Jacob & Esau - Part 1 - The Birthright

Hi Friends!

Today I am sharing a lesson that focuses on Jacob wheeling and dealing with Esau to get the birthright. This can be read about in Genesis 25.

The idea for the introduction comes from HERE.

Introduction:

Activity #1 → Valuables Trading Cards. These can be printed out on slips of paper and distributed among your group. 

• Students are given 3 minutes to trade cards
• Have students rank what they have in order of importance → discuss

Activity #2 → My Most Valuable Things

I also had on display a few items that are worth something to me - either monetarily or for memory's sake: I had a blanket that one of my grandmas had made when I was a young girl, the full collection of F.R.I.E.N.D.S., my wedding album, and a sample of my Hard Rock bear collection.

• Which of these items is most likely worth the most money?
• Which of these items would you think is the least valuable to me? Why? Which is the most valuable to me? Why?
• How do you think I would feel if our car was broken into at lunch today and everything was taken?

The WHAT:

Read Genesis 25:19-34 and ask

• What are your observations?
• What does this make you think?
• Help students to connect with the fact that Esau didn’t value/respect his birthright, and that’s why he was so eager to trade it away to his brother Jacob.

The SO WHAT:

Provide students with list of virtues and definitions

• In partners, have them come up with examples of how these are NOT valued by the world
• Discuss responses
• Help students to connect that as God’s children we are to value what He values, not what the world says about it.

The NOW WHAT:

• What are some ways that you can be ready to make difficult choices?

Close:

• Share with students the Key Verse: 1 Peter 3:14 - But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.”
• Remind students that sometimes they will have to make hard choices, but they can be encouraged knowing that ultimately they are making the choice to please their heavenly Father.
• Pray with your students

Isaac Gets a Wife!

Hello Friends!

Today I am sharing my lesson plan for Genesis 24:1-27, where we read about Isaac marrying Rebekah.

Introduction:

Remember that elementary school game, MASH? It was a game played for fun to predict who you were going to marry, how many children you would have, what kind of car you'd drive, and the type of home you'd live in (mansion, apartment, shack, or house). If you've never played the game for yourself, or it's been a while and you'd like something to jog your memory, here are the rules that we played by:

1. Write MASH at the top of your page
2. Draw a large box in the center of your page
3. On the left write 4 names of "potential" mates (as a kid, this was a fun way to tell your friends who you had a crush on at school...)
4. On the right side of the box, list 4 forms of transportation
5. Under the box write 4 numbers. In our lesson I had a pair of die and each rolled 4 times. This would tell how many children we were predicted to have.
6. The participants are instructed to draw a spiral in the box until the leader tells them to stop (I silently counted to 5).
7. Participants then counted the number of lines from the top of the spiral to the bottom of the spiral. This is the number to which you counted off. For example, if the number of lines in my spiral equaled 8, I would start counting with the first name on my list and go in order counterclockwise and cross off the 8th name/number/car/living space. I would then start counting off again and continue around. Once I had eliminated 3 of the 4 options for any given side, I would "know" what I would end up with. Here's a quick video (with some slight variations to the rules described above), in case my attempt to write out the rules completely failed you. 

After we had fun sharing what MASH predicted our futures to look like, students were introduced to main idea of our study and how the culture back in the day had a completely different way of matching husbands and wives. 

If time allows and if you're married yourself, you may share a quick version of the story of how you and your spouse met. And just between you and me...my husband and I are an actual eHarmony success story! :)

THE WHAT:

Read with your group Genesis 24:1-27.

1. What are your observations?
2. What does this make you think?

THE SO WHAT:

1. Why do you think it was so important that Abraham's servant find a wife for Isaac from among his own people and not from a different people group, the Canaanites? Why did Abraham insist that the woman be brought back rather than letting Isaac move to her neck of the woods?
2. What character qualities of Rebekah can we figure out by the description written in verses 15-19? What kind of young woman was she?
3. How did prayer make a difference in this passage of scripture?

THE NOW WHAT:

1. 2 Corinthians 6:16 tells us to not be unequally yoked with nonbelievers. How does this relate to what we read in Genesis? Why is that important to us today?
2. Look at the image below...how does this represent an ideal marriage relationship? (Please note that I understand this graphic may have flaws that could be interpreted, but for this lesson, it makes the point that as two believers are continuously growing in their faith, they are not only growing closer to God, but to one another.)
   
3. What do you think of having a list of character qualities for a potential mate? Could it be helpful? Could it be limiting? How do you think you figure out "deal breakers"? What might be 2 or 3 things on your list?
4. What role should prayer play in your relationships? (This might be a good place to remind students that prayer is not meant to get God to align with our desires, but rather, to get our desires in alignment with God.)

Close:

• Share with students this week's key verse, Psalm 119:10: I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.

1. How does this verse relate to what we've been talking?

• Remind students that God desires for his children to be in healthy faith-filled relationships. While some of his "rules" for Christian living go against our modern culture, it is for our best interest that we live within the boundaries that He has set out of love and for our protection.

SIDE NOTE: 

Some of your students may have already crossed that line in their dating relationships. Be sensitive to the way that they take in this message. If needed, have a more private conversation reassuring them that God is in the forgiveness business and He does love them and only wants what's best for each of us.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ideas on how to present this portion of scripture. Have a blessed day!

-bethany.