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Firm Foundations

Creation to Christ

Lesson 19 - God Chose Jacob and Rejected Esau;

Jacob's Son Joseph

Questions for the LFC Firm Foundations Coordinator may be emailed to firmfoundations@lenoxchurch.org

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REVIEW QUESTIONS:

1. Why was God able to give Abraham and Sarah a son even though he was 100 years old and she was 90?

a. Because God gives life to all people everywhere.

b. God is omnipotent. He can do anything He wants to do.

2. What authority did God have to ask Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice?

a. God is the Creator of all things; therefore, He is the owner of all things.

b. God gave life to Isaac.

3. Did Abraham think that God had changed His mind about Isaac being the father of a great nation and the forefather of the Deliverer? No, Abraham believed and trusted in God because he was convinced that God always keeps His promises.

4. What did Abraham think God might do? Abraham thought that, if he did kill Isaac as God had commanded him, then God would raise Isaac from the dead.

5. Once Abraham had bound Isaac and put him on the altar, was there any way Isaac could deliver himself from death? No, Isaac could not deliver himself from death.

6. Is there any way a person can save himself from the payment of death and everlasting punishment which he deserves because of his sins? No, no one can save himself or herself from the punishment of God. No one can escape from God.

7. Who spoke to Abraham and saved Isaac from death? God did.

8. Was there anyone else who could have saved Isaac from death except God? No.

9. Who provided a sacrifice to take Isaac’s place? God did.

10. Why was the ram held in the bush by its horns? Because God is perfect, He would only accept an offering if it was strong and healthy.

11. Why did Abraham call the place where God provided the ram “The Lord will provide”? Because Abraham believed that, just as the Lord provided the ram instead of Isaac, the Lord would one day provide the Deliverer who would overcome Satan and deliver mankind from Satan’s power and everlasting punishment.

Today’s lesson will briefly touch on the most important events in the lives of Abraham’s descendants as they are recorded in the last twenty-six chapters of Genesis. Our story begins in Canaan, but it will close with Abraham’s descendants living in Egypt.

Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was born in the land where Abraham had lived before the Lord led him to Canaan. God had spared Isaac’s life; God had promised Abraham that through Isaac would come many descendants, including the Deliverer.

Esau was a skillful hunter; he spent his time tracking and killing wild animals out in the fields. The promises concerning the Deliverer would have ordinarily been passed on to Esau.

- He was Isaac’s firstborn child.

- The Deliverer from God would then have been one of Esau’s descendants.

But Esau was not interested in the promises of God.

- He did not trust in God like Abraham and Isaac did.

- Esau was like Cain.

He did not see that he was a sinner.

He did not see that he needed to be accepted by God.

- As we read about Esau, we will see that he went his own way and lived only for the things of this world.

- These were more important to him than the things which God wanted to give him and teach him.

Jacob lived quietly in his tent and kept sheep and cattle. In contrast to Esau, Jacob was a believing man like Abraham and Isaac.

- Jacob admitted that he was a sinner and needed God to send the Deliverer.

- He was very interested in God’s promises.

- Consider:

Each one of us needs to ask, “Am I turning away from God’s truth and following my own way like Cain and Esau? Or, am I like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who admitted their sin and trusted in God to provide the Deliverer?”

Because of the great differences between Esau and Jacob, problems between the two brothers increased to the point that Esau threatened to kill Jacob. Therefore, Jacob left his father and mother’s home and began the long trek back to Mesopotamia, the land from which his grandfather, Abraham, had come. Refer to the map below.

It was a long way from Canaan to Mesopotamia so, on his way, Jacob had to sleep out in the mountains.

One night as Jacob slept, God gave him a dream.

- Occasionally during those times, God would speak to people through dreams.

- But now that His Word is completed, He speaks to us though the Bible.

Through this dream, God was showing Jacob that the coming Deliverer would bridge the gap between man and God.

- God is the only one who can make a way for us to come to Him.

- Even if a person were to do many, many good deeds to try to please God, his efforts would still not bridge the gap caused by sin.

- Consider:

This reminds us that, in the beginning, Adam and Eve were in oneness with God. God walked with Adam and Eve. They were friends with God. But when they disobeyed God, they and all of their descendants, including you and me, were separated from God. The stairway, or the way to God, had been removed. There was no way that people could come back to God and be in fellowship with Him unless God made a way.

But God promised the Deliverer who would destroy Satan and reconcile man to God. The Deliverer would be like the stairway which Jacob saw reaching from earth to Heaven. Through the Deliverer, people would once again be able to be in oneness with God.

Even though all people have been separated from God because of Satan’s lies and Adam’s disobedience to God, God planned to send the Deliverer who would make it possible for God and man to be reconciled and reunited.

Jacob was a sinner, just like us.

- God graciously showed Jacob that there is only one way to God.

- God was also showing Jacob that blessings could only come from God Himself and that Jacob must put his trust in God—not in his own ability to manipulate the circumstances.

God was continuing to work out His plan to send the Deliverer.

- Many years had passed since God gave the first promise of the Deliverer in the garden of Eden.

- Abraham, whom God had called to be the forefather of the Deliverer, was now dead.

- But God had not forgotten His plan.

God promised Jacob that the Deliverer would be one of his descendants. Jacob knew for certain that the promises given to his grandfather, Abraham, and his father, Isaac, now belonged to him.

Many years later, Jacob returned to Canaan. Refer to the map below

In all, Jacob had twelve sons. Refer to time chart below and locate the twelve sons of Jacob.

God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. The land of Canaan, the Promised Land, is still called by his name.

Refer to time chart above. When Joseph’s brothers did things which were wrong, Joseph told his father, Jacob.

Because Joseph was his father’s favorite son, all of his older brothers hated him.

- Consider:

The reason why people get angry and hate one another is that everyone has been born separated from God and everyone’s heart is evil. Do you have anger, hatred, and evil things in your heart and mind sometimes? All of us were born separated from God, and there is no way we can change ourselves. We do these sinful, evil things because we were born sinners just like our father, Adam.

God knew exactly what was going to happen to Joseph’s family.

- Joseph could not see his future.

- He didn’t know how his dreams would be fulfilled.

- But God made it clear that Joseph would become the leader and ruler over the family.The future is all known to God.

LOCATE CANAAN, MIDIAN, AND EGYPT ON MAP.

Joseph, the one whom God had promised would become a leader, was now a slave in Egypt, separated from his family and his homeland. But God carries to completion every promise He makes.

God knows the future.

- He knew Joseph’s future.

- He knows my future.

- He knows your future.

In our next lesson, we will continue the story of God’s dealings in Joseph’s life.

QUESTIONS:

1. What was the big difference between Esau and Jacob?

2. Why didn’t God forget His promises about the Deliverer given to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden and to Abraham?

3. What did Jacob see in the dream given to him by God?

4. What did this dream mean?

5. God spoke to Jacob in a dream. How does God speak to people today?

6. Who was Jacob’s favorite son?

7. How did Joseph’s older brothers react to their father’s love for Joseph?

8. What did Joseph dream? Read Genesis 37:7-9.

9. What did these dreams mean?

10. Who knew Joseph’s future and showed it to him through his dreams?

11. How much of our future does God know?

12. What did Joseph’s older brothers do?

Suggested Daily Bible Readings:

Day 91: Deuteronomy, Chapters 28 and 29

Day 92: Deuteronomy, Chapters 30 and 31

Day 93: Deuteronomy, Chapters 32 and 33

Day 94: Deuteronomy, Chapter 34 and Joshua, Chapter 1

Day 95: Joshua, Chapters 2 and 3