Lesson time!
In class we will watch the video above and skipping the first video below - they are redundant...but I am including them all here on this page.
Color with us - click here to print the page.
The older kids will be deconstructing Genesis 25:29-34. I'm trying to teach them to study their Bibles. Most of them hear "study" and imagine school followed by a test. I want them to know that it isn't the same. We are choosing a couple of verses each week to study. We will ask the who, what, where, when, and why of what we are reading. I want them to see that the Bible holds more information if you dig for it. I don't expect that they will keep written notes based on their studies - but I do want to lay this foundation so that when they are ready for such things...they know how to begin. I stress quality of reading over quantity. Hopefully I am planting seeds.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country,famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.[a])
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”
33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.
So Esau despised his birthright.
Who? Jacob and Esau. Twin brothers with Esau being the oldest.
What? Birthright. A birthright belonged to the oldest son and it meant that his brothers would always work for him. When their father, Isaac, passes away...Jacob (as the younger brother) would have been under Esau's authority. Esau was giving up his rights as the oldest son - his "rights by birth" aka, birthright.
Why? Because Esau was hungry. Sometimes you have to read between the lines and find what the Bible doesn't come right out and tell us. In this story, the Bible doesn't say how long it had been since Esau had eaten. But for Jacob to recognize this as a prime opportunity to take advantage of Esau - it must have been visibly obvious how hungry that he was. Esau says that he was "about to die" from hunger. Assuming that Esau wasn't exaggerating - it must have been several days since he had eaten.
In reading this, I was a bit confused why the phrase "That is why he was also called Edom" was included in this story. It feels out of place. I did a little research on why Esau was called Edom and I didn't find anything that made this placement make sense. However, I did find some interesting things on Edomites and the Jews - and how it may all play out in the end. I won't go into any of it on our blog - because I found a lot of opinions and speculations in many articles and very little facts. If you're interested, feel free to research it.
Class Schedule:
Musical chairs - 10 minutes
Watch first Jacob and Esau video - 5 minutes
Split into groups - 15 minutes
Older kids will come to the lesson table
Little kids to coloring table
Switch
Little kids come to the lesson table
Older kids to coloring table
Snack while they finish coloring and we will watch another video or two.
At 8PM they will begin choir practice. (Choir will be every other Wednesday beginning this week.)