Introduction:
During this covid 19 season the number of rape cases have spiked in several countries. This breaks my heart as a mother for all the girls and boys who have had to go through such horrific experiences. When many of us were taking time to keep safe, taking time to pray each day for safety and protection from this pandemic that has proved fatal to the vulnerable in our society.
The Terrible Stories:
In an article on “The Global Citizen”. 4 Grassroots Activists Share Stories of COVID-19 Heightening Sexual Violence in Kenya and Nigeria ” During lockdown people are crowded together in small homes. She knows of one case where a 17-year-old boy impregnated his two sisters. They were all living together and sleeping in one room.
In the bible:
Genesis 34 brings to life the story of Dinah. She was the daughter of Jacob and Leah. One day when she goes out to see the daughters of the land; she is raped. The young man who rapes her is called Shechem. In fact the bible says , he saw her, he took her, he lay with her and defiled her. The law in the land in Deuteronomy 22 stated if a man raped a lady, he was to pay fifty pieces of silver and take her to wife and never leave her all the days of her life. I will not go into what i think of this law, but it served its purpose at that time. Allow me to give you time to read the story for yourselves in Genesis Chapter 34. In the whole story Dinah never says a word.
My view:
Even when Dinah is silent through out the story we hear her voice. Rape is tragic , it leaves you voiceless as it raptures your soul. Your dignity as a person is violated. The woman is vulnerable. I do not undermine the same happening to men, but allow me to talk about women. Their vunerability could be in Education, Culturally, Socially and even Legally. That said let it not go without me mentioning that even physically, we as women are not as strong as men. We can overcome our vulnerabilities.
God is will bring every rape to book:
The bible says in the book of Habbakuk 2:20 The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him: this is the word I wish to share with all those who continue to defile. For all those who have been raped or sexually assaulted let me share this with you 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. God know everything you have gone through. You can be an overcomer.
Conclusion:
The Lord allowed the story of Dinah and many other similar stories in the bible to awaken us to the fact that he knows each and everything that happens to us, whether good or bad. In the bible he highlights the moral degradation of men and a clear warning to all perpetrators that he will bring you to book – repent and turn away from defiling children of the most High God. Be warned the bible says in Hebrews 10:31 “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.“
Ladies I leave you with Isaiah 61:3 …”to give unto them beauty for ashes,the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”
The Vulnerability of Women – Rape in Canaan
Listen to the Podcast:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/814151/episodes/4328771-the-vulnerability-of-a-woman-rape-in-canaan