Today’s passage: Genesis 33:1-20

Helpful thoughts:

• Jacob saw Esau coming and sought to protect his family (Albeit, not in the greatest way.  Surely people noticed that Rachel and Joseph were kept in the back, furthest from potential action).
  • Jacob sought to do everything he could to keep Esau from attacking him and his family.  What a pleasant surprise to learn that Esau had no such harmful intentions!
• Esau already had been blessed with possessions, but Jacob sought to restore a blessing to him anyway.
  • Jacob had “tricked” Esau out of a blessing.  Now Jacob sought to give Esau a blessing.
• Jacob was not rid of his trickery.  He “kindly” refused Esau’s help and offer to go to Seir to live near Esau and instead traveled to Succoth and Shechem.
  • Once Jacob and his household arrived at their destination (In the Promised Land) Jacob did two significant things.
    • He bought land (The second land purchase after Abraham bought the land with the cave at Machpelah).
    • He built an altar to the Lord.  Jacob had vowed, if God brough him back safely, he would worship the Lord.  Jacob named the altar El-Elohe-Israel, “God, the God of Israel.”  This was a declaration of Jacob’s loyalty to worship God alone.

Questions to consider:

1. Why did Jacob need to refuse Esau’s offer and go back to Canaan (The Promised Land)?  Why wouldn’t it have been right to stay with Esau?  Did Jacob need to deceive in order to go his own way?
2. What reason would Esau have had to no longer be angry with Jacob?  Why didn’t he even want the blessing Jacob offered him?  How might this (And even the offer to take Jacob with him to Seir) have shown Esau still did not understand the true intention of the blessing of Abraham, passed down to Isaac and then Jacob?  Who was Esau not thinking about?
3. Why was Jacob right to build this altar to the Lord and name it what he did?  Who is the only One worthy of our praise and worship?  Is the Lord your Lord?

Today’s passage: Genesis 32:1-32

Helpful thoughts:

• After twenty years, it’s time for Jacob and Esau to meet again.
  • In Jacob’s prayer for protection, he appeals to the promises God made.  If God was going to keep His promises, Jacob and his family would need to escape any wrath Esau may hope to inflict.
  • Jacob sends gifts in waves before him to Esau, hoping the gifts and words of kindness will have a softening effect on his brother should any anger remain (The fact that 400 men were accompanying Esau made it appear that Esau was coming to battle).
• Jacob expected a fight with Esau, instead, he got one with the Lord!
• God didn’t reveal His name to Jacob when asked, but Jacob knew who it was.
  • Instead of Jacob hearing the name of God, God gave Jacob a new name.
  • Israel means, “He stives with God” or “God strives.”

Questions to consider:

1. In what way did Jacob reintroduce himself to Esau?  Who was the “lord” and who was the “servant?”  How did this introduction/greeting contrast with what they both knew had already happened and with what God had decreed?  What was Jacob giving Esau the opportunity to do?
2. In what way did Israel strive with God (Think Jacob…and then, the nation)?  How did God strive on behalf of Israel (The person and the nation)?
3. In Jacob’s prayer for protection and in his amazement at survival after the wrestling match of the century (Or all the B.C. years!) what does he acknowledge about himself, what he deserves, and about God?  How do these realities correlate with the gospel message?  What do we deserve?  What has God graciously gifted to us?  How has God accomplished it?

Today’s passage: Genesis 31:1-55

Helpful thoughts:

• The Lord had promised to be with Jacob all the years he was away from the Promised Land and He was.  Now, God promises to continue to be with Jacob on the journey back.
• Jacob gives greater detail to how the Lord told him it was time to go.  In Jacob’s explanation to his wives (The daughters of Laban), he contrasts the faithlessness of Laban and the faithfulness of God.
• The Hebrew words translated as “Tricked” in verse 20 are literally, “Stole the heart.”  Laban defines what his “heart” was when he claimed that Jacob had stolen his daughters, his grandchildren, and his flock.  Laban still saw all of these things as rightfully his.

Questions to consider:

1. What are the reasons why Rachel might have stolen the household gods from Laban (Given she just encouraged Jacob to follow the Lord’s command)?  How does Jacob evidence he knows nothing of the theft?
2. From what does this treaty protect both Jacob and Laban?  Why did they have to make a treaty of this magnitude?  What would have prevented them from simply giving their word?  How had they treated each other before?
3. How did God fulfill his promise to Jacob?  What did Jacob say he would do if God did this (28:20-22)?

Today’s passage: Genesis 30:25-43

Helpful thoughts:

• All of Jacob’s children (Expect for Benjamin) were born outside of the Promised Land.
• When it came time for Jacob and his household to leave, he made a deal with Laban.
  • Both men sought to trick the other to their own advantage.
    • Laban removed the sheep that would be prone to reproduce to Jacob’s advantage before entrusting any additional sheep to his care (Verses 35-36).
    • Jacob sought to use an old tradition to produce more and healthier striped, speckled and spotted sheep.
• God had chosen to bless Jacob (The real reason his trick “worked”).  Jacob left the Promised Land with just the promise of an inheritance.  Now, he would return home to his inheritance already independently wealthy.

Questions to consider:

1. Those striped sticks didn’t do anything to cause the sheep to reproduce to Jacob’s advantage…  Why did the sheep keep bearing lambs that were to Jacob’s advantage?  What was God doing?  Why was God doing this?
2. Why didn’t Laban have any reason to be upset with how many sheep Jacob would end up taking?  Why was Laban going to be upset anyway?  What did Laban want most?
3. What has God promised to us, his children?  How does wanting our own inheritance in Christ compel us to pursue the best things (No trickery needed!)?

Today’s passage: Genesis 29:31-30:24

Helpful thoughts:

• There were multiple consequences to Laban’s actions resulting in Jacob having multiple wives.  There were also multiple consequences for the actions of Jacob, Leah, Rachel and others subsequent to the arrangement of the marriages.
  • Many of the consequences were negative.
  • At least 13 of the consequences were positive.
• When Rebekah remained barren for an extended time, Isaac prayed for her, and God answered that prayer with the conception of Jacob and Esau.  When Rachel was barren, Jacob did not pray.  Instead, they copied the practice of Abraham and Sarah (Hagar & Ishmael).
• Rachel celebrated the birth of her son by asking for another.  The birthing of her next son resulted in her death.

Questions to consider:

1. Who is the giver of life?  Did Leah or Rachel (Or Bilhah, or Zilpah) have any more or any fewer children than the Lord intended for them to have?
2. What did Leah and Rachel want?  Besides more children, what was it they really wanted?  What desires motivated their actions?  What thinking informed their desires?
3. What hardships and relational conflicts must have arisen from all this rivalry and intimacy among four women?  What good did God bring from all of it?  What can we learn from this?  How should we value all new life?

Today’s passage: Genesis 29:1-30

Helpful thoughts:

• What begins as an exciting continuation of Jacob’s story, turns into an ironic chain of events that results in Jacob having two wives!
  • The mention of Zilpah and Bilhah provides some foreshadowing for what’s to come as well.
• The description of Leah at the beginning of verse 17 is a figure of speech.  She wasn’t as physically beautiful in appearance as Rachel.  In this verse, we are learning part of the reason why Jacob will later “love” Rachel more than Leah.
  • Though Jacob loved Rachel more, he technically paid the same bride price for each of his wives.
• The trickster (Jacob) got tricked!  Much in the same manner he tricked his father by dressing up like Esau to receive the blessing, Laban presents Leah to him as his wife when he was expecting Rachel.

Questions to consider:

1. What are some of the similarities and differences between this account of Jacob finding Laban and Rachel and the servant of Abraham finding a wife (Rebekah) for Isaac?
2. Is God mentioned at all in this passage?  Whose ways and customs are being followed here?  What did that result in?
3. Even though we don’t see God mentioned in this passage, was He totally caught off guard or bewildered by what happened?  How did God use all of this trickery for good in the end?

Today’s passage: Genesis 28:1-22

Helpful thoughts:

• In sending Jacob away, Isaac confirms the blessing of Abraham on him.  Jacob was sent away with his father’s promise of inheriting the land he was leaving.
  • Jacob obeyed Isaac’s instruction.  When Esau saw this, he again acted impetuously.
• Before Jacob left the promised land, he not only received confirmation of the promise from his father Isaac but also from the Heavenly Father, the Lord.
• Jacob had been a schemer.  He sought to ensure things would turn out in his favor.  God made it clear to him who was sovereign over his life in verses 13-15.

Questions to consider:

1. Didi Esau’s third marriage “fix” what he had done wrong in the first two marriages?  Can we do enough good to erase our wrongs?  What do our own efforts to cover our sin result in?  To whom should we go and what does God do with our humble confession (Psalm 51:1-2, 1 John 1:9)?
2. What is the significance of a “ladder” which provides passage from heaven to earth (and from earth to heaven?  What is God communicating to us in providing this vision?  What more do we learn from Jesus’ description of himself in John 1:51?  Does God intend to be distant from his creation, his people?  What (Who) is the way to God?
3. How does God show His sovereignty in verses 13-15?  What did Jacob need to do to bring these promises about?  Was there anything Jacob needed to worry about?  What could his chief focus have been?  How can this encourage you to cast your cares on the Lord and trust Him with your life?

Today’s passage: Genesis 27:30-46

Helpful thoughts:

• In the previous passage, it was evident Isaac had every intention to bless Esau.  Today, we see Esau had every intention of receiving the blessing (Though, he had already sold his birthright)!
• From Esau’s perspective, Jacob was a deceiver and a cheater.  The birthright and the blessing we Esau’s to have and he had been unjustly deprived of both.
  • This wasn’t exactly true (25:23), but Jacob’s decision to take it upon himself to get these things God had already promised sure didn’t help.
• Rebekah has one more trick up her sleeve.  Her desire to see Jacob marry from within their people becomes a scheme to have Jacob sent away for his safety.
  • Man continues to plot and scheme…all the while God is accomplishing His every purpose.

Questions to consider:

1. What kinds of emotions are conveyed in this passage?  What would the interaction between Isaac and Esau have looked like (And sounded like)?
2. How did Esau intend to “break his brother’s yoke” from his neck?  How do Esau and Jacob both continue to try to bring about their desired ends through their own methods?  What methods do you tend toward when you desire to see God act?
3. Why didn’t Esau inherit the promise (It wasn’t because he was a sinner, because Jacob was too)?  Why did Jacob inherit the promise (It wasn’t because he was righteous, because he wasn’t)?  To whom do we owe our praise and thanksgiving for our inheritance of the promise of eternal life in Christ (Romans 9:6-18)?

Today’s passage: Genesis 27:1-29

Helpful thoughts:

• Isaac intended to give the blessing to Esau, his firstborn and favorite son.
  • The language of the blessing was intended to carry on the Abrahamic promises (Peoples and nations bowing down, blessings and cursings).
  • The blessing was intended to make Esau the leader of the family.
• Rebekah hears Isaac’s intent, devises a scheme, and executes the plan.  Jacob is not the only deceiver in this narrative.
  • There are parallels in the actions and character of Isaac and Esau, as well as Rebekah and Jacob.
• Isaac wanted this blessing to go to Esau.  But God had already determined and chosen Jacob.

Questions to consider:

1. What similarities can we find between Isaac and Esau?  How did they make decisions?  How were they driven by desires like food?
2. What similarities can we find between Rachel and Jacob?  How did they problem solve?  How did they use their loved ones shortcomings to get what they wanted?
3. Who now has the birthright and the blessing (Both of which normally given to the first born)?  Did Jacob have to do what he did to get them if God had already decreed the promise was his?