GENESIS 

Chapters 34 and 35 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 34 and Chapter 35.

Chapter 34
Verses 1-3      Shechem commits a crime against Dinah.
Verse 4           Shechem wants to marry Dinah.
Verse 5           Jacob learns of the crime against his daughter.
Verses 6-12    Shechem’s father asks Jacob to give Dinah to his son as a wife.
Verses 13-17  The sons of Jacob make an agreement with Shechem’s father.
Verses 18-24  Shechem and his dad present the agreement to the men of their city and all agree.
Verses 25-29  While the men of the city were recovering from the circumcisions, Simeon and Levi kill every male in the city. They take the women and children hostage and plunder all their goods.
Verses 30-31  Jacob is not happy with Simeon and Levi and he fears for his life.

Chapter 35
Verse 1          God tells Jacob to go to Bethel.
Verses 2-4     Jacob tells his family and all in his house to get rid of the idols and purify themselves.
Verses 5-7     Jacob travels to Bethel in safety.
Verse 8          Rebekah’s nurse dies.
Verses 9-10   God tells Jacob his name is now Israel.
Verses 11-15 The promises given to Abraham and Isaac are also given to Jacob.
Verses 16-20 Rachel dies in childbirth as she gives birth to Benjamin.
Verses 21-22 Reuben sleeps with Bilhah (Rachel’s maidservant).
Verses 23-26 A list of the 12 sons and who their mothers were.
Verses 27-29 Isaac dies. Jacob and Esau bury their father.

Discussion:
-- Have you been the victim of a crime? How did you handle it? Did you avenge yourself by committing a crime against that person? Did you take the law into your own hands?
-- Dinah was hanging out with the wrong people. Does that justify what happened to her?
-- Who do you blame when bad things happen to you? Do you forgive those who have wronged you?
-- Jacob was more concerned with his reputation than his daughter’s. What should he have done?
-- The 2 brothers killed all the males in that city – did that punishment fit the crime?
-- Jacob orders the family to “clean up”. Was that enough? Did anyone confess their sin or ask for forgiveness?

Children Discussion:
-- What kind of punishment should you get when you disobey? Time out? Spanking? Loss of privileges?
-- Does punishment help you to obey?
-- Is it better to just obey?

GENESIS 

Chapters 32 and 33 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 32 and Chapter 33.

Chapter 32
Verses 1-5     Jacob sends a message to Esau.
Verses 6        Esau sends a message back.
Verses 7-8     Jacob is afraid of Esau and divides his family and flocks into 2 camps so that one will be spared if the other is attacked.
Verses 9-12    Jacob prays for safety.
Verses 13-21  Jacob prepares his gifts for Esau.
Verses 22-32  Jacob wrestles with God. God changes his name to Israel.

Chapter 33
Verses 1-3      Jacob divides up the women and children into 3 camps. The ones he loves the most are last.
Verses 4-7      Jacob and Esau meet. Esau meets the family.
Verses 8-11    Esau doesn’t want the gifts from Jacob but Jacob insists.
Verses 12-15  Esau wants them to all travel together but Jacob comes up with reasons why they can’t. Jacob agrees to meet up with Esau later.
Verses 16-17  Esau goes off in one direction and Jacob goes in another – Jacob is not going to meet up with Esau – he deceives him again.
Verses 18-20  Jacob buys a piece of land.

Discussion:
--Jacob is returning home and knows he will run into Esau. Jacob remembers the death threats and comes up with a plan to soften Esau’s heart. Do you think Esau still wanted to kill him?
--Jacob tries to buy Esau’s forgiveness. How do you ask for forgiveness? Is a gift necessary?
--Jacob prayed to God for safety and then he lies to protect himself. Do you take matters into your own hand? Do you trust God or yourself?

Child Discussion:
--Does your family have reunions?
--What’s it like seeing people you haven’t seen in a long time?

GENESIS 

Chapter 31 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 31.

Verses 1-3    Jacob notices that things are not going well with Laban and his sons.
Verses 4-13  Jacob tells Rachel and Leah all that has been going on.
Verses 14-16 Rachel and Leah agree with Jacob.
Verses 17-18 Jacob packs up all that he has.
Verse 19        Rachel steals her father’s idols.
Verses 20-21 Jacob and his family secretly leave Laban.
Verses 22-25 Laban pursues Jacob and finds him. But Laban had a dream where God spoke to him.
Verses 26-30 Laban wants answers – why did they leave and why did they steal his idols?
Verses 31-32 Jacob explains why they left secretly and tells Laban he can search for his idols amongst their belongings.
Verses 33-35 Laban searches everywhere and can’t find the idols. Rachel sits on the idols and makes an excuse for not getting up to be searched.
Verses 36-42 Jacob is very angry and gives Laban a tongue lashing.
Verses 43-55 Jacob and Laban make a peace agreement.

Discussion:
Jacob could tell that things had changed – Laban was jealous. Has anyone been jealous of you? How did it make you feel?
Have you been jealous of someone? Why?
God told Jacob to leave but He didn’t tell him to do it secretly. Did Jacob think that God would not protect him from Laban?
Have you had to do something in secret? Why?
Rachel stole idols from her father – if an idol can be stolen, does it really have any power?
Rachel also lies about it. Does it seem like Jacob had any kind of godly influence in his family?
Laban believed in idols and yet he made an agreement with Jacob with God as the witness. Was God just another “idol” to Laban?

Child Activities:
Collect some items (rock, toy, etc.)
Hold each one up – is it silly to pray to a rock (or toy, etc.) for help?
(gives a visual for children to see that man made idols are nothing)

GENESIS 

Chapters 29 and 30 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 29 and Chapter 30.

Chapter 29:
Verses 1-14  Jacob meets Rachael.
Verses 15-30  Jacob makes a business agreement with Laban in exchange for marriage to Rachel. Laban tricks Jacob and gives him Leah. Another agreement is made so that he can have Rachel also.
Verses 31-35  Leah starts having children – has 4 sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah). Then she stops having children.

Chapter 30:
Verses 1-8  Rachael has not been able to bear children yet. She gives her maid to Jacob and she has 2 sons (Dan and Naphtali).
Verses 9-13  Not to be outdone, Leah gives her maid to Jacob and she bears 2 sons (Gad and Asher).
Verses 14-21  Rachael makes a deal with Leah. Leah bears more children for Jacob (Isachar, Zebulun and Dinah).
Verses 22-24  Rachael finally has a child for Jacob (Joseph).
Verses 25-43  Jacob makes another deal with Laban – this time he wants to start his own flock. Jacob comes up with a plan to get more lambs.

Discussion: 

Are you married or engaged?
Was it love at first sight when you met each other?
Did you have a long engagement or a short one?
Obviously Leah knew she wasn’t the one that Jacob was supposed to marry – did she agree with Laban to do this? Was Laban just trying to get rid of his daughters?
Jacob worked 14 years to get the woman he loved. Have you ever had to go above and beyond for the one you love?
Leah had 4 sons before she started praising the Lord (Genesis 29:35). Are you praising God in the midst of your trials?
Rachael finally has a son but she wants more – she was not satisfied with what she had. Are you satisfied with what you have? Why or why not?
Jacob did not have to agree to have children with the maids – but he did. What might have been his reasoning? What do you think it was like for the women?

Child Activities:
Coloring pictures of sheep and goats – make them speckled and spotted.

GENESIS 

Chapters 27 and 28 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 27 and Chapter 28.

Chapter 27
Verses 1-4  Isaac tells Esau to make him some savory food and that he wants to bless him before he dies.

Verses 5-17  Rebekah overhears Isaac talk to Esau and comes up with a plan for Jacob to get the blessing instead.

Verses 18-26  Jacob brings the food to Isaac and convinces him that he is Esau.

Verses 27-29  Isaac blesses Jacob with the blessing he was going to give Esau.

Verses 30-36  Esau shows up with the food he has made and finds out that Jacob beat him to it.

Verses 37-40  Isaac gives a blessing to Esau.

Verses 41  Esau plans to kill his brother once their father is dead.

Verses 42-45  Rebekah tells Jacob to go to her brother Laban. Rebekah may have thought Esau would calm down in a few days.

Verses 46-48  Rebekah creates a situation to manipulate Isaac into sending Jacob away.

Chapter 28
Verses 1-5  Isaac sends Jacob to Laban to find a wife.

Verses 6-9  Esau sees that his father disapproves of his 2 Canaanite wives, so he adds another wife from Ishmael’s family (Isaac’s half brother).

Verses 10-12  Jacob has a dream of a ladder to heaven and angels going up and down the ladder.

NOTE: The ladder created a bridge from heaven to earth.
The cross is the bridge from earth to heaven. Jesus showed us the way to heaven.

Verses 13-15  God speaks to Jacob in his dream – gives him the promise that was given to Abraham and Isaac.

Verses 16-17  Jacob wakes up and realizes that he was in the presence of God.

Verses 18-22  Jacob makes a vow and anoints the stone that was used as his pillow.

Discussion:
How does it feel when someone tricks you?
Have you tried to trick someone?
Has anyone made you a promise? Did they keep it?
Have you made a promise to someone? Did you keep it?
God had a plan for Jacob but Rebekah decided to hurry it along. Have you tried to hurry God along?
What were the consequences of that?

Child Activities:
Furry fabric (to drape on one of the children to create hairy neck and arms)
Blindfold
Have a child put on the blindfold. Then have one of the children put on the furry fabric. See if the blindfolded child can guess who is wearing the furry fabric.

Crafts:
Make a paper (or cardboard) ladder tall enough to reach the ceiling.
Cut out angel figures and attach (glue or staple) to the ladder.

GENESIS 

Chapter 26 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 26.

Verses 1-6  There is a famine in the land and God tells Isaac not to go to Egypt, but to stay in Gerar.

Verses 7-11  Isaac tells a lie to protect his wife (just like his dad). Isaac had faith to trust God in the famine. Isaac had faith to pray for children (Chapter 25). But, he did not have faith that God would protect his wife. Isaac’s lie gets discovered when the king sees him being affectionate to Rebekah. Abimelech calls him out on the lie.

Verses 12-16  Isaac prospers in the land, so much so that the Philistines envy him and Abimelech asks him to leave.

Verses 17-18  Isaac leaves the area and digs up the wells that were from the time of his father.

Verses 19-22  Apparently Isaac didn’t move far enough away and his servants and the herdsmen of Gerar quarrel over the water rights. Eventually they find water that no one is arguing over.

Verses 23-25  Isaac goes to Beersheba and God speaks to him there repeating the covenant that He made with Abraham.

Verses 26-31  Abimelech shows up and wants to make a treaty with Isaac (he sees how God has blessed Isaac).

Verses 32-33  The servants dig another well and find water.

Verses 34-35  Esau takes 2 wives of the Hittites and this upsets Isaac and Rebekah.

Discussion:
What are you afraid of?
Do you have something so special that you can’t trust anyone with it – not even God?
What do you think will happen to it?
Have you worried about something and nothing happened?
Does worrying help?
If you make a mistake, do you tell your children?
Are you teaching them to do what you say but not what you do?
Do your words and actions match up?
What has happened in your life to confirm that you are where God wants you to be?
If you don’t have confirmation, what can you do about it?

Children Discussion:
Have you told a lie to protect someone? What happened?
Do you have enemies? Why are they enemies? Can you make a treaty with them?
Does your behavior upset your parents? What can you do about that?

GENESIS 

Chapter 25 

If you don’t have a Bible handy, click this link for Genesis Chapter 25.

Verses 1-6  Abraham marries Keturah and they have 6 sons. Abraham gave gifts to all his sons but to Isaac he gave all that he had. Abraham’s other sons were sent away from Isaac. In later years these other sons would become nations that will give Israel trouble.

Verses 7-11  Abraham dies at the age of 175. Isaac and Ishmael bury their father with Sarah.

Verses 12-18  The genealogy of Ishmael – he had 12 sons. Ishmael lived to the age of 137.

Verses 19-28    Isaac and Rebekah were married for 20 years before they had children. Isaac prays for his wife. Rebekah gives birth to twin sons. Esau was the first born and Jacob was second. Isaac’s favorite was Esau and Rebekah’s favorite was Jacob.

Verses 29-34  Esau sells his position in the family (firstborn) because he was hungry and too tired to make anything for himself. He decided a meal was more important than his position in the family.

Discussion:
Abraham’s favorite son was Isaac.
Isaac’s favorite son was Esau. Rebekah’s favorite was Jacob.
Jacob’s favorite son was Joseph. (Chapter 37:3)
Favoritism seems to run in this family . . .

Do you have a favorite child? Why is one favored over the others? Do you think your children know that you have a favorite?
Did your parents have a favorite? Was it you? If it wasn’t you, how did that make you feel? Did it cause sibling rivalry?

Children Discussion:
Is it important to pray for people (like Isaac did for Rebekah)?
Do parents have a favorite child? Is that fair?
If you are the oldest child in your family, would you trade places with a younger sibling (like Esau did)?
Did Esau make a good choice? What would you have done?

Activity:
Ask each child if they need prayer about something.
Assign prayer partners and have them pray for each other.
Write down the prayer needs and watch as they get answered.