Jacob

OBJECTIVE

Consider the story of Jacob and Esau and how the decisions we make affect our future. The birthright of Esau was taken and given to Jacob. Although this took place, God had a plan for Jacob similar to how God takes care of us in our lives.

INTRODUCTION & HOOK - 5 Minutes

Does anyone know of an icon that has an icon or stairway to heaven? (Hint: There is only one icon of a person sleeping at the foot of it and angels going up and down)

(Display the icon attached below). This is the icon of Jacob. Today, we will learn about the story of two twin boys- Jacob and Esau. Particularly, we will focus on Jacob and how to make decisions that will please God.

During this story, try to put yourself in the shoes of Isaac and see if you can relate to the decisions he makes or if Isaac lived a life pleasing to God.

Prepare 2 tickets and hand it to two children as they walk in the class, one that indicates "Birthright" and another one saying "Blessing"

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 10 Minutes

Genesis 25, Genesis 27, Genesis 32

Memory Verse
"A faithful man will abound with blessings" (Proverbs 28:20)

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 10 Minutes

Jacob and Esau were very different brothers but yet they were twins. Esau was a skillful hunter and Jacob preferred staying at home. Isaac (their father) loved Esau and Rebekah (their mother) loved Jacob more. In this story, Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew. Jacob would only give the stew to Esau if he sold his birthright.

Do you know what a birthright is? It is a blessing of the first born child. Esau was born right before Jacob was.

Jacob tricks his father into thinking that he is Esau in order to receive the birthright. Rebekah instructed Jacob to deceive his father and wear Esau's clothes and prepare a meal for his father to receive the birthright. Isaac did not immediately recognize Esau as it was Jacob pretending to be his brother; however, Isaac gave the birthright to Jacob. As Esau returned from the field, he learned what his brother had done and become furious to the point of wanting to kill Jacob.

During this time, Jacob stayed with his uncle (Genesis 28) until his brother calmed down. As Jacob set on the journey to his uncle, he rested on a rock. As he slept, Jacob had a dream of a ladder reaching from heaven. In this dream, angels were ascending and descending on the ladder. God assured Jacob that He would bless him and his people and take care of him where he went.

As Jacob awoke, he was comforted and reassured that God visited him in this place and placed oil on this rock, and named the area Bethel, which means house of the Lord.

As Jacob stayed at his uncle's house, he fell in love with Rachel. Laban agreed to this marriage but required 7 years of work. When it came time for them to marry, Laban gave Leah. It was customary in that time for the woman not to be revealed until the time of the marriage. At this point, Jacob married Leah and Laban said he would allow Jacob to marry Rachel in exchange for another 7 years of work.

DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 15 Minutes

Taking the Birthright: This story is full of many lessons that we can learn from. It is very important to note that despite being one family and having siblings- sin can always abound. We must be very careful and watchful because the devil tricked Jacob into thinking that in his taking of the birthright that there was no harm or no sin committed.

Think of sin as a very beautiful box with a large red bow. The box appears heavy and the wrapping paper is full of colors. However, upon opening the box, it is filled with confetti. Similarly, we can think of the actions that Jacob did in this way. Although enticing, Jacob disobeyed his father and made room for sin which caused a division among the family.

The Ladder; Despite the sins we make, God is certain to take care of us. He is aware that we fall into sin. God, in His infinite love and His mercy, always has a plan for us. In the story of Jacob, we see God's plan- despite the disobedience of Jacob- God made sure that Jacob was aware of His presence. Imagine running away from your brother who wanted to kill you because you took what was rightfully his and losing all hope. Then, God visits you in a dream and reassures you that He will be with you and guide you.

Although God does not want us to fall into sin, He is aware that we have free will. God wants us to use our free will in order to have a genuine love for Him. It is through this challenge that Jacob went through- that God used it for good.

Esau meets Jacob and Wrestling with God: Read Genesis 32:9-12. At this point, Jacob asks God for mercy because he is seeing his brother after many years and is asking for God to be merciful with him so that God can deliver him from his brother's wrath.

During this time, a man wrestled with Jacob and Jacob insisted on this person blessing him before he left even though he was not fit to fight. At this point, Jacob's name became Israel and the man blessed him there.

We see the persistence of Jacob and his yearning to be in God's favor. Jacob continues in the story and meets his brother and both met each other and cried as they met each other.

Restoring Jacob: We learn in this story that God takes us in whatever condition we are in and is more than willing to forget our past and use us for His church.

LIFE APPLICATION - 10 Minutes

Think of our life as a painting (As St. Athanasius portrays). God is the artist and we are the painting. Imagine a person who throws black paint on this painting. Now, the image is tarnished. Sin is this black paint on the canvas. Therefore, in order to make the painting correct- we must get the original artist to fix it. God is the original artist and we see in the story of Jacob. Jacob humbled himself and left his father's house and went through years of challenges. God's arms are always open and He always gives us a second chance. Let us ask God to "grant us our Christian perfection that would be pleasing to You."

ACTIVITY - 20 Minutes

Skit

Divide into groups and act as Jacob and Esau in the story of the birthright. Have the students understand the story and the characters involved. Students can use props and items necessary to illustrate points.

Puzzle

Print this image
Cut it along the lines and have the students complete the puzzle and glue it onto a sheet of paper.

SERVANT RESOURCES

Jacob and Esau Visual Aids
Additional visual aids and story illustrations:FreeBibleimages
Refer to the Old Testament Timeline attached for major events and chronological order through the Bible.
Video: The Story of Jacob and Esau (Superbook):

Old Testament Books Song- Missing Deuterocanonical books (Tobit and Judith from history books, Wisdom and Sirach from poetic books, Baruch, 1&2 Maccabees from prophetic books, and the Prayer of Manasseh)

PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK

Second chances- although students may not always be obedient or respectful. We must learn to cultivate their talents and to respect their growth as children of God. In doing so, we earn their respect and their love. In times of disobedience and poor behavior, we can bring to their attention the importance of making good decisions.

If we want to encourage certain habits, we can use the concept of a token economy. We can print cards that have 5 boxes and place stars in the boxes and at the end give a prize as a reinforcement for excellent behavior. (examples include: chores, church attendance on time, etc.)