Intermediate Level, Block 3—Good Land to Egypt
Week 21
Jacob—Wanting to Be First
Point to Emphasize: We can be those who trust in God’s arrangement and God’s timing.
Reference Reading: Genesis 25:20-34
Memory Verse: Blessed is he who trusts in Jehovah. (Proverbs 16:20)
Story Sample
Now we come to another important person in the Bible: Jacob. The name Jacob means two things: “heel holder” and “supplanter.” Isaac had twin sons, and Jacob was the younger. He was named heel-holder because he was holding onto his older brother Esau’s heel when they were born. Why was he holding Esau’s heel? He held Esau’s heel because he was a supplanter. A supplanter is someone who tries to take another’s place or tries to gain something through sneaky ways. Jacob wanted to be born first, so he held onto Esau’s heel to try to get ahead—to supplant him!
Jacob wanted to supplant Esau for the birthright. A birthright was an inheritance given to the oldest son. Now, God had actually chosen Jacob to be the one to receive the birthright, but Jacob could not wait for God to work it out. Instead, he just did things his own way. Even before he was born, he started trying to be first. Jacob and Esau were fighting for the birthright even when they were still in Rebekah’s womb. But God arranged that Esau would be stronger. Although Jacob fought for the birthright and held onto Esau’s heel, he was physically weaker. Esau was born first and gained the birthright. All that struggling was for nothing.
But Jacob did not give up. As he and Esau grew older, he waited until the right time to try to supplant his brother again. One day, Esau came back from the fields weak and tired. Jacob had made some stew, and Esau saw it and wanted some. Esau felt that he was going to die of hunger if he did not get the stew, and he asked Jacob to give him some. Jacob was so sneaky! He wouldn’t just give Esau the stew, but he offered Esau a trade: a bowl of stew in exchange for the birthright.
Esau did a foolish thing. He did not see how valuable his birthright was. He only saw that he was hungry and that the stew looked good, so he agreed to Jacob’s trade. He gave up his entire inheritance for one bowl of stew! So foolish!
Actually, Jacob did something foolish, too. Even though Jacob saw how precious the birthright was, tricking Esau wasn’t the way to get it. Esau could not legally give it to him. Only their father could. So this trickery did not really give Jacob much—it just made Esau angry with him and caused Jacob to suffer a lot for many years. Jacob would have to use even more trickery later to get the birthright. In the end, he did receive the birthright, but he caused himself a lot of trouble by doing it his way. If he had just waited on God, God would have given him the birthright, and Jacob would have been saved a lot of suffering.
Maybe we can relate to Jacob—sometimes it is hard to wait. One time when I was little, I cut in line for lunch at the love feast. I wanted to eat RIGHT NOW! I got what I wanted, but I upset the other children! That was not right. If I had just waited, I would have still gotten food. I did not need to cut in line, but because I did, I hurt people’s feelings and caused myself trouble. Jacob was the same. He did not need to trick his brother, but because he did, he suffered a lot. [Storyteller, insert your own story about struggling with waiting for something.] It is hard to wait, but God always does what He says He will do. We are blessed if we will trust in Him!