Jacob's Family

Passage:

Familiarize yourself with this passage:

Genesis 29:1-30:24;35:16-19

When Jacob arrived in the land of Paddan Aram, he saw a beautiful young woman named Rachel. Jacob fell in love with Rachel. Rachel brought Jacob home and introduced him to her family, including her father, Laban, who was Jacob’s uncle. Jacob agreed to work for Laban 7 years if he would be able to marry Rachel. Laban agreed, but when the 7 years were completed, Laban tricked Jacob, giving him Rachel’s younger sister, Leah, instead of Rachel. So, Jacob worked another 7 years and married Rachel as well. In addition to these two women, when they became married to Jacob, they each received a maidservant from their father. So, there came to be four women in Jacob’s house. Over the course of time, and with a competitive spirit between them, the sisters and their maidservants began having children. Jacob would eventually have 12 sons to his name. Jacob’s sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Ashe, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin.  God has begun to keep his promise to make Abraham, Isaac and Jacob into a great nation.

Object Lesson: Seven Minutes of Silence

Supplies Needed:
1. A clock with a second hand
Directions:
1. Have the class try to imagine what seven years is like. Hold up a clock with a second hand and tell the children that they are going to watch the clock for seven minutes and they must be completely silent. As the second hand rounds the clock, have them put up a finger to count how many minutes have passed.
2. At the end of seven minutes ask the children if it seemed like a long time to them.
3. Tell them that you forgot, but to finish the lesson, they must watch the clock for another seven minutes in silence. After you give them a chance to respond, tell them you are only joking.
4. Explain to the children what is must have been like for Jacob to wait seven years for Rachel, only to discover that he must work for another seven years to get her. Ask the class how that would make them feel.

Memory Verse:

Psalm 127:3
Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him.

Jesus Connection:

Jacob was later renamed Israel by God. Jacob’s 12 sons would become the 12 tribes of Israel. Of all the children, Jacob’s son Judah would become the line of Jesus. Through the descendants of Judah, Jesus would eventually be born.

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 love 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.

Games/Activities

Guess Who!?!

Supplies needed:
• A large, dark blanket or sheet
• Two shawls (optional!)
Directions:
1. Divide the class into two teams. With the blanket in the middle of the room, have one team sit on either side of the blanket.
2. Lift the blanket so that the teams are divided and can no longer see each other.
3. Have the teams take turns sending one person at a time up to the blanket. When you drop the blanket, the two children on either side have to say the name of the other child as fast as they can. The fastest child wins the round.
4. Raise the blanket and call two new children forward. Play until all children have had at least on turn.
5. An optional alternative: Bring two shawls with you to class and have the two children cover their heads so you can only see their eye and then have them guess.

Crafts:

Jacob’s Sons Folding Craft Sticks

http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/Bible-Themes-Abraham.html
Supplies Needed:
• Craft sticks, cut in two, varying the sizes (so you have a round end and a flat end)
• Masking tape
• Crayons or colored pencils
Directions:
1. Place two sticks together, side by side, and tape them together, making sure to cover the whole stick but not the rounded ends. Turn these sticks over.
2. Take two more sticks and place them on either side of the first two. Tape the two new sticks to the first sticks. Make sure you only place each piece of tape on two sticks, just as you did in step one. Turn these sticks over.
3. Repeat step two until all twelve sticks have been taped together.
4. You may wish to cover the ends of the last two sticks with tape, as it is easier to color on the tape than on the sticks. (This is optional.)
5. Use the crayons or colored pencils to draw hair, faces and clothes on each of the sticks, making the 12 sons of Jacob. You may even have them write the names of the sons on the backs of the sticks.

Coloring Page:

Jacob's Dream

Passage:

Familiarize yourself with the following passage:

Genesis 28:10-29:1

Jacob is running away from home. He has deceived his brother, Esau, two times, stealing the firstborn blessing that rightfully belonged to Esau. Now Esau is comforting himself with the thought of killing Jacob, so Jacob has been sent away in a hurry by his mother to her family in the land of Paddan Aram. Late one night, when he was tired from all his travels, Jacob found a large stone to use as a pillow and lay down to sleep. Jacob then had a dream. In his dream, Jacob saw a staircase that went up to heaven. Angels were going up and down the stairs and at the top of the stairs was God. God spoke to Jacob, renewing the covenant of Abraham and Isaac with him. God promised Jacob that he would return to the place he was sleeping and that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth (or grains of sand, depending on your translation).  When Jacob awoke and realized what he saw in his dream was real, he set up his stone pillow as a memorial. He declared that place to be the house of God and the staircase the gate to heaven. Then Jacob promised that if God was faithful to him, he would be faithful to God. At the end Jacob promised to give one tenth of all he had to God.

Object Lesson:

Supplied Needed:
• A pile of sand
• Paper plates
• Magnifying glasses (optional)
Directions:
1. If possible, ask the children to sit or stand around a table. Give each child a paper plate. Place a spoonful of sand on each plate. If you have magnifying glasses, you can give them to the children now as well.
2. Ask the children to count all the pieced of sand that is on their plate. Note their reactions.
3. After about 30 second or a minute, ask the children how many pieced of sand they counted. Mention to them some of the reactions they gave when you gave them the command to count. (Surprised, overwhelmed, amazed….)
4. Tell the kids that there is a lot of sand in the world. There is no way that we could ever count them all. In the story they are about to hear, the main character may have similar reactions when presented with the idea of counting all the sand in the whole world!

Memory Verse:

Genesis 28:15
“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Jesus Connection:

In his dream, Jacob saw a stairway reaching to heaven. This stairway is a connection between heaven and earth, with God at the top, taking the initiative to reach down to man. The stairway is a representation of Jesus, who is God come to earth to save man. Jesus is the only connection we have to God. Jesus says of himself in John 1:51, “Very truly I will you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” We know that the Son of Man is Jesus. The passage being referenced here is none other than Genesis 28 and Jacob’s dream. Through Jesus, God offers us great blessing, just as he did to Jacob .

Songs:

Jacob’s Ladder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OQjuzAH2Ys
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder (3x)
Soldiers of the cross.

Every round goes higher, higher (3x)
Soldiers of the cross.

Sinner, do you love my Jesus (3x)
Soldiers of the cross.

If you love Him, why not serve Him? (3x)
Soldiers of the cross.

Rise and shine and give God glory, (3x)
Soldiers of the cross.

Games/Activities

One Tenth

Supplies Needed:
• 100 of some item (pennies, buttons, paperclips, ect...)
• possibly more of that same item if you have more than 10 kids in your class
Directions:
1. Put your item in a pile in the middle of the group. Ask each child to get 10 pieces from the pile.
2. Using a pile of your own, demonstrate how to make one tenth. Count your items, setting one of them aside to represent the one tenth.
3. Give the children a bigger idea of what one tenth looks like by putting all the items in piles of ten. Emphasize that all the piles are the same. When you have ten piles of ten, count the piles, setting one pile aside to represent the one tenth. Tell the children that Jacob gave one tenth of all he had to God. So, if all of the item that you brought represents all that Jacob had, then that one pile would be what he gave to God.
4. Tell the children that today many people still give one tenth of what they get to God. Ask the children what they get for allowance, if they get any. Ask them what one tenth would be. Encourage them to consider bringing one tenth of their allowance to church to give back to God, just like Jacob did.

Stair Climbing

Supplies needed:
• several pieces of paper
• a pen
• tape
• a set of stairs
Directions:
1. Pre-class prep: On several pieces of paper, write sections of today's bible verse so that when all the pieces of paper are collected and placed in order, you have a complete verse. Tape these pieces of paper to the stairs.
2. Bring the children to the stairs and let them take turns climbing the stairs, finding the pieces of paper taped to each stair.
3. When all the paper has been found, bring the children back to the classroom and have them work together to put the verse in order.
4. This game can be made more competitive by having two sets of paper (differing colors) and allowing the children to race to get the paper and assemble the verse. First one with the verse assembled correctly wins.

Crafts/Projects

Jacob's Ladder Toilet Paper Roll Craft

Supplies Needed:
• Angel template
• colors
• scissors
• tape or glue
• toilet paper rolls (2 per child)
• large popsicle sticks (three per child)

Directions:
1. Give each child one angel template to color and cut out.
2. Tape or glue the templates to the toilet paper rolls
3. Use the scissors to add the slits in the sides of the roll where it is marked on the template.
4. Insert the large popsicle sticks into the slits in both rolls, so that the rolls are connected by the sticks.

Coloring Page

Jacob and Esau

Passage

Familiarize yourself with the following passage:

Genesis 25:7-9; 19-34; 27:1-28:5
When Isaac and Rebekah got married, Rebekah was not able to have children. So, Isaac prayed to God and God allowed Rebekah to become pregnant, with twins! Even before the twin boys were born they were fighting with each other in the womb. After they were born and had grown up, the continued to fight with each other. Once, after a long day of hunting, Esau, who happened to be a very hairy man, came into the tent were Jacob was and asked for a bowl of soup because he was extremely hungry. Jacob told him he would give him food, if Esau first promised to give up his rights as a first born. Esau did not care, because he was so hungry, and agreed to the deal.
Some time later, Isaac was getting old and felt he could die at any time, so he called Esau in to see him. Esau, Isaac’s favorite, was going to prepare a meal for his father and receive a blessing. So Esau left to hunt and prepare Isaacs favorite meal. Rebekah overheard this conversation and prepared her favorite son, Jacob, to go in a receive the blessing instead. She made Isaac’s favorite food and clothed Jacob in some of Esau’s clothes and put hairy sleeves on his arm, since Jacob was not hairy like his brother. Jacob them took the food in to his father and asked for his blessing. Isaac, who was old and could not see very well, was confused by the voice of Jacob, but when he felt his ‘hairy’ arms and smelled his clothes he believed it was Esau, and blessed him. When Esau returned, ready to receive his blessing, there was no more blessing to give. Esau became enraged with his brother and vowed to kill him. Rebekah sought to protect Jacob and sent him away to her brother until Esau’s anger would subside.

Object Lesson:

Supplies Needed:
• A picture of an average family (mom, dad, and at least two kids)
Directions:
• Before you begin the story, hold up the picture. Explain, this is a picture of an average looking family. There is a mom, a dad, and two children. Ask the kids to take a close look at the kids in the picture. Ask, “Do you think they always get along with one another? Do you have any brothers or sisters? Do you always get along and play well together? Do you ever fuss and fight? Sometimes brother and sisters can become best friends. Sometimes all they do is fight with each other. Today’s story is about two brothers who spent a lot of time fighting. “

Memory Verse:

Genesis 25:23
The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

Jesus Connection:

In this story, Esau rejected his rights as a first born son. This was a conscious choice that he made. He knew what he was doing. Like Esau, we also have a choice, to accept or reject Jesus. If we accept Jesus, we will live a life of blessing both now and forever more. (John 10:10)  If we reject Jesus, there are tremendous consequences, separation from Him forever. (2 Thessalonians 1:9) It is God’s desire that none should perish, but that all should spend eternal life with him. (Matthew 18:14) It is our choice, just like it was for Esau.

Songs

Esau and Jacob (to the tune of Baa Baa Black Sheep)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN6GMQTQksk&noredirect=1
Esau was a hairy man,
Jacob he was smooth;
Smooth in action, smooth in speech,
And oh so sly….from babyhood!

Esau was a hunting man,
Jacob chopped up wood.
Built a fire and made some stew,
And Esau saw….that it was good.

Esau was a hungry man,
So from where he stood,
He gave up his birthright,
Gave it up…for Jacob’s food.

Esau he was gullible,
Jacob he was cool,
Stole his brother’s blessing,
Go read it in…God’s holy book.

Esau was an angry man,
That’s when Jacob flew.
Ran away from Esau’s wrath,
What else was there…for him to do?

Games/Activities

Lentil Soup

Supplies Needed:
• One dice template per child
• Scissors
• Tape
• Lots of dry pasta noodles!
• Disposable cups (optional)
Directions:
• Give each child a dice template to cut out and tape together.
• Have the children count out 40 noodles. (You can have this done before hand and put the noodles in individual cups). You can do less noodles per child if you wish. Set aside the same number of noodles to be the draw pile in the middle of the group.
• At the same time, all the kids roll their dice. After their dice has been rolled, the children perform the action that is pictured on the card. (Always have the children roll their dice at the same time for each round.)
a. No action.
b. Give one noodle to any other player’s bowl.
c. Give one noodle back to the draw pile
d. Take one noodle from the draw pile and add it to your bowl.
• When one child runs out of noodles the game ends. All the children count their noodles. The child with the most noodles wins!*

Crafts

Jacob’s ‘Hairy’ Arms

Supplies Needed:
• Toilet paper tubes (two per child)
• Scissors
• Glue
• Cotton balls
Directions:
1. Give each child two toilet paper tubes and a pair of scissors.
2. Have the kids cut a line in the tube from one end to another. This will allow the child to slip the tube onto their arms, like a bracelet or a sleeve.
3. One at a time, cover the tubes with glue. Take the cotton balls, pull them apart to make them fluffy, and stick them to the glue covered tubes.
4. Repeat with the second tube and allow time for glue to dry.
5. Put on arms and pretend to be Jacob!

Coloring Page