Jacob’s Dream and Jacob Meets Esau Genesis 28 & 33
Lesson Focus Psalm 91:11 - He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
God blessed Jacob with a large family and many earthly possessions while he loved and worked with Laban. At God’s command, Jacob leaves his father-in-law and starts for the land of his fathers – the land of promise. Fearing Laban’s wrath, Jacob flees with all that God has given him. Because Jacob left in secret and Rachel stole her father’s idols, Laban pursues Jacob. When Laban overtakes Jacob’s group, the two discuss Jacob’s departure and search in vain for the stolen idols. Jacob decries the unfair manner of Laban’s treatment of him. They make a covenant together, and Jacob departs for the Promised Land with Laban’s blessing.
When Esau hears that Jacob is coming back, he gathers a group of four hundred men to meet Jacob. In his distress, Jacob prays for the Lord’s intervention and help. Jacob respeaks God’s words into His ears. He reminds God of the promise of land and innumerable descendants He gave to his grandfather Abraham, to his father, Isaac, and to him.
God hears Jacob’s prayer for deliverance and comes to wrestle with Jacob. Jacob limps away from this encounter, but not without first receiving a new name and a divine blessing. Jacob grapples with man in the womb for the family birthright. Now he struggles with God for a heavenly birthright.
Israel (God’s fighter) is the name given to Jacob. It will become the coat of arms for the tribes of his twelve sons, who will be heirs of a heavenly birthright, struggling with both men and God. The crown of Israel is the struggle between God and man in the person of the God-man, Jesus Christ. In Jesus, God struggles with men. Even more, He struggles for men. God’s cosmic struggle for humankind does not end with a sore hip, but rather a bruised heel (Genesis 3:15).
The name of God is not yet revealed to Jacob. However, Jacob knows that God struggled with him, for God says, ‘you have struggled with God and with men.’ Jacob renames the place of this encounter Peniel (the face of God). Now, Esau meets Jacob not for war, but for peace.
Welcome Activity Jacob's Ladder Craft Ask students to draw Jacob's ladder on black construction paper with chalk, to represent the dream or night state when the dream occurred. You can also make Jacob's ladder with craft sticks for a 3-D effect, and to provide increased tactile experience for a younger student.
Bible Story Jacob and Esau Genesis 25 & 27
Read from your Bible. Ask students to find it in a Bible too. Those that can read can follow along. Choose the passages you would like to read aloud. Use visuals to help tell the story.
Jacob wrestled with God all night long. We can’t be certain exactly what happened that night, but maybe it was something like this.
Jacob was moving again.
He pulled up the stakes of his tents, and he and Rachel and Leah and their 12 children packed up all their belongings and loaded them onto a caravan of camels. And with all their servants, and their great flocks of sheep and goats and camels, they were traveling back to the land of Jacob’s father.
They were a few days into their journey when they made camp for the night. That night they had visitors, they were messengers from God. “You’re brother Esau is coming to meet you,” they told Jacob. Oh, oh. “Esau is coming to kill me!” Jacob said.
When they were kids, they probably got into lots of fights - and Jacob probably always got pounded, because his older brother (by about five minutes! Remember, they were twins - but not identical twins at all) was bigger and stronger than he was - but for some reason that never seems to stop little brothers from getting into fights with their bigger brothers and sisters! That’s where Jacob must have learned it was better to be clever.
Of course, it’s not like they were going to end up wrestling on the ground or anything - they were both over a hundred years old by now! (Jacob didn’t know it, but he was going to end up wrestling to the ground with God instead!) But Esau was a powerful, wealthy prince. He had many strong and mighty men who served him - and he was coming to meet his brother. ..or kill him. At least, that was what Jacob was afraid he was planning to do.
And so Jacob came up with a plan to make peace. He sent messengers on ahead of him. He told them to say to his brother, “I am your obedient servant. God has blessed me, and I come to you with many sheep and goats and camels.”
The messengers went ahead, and when they came back, they told Jacob, “Your brother is on his way, and he has 400 men with him!” “He is coming to kill me!” Jacob cried. And so he divided his household into two groups, “That way, if my brother attacks one group, the other may be able to get away.” he said. And then, for the first time in his life, Jacob prayed to God.
“God of my fathers, please hear my prayer! You told me to go back to the land of my fathers, and that you would make everything go well for me. I came across the Jordan River with nothing but a walking stick, and now, look how rich you have made me! I am not worthy of all the kindness you have shown me. “But I am afraid. My brother is coming to kill us all! Remember your faithful servant. Remember that you promised that my children would be as many as the sands of the seashore.”
And then Jacob went through his herds and chose gifts for his brother Esau. He chose goats and sheep, donkeys and cows, and camels. A good camel was worth more than a good car back in those days. A REAL good camel was like a Mercedes Benz! In the desert, it was probably the most valuable thing you could own.
Jacob divided his gifts into groups, one in front of the other, and sent them on ahead of him. He told the shepherd of each herd, “When you meet my brother, say to him, ‘These are a gift from your servant Jacob. He is coming right behind.’ ” That way, Jacob hoped that Esau would forgive him.
That night Jacob and his family came to a small stream. Jacob sent his family across the stream to make camp, but he stayed on the other side. He was afraid. He felt like running away. Under a starry sky, he sat next to a small fire, with his head down in his hands. “What am I going to do?” he said. And that’s when a stranger stepped out from the darkness. “What do you want?” Jacob said to the stranger. “You asked for my help,” the stranger said.
“Go away! Leave me alone!” Jacob said. Somehow, Jacob knew the stranger was the angel of God. It was God himself, in the form of a man. “My uncle hates me, my wives can’t get along, and my brother is coming to kill me. A lot of help you have been!” Jacob said, and he tried to push the stranger away. But the stranger grabbed a hold of Jacob’s robe.
“Go away! I don’t need your help!” Jacob said, and the two of them began to wrestle to the ground. The stranger wouldn’t let Jacob go. “But without me, you have nothing at all,” the stranger said as they struggled back and forth. “I don’t care, just leave me alone!”
“All right then,” the stranger said, and he began to pull away (but he didn’t let go of Jacob’s robe). “No! Wait! You can’t leave me here all alone!” And now Jacob was grabbing a hold of the stranger, and he wouldn’t let him go.
“Why would you want to help me? I have been a liar and cheat all my life. I don’t deserve your help.” Jacob said as the two rolled in the sand. “You won’t help me anyway! You have caused me nothing but trouble!!!” (which, of course, wasn’t true at all!) But the stranger just held on all the tighter.
“You need me,” the stranger said. “I don’t need you! I don’t want your help!” Jacob said. But deep down inside, deep in his heart, he knew that that was what he needed most. He tried to push the stranger away, but he couldn’t let him go.
And so they wrestled back and forth, on and on, all night long. Jacob wouldn’t let the stranger go, and the stranger wouldn’t let Jacob go.
Finally, the early light of morning began to creep across the eastern sky. “I won’t let you go until you bless me!” Jacob finally said, and he wrestled with the stranger all the more. In his heart he was crying out,
“Don’t let go! Don’t ever let go!” And he wouldn’t let God go.
At last, God struck Jacob on the hip and put it out of joint. Jacob walked with a limp from that day on. It would always remind him of the night he wrestled with God.
And then God said to Jacob, “What is your name?” A strange question to ask after all of this! “You know who I am!” Jacob said. God certainly did know. “I am Jacob!” Jacob answered.
But that’s not who Jacob was anymore. He was not a cheater anymore. Now Jacob knew that everything he had came from God, and not from his own doing. And so God gave him a new name, a princely name. “You shall be called Israel, which means ‘I have wrestled with God’.”
And then God blessed him, saying, “I am with you always. In all that you do, and you shall be blessed. Your children shall be as many as the stars in the sky, and the land I promised to your fathers, you shall possess.”
Dear Jesus, Thank You for taking care of Jacob when he was afraid. Help me to remember Your promise to take care of me when I am afraid. Amen.
God’s Word In My Heart Psalm 91:11 - He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.
Read this passage from your Bible. Ask students to locate it in a Bible too. Help them learn this verse.
Footprint Angel Trace each child’s foot on white paper. Trace both hands on the same sheet of paper, finger spread apart or together. Cut out foot, and hands. Assemble hands behind foot to make angel. Print one of today’s Bible verses on the angel’s body.
Activity Catch Game
Have children form two relay teams at one end of the room.
(If there is an odd number, the first child on the team with less people can go twice.)
Give the first two children on each team a piece of aluminum foil, rolled up like a baseball (that’s two aluminum baseballs).
Show the teammates how to toss the “ball” back and forth to each other, standing arms length apart.
Then they should start take a step toward the other wall while tossing the ball.
One catch without dropping the ball earns one step forward by both teammates. A dropped ball means they have to stay where they are and try again, until a caught ball earns them a step forward. No stepping forward without a caught ball! Once a team reaches the far wall, they can run back and deliver the ball to the next set of players. Whichever team finishes first wins. Ask who should get the prize? They should answer that the winning team should. However remind them: God is not as interested in how fast or how slow we are. He is interested in those who show persistence. Therefore, everyone gets a prize.
Closing Activity Psalm 91:11 - He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.
Sing: Jesus Loves Me
Dear Jesus, Thank You for taking care of Jacob when he was afraid. Help me to remember Your promise to take care of me when I am afraid. Amen.
