Last Week’s Lesson Review:

Last Sunday learnt about God’s promise to bless our nation with fruitfulness when we obey and keep His commandments. We also learnt to trust that God will truly bless us according to His will when we obey Him.

Opening

Ask: Who has an older sister/brother/cousin? Have they ever tricked you? For example, your brother/sister or cousin told you that they will give you their bicycle to ride if you share your snack. After giving them to pick a little, they took the whole pack and rode away! How would you feel? You would be very sad or angry! Show me your sad/angry face. (Allow the children to show their sad/angry faces.) In today’s Bible lesson, we’ll read about a man who was tricked by his brother. These brothers were actually twins! We will read their story from the book of Genesis 25, 27 & 33.

Bible Story

In the Bible, we read about a man by the name Isaac. Isaac was Abraham’s son. Isaac’s wife was Rebecca. For some time, they did not a baby. Isaac prayed to God and Rebecca got twins! She got two babies! Ask: How many have ever seen twins? (Allow the children to respond) Some twins look like each other, and others don’t. In our story, the twins did not look alike. The first one had hairy skin and his name was Esau and the second one had a smooth skin, his name was Jacob. When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, who loved to be out in the fields. But Jacob was a quiet man, who stayed at home. Isaac loved Esau. He liked to eat the animals Esau hunted. But Rebekah loved Jacob. One day, Esau came back from hunting and he was very hungry. (Let’s all put on a sad face, hold our tummies and pretend to be very hungry.) Jacob was at home boiling a pot of beans. Esau said to Jacob, “I am weak and very hungry. Let me have some of that red stuff. Jacob thought to trick his brother and said. “You must give me your rights as the firstborn son.” That meant
that Jacob would now be the firstborn instead of Esau. Being a firstborn was very important. Do you think Esau will fall into Jacob’s trick? He did! He promised Jacob that if he gave him the food, he would give him the right to become the firstborn. Esau ate the food and had something to drink. He did not care about his rights as the firstborn son. All he cared about was that he was hungry, and he needed food. He made a bad choice/decision. At this time, their father Isaac was very old, and his eyes could not see. He knew that he would die soon. Isaac called his son Esau and asked him to go hunt and then cook the yummy food he loved; then after eating, he would give Esau his final blessing. Remember, Isaac loved Esau and Rebecca loved Jacob. Now, Rebecca heard what Isaac had said and she wanted Jacob to be the one being blessed. She planned to trick Isaac because he could not see. So, she asked Jacob to quickly get two fat goats and she cooked them just as Isaac liked. She also asked Jacob to dress in Esau’s clothes and put the skins of the goats on his arms, and on the hairless part of his neck. She then handed Jacob the tasty food together with the bread she had baked. Then Jacob went to his father and pretended to be Esau. Because Isaac could not see, he was surprised that Esau had returned from hunting so quickly. He told him to come closer so that he could touch him.
Then Isaac said, ‘Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice, but your arms feel like Esau’s arms.” He did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob had put goat skin on his arms so that his arms were hairy like Esau’s.

Questions

1. What do we learn from this story?
   • We should not trick others because it causes people to be angry and upset.
   • When we do something wrong, we should admit our mistakes and make peace by asking for forgiveness.