Lesson 025
Leah And Rachel
Genesis 29:1-30
MEMORY VERSE
PROVERBS 11:18
“The w ic ked m an does dec eptiv e w ork, but to him w ho
sow s righteousness w ill be a sure rew ard.”
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
A clean two liter bottle, tape, and a wad of paper.
A cone shaped object like a bottle of vase, and masking tape.
ATTENTION GRABBER!
Stubborn Paper
Turn a clean two-liter soda bottle on its side and tape it to the edge
of a table so the open end is just past the edge of the table. Wad a
small piece of paper and stuff it into the mouth of the soda bottle.
Be sure that it is a very snug fit.
Ask for a volunteer to come and see if he can blow the paper into
the bottle. If the paper is snug enough, no matter how hard he
blows the paper will not go into the bottle. It may move a little as
he blows toward the inside of the bottle; but as soon as the air flow
stops, the paper will be pushed back (maybe even out) because of
the air pressure inside the bottle.
Explain to your class that God has a plan and design for each of our
lives. God has made promises to His children that He intends to
keep in His time and in His way. When we try to take matters into
our own hands and force those promises to come true, we will
meet with resistance, just like the bottle resisted our attempt to
blow the paper into it.
We need to trust the Lord. Jacob tried to make something happen
in his life by using deceit; it came back on him, just like that paper
came back on us. Deceit will come back on those w h o
practice it.
LESSON TIME
Jacob’s name means deceiver, and it describes him well. He had
tricked his brother in order to gain his birthright, and he deceived
his father to gain his blessing. His mother sent him off to find a
wife and to protect him from Esau, his brother, who was angry with
Jacob.
Today, we will learn about a time when Jacob was deceived. The
Bible tells us that we will reap what we sow. Jacob sowed deceit
and now will reap deceit. There is a valuable lesson to be learned
from his experience. Deceit will come back on those w h o
practice it.
G EN ES I S 29:1-10
S o J ac ob w ent on his j ou rney and c am e t o t he land of
t he p eop le of t he east .
An d h e l o o k e d , a n d s a w a w e l l i n t h e f i e l d ; a n d
beh ol d , t h er e w er e t h r ee f l oc k s of s h eep l yi n g by i t ;
f o r o u t o f t h at w el l t h ey w at er ed t h e f l o c k s . A l ar ge
st one w as on t he w ell's m ou t h.
N o w al l t h e f l o c k s w o u l d be gat h er ed t h er e; an d t h ey
w ou ld roll t he st one f rom t he w ell's m ou t h, w at er
t h e s h eep , an d p u t t h e s t on e bac k i n i t s p l ac e on t h e
w ell's m ou th.
An d J a c o b s a i d t o t h e m , " M y b r e t h r e n , w h e r e a r e y o u
f r o m ? " An d t h e y s a i d , " W e a r e f r o m H a r a n . "
T h en h e s ai d t o t h em , "D o you k n ow Laban t h e s on of
N a h o r ? " An d t h e y s a i d , " W e k n o w h i m . "
S o h e s a i d t o t h e m , " I s h e w e l l ? " An d t h e y s a i d , " H e i s
w e l l . An d l o o k , h i s d a u g h t e r R a c h e l i s c o m i n g w i t h
the sheep ."
T h en h e s ai d , "Lo o k , i t i s s t i l l h i gh d ay ; i t i s n o t t i m e
f o r t h e c at t l e t o be gat h er ed t o get h er .
Wat er t h e
s h eep , an d go an d f eed t h em ."
Bu t t h ey s ai d , "We c an n o t u n t i l al l t h e f l o c k s ar e
gat h er ed t o get h er , an d t h ey h av e r o l l ed t h e s t o n e
f rom t he w ell's m ou t h; t hen w e w at er t he sheep ."
N ow w hile he w as st ill sp eak ing w it h t hem , R ac hel
c am e w it h her f at her's sheep , f or she w as
a
s h e p h e r d e s s . An d i t c a m e t o p a s s , w h e n J a c o b s a w
R ac h el t h e d au gh t er o f Laban h i s m o t h er 's br o t h er ,
an d t h e s h eep of Laban h i s m ot h er 's br ot h er , t h at
J ac ob w ent near and rolled t he st one f rom t he w ell's
m ou t h , an d w at er ed t h e f l oc k of Laban h i s m ot h er 's
br ot h er .
Jacob traveled a long distance to Haran, the place where his
ancestors dwelt. He reached a well where sheep were given water
and inquired of some shepherds about his uncle. They said he was
well and that his daughter Rachel was approaching. Jacob removed
the stone on the well’s mouth and served Rachel by giving water to
her sheep.
G EN ES I S 29:11-14
Then J ac ob k issed R ac hel, and lif t ed u p his v oic e and
wept.
An d J a c o b t o l d R a c h e l t h a t h e w a s h e r f a t h e r ' s
r el at i v e an d t h at h e w as R ebek ah 's s on . S o s h e r an
and t old her f at her.
T h en i t c am e t o p as s , w h en Laban h ear d t h e r ep or t
abou t J ac ob h i s s i s t er 's s on , t h at h e r an t o m eet h i m ,
an d em br ac ed h i m an d k i s s ed h i m , an d br o u gh t h i m
t o h i s h o u s e. S o h e t o l d Laban al l t h es e t h i n gs .
An d L a b a n s a i d t o h i m , " S u r e l y y o u a r e m y b o n e a n d
m y f l e s h . " An d h e s t a y e d w i t h h i m f o r a m o n t h .
Jacob was glad to see Rachel and his relatives. Jacob visited with
his uncle, Laban, and remained with him for one month.
G EN ES I S 29:15-20
T h en Laban s ai d t o J ac ob, "Bec au s e you ar e m y
r el at i v e, s h o u l d y o u t h er ef o r e s er v e m e f o r n o t h i n g?
T el l m e, w h at s h o u l d y o u r w ages be?"
N o w Laban h ad t w o d au gh t er s : t h e n am e o f t h e el d er
w as Leah , an d t h e n am e o f t h e y o u n ger w as R ac h el .
Leah 's eyes w er e d el i c at e, bu t R ac h el w as beau t i f u l of
f orm and ap p earanc e. N ow J ac ob lov ed R ac hel, and
he said , "I w ill serv e you sev en years f or R ac hel you r
y o u n ger d au gh t er ."
An d L a b a n s a i d , " I t i s b e t t e r t h a t I g i v e h e r t o y o u
t h an t h at I s h o u l d gi v e h er t o an o t h er m an .
S t ay
w ith m e."
S o J ac ob serv ed sev en years f or R ac hel, and t hey
s eem ed bu t a f ew d ays t o h i m bec au s e of t h e l ov e h e
had f or her.
As a result of Jacob deceiving Esau (taking his birthright and
blessing), Jacob became a servant to Laban. Jacob decided to work
for Laban for seven years in exchange for Rachel, Laban's younger
daughter. But the time went by fast because he loved Rachel very
much.
Has there ever been something that you wanted so much that the
work you had to do to get it did not seem like very much. Maybe
you were promised a big bowl of ice cream if you weeded a
flowerbed at home. Once the work was done and you got your ice
cream, the work did not seem so bad. That is how Jacob felt about
working seven years in order to marry Rachel.
G EN ES I S 29:21-26
T h en J ac ob s ai d t o Laban , "G i v e m e m y w i f e, f or m y
d ay s ar e f u l f i l l ed , t h at I m ay go i n t o h er ."
An d L a b a n g a t h e r e d t o g e t h e r a l l t h e m e n o f t h e p l a c e
and m ad e a f east .
N o w i t c am e t o p as s i n t h e ev en i n g, t h at h e t o o k Leah
h i s d au gh t er an d br o u gh t h er t o J ac o b; an d h e w en t
in to her.
An d L a b a n g a v e h i s m a i d Z i l p a h t o h i s d a u g h t e r L e a h
as a m ai d . S o i t c am e t o p as s i n t h e m o r n i n g, t h at
b e h o l d , i t w a s L e a h . An d h e s a i d t o L a b a n , " W h a t i s
t h i s y o u h av e d o n e t o m e? Was i t n o t f o r R ac h el t h at
I s er v ed y o u ? Wh y t h en h av e y o u d ec ei v ed m e?"
An d L a b a n s a i d , " I t m u s t n o t b e d o n e s o i n o u r
c o u n t r y , t o gi v e t h e y o u n ger bef o r e t h e f i r s t bo r n .”
Jacob worked his seven years waiting patiently for Rachel. The
wedding was prepared but Laban switched his daughters and
brought Leah, his older daughter, to Jacob. When Jacob found out
it was Leah, it was too late. The marriage was official. He had been
deceived and was stuck.
Does this story seem familiar?
Remember, Jacob received the blessing and it was too late for Esau.
Jacob, now, tasted the consequences of deceit. He experienced
what Esau must have felt to be the victim of deceit.
After seven more year of hard work, Jacob received Rachel as wife.
He was forced to wait for his heart’s desire. In all, Jacob would
spend a total of 20 years away from his home, something, he
probably never planned on when he deceived his father and Esau.
May we not be guilty, as Jacob, of deceiving others. Deceit w i l l
come back on those who practice it.
G EN ES I S 29:27-30
"Fu l f i l l h er w eek , an d w e w i l l gi v e y o u t h i s o n e al s o
for the service which you will serve with m e still
anot her sev en years."
Then J ac ob d id so and f u lf illed her w eek .
h i m h i s d au gh t er R ac h el as w i f e al s o .
An d L a b a n g a v e h i s
R ac hel as a m aid .
m aid
Bilhah
to
his
S o h e gav e
d au gh t er
Then J ac ob also w ent in t o R ac hel, and he also lov ed
R ac hel m ore t han Leah.
An d h e s e r v e d w i t h L a b a n
st ill anot her sev en years.
So Jacob fulfilled his service, and Laban permitted Rachel to be
Jacob’s wife. Jacob learned a valuable lesson. We see later in
Jacob’s life, that a man filled with deceit became a man who was
ruled by God. Remember, Jacob means “heel catcher or deceiver”;
and later God changed Jacob’s name to mean Israel or “ruled by
God.”
Seven Minutes of Silence
Instruct your class to try to imagine what seven years is like. Tell
them that you are all going to look at the clock for seven minutes
and they must be completely silent. As the second hand rounds
twelve, have them put up a finger to count how many minutes
have gone by.
At the end of seven minutes, ask them if it seemed like a long time.
Then tell them that you forgot, but to complete the lesson they
must wait another seven minutes in silence. When they respond,
tell them you are only kidding.
Explain to your class what it must have seemed like for Jacob to
wait seven years for Rachel, only to discover he must work another
seven years to keep her. Ask the class how that would make them
feel.
Jacob’s sin came back upon him; he who had once deceived his
brother Esau, experiences the consequences of deceit himself many
years later. When God wants to do a work in our lives and teach us
something, we cannot avoid it. Deceit will come back on t h o s e
who practice it.
Roll-a-Rang
You must have a cone shaped object: something that is more
slender at the top than the bottom (like a vase or a bottle). Tape
two 3’ wide circles about 6’ apart. Divide your class into pairs and
have them separate and form lines behind each circle. Have one of
each pair enter the circle and instruct them to carefully roll the
bottle to their partner. They may not leave the circles or reach
outside of them. Allow many groups to try.
Because the object is cone shaped, it will not go the distance to
their partner; it will just roll in a circle. Explain to your class that
when we take matters into our own hands, no amount of effort will
create the desired results. Like the bottles, our efforts will just
come back on us.
PRAYER
Lead the children in a prayer of commitment to be honest, asking
God to help us be strong in the face of temptation to deceive. If
there are any children who have not yet responded to the Gospel,
give them opportunity to do so.