Isaac and Rebekah

Passage

Familiarize yourself with this passage:

Genesis 24
As Abraham was nearing the end of his life, he sent his best servant back to the land that he came from to find a wife for Isaac, his promised son. The servant promised Abraham that he would go back to Abraham’s land and find Isaac a wife from Abraham’s own family. As the servant approached Abraham’s former homeland, he prayed for God’s help to find the right woman to become Isaac’s wife. While the servant was still praying, a young woman name Rebekah came out to get water from the well. The servant asked for a drink and Rebekah not only gave him a drink, but gave water to all the camels that were with him as well. The servant knew that this was the right woman for Isaac and that God had answered his prayer. After Rebekah’s family gave their blessing, Rebekah left with the servant. As they approached Abraham’s home, Isaac was sitting in the field. Isaac and Rebekah saw each other. They were married and love each other very much. God’s promise to Abraham would now continue on through Isaac.

Object lesson:

Supplies Needed:
·         4 shawls or scarves
Directions:
1.       Before you begin your story, select 4 kids to be your helpers.
2.       As you introduce each of the main characters in the story, dress them with a scarf.
a.       For Abraham, wrap the scarf around the shoulders, with the ends hanging in the front.
b.      For the servant, drape the scarf across on shoulder, with one end in the front and one end in the back
c.       For Rebekah, place the scarf over her head, with then ends hanging in the front. When you get to the part of the story when she sees Isaac for the first time, move the scarf on her head so that it also covers her face.
d.      For Isaac, place the scarf on the head with the ends hanging in the back.
3.       Feel free to move your children around as you tell the story. This is a visual demonstration of the story for them. Be as creative and fun as you like.

Memory Verse:

Isaiah 62:5b
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Jesus Connection:

Rebekah was God’s chosen bride for Isaac and Isaac loved Rebekah. In the same way, we are God’s chosen bride for Jesus and Jesus loves us so much! Revelation 19:7 says, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” At the end of time, when we are taken up to heaven to spend an eternity with Jesus, we will be presented to him as a beautiful bride, dressed in white and adorned with jewels, ready for her wedding day! (Revelation 21:2)

Songs

“Father Abraham”

Father Abraham had many sons
Many sons had Father Abraham
I am one of them and so are you
So let’s all praise the Lord
Right arm!
….Left arm!
….Right foot!
….Left foot!
….Chin up!
….Turn around!
….Sit down!

Games/Activities

Bride and Groom Dress-up

Supplies needed:
·         Several rolls of cheap toilet paper
Directions:
1.       Divide the group into two teams. Make one of the girls on one team the bride, and make one of the boys on the second team the groom.
2.       Explain to the children that after Isaac and Rebekah met each other, they got married. A wedding is a very big, special occasion. The bride and the groom dress in beautiful clothes for all to see. Tell the kids that there job will be to make beautiful clothes for their bride and groom out of toilet paper. Encourage the kids to be creative. Have them try to make a veil for the bride, shoes for the groom and even flowers.
3.       This game does not have to be competitive. You can give them a time limit, though, to encourage them to work quickly.

Crafts/Projects

Camel Prints

Supplies Needed:
·         Brown finger paint
·         A big paint brush
·         White paper
·         Crayons or markers
Directions:
1.       Paint each child’s hand with brown finger paint. Make sure that you paint the entire hand, including a small portion of the wrist area. Have them put their hand print on a piece of white paper. Turn their paper around so that the fingers are facing them. Add an extra finger print coming up and out from the thumb print. This will be the neck and head.
2.       As the paint dries, have the kids draw a picture around the camel that represents a scene from the story. (ie: servant on the road, servant at the well, Rebekah by the camel when she sees Isaac…)
3.       After the paint has dried, the kids can add a face, tail and goofs to their camels using crayons or markers.

 Coloring Page:

Abraham and Isaac

Passage:

Familiarize yourself with this passage:

Genesis 21-22
Just as God promised, Abraham and Sarah had a baby boy in their old age. They named his Isaac, because he brought laugher to their life. As he grew, he was dearly loved by Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac remained their only son. When Isaac was young, God came to Abraham and tested him. God told Abraham to take Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice. The next morning, Abraham set out to obey the command of God. He took Isaac up a mountain, set up and alter and piled it with wood. When Isaac asked his father where the lamb for the offering was, Abraham told Isaac that God would provide the lamb. Then, Abraham tied up his son and laid him on the altar. Just as Abraham raised a knife in the air to kill his son, God stopped him. Abraham had passed the test. Now God knew that Abraham truly loved God because he was willing to give God the most precious thing in his life. Just then God provide a ram in a bush as a sacrifice instead of Isaac. They sacrificed that ram and worshiped God together on the mountain.

Object Lesson:

Altar

Supplies Needed:
·         A bunch of small pillows or foam mats
·         A small bundle of flat sticks
·         Large bag or box
·         The smallest child from your class (you do not need to tell him/her before hand)
Direction:
1.       Put all of your pillows/mats and sticks in your large bag/box, with the sticks on the bottom.
2.       When you sit down for story time, make sure that the kids are far enough back from you that you have space to set up your altar.
3.       As you tell your story, take one pillow/mat out of your bag at a time, placing it on the floor in front of you and the children. Continue taking the pillows/mats out and pile them on top of each other until you have an altar.
4.       After you have you altar constructed, when you get to the part of the story when Isaac says, “We have the fire and the wood for the offering, but where is the lamb?”, then take out the bundle of sticks and place it on top of the altar.
5.       When you talk about Abraham placing Isaac onto the altar, take your smallest child and place them on top of the alter (You can arrange the sticks so that the child is not actually laying on the sticks, but the sticks are around the side of the child.)
6.       Take the child off when God stops Abraham in the story.

 Memory Verse:

Genesis 22:14
So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.

 Jesus Connection:

God still requires a sacrifice to take care of our issue of sin. We all have an issue with sin (Romans 3:23) and it has to be punished by death! (Romans 6:23a). The sin has to be covered with blood. (Hebrews 9:22) Just as God provided a ram for Abraham and Isaac, God has also provided the perfect sacrifice as a substitute for our sins. The blood sacrifice that God has provided for us is Jesus Christ. If we believe in Jesus, he becomes our sacrifice, his blood covers our sins, and we can have eternal life (Romans 6:23b)!

Songs:

“Father Abraham”

Father Abraham had many sons
Many sons had Father Abraham
I am one of them and so are you
So let’s all praise the Lord
Right arm!
….Left arm!
….Right foot!
….Left foot!
….Chin up!
….Turn around!
….Sit down!

“Jesus loves the little children”

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world; Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Jesus died for all the children,
All the children of the world; Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his sight; Jesus died the little children of the world.

Jesus rose for all the children,
All the children of the world; Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in his sight; Jesus arose the little children of the world.

Jesus wants the little children,
To be careful what they do; Honor father, mother dear
Keep their hearts so full of cheer; Then he'll take them home to glory by and by.

Games and Activities:

Pictionary

Supplies Needed:
·         Paper
·         Pencils
Directions:
1.       Divide the children into 2 or more teams. Provide each team with paper and pencils.
2.       Have one volunteer from each team come to you and tell them an object or scene from the Bible stories about Abraham.
3.       The children run back to their group and try to draw a picture of the object or scene. (Assure the kids that stick figures are fine!)
4.       The first team to correctly guess the word or phrase wins that round.
Word/Phrase Bank:
·         Abraham
·         Sarah
·         Isaac
·         Sheep
·         Alter
·         Pillar of salt
·         Three visitors
·         Stars
·         Isaac on the alter
·         Ect…

Crafts:

Cotton Ball Sheep

Supplies Needed:
·         Toilet paper tubes
·         Cotton balls
·         Glue
·         Sheep head print out (see below)
·         Googly eyes
·         Pipe cleaners (cut into 1 inch segments; 4 per child)
·         Scissors
·         Masking tape
Directions:
1.       Give each child a toilet paper tube, some cotton balls, a sheep head, two googly eyes and 4 pipe cleaners.
2.       Give each child a piece of masking tape and have them cover one end of the toilet paper tube. Have the kids put glue all over the outside of the toilet paper tube, including on the masking tape. Then, taking cotton balls, apply them to the glue until the entire tube is covered. (If the kids pull the cotton balls apart just a little, their sheep will be fluffier!)
3.       Have each child cut out their sheep head. Glue the googly eyes to the sheep head. Glue the sheep head to the cotton balls on the open side of the toilet paper tube.
4.       Turn the sheep upside down. Put 4 dabs of glue into the cotton balls and insert the pipe cleaners into the glue. Squeeze the cotton balls around the pipe cleaners to make sure that the glue sticks. Allow several minutes for the glue to dry.

Coloring Page: