WHAT STINKS?

“But Ya’akov said to Shim’on and Levi, ‘You have caused me trouble by making me stink in the opinion of the local inhabitants, the Kena’ani and the P’rizi. Since I don’t have many people, they’ll align themselves together against me and attack me; and I will be destroyed, I and my household.’”
Genesis 34:30

A few days back I was listening to a minister named Perry Stone, speak on enemies within our own home. Now while I have no intention of repeating his message, it was his teaching that opened my eyes to this passage where Ya’akov says to his sons, “You have made me stink.” Perhaps we should recap the account from the Torah in order for this to make better sense.
Upon settling at Sh’khem, the son of Hamor the Hivi began to take an interest in Dinah, the only named daughter of Ya’akov. In a moment of lust and heat, Sh’khem, the son, grabbed Dinah and raped her. Following this action he sought by any means possible the ability to marry her. Neither of these actions seemed to sit well with her brothers. They wanted revenge for Dinah. With Hamor stating that intermarriage between the nations would be a good idea, the sons of Ya’akov spoke stating the offer would only be agreed to if all the men were circumcised as they were. After debate, the city agreed.
The Torah records that on the third day following, while the men were still in pain, an attack was made. Notice with me who led the attack on the city. I have read this passage before but in reading it again I found something. The Torah records only Shim’on (Simeon) and Levi. If we go back to these men’s birth we find they were both from Le’ah, as was Dinah. It was Dinah’s true brothers, not half brothers, that took her revenge. But moving on, the two men attacked the men of Sh’khem. To this Ya’akov stated he had become a stink.
This word ‘stink’ is the Hebrew word BA’ASH. Quite frankly, it means to have a bad smell, to become odious, or to emit a wicked odor. Because of the actions of these two sons, Ya’akov how was a BA’ASH. In fear he looked at the size of his tribe and thought them small enough to be wiped out. In much the same way as I work to remove the smells in my house, Ya’akov figured his name would be removed. It was to this concern that Adonai told him to take his family and move. And it was because of the actions of these two men that their blessing, given to them on Ya’akov’s death bed, would not be to their favor. “Cursed be their anger, for it has been fierce; their fury, for it has been cruel. I will divide them in Ya’akov and scatter them in Isra’el” (Gen 49:7).
The point I long to make today is simple. As seen in this account, our actions do not only affect us. Although in reading this passage my anger and revenge rises up like it did in these men, and I long to see justice done, I fear I too would have made a stink. The things I do bear on me, as Shim’on and Levi learned, but they also hurt others. My sin will hurt me. My sin will cause a curse on me. For example, when I was in my years of pornography I was making myself stink. My actions, however, didn’t only hurt me but my wife at the time also. Now I see this truth in place. I question, how many others will my sin hurt and stink up also? Oh Adonai, I do not want to stink or to be the cause of another person stinking.

Genesis 34:1 – 35:13