Jacob the Trickster – Lesson 2
Eternity Past, Age of Gentiles, Age of Israel, Hypostatic Union, Church Age, Tribulation, Millennium, Eternal future
Before you begin this Bible study, If you have never believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior, John 3:16 tells us: “ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life.’ Simply have faith that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and you will have eternal life and be saved. If you have believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior; then 1 John 1:9 tells us; “If you confess your sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Simply privately tell God the Father your sins to be filled with God the Holy Spirit and He will teach you Bible truth. (Rebound)
Promise Memory Verse
“The Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6b
How would you like to eat food that somebody hunted like Isaac did? Think about the animals outside. Have you ever seen a beaver by the river? What would you think if you saw him on your dinner plate one night instead of spaghetti and garlic bread?
John’s dad, Larry, loved to hunt. One day he had a taste for beaver meat. Larry waited patiently and suddenly, he had his prize! When he got home, he was exhausted so he left the fur on the dead beaver and stuck him in the garage freezer.
The following week, John’s dad told him to take the beaver out of the freezer and clean it so it would be ready to cook. John looked inside the freezer and saw the white buck teeth gleaming back at him. He was glad the beaver was dead because it looked like it would attack him at any moment.
John struggled to even pick the beaver up; it must have weighed 50 pounds! Finally, he got it inside the house and set it on the kitchen table to unthaw.
After it sat out for a while, he grabbed a knife to cut it up, but it wasn’t sharp enough. He went into the garage and found a jig saw and it worked like a charm.
Finally it was ready to cook. Most foods smell really good when they are baking in the oven…this was totally different… the horrible smell from the oven was the worse than your stinky feet! It tasted even more disgusting than it smelled.
Hunting food was a way of life when Jacob and Easu lived in our story below; I bet you are glad that God in His grace gives you food like pizza, cheeseburgers and macaroni and cheese to eat instead.
Jacob was in big trouble; his brother Esau wanted to kill him! Now he had to get as far away as he could get from his home in Beersheba. He was going to miss his family and friends!
Of course we know why Esau wanted to kill him don’t we. Jacob and his mom Rebekah figured out a way to trick his dad Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing instead of his twin brother Esau. Rebekah took a couple of young goats and made them taste like the wild food that Esau hunted.
Jacob dressed up in his brother’s smelly hunting clothes and wore hairy goat skins on his arms and neck so that he could trick his dad. It worked, and Isaac gave him the blessing instead of Esau.
Jacob walked a long way and it was starting to get late. He found a quiet place to camp under the stars and quickly found a rock to use as a pillow. Despite how uncomfortable it must have been, he fell fast asleep.
Jacob had a really strange dream; there was a ladder that went from the ground up to Heaven with angels traveling up and down it. God stood above it and told him that He was going to give him the land of Canaan, a large family and blessings.
“The Blessing”: In families during the Age of the Gentiles, the family riches and leadership
was given to the oldest son by his father right before he died.
These were the same blessings that God gave to his grandpa Abraham and his dad Isaac. (The Abrahamic Covenant) God also told him that He was with him and would be with him wherever he went, this was grace. How could this be possible? Jacob was such a sneaky, tricky, liar?
He sure didn’t act like a Christian did he? Some people probably thought that Jacob was not going to go to Heaven because of what he did, but they were totally wrong!
Jacob believed in Jesus as his Savior long before he stole the blessing. God gave him grace even though he didn’t deserve it at all.
The truth is that God gives all of us grace even though none of us deserve it.
Once you believe that Jesus died on the cross for all of the bad things you think, do and say, it’s permanent. God sticks to you like super glue no matter what kind of a person you are. God promised this to us in our memory verse.
“The Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6b