Part1 My #Testimony in the Story of #Dinah: #Redemption from #Ravishment #fyp #BiblicalFemininity
Channel: HadaraWombCare 
Date: 18/01/2024

What is the nature of defilement? What is the nature of obsession? What is love that persists in the face of degradation? Is there redemption in stories of the most dangerous type of willful blindness and idolatry? Can violation be forgiven? Can rapture come from ravishment? Can honor be upheld when sacredness is stolen? Can the downtrodden and outnumbered be victorious scorned by enemies?

The story of Dinah may at first seem like a triggering, sensitive topic, a subject of outrage, even. However, upon closer examination, we can see a great love story within this often misinterpreted tale. It is not a Romeo + Juliet story per se, not a story of youthful and reckless star crossed lovers exactly; however, this story is a story of covenant, soul ties, family honor, filial piety, and propriety. Ultimately, it is a story of salvation and restoration, justice and recompense that manifests in strange and seemingly sordid ways. 

By God's Grace, we are walking testimonies! Sharing part of my testimony of "going out among the daughters of the land" and why the story of #Dinah resonates so deeply with me. A victim of childhood predatory grooming and assault, as well as physical & sexual abuse in my previous marriage, I have also been forcibly violated while crying out and I am a survivor of several forms of defilement and degradation, able to relate to many women in different experiences, demonic covenants, and #soulties . In this part of my story, I relate to Dinah's fascination with the Pagan women of the Canaanite land in which her family sojourned, and how her "going out" among them led to greater tragedy, as it did in my own life in a particularly nuanced way that reflects and parallels Dinah's narrative. As this controversial story is often debated as a terrifyingly UNJUST occasion in which many believe God "allowed" the violation of an unprotected woman, I will offer an #alternate #perspective as I will continue this with a Part 2 in which the #Hebrew language is illuminated, and making an irrefutable distinction between forced violation and the nature of seduction and coercion implemented by Shechem to rob DInah of her honor. Was she defiled? Definitely. Whether she was forcibly attacked is another matter altogether-- nonetheless, this is certainly a story of Soul Tie of lust, obsession, and dishonor in which a daughter of Israel was "turned out" and made common as a Harlot, as unfortunately many of our community's young women have...

Dinah, daughter of Leah, went out– with boldness, she did not stay behind in her tent and, hearing the celebration of the women of the city dancing and reveling, went to study their ways. Little did she know, in God’s mysterious ways of redemption, she would unwittingly introduce them to a God of Righteousness in a Covenant of blood.

The scripture and histories say that when Dinah came with her mother to see the daughters of the Canaanites, the price of the land named Shechem, son of Hamor, saw her and his soul longed for her. Immediately, he was captured and enraptured– and sought in turn to capture her. Obsessed at first sight, seeing the purity of this young women, Set Apart from the women of his people, he claimed her and seduced her. Here is where the controversy begins– a case of semantics. 

It is important, then, to begin now to dive into the linguistic, cultural, and historical context with which to root the proper understanding of this hotly debated story. 

Continue to Part 2 for more....