unit 3: isaac and jacob ot3.6 jacob's big family lesson · 1 ot3.6 jacob's big family...

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OT3.6 Jacob's Big Family ©Beverly Wilson 2017

Unit 3: Isaac and Jacob OT3.6 Jacob's Big Family Lesson

Scripture: Genesis 29-30

Lesson Goal: Jacob was the grandson of Abraham and the son of Isaac. God had promised that

Jacob's family would be the one in whom Jesus the Savior of the world would be born. Jacob however did not wait on God but tricked his father Isaac into giving him the special birthright blessing instead of his brother Esau. In this lesson we will learn how Jacob found out how it felt to be tricked!

Introduction: This is the sixth lesson in Unit 3: Isaac and Jacob. When Jacob was young he been very deceptive and tricky. He had tricked his brother and his father Isaac into giving him the special birthright blessing instead of his brother Esau. In this lesson we are going to learn how Jacob reaped what he sown. The lesson is found in the first book of the Bible called Genesis. Genesis is the first book of Law. The books of the Law are the first five books in the Old Testament. Let's say the books of Law together. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Attention Getter: "Sowing Seeds" Do you know the saying, "You reap what you sow?" These are words used in farming. The word "sow" means to plant and the word "reap" means to harvest. Here are some seeds being planted in a field. If you plant pea seeds in the ground what do you expect to harvest? (Peas!) It would certainly be a surprise if you planted corn and pumpkins came up!

It's a natural law to reap what we sow in farming. And, it's true in other areas, too. Every action has a results. If you plant or do only things to please yourself, then you will reap a crop of sorrow and evil. For example, if you gossip about your friends, you will lose their friendships. If you plant to please God, you’ll reap joy and everlasting life.

The Bible says, You can't ignore God and get away with it: a man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows! If he sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of decay and death. That would be like growing a field of weeds!

But if he plants good things by obeying and trusting God, then he will reap everlasting life which the Holy Spirit gives him. That is like a beautiful field of ripe grain. So we should not get discouraged in doing what is right because after a while we will reap a harvest of blessings.

When Jacob was young he been very deceptive and tricky. He had tricked his brother and his father Isaac into giving him the special birthright blessing instead of his brother Esau. In this lesson we are going to learn how Jacob reaped what he sown.

Opening Prayer: Let’s pray. "Father, we don’t want to follow Jacob and Laban's example of lying and cheating. Help us to remember that sin does have a way of coming back to haunt us. We want to sow seeds of blessings wherever we go. Help us to be kind to everyone we meet along the path of each day. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen."

Memory Verse: Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Lesson Video: https://youtu.be/a3RoBOTtfh8 Jacob was one of two twin boys that was born to Isaac and Rebekah in their old age. God told their mother Rebekah that Esau the older one would serve the younger brother Jacob. Jacob grew up to

https://youtu.be/a3RoBOTtfh8

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be a quiet peaceful man who loved God like his father Isaac and his grandfather Abram. His twin brother Esau, however, did not love the things of God. He loved to hunt wild animals and roam the countryside.

One day Jacob tricked Esau into carelessly selling his birthright to him for a bowl of soup. The birthright was the blessing of being the family leader and of inheriting the family possessions.

Several years later Jacob's father Isaac became very old and blind. With his mother's help Jacob deceived his father by pretending to be Easu and tricking his father into blessing him instead.

All these lies caused Jacob's brother Esau to be so angry at Jacob for cheating that he wanted to kill him! Now Jacob was escaping by going to his Uncle Laban in Haran. His father and mother had sent him there to find a wife.

On the way to Haran Jacob had spent a night in Bethel where Grandfather Abraham had built an altar to God many years before. There God appeared to him in a dream. In his dream, Jacob saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven. Angels were going up and down this ladder and at the top of the ladder was God Himself! God promised Jacob that He would be with him and through his family would be born the One through whom all the world would be blessed--Jesus.

Jacob continued his journey and after many days of traveling, he came near the city of Harran. As Jacob came close to Harran he saw a well covered by a large stone and three flocks of sheep grazing nearby. Some shepherds were waiting by the well with their sheep.

Jacob asked them, "Where are you from?"

"We're from Harran," they replied.

"Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?"

And they said, "Yes, We know him and he is well. And look, Here comes his daughter Rachel with his sheep."

Jacob looked and saw a beautiful girl coming to the well with her flock of sheep and goats. He came forward and removed the heavy stone that covered the mouth of the well and watered his uncle's sheep.

Then Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's nephew--Rebekah's son. Jacob and Rachel were so pleased to meet that they kissed and happily greeted one another. Rachel was so excited that she ran home and told her father.

Laban came hurrying out to welcome Jacob and take him home. He invited Jacob to come and stay with them. A month later Laban said, "Just because you are a relative of mine, you should not work for me without pay. Tell me what your wages should be."

Laban had two daughters: the name of the oldest was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had very poor eyesight, but Rachel was beautiful. Jacob fell in love with Rachel and he asked her father Laban for her hand in marriage.

Jacob loved Rachel so much that he said to her father Laban, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter to be my wife." In those days and in that culture a man had to give a gift to the family of his future wife. Since Jacob had no money he offered to work for Laban for seven years without pay. So Jacob worked seven years to have Rachel as his wife. While seven years may seem like a long time to get a wife, it seemed only like a few days to him because Jacob loved Rachel so much!

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When the seven years were ended a great marriage feast was arranged. Laban gathered together all the men of the place and they had a feast. The feast lasted seven days and there was much drinking and merry making.

But Laban was playing a trick on Jacob! He had Leah his oldest daughter be the bride! She wore a veil that covered her face so it was not until morning that Jacob found out that he had married Leah instead of Rachel! When Jacob found out he was furious!

He said to Laban, "Why did you do this to me? You knew it was for Rachel and not Leah that I served you."

Then Laban told Jacob, "In our country the youngest daughter cannot be married before the oldest daughter. That is why I had Leah be the bride!"

Now Jacob knew what it felt like to be cheated. He was reaping what he had sown. He had tricked his brother Esau and now he had been tricked by Laban. Finally Laban told Jacob he could also have Rachel if he worked yet another seven years. So Jacob agreed to work another seven years.

Jacob agreed. A week later Rachel became his wife also. So Jacob worked another seven years for Laban. Although Jacob was tricked by Laban, he kept his part of the bargain. Even when we are tricked by others, we should keep our promises. God forgave Jacob and Laban, but they both had to live with the problems their deceptions caused. And so Jacob became married to both sisters, but he always loved Rachel more. These two sisters became very jealous of one another and had many arguments. They caused Jacob many problems.

Although Jacob was married to Leah, he did not love her so God blessed her by giving her many sons! The names of her sons were Rueben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Later she would have a daughter named Dinah. She also had two other sons by her maid servant who were named Gad and Asher. All these children of Leah made Rachel very jealous. So she had her maid servant give Jacob two sons named Dan and Naphtali.

Finally Rachel had a son named Joseph. Jacob loved all of his children but he was especially fond of his baby son Joseph because his mother was Rachel whom he loved so much.

It had been 14 years since Jacob arrived in Haran. By now Jacob had 2 wives, 2 maid servants, 11 sons and 1 daughter. Much later Jacob would have another son named Benjamin. Out of these twelve sons would become the twelve tribes of Israel as we know them today!

God was blessing Jacob with many children just as he had promised! It would be through his son Judah that Jesus the Savior of the world would someday be born! The promise that God made to his grandfather Abraham was now becoming a reality!

Because Jacob had two wives and their two maid servants, he was disobeying God. This sin would eventually cause many problems and arguments among his sons and their families.

In this lesson we can see that Jacob reaped what he sowed. Jacob had deceived his father and brother and now he was deceived by his Uncle Laban. Sin has a way of coming back to haunt us. God forgave Jacob and Laban, but they both had to live with the problems their deceptions caused.

The question we should ask ourselves is: “What kind of seeds are we sowing?" Are they seeds of blessing or sorrow?

Our memory verse is Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” The word reap means to gather or bring in a harvest. This verse means then that everything you do or say has some result. We are encouraged to keep on doing what is good and trust God for the harvest of blessing! Let's say our verse again together.

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Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" .

What are some ways we can plant seeds that will bring joy? Praying is a good seed. God is pleased when we ask Him for things. He wants us to trust Him and He will bless us! Another way to plant good seeds is to tell others the message of salvation. God wants other people to hear the message about salvation so they can believe in Jesus too! Helping others always is a good thing. These girls are helping their mother wash dishes. Jesus wants us to be kind and helpful because it brings joy to others and it shows that we honor Him! When people are sick they like to know that others care about them. It helps them to know that Jesus cares about them too. So visiting the sick is a good seed!

Let's remember to sow good seeds!

Review Questions: : "Seeds in a Packet" Materials: Small envelope with a flap for each student; popcorn seeds Procedure: Give each student a seed envelope. Divide class into two teams. Alternately ask each team one of the following questions. If the team gets the correct answer then everyone on the team gets to put one kernel of corn in their packet. Team with the most seeds in their packet wins.

1. What does the word "sow" mean? (Sow is a farming term that means to plant seeds in the ground.)

2. What does the word "reap" mean? (Reap means to bring in a harvest of fruit or vegetables.) 3. What does it mean, "You reap what you sow?" (Every action has results. If you are selfish

you cause sorrow and evil to others and yourself. If you are kind and loving you will bring joy to others and yourself.)

4. Who were the parents and grandparents of Jacob? (Jacob was the twin son of Isaac and Rebekah. His grandparents were Abraham and Sarah.)

5. What promise had been given to Abraham? (God promised him that his family would become a great nation and that his children would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and that out of his family Jesus the son of God would be born.)

6. How had God renewed that promise to Jacob? (God had given him a vision of a ladder extending from earth to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it. God promised to bless Jacob with the blessings of his grandfather Abraham.)

7. Who did Jacob first see when he arrived at the well near the town of Harran? (Jacob first met some shepherds who knew his Uncle Laban. They introduced Jacob to Laban's daughter Rachel when she arrived with her sheep.)

8. What did Jacob do when he first saw and met Rachel? (He thought she was very beautiful. Jacob removed the well covering for her and watered her sheep. He told her that he was her family's relative.)

9. What bargain Jacob have with Laban to get Rachel as his wife? (Jacob had to work seven years without pay.)

10. What trick did Laban play on Jacob on his wedding day? (He brought Leah to Jacob as a wife instead of Rachel.)

11. What lesson did Jacob learn when Laban played that trick on him? (He learned how his brother and father must have felt when he cheated on them. He learned that it doesn't feel good to be cheated.)

12. What excuse did Laban use to sneak Leah in to Jacob? (Laban said it wasn't there custom to marry off a younger daughter ahead of an older sister.)

13. What did Jacob have to do to get Rachel as his wife? (Jacob had to work another seven years.)

14. What kind of seeds should we be sowing in our life? (We should be kind, loving, and forgiving. These are seeds of blessing.)

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15. How did Rachel and Leah get along as Jacob's wives? (They were extremely jealous of one another and constantly were trying to vie for Jacob's attention.)

16. How did Jacob feel about his two wives Leah and Rachel? (Jacob only loved Rachel and treated her with favoritism.)

17. What problem did Leah have that seemed to make her unlovely? (She had "weak eyes" which means that she had eye sight problems.)

18. What did God do because Leah was unloved? (God blessed her with five sons and one daughter.)

19. What were the names of Leah's children? Look in Genesis 29: 31-36 and Genesis 30: 17-21. (Leah's sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah. Issachar, and Zebulon and a daughter named Dinah.)

20. What did Rachel do when she did not have any children? Genesis 30:1-8. (She was jealous and gave her maid servant Bilhah to Jacob to have children for her. Bilhad had two sons--Dan and Naphtali.)

21. What did Leah do in an effort to show Rachel she could have more children than she did? Genesis 30:9-12. (Leah gave her maid servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife and she had Gad and Asher.)

22. After a long time without children, what did God finally do for Rachel? See Genesis 30:22-24; 35:18-19. (God gave her son named Joseph. Many years later she had another son named Benjamin and she died during childbirth.)

23. What did Jacob do that was disobedient to God? (He had two wives and two maidservants which was against God's will. All this disobedience and jealousy caused many arguments and problems with his wives and among his children.)

24. How many sons and daughters did Jacob have while living in Harran with Laban? (Jacob had eleven sons and one daughter.)

25. What were special about the twelve sons of Jacob? (These sons would become the ones out of whom the twelve tribes of Israel would be formed.)

26. Despite all his sin and disobedience what was God doing for Jacob? (God was blessing him with many children and keeping the promise given to his grandfather Abraham that out of his family the whole world would be blessed.)

Bible Memory Verse Activity: "Lego Blocks" Our memory verse is Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Have students look up the verse in scripture and read aloud together several times.

Say: "The word reap means to gather or bring in a harvest. This verse means then that everything you do or say has some result. We are encouraged to keep on doing what is good and trust God for the harvest of blessing! Let's say our verse again together. Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" .

Procedure: Tape each word of the verse on toddler sized Lego blocks. Place the blocks in a pile on the table or floor of your classroom. Have the children assemble the blocks in the correct order of the verse. Bring a set for each child, or divide the children into two or three teams and have a race to assemble the blocks first.

Group Learning Activity: "Circle Trickery" (Grades K-3) Purpose: To help children experience how Jacob must have felt when he was tricked by Laban. Preparation: Veils of material or large sheets that can be draped over the heads of the children to hide their identity. Say: " We are going to hid under a sheet, but in this Bible story Rachel was disguised under a long wedding veil. This was a trick of Rachel's father Laban. Jacob had used tricks against his brother

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Esau and his father Isaac. Now Jacob learned what it felt like to be tricked by someone that you trust. What a wedding nightmare!" Procedure: Ask children to form a large circle. Send one person out of the room and several children can put face veils (large sheets) over their faces and bring the child back into the room to try and be "tricked" with who is behind the veil. Let each child try to guess three people and then send another person out of the room and continue to play as time allows. Children can try to trick the one guessing by not speaking or speaking in a different voice, etc. This game works best when you have a large number of children in the class.

Group Learning Activity: "Sons of Israel Paper Doll Chain" (Grades K-5) Purpose: To help students visualize the twelve sons of Israel (Jacob) and the fact that out of these sons came the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Preparation: 2 sheets of paper 8 1/2" X 11" for each child; scissors; colored markers; print copies of the names of the twelve sons of Israel template below. Say. "Jacob had twelve sons. We are going to make a paper doll chain to represent all of Jacob's sons. Each chain will have four men so you will each need to make three chains to make twelve sons." Procedure: Take a sheet of paper (8 1/2" X 11") and cut it in half lengthwise leaving 2 strips (4 1/4" X 11"). Fold each strip into 4 parts, accordion style, forming a packet of paper. On top of each packet of paper draw your own stick figure man. (You may copy the cute little man in the picture.) Carefully cut out the stick figure with scissors. Cut through the whole packet. Gently unfold the packet of paper to reveal your paper doll chain. Repeat to make a total of three chains. Cut out the names of the twelve sons of Israel. Glue a name of a son to each of the paper chain men. Optional: Older children may copy the names of the sons of Jacob using a colored marker. Facial features may be added to each man, if desired. Challenge older children to memorize the twelve sons of Israel.

Group Learning Activity: "Wedding Gift Surprise" (Grades K-5) Preparation: Place an empty candy wrapper inside a wedding gift bag. Place tissue paper in the gift bag as if you were giving it as a gift so the wrapper is hidden. Procedure: The children will stand in a circle. Give one child the gift bag as you start to play some music. Lead them to believe that whoever has the bag when the music stops will get the gift. Build the anticipation by letting the music play enough for the bag to go around the circle a few times before stopping it. Let the child holding the bag take out the tissue paper to discover their “gift.

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Say: "How did you feel when you lifted the tissue paper and your surprise was an empty candy wrapper? You were expecting one thing—some kind of gift—and you got another—an empty candy wrapper. When Jacob lifted the wedding veil, he was quite surprised, too! He was expecting one thing and got another. I’m sure Jacob felt empty with disappointment when he realized he had married the wrong woman!"

Group Learning Activity: "Work Prizes" (Grades K-5) Preparation: Good prizes; ketchup packets, wet wipes Procedure: Each child will be given a chore to do using a wet wipe (dust some furniture, clean a window, wipe off a table, wipe a door knob). Tell them that if they take care of the chore for you, then you’ll give them a nice prize. Show them the prizes that you have waiting for them when they complete their chores. When the kids complete their chore, they should come to you. Instead of giving them the nice prize, give each one a packet of ketchup. When they protest, tell them that if they will do their chore again (with different furniture, window, table, knob) that you’ll give them the prize. Really, you will! Once they’ve completed the chore for the second time, give them the prize you promised in the first place. Say: "How did you feel when I gave you the ketchup instead of the prize? Why were you angry and disappointed? Were you excited about doing the chore the second time? Did any of you want to quit and not do the chore the second time? How did you feel when you finally got the prize? This little exercise can help us understand … just a little bit … how Jacob must’ve felt. When he discovered that he had married Leah, he must’ve been angry and super disappointed! He probably had questions about whether or not he wanted to work another seven years, because what if Laban didn’t keep his word again? When the agreement was made and Rachel became his wife, I can just imagine that Jacob was so happy that the disappointment kind of melted away."

Group Learning Activity: "Roll-a-Rang" (Grades K-5) Preparation: You must have a cone shaped object; something that is more slender at the top than the bottom (like a vase or a bottle). Tape two 3’ wide circles about 6’ apart onto the floor. Procedure: Divide your class into pairs and have them separate and form lines behind each circle. Have one of each pair enter the circle and instruct them to carefully roll the bottle to their partner. They may not leave the circles or reach outside of them. Allow many groups to try. Because the object is cone shaped, it will not go the distance to their partner; it will just roll in a circle. Say: "In our lesson Jacob found out how what we do will come back to us sometimes in very unexpected ways. Jacob tricked his brother Esau and his father Isaac. Jacob tried to take matters into his own hands in order to receive the blessing of God that had been promised to his family through his grandfather Abraham. When we take matters into our own hands, no amount of effort will create the desired results. Like the bottles, our efforts will just come back on us." Craft Learning Activity: "Seed Pictures" (Grades K-5) Preparation: 1 sheet of white heavy cardstock or cardboard for each child approximately 9 X 12"; variety of seeds (beans, rice, sunflower seeds, nut shells; clear liquid glue or white glue; small plastic spoons; black drawing markers Procedure: Collect seeds of all sorts of shapes and color. Place seeds in individual plastic cups on work table. Have children plan the picture they are going to make by drawing an outline sketch on the poster board. Use a black drawing marker to outline the shape, if desired. Squeeze glue on one portion of the image and then using the spoons arrange the seeds to the poster board background. Have the children glue patterns of different types using different colors of seeds.

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Say: Talk about the kinds of seeds and what they produce. Be sure to emphasize the fact that just like the seeds produce predictable results so our actions do, too. If we are selfish, we'll cause sorrow and evil. If we are kind and loving, we will bring forth joy and contentment in life.

Life Application Challenge: "Promise Keeping"

Say: "In this lesson God kept His promise to Abraham and to Jacob that He would bless them with many children even though they did not always obey Him completely. God gave Jacob twelve sons who would one day become the twelve tribes of Israel. God is faithful to us even when we are not faithful to Him. Today we are going to think about promises that we can make to serve God. These promises should be about serving others and sewing seeds of kindness." Give each child in the class a long strip of paper about 5-8 inches wide. Fold the paper back and forth accordion style and let children write Promise words or draw pictures of things that they would like to promise to do this week. Encourage children to write ideas that they really feel they will be able to keep. Have students take their Promise prayer list home and color or check off each promise throughout the week that they were able to keep!

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Jacob's Big Family

Galatians 6:9

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

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Chart of Jacob's Sons "Sons of Israel"

Reuben

Simeon

Levi

Judah

Issachar

Zebulon

Dan

Naphtali

Dan

Asher

Joseph

Benjamin

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unit 3: isaac and jacob ot3.6 jacob's big family lesson · 1 ot3.6 jacob's big family...

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