The human heart and mind thrive with rhythms and regularity. That’s one of the reasons God instituted the Sabbath. Pausing to reflect and remember is restorative and formative. The rituals of religious activity help teach truth through repetition and pass truth to the next generation.
God has made people to learn from religious activity, but He never intended the rituals and gatherings to be the goal. They are the pathway to knowing Him more fully and walking with Him more faithfully. When religion becomes the goal or ritual the measure, much is lost.
Through his time away from Canaan, Jacob had learned much about Yahweh. He had wrestled with him and received a new name, Israel. He had wives, children, and vast possessions. He was blessed beyond measure and concluded, “[God] has been with me everywhere I have gone” (35:3). He was confident of God’s blessing. He was humble before God and Esau. He was a changed man.
Jacob was devastated, therefore, when his sons used religious ritual as a tool to inflict harm. To be sure, Shechem had defiled Dinah, but they cloaked their judgment in terms of peace and cooperation. When religion becomes a pathway for gain, it leads to corruption.
God was gracious to both Esau and Jacob. Both men prospered beyond their greatest imagination. Their relationship healed, and they were able to bury their father together. Religion provides structure and rhythm, but it is only in a relationship with God that one finds life and abundance.
Praise God for a life and abundance through Jesus Christ.