DINAH !!!!!!!!

DINAH !!!!!
Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 
      (GENESIS 34:1)
In this simple sentence begins one of the saddest events of the book of Genesis. Dinah, a young and thoughtless girl, comes to a new country and unwisely goes out to seek friendship with the pagan woman there. On the way, she is raped by Shechem, son Hamor the Canaanite who was ruler of the city that shares his son's name. Afterward, when young Shechem belatedly decides to marry Dinah, he unknowingly brings disaster on his people. 
# 2 _Hamor, pushed on by his son, approaches Jacob to arrange a marriage. It was a common practice of that day, and the heartbroken Jacob listens. But before he makes a decision, Jacob's furious sons intervene. How can they give their sister to an unbelieving man? Surely Jacob must have struggled with this idea, since his father had commanded him not to marry a Canaanite__but what could he do that would benefit his daughter? Though Jacob is unaware of it, his sons come up with a wicked suggestion: If the Canaanites will accept circumcision, Jacob's sons inform Hamor and Shechem, they will accept the marriage. But there's more to their offer than meets the eye.
# 3 _Hamor agrees, but not because he's had a sudden conversion experience__he's interested in getting his hands on Jacob's wealth, the large herd of sheep in his possession. But the ruler has not reckoned with the brothers anger. The siblings plot to kill the male Shechemites while they are still in pain from the surgery. Three days after circumcision rite, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's full brothers, begin the attack on the city. All the male Shechemites are killed, and the Israelites loot the city. In order to keep his family safe, an angry Jacob moves his family out of the area.
# 4 _Double sorrow was Dinah's her rape and her brothers precipitate actions. Scripture gives us no clue about her life after this event, but it was surely changed forever. Dinah's life shows us that sometimes even simple, foolish decisions impact us powerfully. We need to be careful how we walk and with whom we associate. 

DIANA !!!!!!!

DIANA !!!!!
So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nough; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. (ACTS 19:27) __Diana, also known as Artemis of the Ephesians, isn't, strictly speaking, a woman. She was a pagan fertility goddess who got the apostle Paul and his disciples into a lot of trouble. When Paul's ministry to Asia took off, Ephesian craftsman Demetrius the silversmith saw his nice little business of creating Diana idols going down the drain. So he calleda guild meeting and got the backing of his fellow silversmiths to take action.
# 2 __If they didn't act, the magnificent temple of Diana would suffer, the silversmith warned. Today that temple is known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In Demetrius's day, thousands of pilgrims flooded Ephesus to worship there, but he knew they wouldn't if the pilgrims became Christians. So Demetrius and his coworkers started a riot. Only the intervention of the city clerk saved Paul and his men, and Paul wisely moved on to Macedonia.  
# 3 __Diana led a lot of people into idolatry and away from the gospel. But her magnificence and her following only lasted a short time. After all, no one worships her today. Are you putting your faith in something that won't last long or the God who created the universe and will never fail you? Don't follow a Diana when you can draw close to the eternal Lord.