DCLM Daily Manna 29 May 2026: Stopping Short
KEY VERSE
“And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came fromPadam-aram; and pitched his tent before the city” (Genesis 33:18)
BIBLE READING: Genesis 33:16-20 KJV
16 So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir.
17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
18 And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city.
19 And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money.
20 And he erected there an altar, and called it EleloheIsrael.
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Lauren McMah of the Australian news site, news.com.au, once reported on Alnwick Poison Garden in Northumberland, United Kingdom. He wrote that on the gate leading to this green oasis is a grim message, a genuine warning of what lurks inside: ‘These plants can kill.’ That is the sign that greets intrepid visitors to this sinister botanical wonderland that is home to 100 of the world’s most lethal plants. Tourists have fallen ill and fainted there, having flouted stern advice to not smell or touch anything that grows inside. “At first glance, it seems like a typical English country garden: lush trees billowing over manicured topiaries, pretty blooms dotted along gravel paths, and everything neatly enclosed in an antique-style, wrought-iron fence. But nothing here is really that innocent.”
Jacob, on his way from Haran, settled in a Canaanite city of Shechem that looked well, from the outside, but with a lot of danger within. Instead of fulfilling his promise to God, to return to Bethel, the place he first had an encounter with God twenty years earlier, he decided to settle in that city, twenty miles to Bethel. In the event, it turned out to be a very wrong decision. Things appeared to have gone well at first. The land was good for his cattle; and the inhabitants of the land were friendly. But soon, his daughter Dinah, toured the city. She was viciously raped by Shechem, the prince of the city, an incident that precipitated a bitter response that led to the death of all the men in the city, the capture of the women and the confiscation of their cattle.
Disobedience has always been at the centre of our troubles. Instead of obeying God explicitly, we rely on our human judgment and choose where to stay and what to do. It is bewildering that Jacob ignored all the instructions, and the vows he made years earlier, to return to Bethel and raise an altar to God. Why would he stay in that city? Perhaps, he was carried away by their good land, full of pasture for his flock, and the outward hospitality showed by the people of the land.
Like the poisoned garden of Northumberland, the place we are attracted to, may look beautiful and inviting. At the end, however, our lives may be endangered by the hidden poison undetectable to the eye. It is just a matter of time before real danger begins to manifest. Do not wait until calamity comes before you move towards the direction of God. Those who tarry long in the poisoned garden, may eventually lose their lives before realising the grave cost of their mistakes.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Disobedience to God is an invitation to disaster
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Micah 1-4
DCLM Daily Manna 29 May 2026
