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Jacob and Esau
Brotherhood
Gen 25:20-34 NASB and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. (21) Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. (22) But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If it is so, why then am I this way?" So she went to inquire of the LORD. (23) The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger." (24) When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. (25) Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. (26) Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them. (27) When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents. (28) Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. (29) When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; (30) and Esau said to Jacob, "Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished." Therefore his name was called Edom. (31) But Jacob said, "First sell me your birthright." (32) Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?" (33) And Jacob said, "First swear to me"; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. (34) Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
In verses 20-22:
Did Rebekah pray to God? What does this show you about prayer?
Did God answer Isaac's prayer in the way Isaac and Rebekah expected? How does God answer your prayers in ways that you believe to be wrong or that you don't expect? What does that teach you about your relationship w/ God?
In verse 23:
Does God explain himself?
Do you think this is the answer that Rebekah expected?
How has God worked through events in your lives for a greater purpose?
Did God know the outcome of the twin's lives before they were born?
What does that reveal to you about God and your relationship with Him?
Verses 24-27
Esau (hairy), and Jacob (one who follows on another's heal, supplanter)
As infants, were these twins demonstrating the traits that God planned for them? What does this reveal about God's influence on your life?
Verse 28: How does this relationship description between children and parents touch you? Perhaps reminds you of similar relationships in your families? What does this reveal about Isaac and Rebekah? How does this influence the relationship between the twins? Do you believe that God knew this would happen beforehand? What does this reveal about God's plan for our lives and our relationships?
Verses 29-34:
What do you see playing out in this event between Jacob, Esau and God?
What is the difference between Jacob and Esau? (Heb 12:16)
Do you think that this surprised God?
If yes, what does that reveal about God? If no, what does that reveal about your relationship with God and others around you?
Gen 27:1-45 NASB Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son." And he said to him, "Here I am." (2) Isaac said, "Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. (3) "Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me; (4) and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die." (5) Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, (6) Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, (7) 'Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.' (8) "Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you. (9) "Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves. (10) "Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death." (11) Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man. (12) "Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing." (13) But his mother said to him, "Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me." (14) So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved. (15) Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. (16) And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. (17) She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob. (18) Then he came to his father and said, "My father." And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?" (19) Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me." (20) Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the LORD your God caused it to happen to me." (21) Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not." (22) So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." (23) He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him. (24) And he said, "Are you really my son Esau?" And he said, "I am." (25) So he said, "Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son's game, that I may bless you." And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank. (26) Then his father Isaac said to him, "Please come close and kiss me, my son." (27) So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said, "See, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed; (28) Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine; (29) May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you." (30) Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. (31) Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, "Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me." (32) Isaac his father said to him, "Who are you?" And he said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau." (33) Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed." (34) When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father!" (35) And he said, "Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing." (36) Then he said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing." And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?" (37) But Isaac replied to Esau, "Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?" (38) Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." So Esau lifted his voice and wept. (39) Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, "Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above. (40) "By your sword you shall live, And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come about when you become restless, That you will break his yoke from your neck." (41) So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob." (42) Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. (43) "Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban! (44) "Stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury subsides, (45) until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"
Verses 1-17:
What is Isaac's plan? Is this consistent with God's prophecy for Jacob and Esau? What does this reveal about Isaac's relationship with Esau, Jacob, and God?
What is Rebekah's plan? Is this consistent with her husband's wishes; with God's wishes? What does this reveal about Rebekah and her relationship with Isaac, Esau, Jacob and God?
How are these 4 family members demonstrating their:
Faithfulness to God
Love for each other
Loyalty to each other
How does this compare to Adam and Eve's relationship with their sons and their relationship with God? With Noah and his relationship with his family and God?
Why do you think this is happening
In what ways do you see similar conflicts playing out in your own family
Verses 18-29
What do you see in Isaac's blessing to “Esau” in verse 29? What does this blessing reveal about Isaac's intentions and about his relationship with God?
Verses 30-36
What is Isaac's reaction to learning about the deception?
What does Esau say about Jacob?
How did Jacob, Isaac and Esau view a father's blessing
Verses 37-41
What are the three aspects of Isaac's prophecy over Esau?
What is the promise? How do you think Esau interpreted “break his yoke from your neck”? (Verse 41)
What does this reveal about Esau and his relationship with his brother and with God?
What does this teach you about your own relationships?
What about Rebekah – how is she seen by Isaac and Esau?
How would you react if you were Esau?
Verses 42-45
How do you console yourself when you are wronged? (Verse 42)
What does Rebekah try to do in order to manage the situation? Do you think this is effective?
Try to characterize each person's relationship with the other:
Rebekah with Esau, God, Isaac, Jacob
Esau with Rebekah, God, Isaac, Jacob
God with Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, Esau
Jacob with Isaac, Esau, Rebekah, God
Isaac with Jacob, Esau, Rebekah, God
JACOB'S RECONCILIATION WITH GOD AND ESAU (HOLD for December 9th)
Gen 32:1-28 NASB Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. (2) Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's camp." So he named that place Mahanaim. (3) Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. (4) He also commanded them saying, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: 'Thus says your servant Jacob, "I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; (5) I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight."'" (6) The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him." (7) Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; (8) for he said, "If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape." (9) Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,' (10) I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. (11) "Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. (12) "For You said, 'I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.'" (13) So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau: (14) two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, (15) thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. (16) He delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on before me, and put a space between droves." (17) He commanded the one in front, saying, "When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?' (18) then you shall say, 'These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.'" (19) Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, saying, "After this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; (20) and you shall say, 'Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.'" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me." (21) So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp. (22) Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. (23) He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. (24) Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. (25) When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. (26) Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." (27) So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." (28) He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed."
What does Jacob do in anticipation of meeting Esau? (verses 1-19)
What is Jacob's intention? (Verse 20)
Who was with Jacob at the final stage of this confrontation? (verse 24)
Was this an easy struggle? (verse 24-25)
What did Jacob want from this man? (Verse 27) How was Jacob blessed by his father? What about his name is important here?
What happened to Jacob before he could be blessed? What does this reveal about Jacob's relationship with God? What does this teach us about God and the way he teaches us?
Note: Israel means “who prevails with God”
Gen 33:1-11 NASB Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. (2) He put the maids and their children in front, and Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. (3) But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. (4) Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. (5) He lifted his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, "Who are these with you?" So he said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant." (6) Then the maids came near with their children, and they bowed down. (7) Leah likewise came near with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed down. (8) And he said, "What do you mean by all this company which I have met?" And he said, "To find favor in the sight of my lord." (9) But Esau said, "I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own." (10) Jacob said, "No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then take my present from my hand, for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably. (11) "Please take my gift which has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have plenty." Thus he urged him and he took it.
How would you have felt seeing 400 men with Esau coming toward you?
What did Jacob do in verses 1-3? If you were Esau, how would you interpret Jacob's actions from the chapter 32 to this point? What does this teach us about forgiveness?
Read verse 4, How do you feel after reading this? What about this reconciliation touches your spirit?
In verses 8-11, what important step did Esau need to take to satisfy Jacob? What does this teach us about receiving? Do you have trouble receiving from others? How can this be a barrier in your relationships?
THEME
CHARACTER OF GOD
APPLICATION