"Only Life Changes"

 

So, Pharaoh didn’t send Joseph back to jail any more, but made a great man of him instead. The king took off his own ring and put it on Joseph’s finger and dressed him in beautiful clothing and put a gold chain around his neck.

He gave him a chariot to ride in, with soldiers running along ahead of him shouting, “Bow down.” And all the people bowed low before him wherever he went. He was in charge of all the land of Egypt and was almost as great as the king. Everyone had to do whatever Joseph told him to do.

During the first seven years, when all the farms had such good crops, he went to all the farmers and made them give some of their corn to Pharaoh. Joseph took this grain and stored it in the nearby cities, keeping it safe until the seven years of famine came. Soon he had so much grain stored away that he stopped counting on it.

Then the seven years of good crops ended, and the seven years of poor crops began. Soon everyone began to be hungry because there was so little to eat. When all their food was gone, the people came to Pharaoh to ask for something to eat.

“Joseph is in charge,” Pharaoh said, “Go to him and he will tell you what to do.”

Then Joseph opened up the buildings where the grain was kept and sold it to the people.

Joseph’s brothers were still living in the land of Canaan when the famine came. Soon their grain was gone, and they needed food for their father and for their families’. They looked at each other blankly, not knowing what to do.

Then their father said to them, “Don’t just stand around looking at each other! I hear there is grain in Egypt; go and buy some for us, so we won’t starve to death.”

So, Joseph’s ten brothers got on their donkeys and rode for many days until they came to Egypt. Joseph’s youngest brother, Benjamin, stayed with his father in Canaan, for his father was afraid to let him go. He was afraid something might happen to him just as it had to Joseph.

Since Joseph was the governor of Egypt, he was in charge of selling the grain to the people. But his brothers didn’t recognize him in his Egyptian robes. They came and bowed low before him, never imagining he was their brother! But Joseph knew them right away.

Do you remember Joseph’s dream that had made his brothers so angry? He had dreamed that his brother’s sheaves of grain bowed to his sheaf, and that the sun and moon and eleven stars had bowed to him. And now it had come true, here were his brothers bowing to him now!

Imagine Joseph’s surprise and joy to see his brothers again, even though they had been so cruel to him. But he pretended he didn’t know them and asked them at all. He spoke roughly to them and asked them, “Where you from?”

“From the land of Canaan,” they said. “We have come to buy food.”

Then Joseph said, “No, you are spies and have come here to see what trouble we are in, so that you can bring and army and attack us.”

“Oh, no sir,” his brothers answered, “we have come to buy food. We are all one man’s sons. We are men who speak the truth. We are not spies.

Joseph pretended he didn’t believe them and said again that they were spies. They told Joseph more about themselves and why they had come. They said one of their brothers was with their father in the land of Canaan and one was dead.
Joseph still pretended not to believe them and said he would find out whether they where telling the truth or not. This was what he would do. He would send one of them back to Canaan to get their youngest brother they had told him about and bring him to Egypt. All the others must stay until he returned.

Then he put them in jail for three days.

On the third day he talked with them again. This time he said that only one of them must stay, and all the others could go home to take food to their families. One must stay so that Joseph would be sure the others would come back again and bring their youngest brother with them.

When his brothers heard this, they were very sad. They said God was punishing them for their sin of selling their brother as a slave long ago. Rueben (the one who had intended to take Joseph out of the well and bring him back to his father) said to his brothers, “Didn’t I tell you not to sin against the child? But you wouldn’t listen to me.”

Joseph listened to them talking to each other. They didn’t know he could speak their language and understand them, for he had talked to them only in Egyptian, and a servant had told them in their own language what he was saying to them. But of course, Joseph understood every word they said.

When he realized how sorry they were for what they had done to him, he had to go away and cry. Afterwards he came back again and talked to them some more, but he still pretended that he thought they were spies.

Then he took Simeon and tied him up while all the others watched, for Simeon was the one he chose to stay in Egypt while the others went home after Benjamin.

Then Joseph told his servants to fill his brother’s sacks with grain and to put in the tops of their sacks the money they had paid for the grain; but he didn’t tell his brothers that the money was there.

Finally, their donkeys were loaded, and all except Simeon started back home to Canaan. That night when they stopped to eat, they opened a sack to get some food. There was the money right at top of the sack! They were frightened, for they didn’t know how it got there.

Questions:

How great did Joseph become?

What did he do during the seven good years?

Why did Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt?

Did they recognize Joseph?

Was Joseph happy to see his brothers?

What did he pretend he thought they were doing in Egypt?

Why did Joseph keep Simeon in jail?

What did Joseph tell his servants to do with the brothers’ money?

 

The men who brought Joseph took him to Egypt and sold him to a man named Potiphar, who was an Egyptian army officer. Joseph became his slave and lived in his house.

The Lord helped Joseph to work hard. His master was pleased with him and put him in charge of all his other servants. God blessed Potiphar because Joseph was in his home.

But after awhile Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to do something very wrong. Joseph said no, and that made her angry. She decided to get even with him, so she told her husband a lie. She said that Joseph had tried to hurt her. Her husband believed her and put Joseph in jail.

But the Lord was kind to Joseph and made the man in charge of the prison feel friendly to him. He put him in charge of all the other prisoners. Joseph took the full responsibility of taking care of them. And the Lord helped Joseph do everything just the way it should be done.

One day Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, became angry with two of his officers; one of them was a baker, and the other was the man who brought him wine whenever he wanted a drink. Pharaoh put them both in jail where Joseph was.

One night both of these men had dreams. When Joseph came in to see them the next morning, they looked sad.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. “Why so sad this morning?”

“We had a strange dream’s last night,” they told him, “and there is no one to tell us what the dreams mean.”

“Tell me your dreams,” Joseph said, “and I’ll ask God what they mean.”

First the man in charge of the king’s wine told Joseph his dream. He had dreamed about the grapevine with three branches. As he was looking at it, buds appeared on the branches and became bunches of ripe grapes. He was holding king Pharaoh’s wine cup in his hand, so he took the grapes and squeezed out the juice from them into the cup. Then he gave the cup of juice to pharaoh to drink.

God told Joseph what the dream meant. Joseph told the man that the three branches he had in his dream meant three days; in three days Pharaoh would let him out of jail and give him back his job.

“When you get out, don’t forget about me!” Joseph said. “Ask the king to let me out, too.”

Then Joseph told him how he had been sold by his brother’s and brought to Egypt. He said he had done nothing wrong and shouldn’t be in jail.

When the chief baker heard what a nice meaning the first mans dream had, he told Joseph his dream, too. He said he was carrying three baskets on his head, one above the other. In the highest basket were all kinds of food for Pharaoh, and the birds flew down and ate it.

Then Joseph told him what his dream meant. The three baskets meant three days. Within three days, king Pharaoh   would kill him and hang him on a tree, and the birds would eat him!

Both dreams came true just as Joseph said. Three days later was Pharaohs birthday, so he had a big party for all of his officers. He sent a messenger to the jail to bring back to the palace the man who was in charge of his wine, to work as he had before. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph said.

I’m sorry to say that the officer in charge of the wine forgot all about Joseph and didn’t bother to tell Pharaoh about him or try to get him out of jail.

Two years later King Pharaoh had a dream. He was standing beside the Nile River in Egypt and saw seven cows coming up out of the water. They were fat and healthy, and they went out into the meadow to eat grass. Then seven more cows came up out of the river, the cows were thin and scrawny, and they ate the fat and healthy cows! Just then King Pharaoh woke up.

Soon he went back to sleep and had another dream. This time he thought he saw seven ears of corn growing on one stalk. They were plump ears, well filled with grain. But afterwards seven other ears of corn grew on the stalk. These were thin and withered, and they ate up the seven good ears! Then Pharaoh woke up and realized it was all a dream.

The dreams bothered him so much that he sent for all the wise men of Egypt and told them his dreams, but they couldn’t tell the king what his dreams meant.

Then the man in charge of the king’s wine remembered the young man in jail who had told him and the chief baker what their dreams meant. He remembered that the dreams came true just as Joseph had said.

So, the king sent for Joseph. He quickly shaved and put on other clothes and was brought to Pharaoh.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one can tell me what it means; but I’m told that you can.”

Joseph said he could not do it, but that God would. Then Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams: the one about the seven thin cows who ate seven thin cows who ate the seven fat ones and still looked so thin and starved afterwards; and the dream about the shriveled-up ears of corn eating the fat ears of corn.

Joseph told him that both dreams meant the same thing; God was telling Pharaoh what was going to happen in the future. The seven fat cows and the seven good ears of corn meant seven years of wonderful crops, when everyone’s gardens would grow; and the seven thin cows and the seven withered ears of corn meant seven years nothing would grow. First there would be seven good years in Egypt. The corn would grow tall, and there would be plenty to eat. But afterwards there would be plenty to eat. But afterwards there would be seven years of poor crops when people would be hungry, for nothing would grow in their gardens.

Joseph told Pharaoh to put some one in charge of making the people of Egypt save up corn during the seven good years. Then during the hungry years, the people would have enough food. The king thought this was a good idea so he put Joseph in charge!

Questions:

Was Joseph a good worker?

Why did Potiphar put him in Jail?

What did the king’s cupbearer dream?

What did the king’s baker dream?

What did Joseph say the dreams meant?

Was he right?

What were King Pharaohs two dreams?

How did he know?

What job did Pharaoh give to Joseph?

 

One of Jacob’s twelve son’s was named Joseph. He was the youngest in the family, except for Benjamin.

When Joseph was seventeen years old, he went out into the fields one day to help his ten older brothers who were taking care of the sheep and the goats. But while he was there he saw his brothers do something they should not have done. That night when he got home, he told his father. This was a good thing to do, for then his father could talk to his brothers about it, so that they would not do it again. But of course his brothers were angry with him for telling on them.

Joseph was his father’s favorite son, so his father gave him a present of a beautiful coat. But this made his brothers jealous. From then on they couldn’t seem to find one good thing to say about him!

One night Joseph had a strange dream, and the next morning he told his family about it.

“In my dream,” He said, “all of us were out in the field tying bundles of grain stalks. Then your bundles stood around mine and bowed to it!”

This dream made his brothers even angrier. They thought Joseph was saying that they should bow to him as though he was their king.

“Do you think you are better than we are?” they demanded.

Then Joseph had another dream. This time he dreamed that the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars all bowed to him. His eleven brothers knew that he was talking about them when he talked about the eleven stars bowing to him; and the sun and moon must mean their father and mother.

This made them even angrier than ever.

When he told his father about the dream, his father scolded him.

“Do you think your mother and brothers and I are going to bow to you? He asked. “Don’t be foolish!

Soon after this his brothers took their fathers flocks to Shechem to find pastures for them there. Shechem was a long way off. It took several days to walk there with the sheep.

Not long afterwards Jacob said to Joseph, “Go and find your brothers and see how they are getting along  and how the sheep are.”  So Joseph went to find them.

But his brothers weren’t at Shechem. He was wandering around the fields looking for them when he met a man who told him, “Your are at Dothan. I heard them say they was going there.” So Joseph went on to Dothan.

When his brothers saw him coming, they began talking to each other about killing him.

“Here comes that dreamer,” they said,. “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into the well, and will say some wild animal has eaten him. Then will see what happens to his dreams!”

When Joseph’s brother Reuben heard them talking like that, he didn’t like it at all. He wanted to save Joseph, so he persuaded his brothers to put Joseph into the well without hurting him. Reuben planned to come back after the others had gone to take Joseph out and get him home to his father again.

Joseph came, and they grabbed him and took away his beautiful coat and put him into a well that did not have any water in it.

Then they sat down to eat their lunches. Just then they saw some men coming along on camels: these men were taking things to the country of Egypt to sell. When Joseph’s brother Judah saw them, he said, “Lets sell Joseph to them! We’ll get rid of him and get some money too.”

The other brothers thought this was a good idea, so they pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants put him on a camel and took him far away to the land of Egypt.

Reuben had not been there when Joseph was sold. When he came back to the well to get Joseph out and send him home, he was very sad.

“Joseph is gone,” he exclaimed.

“Oh, what shall I do?

The brothers killed a young goat and dripped Joseph’s coat in the blood.

They brought the coat to their father and told him they had found it on the ground.

“Is it Joseph’s coat? They asked.

“Jacob knew it was and began to cry. “Yes, “He said, “It is Joseph’s coat; a wild animal must have eaten him.

“Joseph is dead.”

Then Jacob tore his clothing and dressed himself in sackcloth. Sackcloth is a dark, scratchy kind of cloth that people used to wear to show their sadness. Jacob said he would mourn for his boy all the rest of his life.

Questions:

What did Jacob give Joseph to wear?

What did Joseph dream about?

What did Josephs brothers do to him? Why?

What did they tell their father had happened?

 

After Esau had gone, Jacob went on to a place called Succoth. Here he stopped and rested his cattle before he went on to the land of Canaan.

Now God spoke to Jacob again. He told him to go to the city of Bethel and to build an altar there. Bethel was the place where Jacob had dreamed many years before about the stairs reaching to heaven with angels going up and down on it. In that dream God had promised to be with him wherever he went and to bring him back safely, and now God had done this.

Although it was more than twenty years since he had gone away, the Lord had taken care of him all that time, and at last he was safely home in his own country again. That is why God told him to go back now to Bethel where the promise had been given him and to build an altar there and worship the Lord.

So Jacob said to Rachel and Leah and to his sons, “Lets go to Bethel and build and altar there to God.”

He told them how kind the Lord had been to him many years before when he was in trouble, when he was running away from his brother Esau, and how the Lord had been with him ever since and had taken care of him.

On the way to Bethel they passed through cities where people might have robbed or killed them, But God made the people afraid, and they didn’t try to harm Jacob and his family in any way.

They arrived safely at Bethel and built an altar there and sacrificed to God to show Him their thanks.

Then God spoke to Jacob, blessed him and told him again, “Your name isn’t Jacob anymore, but Israel.” (Remember, Israel means “a prince with God”; this new name showed how much God loved him.)

God told him again that He would give all the land of Canaan to him and his children and his children’s  children, that they would become a great nation, and that some of them would be kings.

Then Jacob set up a great pile of stones at Bethel, so that everyone would always remember that this was the place where God had spoken to him.

Afterwards, Jacob and those with him started off to Bethlehem. Before they arrived, Rachel had another baby, and they named him Benjamin. But Rachel died soon afterwards, and they buried her besides the road. Jacob was very sad, for he loved Rachel very much. He piled stones over her grave to show where she was buried, and the stones stayed there for hundreds of years.

Finally Jacob came to Hebron where his father lived. Yes, Isaac, his father, was still alive. Though it had been so long since he had become old and blind, God had kept him alive until Jacob came home again.

But Isaac died soon afterwards and his sons, Jacob and Esau, buried him in the cave where Abraham and Sarah where buried. He was 180 years old at the time of his death.

Then Esau took his wives, his son’s and his daughters, his cattle, and moved everything he owned to the land of Edom. For he and Jacob had so many cattle that there was not enough food for all of them to live together in the same part of the country.

Questions:

Why did God tell Jacob to go to Bethel?

What was the name of Rachels baby?

Did God keep Isaac alive until Jacob came home?

That night Jacob got up, awakened his family, and sent them across the river while he stayed behind alone.

Then a Man came and wrestled with him until dawn. Jacob was strong and kept on wrestling until the Man touched Jacob’s thigh. Just by that touch, Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint, and he became lamb.

The Man said, “Let me go, for dawn has come.”

But Jacob replied, “I won’t let you go until You bless me.”

“What is your name?” the Man asked.

So Jacob told him. (In their language Jacob’s name means “tricky” or “unfair”)

The man said, “I am giving you another name. You are no longer Jacob, but Israel.” (Israel means “a prince of God.”)

Who was this Man? He was the same person who had talked with Abraham about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah: this Man was the Lord. The Lord was glad that Jacob wanted God’s blessing so much that he kept on asking for it all night; for Jacob refused to quit wrestling with God until God had given him a blessing.

Then Jacob said to the Man, “Now tell me Your name.”

But the Lord answered, “Do not ask!” And the Lord blessed Jacob there.

Jacob was afraid something dreadful would happen to him because he had seen God and talked to Him. But God blessed him instead. Then Jacob (or Israel, as we can call him now) named that place Peniel, which means “the face of God.” For  he said, I have seen God face to face.”

The sun was rising as he limped back across the stream. He limped for the rest of his life because the Lord had touched him. Probably the Lord did this to make him always remember that God had blessed him.

When Jacob saw his brother Esau coming with four hundred men, he divided his wives and their children into groups. If Esau attacked, perhaps some of them could run away and escape, and not all be killed. Then Jacob went on ahead by himself to meet his brother.

He bowed low before him seven times. Esau was pleased at Jacob’s humility and ran to meet him. He put his arms around him and kissed him on the cheek, as men still do in that country when they meet friends. Then they both started crying.

God had promised Jacob to be with him and keep him from harm, and now we have seen how God kept His promise. First, He hadn’t let Laban hurt Jacob or even speak roughly to him; then, He made that angry brother Esau, who had wanted to kill him, feel so good towards him that he cried!

Then Esau asked, “Who are these women and children?”

“They are all mine,” Jacob replied. Then the slave-wives and Leah and Rachel came with their children, and the children me their Uncle Esau for the first time.

Esau asked Jacob “Why did you give me all of those sheep and goats?”

“They are a present for you,” Jacob replied.

“No, you shouldn’t do that,” Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep them.” For Esau had plenty of flocks and herds of his own.

But Jacob said “Please accept my present,” and he begged him until Esau finally did.

Esau suggested to Jacob that they travel together as they returned home, but Jacob was afraid to. He told Esau to go on ahead while he followed more slowly.

“Some of the children are too little to go very far at a time.” He explained, “and the flocks and herds cannot be driven too fast or they will get sick and die.”

Esau agreed and offered to leave some of his own men with Jacob to help him and to protect him from robbers; but Jacob said he didn’t need them. Finally Esau went back home.

Questions:

What did Jacob and the Man do until dawn?

Who was the man?

What happened when the Man touched Jacobs hip?

What was Jacob’s new name?

What does it mean?

What did Jacob and Esau do when they met each other?

 

 

 

For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”
Romans 10:13

Jacob got ready to return home to Canaan, to see his father and mother again after being away so many years. He put his wives and children on camels, took everything that belonged to him, and started back toward the land of Canaan, driving his sheep and goats ahead of him.

Laban was away when Jacob left, for Jacob had kept it all a secret. But three days after Jacob was gone, someone told Laban about it. Laban quickly took off after him. He was angry, for he didn’t want Jacob to go. But that night, in a dream, God spoke to Laban and told him not to harm Jacob or even to speak roughly to him.

It took seven days for Laban to catch up with Jacob, for Jacob had gone a long way-across river and through a wide, lonely country-to a mountain called Gilead.

There Laban finally found him.

He asked Jacob why he had gone away secretly, taking his daughters Rachel and Leah and their children, without letting him know; for he wanted to kiss them good bye before they left.

Jacob said he had kept it a secret because he was afraid Laban wouldn’t let Rachel and Leah go. Then Jacob got angry. He reminded Laban of the twenty years he had worked for him taking care of his sheep and goats, day and night, winter and summer, in the heat and cold. And now, he said Laban would of sent him away without paying him a penny or all the work he had done.

Laban replied, “Your wives are my daughters, and your children are my grandchildren. I would never harm them. Let’s be friends and promise that we will never hurt each other.”

Jacob agreed, and they made a huge pile of stones as a monument to remind them of their promise. If they were ever angry and came to harm each other, they would see that heap of stones and, remembering their promise, would go back home again.

Jacob then built an altar and offered a sacrifice. Afterwards he and Laban and the men who were with him ate together that night.

Early the next morning Laban kissed Rachel and Leah and their children good bye and blessed them. He went back home and never saw them again.

As Jacob and his family travelled on toward Canaan, some angels met them. Perhaps God sent them to help Jacob, for soon he would be coming where his brother Esau lived. Esau might try to kill Jacob or stealing his birthright so long before.

Jacob sent a messengers to tell Esau about all that had happened during the twenty years he had been away. He was afraid. Though it had been twenty years since he lied to his father and stolen Esau’s blessing. Jacob still remembered his sin and was afraid of what Esau might do to him in revenge.

Jacob’s messengers returned with fearful news that Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men. Jacob’s heart sank. He divided all his flocks, herds, camels, and men into two groups. If Esau attacked one group, the other group might be able to escape.

Jacob prayed and asked God to save him from his brother Esau, for he was afraid Esau would kill him and his wives and his children. He thanked the Lord for being so very kind to him before. He admitted he did not deserve the good things God had given him. When he left Canaan twenty years before, he had owned only the staff he carried in his hand. But now, coming back, he had all these men with him, plus flocks and herds and camels. He had been very poor before, but God had made him very rich. He thanked God for this.

The next morning he sent some of his cattle as a present to Esau-220 goats, 220 sheep, and 30 camels with their colts, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 donkeys, and 10 donkey colts.

He didn’t send them all together, but put them into different flocks to send and sent the flocks one at a time.

His idea was that when Esau met the first flock, he would ask the man who is driving it. “Whose cattle are these, and where are you going?”

The man would say, “They are Jacob’s; he has sent them to you as a present.” The man driving the next flock would tell him the same thing, and this would continue until all the flocks had been given Esau.

Jacob hoped these gifts, given one at a time, would make Esau so happy that he wouldn’t hurt Jacob or his family or steal his flocks and herds.

Questions:

Why did Jacob keep it a secret when he left Laban?

What did God tell Laban in a dream?

How long did it take Laban to catch up?

Why was Jacob afraid of Esau?

What did Jacob send to Esau as a present?

 

As Jacob travelled, he had a dream one night. He thought he saw some stairs in front of him reaching to heaven, and angels were going up and down them. God stood at the top of the stairs and told Jacob about the country He was going to give him and his children. And God said He would be with Jacob and take care of him wherever he went and would bring him home safely again.

Jacob woke up, and was afraid because God had been there and had spoken to him. So, very early the next morning, he got up and worshipped the Lord. He called the place Bethel, which means “The House Of God.”

Jacob promised that if God would take care of him-if He would give him enough food and clothes and would keep him from harm until he got back to his fathers home again-then he would obey God and give Him a tenth of everything he had. Jacob meant he would help the poor and the sick with his money and would build altars and would sacrifice burnt offerings. That is the way he would give a tenth of all that he had to God.

Jacob kept travelling a long, long time until he came to Haran where Laban lived. He saw a well there in a field, three flocks of sheep lying around it, and the shepherds with their flocks. A large rock was rolled over the mouth of the well to cover it; when all the flocks arrived each evening, the shepherds would roll away the stone and get water for the sheep. Afterwards the stone would be rolled back over the mouth of the well again.

Jacob asked the shepherds where they lived, and they told him at Haran.

“Do you know Laban?” He asked them.

“Yes,” they said, “we surely do”

Jacob asked if he was well.

“Yes, he is,” they replied, “and look, here comes his daughter Rachel with his sheep.”

Jacob went over to the well and kissed Rachel, then rolled away the stone and wanted her sheep for her. He explained to her that he was her cousin, her Aunt Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.

When Laban heard that his nephew had arrived, he ran out to meet him. He gave him a warm welcome and brought him home. After Jacob had been there about a month, Laban asked him to stay and work for him.

By this time Jacob was very much in love with Rachel, and he told Laban he would work for him seven years if he could marry Rachel afterwards.

Laban was delighted. So Jacob worked for him the next seven years. Even though it was a long time, the years went by so fast they seemed like only a few days to Jacob because he love Rachel so much.

But when the time was up Laban would not let him marry Rachel. He said her older sister Leah should be married first, so Jacob had to marry her in  order to marry Rachel afterwards. He had to work seven more years for Rachel. This was very unfair of Jacobs uncle, but Jacob agreed to it because of his love for Rachel. So he stayed and worked seven years more, and both Leah and Rachel were his wives. Afterwards, he married two more girls, so he had four wives in all.

Jacob wanted to take his wives and children and go back home to the land of Canaan to see if his father and mother was still alive. He also thought that perhaps after all of this time Esau would forgive him for stealing his blessing.

But Laban wouldn’t let Jacob go.

Laban said he realized that the Lord was blessing him because of Jacob’s being there, and he asked him what wages he wanted in order to stay longer.

Jacob said that if Laban would give him some of his sheep and goats he would stay. So Laban did. Jacob’s flock soon grew very large. After a while he was rich and had many slaves and camels and donkeys, as well as large flocks of sheep.

One day Jacob heard Laban’s sons talking angrily about him. They said he had stolen their father’s sheep and that was why he was so rich. Jacob noticed that Laban was not as friendly to him as he used to be.

Then God told Jacob to return home to his father in the land of Canaan. God said He would be with Jacob and take care of him and keep him from harm.

Jacob sent word for Rachel and Leah to meet him out in the field where he was caring for his flock. He wanted to talk with them where Laban couldn’t hear what he said. He told them that their father wasn’t friendly to him anymore and that the Lord had told him to go back to Canaan.

Rachel and Leah both agreed he must do whatever the Lord wanted him to do.

What was Jacob’s dream?

What was the name of the girl Jacob met at the well?

What did Laban say Jacob had to do before he married Rachel?

Who was Leah?

Why did Jacob decide to return home to is father?

 

 

One time there was a famine in the land. A famine means that there isn’t enough food. Isaac moved back to Gerar, hoping to find more food there. Gerar was the city where his father Abraham had lived many years before, after Sodom was destroyed.

God talked to Isaac at Gerar and told him to stay for a while. He promised to bless him. So Isaac planted crops. When the grain grew and became ripe, he reaped a hundred times as much as he had planted, because the Lord made it grow so well.

The Lord made Isaac very rich and great and gave him flocks and sheep, herds of cattle, and many servants.

But the Philistines, the people who lived in Gerar, were not pleased to see him so much richer than they were. They envied him and wished they had his flocks and herds. Then the king of the country came and told Isaac to go away.

So, Isaac went away and found another place to live, a valley where there were some wells his father Abraham had dug when he was in Gerar. But the Philistines had filled them with dirt, so he couldn’t get any water from them.

Isaac took out the dirt, and his servants dug a new well too. But the Philistines came along and said the wells belonged to them and took them away from Isaac’s men.

Isaac told his men to dig another well, but the Philistines came and took it too. He tried once more, and this time the Philistines let him have the well.

Later Isaac moved to Beer-Sheba, another place where his father Abraham had once lived. That night the Lord spoke to Isaac and told him not to be afraid of the people living there. They would not harm him, for God would be with him and take care of him and bless him. Then Isaac built an altar and worshipped the Lord.

Soon afterwards the king of the Philistines, who had told Isaac to go away, came from Gerar with two friends visit Isaac. Isaac asked them why they had come, since they hated him and had sent him out of their country.

They said they wanted Isaac to promise never to harm them, for they saw that God was his friend. They knew this because of all the good things God had done for him. Isaac was nice to them and promised never to hurt them, and they promised not to harm him, either.

Isaac’s servants dug a new well at Beer-Sheba and found water. They were glad, because sometimes the water was very deep in the ground, and they had to dig a long time before they found it, and sometimes they couldn’t find water at all.

During this time Isaac’s son Esau had married two wives. Both of them were girls from Canaan. His father and mother were very sorry, because the girls of Canaan worshiped idols.

Questions:

What is a famine?

What did the Philistines do when Isaac built the wells?

What did God tell Isaac in a dream?

What did Isaac and the king of the Philistines promise each other?

Whom did Esau marry?

 

 

 

 

“Jacob Lies to His Father”

Isaac was getting very old and couldn’t see; he called his oldest son, Esau, and told him to take his bow and go out into the field and get a deer. “Then cook the meat just the way I like it best; then I will bless you.”

He meant that he would ask God to be kind to Esau and give him many good things. So Esau went out into the field to hunt the deer for his father.

Rebekah heard what Isaac said, and she wasn’t happy about it. She didn’t want Esau to get the special blessing from Isaac, even though he was her oldest son; she wanted the best for Jacob.

When Esau had gone to hunt the deer, Rebekah told Jacob to kill two lambs from their flock of sheep and bring them to her. She cooked them so the meat tasted just like the deer meat Jacob’s father loved so much. Then she got some of Esau’s clothes for Jacob to put on and she put goat skins on the back of his hands and neck. She told him to take the food to his blind father and say that he is Esau.

So, Jacob took the food to his father. His father was surprised that Esau was back so soon. Because he was blind, he asked if it really was Esau. Jacob said yes, and that he had brought the deer meat his father had asked for.

His father put his hands-on Jacob’s hairy neck-remember, Jacob’s mother had put a goat skin around his neck! – and smelled his clothes and was convinced that it was really Esau, even through his voice sounded more like Jacob’s. And of course, it was Jacob, and not Esau at all. Jacob had fooled his father. So his father ate the food and blessed Jacob.

This was a very wicked thing that Jacob and his mother had done; for though Esau had sold him his birth right, Jacob should not have lied to his father. As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had left the room. Esau came in from his hunting, with the deer meat he had cooked.

Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”

Esau answered, “I am Esau, and I have the meat you told me to get for you.”

Isaac began to tremble, “Who was it, then, “he asked, “Who was just here? I have given him your blessing!”

Isaac knew now that it was Jacob who had come in first, and he told Esau that his brother had been there before him and had stolen his blessing.

Esau cried and begged his father to bless him too. So, Isaac did, but he had already promised the best things to Jacob, and now he couldn’t take them always from him.

Esau hated Jacob for what he had done, and said to himself, “My father will soon die and then I will kill Jacob.”

Esau was not a good man; he did not love God. When a good man has done something wrong, he is sorry afterwards and asks God to forgive him and tries not to do it again. But when a bad man has been wicked, he does not repent and ask to be forgiven; he goes on and does the same thing again. Jacob did a wicked thing in lying to his father, but afterwards he became a good man who loved and served God as long as he lived, and God forgave him for his sin. But Esau was not willing to forgive Jacob; instead, he said he would kill him after his father died.

When Rebekah heard what Esau was saying, she sent for Jacob and told him to leave home and to go away to the country where she used to live, to the home of her brother Laban, so that Esau could not hurt him. But how could she get Isaac to agree? This is the way she did it:

She reminded Isaac that the girls of Canaan didn’t love God, but prayed to idols. She reminded him that Esau had married two of these girls; she said she would rather die than see Jacob marry a girl who didn’t love God.

Isaac agreed that Jacob must not marry a Canaanite girl. He called Jacob to him, blessed him again, and told him not to marry a girl of Canaan, but to marry one of his mother’s relatives who lived far away in another country.

Then Isaac sent Jacob away to that far-off land where his uncle Laban lived, to see if he could find a girl there who would marry him. It was the same land from which Isaac’s mother had come with Abraham’s servant.

Questions:

What did Isaac tell Esau to do for him?

How did Rebekah and Jacob fool Isaac?

Who did Jacob pretend he was?

Who got the first blessing from Isaac?

What did Esau say he would do to Jacob when he found out what Jacob had done?

Where did Jacob go to escape from Esau?

What excuse did Rebekah use for sending Jacob away?

 

 

After Isaac and Rebekah were married, God gave them twin sons! The babies’ names were Esau and Jacob. Esau was born first, and Jacob was born a few minutes later. So, Esau was the older.

In those days the oldest son in every family had what was called the birth right. This meant he got more of the money and property when his father died. In fact, he got twice as much as the other children.

In Isaacs family, Esau was born first and had the birthright.

When Esau and Jacob grew up to be men, Esau was a hunter; he went out into the fields and woods and killed deer and brought the meat hoe to his father, Isaac. How his father loved that meat!

Jacob stayed home and helped care for his father’s flocks and goats.

One day Jacob was at home cooking some especially good food when Esau came in from his hunting. Esau was very tired and hungry and asked Jacob to give him the food. Jacob said he would if Esau would give him his birthright! Esau didn’t care about it, so he told Jacob he could have it; then Jacob gave him some food.

It was wrong for Esau to sell his birthright. God had given it to him, and he should of not have sold it. It was wrong, too, for Jacob to take it.

Questions:

What did Isaac and Rebekah name their twins?

Which one was older?

What was a birthright?

When did Esau give away his birthright to Jacob?

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