Jacob and His Wives

What We Talked About:
Jacob had to run away from home to live with his mother's brother, Laban. On his way, he ran into Laban's daughter, Rachel. When he saw her, it was love at first sight. He ran to her, told her his story, and they went back to see Laban.

Jacob offered to work for Laban if Laban would let him live with him. Laban say, "Should my sister's son work for me for free? Tell me what you want, and I'll gave it to you." Jacob didn't have to think at all. "If I work for you for 7 years, can I marry your daughter, Rachel?" Laban thought about this and said, "Well, I suppose it's better she marry someone I know that some other guy I don't know, so fine, you can marry Rachel."

Jacob worked for Laban for 7 years, but it only seemed like a day to him because he loved Rachel so much. After the 7 years, they had a wedding feast. That night, Jacob went back to his tent to wait for his bride. But Laban had a trick planned for Jacob. Laban had a daughter named Leah, who was older than Rachel and wasn't married, and he wanted her to get married before Rachel. So, he told Leah to sneak into Jacob's tent, so he would marry her instead of Rachel.

The next morning, Jacob woke up and realized he, the man who had tricked his brother, had been tricked into marrying Leah instead of Rachel. He ran to Laban and yelled, "You tricked me!' Laban told Jacob he could marry Rachel, too, if he wanted, but he had to work for him for another 7 years. So, Jacob married Rachel a week later, and had to work for Laban another 7 years.

What's the Big Deal?
1. We should treat others like we want to be treated.

What We Did
1. We hung balloons from the ceiling. Each balloon had drawn on it something (or someone) that went with our story. We used these hanging balloons of Rachel, Leah, Laban, and others to help tell the story.



Our Memory Verse
Matthew 7:12 - “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you."

Jacob's Dream

What We Talked About:
Since his brother, Esau, wanted to kill him, Jacob had to run away from home to live with his mother's brother, Laban. As he was travelling, he stopped for the night to sleep. Since he had no pillow, he laid his head on a rock and began to dream.

In his dream, he saw a large set of steps that started on the earth and went all the way to heaven. Angels were walking up and down the steps, and at the very top was God himself. God spoke to Jacob and repeated the same promises to Jacob that he had made to his father, Isaac, and his grandfather, Abraham.

When Jacob woke the next morning, he knew that God had spoken to him in his dream. He took the large rock he used as a pillow and stood it up on its end, so he could remember the place where God came to him. He named the place, 'Bethel," which in his language meant 'House of God.'

What's the Big Deal?
1. God keeps on keeping his promises.

What We Did
1. We placed a ladder in the middle of the teaching area. We then turned out the lights, placed candles on the steps of the ladder, and lit them to represent the angels in Jacob's dream. We lit an old-fashioned oil lamp and told the story by lamp-light.

Our 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."