing! Can you grasp just how far reaching that is?
There's quite a contrast between Jacob and Shechem. Shechem didn't control his appetites. He lusted after a girl and raped her and ended up dead. He had no descendants to become great nations and many kings. God takes note of a righteous person. It makes a big difference how you live your life. There are blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. How are you going to live your life?
Student Prayer
Holy Father,
Thank you for showing me how one sin can lead to another, creating a chain reaction. It's far better to stop, think, and consider the possible consequences before sin. Also, thank you for the contrast in Jacob's life. He believed you and obeyed you, and you promised him such awesome blessings that they are hard to comprehend. You are a great and merciful God!
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.
Daily Devotions
Sunday: Genesis 34:1-5
Monday: Genesis 34:6-19
Tuesday: Genesis 34:20-25
Wednesday: Genesis 34:25-31
Thursday: Proverbs 23:7
Friday: Proverbs 20:9
Saturday: Psalm 51
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. Make the necessary changes in their lives that will make the world safer from rapists.
2. Resist reading porn and unseemly materials that lead to lust.
Topics & Themes
Consequences of Sin
Rape
Temptation
Materials Needed
Bible, YEA Students' and Teacher's books, attendance and memory verse charts, CD or cassette tape, music player, pencils, paper, chalkboard and marker
How to Teach This Lesson
After opening the class with prayer, divide the class into groups of fours and give each section a piece of paper and pencil. Explain that each section is to be polled to determine how many in their group believe that porn can be a contributing factor in rape. How many believe the woman is generally at fault in a rape situation. Brainstorm and list as many contributing factors that they can think of that would bring a man to rape a girl. Also list four things they've learned from things they have seen. These can be things they have seen on TV, at the movie, at a play, at school, or something they've read. Give them several minutes to do this and bring the groups back to sit in a semicircle. Ask one person from each group to give the number in their group who feel that porn can be a contributing factor in rape. Write all of the answers from their brainstorming session on the chalkboard. Ask one person from each group to give the number in their group who feel that the woman bears some fault in a rape situation. Then have one person from each group read the list of contributing factors that would bring a man to rape a girl, and another person from each group to list what they came up with that they have learned from things they have seen.
Debrief - Ask: How did you feel about participating in these polls? How did this activity help you focus on the correlation between what we see and what we learn? How was this like or unlike other things in your life?
Sesame Street - Do you think rapists are born or made? What things do you think contribute to the making of a rapist? How many of you have ever watched Sesame Street? What were some of the things those little kids were learning? How were they learning? (They were learning to count and do other things by what they saw.) What is a person learning when they watch porn on the Internet or read a porn magazine. Would this type of thing make a man more or less likely to rape a girl? Why? Ask a student to read aloud Proverbs 23:7. What does that tell you that a man who reads or looks at porn is more likely to do?
Women and Rape - What is rape? (An act of power and dominance.) What part do you think the way a man speaks of a woman plays in rape or sexual assault? What part do you think the way a woman dresses plays in a woman being raped? What do you think led to Shechem raping Dinah? How did you feel about the consequences that all the men in Shechem's and King Hamor's families and community suffered as a result of this rape?
Stopping Rape - What can be done to stop or reduce the number of rapes that are committed?
Ask a student to read Proverbs 20:9. Then what can we all do about our wicked hearts? Ask a student to read aloud Acts 8:22. King David committed adultery and realized what a terrible thing he had done. Ask a student to read his prayer aloud in Psalm 51. Then what kind of vigilance do you have to maintain daily to keep from slipping into sexual sins? Ask a student to read Proverbs 4:23. What can girls do to prevent being raped? What can men do to protect our ladies? Are sex and love synonymous?
Teacher-Directed Activity
Go over the activity in the students' book discussing each subject.
Song
"Create in Me a Clean Heart" is on page 36 of The Group Songbook.
Closing Prayer
Have the students form a circle and hold hands. Go around the circle and let everyone give one thing they can do to make the world safer from rapists. Ask a student to lead in prayer asking God to increase their awareness of this problem, show them how to be vigilant, and ask that God will protect our girls from rapists.
Printable Pages
