Lesson 025

Leah And Genesis 29:1-30 MEMORY VERSE PROVERBS 11:18 The wicked m an does deceptive work, but to him who sows righteousness will be a sure reward

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 won’t 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. He has made promises to His children that He intends to keep 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. tried to make something happen in his life deceitfully and it came back on him, just like that paper came back on us. Deceit will always come back on those who practice it.

LESSON TIME Jacob’s name means deceiver, and it describes him well. He had deceived 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 , his brother, who was angry with Jacob. Deceit will always come back on those who practice it.

In today’s lesson we are going to learn about a time when Jacob deceived. The Bible tells us that we will reap what we sow. Jacob sowed deceit in his life and now will reap deceit in his life. We will learn some valuable lessons in today’s Bible study.

G EN ES I S 29:1-10 S o J ac o b w e n t o n h i s j o u r n e y an d c am e t o t h e l an d o f t h e p e o p l e o f t h e e as t .

An d h e l o o k e d , an d s aw a w e l l i n t h e f i e l d ; an d be h o l d , t h e r e w e r e t h r e e f l o c k s o f s h e e p l y i n g by i t ; f o r o u t o f t h at w e l l t h e y w at e r e d t h e f l o c k s . A l ar ge s t o n e w as o n t h e w e l l 's m o u t h .

N o w al l t h e f l o c k s w o u l d be gat h e r e d t h e r e ; an d t h e y w o u l d r o l l t h e s t o n e f r o m t h e w e l l 's m o u t h , w at e r t h e s h e e p , an d p u t t h e s t o n e bac k i n i t s p l ac e o n t h e w e l l 's m o u t h .

An d J ac o b s ai d t o t h e m , " M y br e t h r e n , w h e r e ar e y o u f r o m ?" An d t h e y s ai d , " We ar e f r o m Har an ."

T h e n h e s ai d t o t h e m , " D o y o u k n o w L aban t h e s o n o f N ah o r ?" An d t h e y s ai d , " We k n o w h i m ." S o h e s ai d t o t h e m , " I s h e w e l l ?" An d t h e y s ai d , " He i s w e l l . An d l o o k , h i s d au gh t e r R ac h e l i s c o m i n g w i t h t h e s h e e p ."

T h e n h e s ai d , " L o 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 e r e d t o ge t h e r . Wat e r t h e s h e e p , an d go an d f e e d t h e m ."

B u t t h e y 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 e r e d t o ge t h e r , an d t h e y h av e r o l l e d t h e s t o n e f r o m t h e w e l l 's m o u t h ; t h e n w e w at e r t h e s h e e p ."

N o w w h i l e h e w as s t i l l s p e ak i n g w i t h t h e m , R ac h e l c am e w i t h h e r f at h e r 's s h e e p , f o r s h e w as a s h e p h e r d e s s . An d i t c am e t o p as s , w h e n J ac o b s aw R ac h e l t h e d au gh t e r o f L aban h i s m o t h e r 's br o t h e r , an d t h e s h e e p o f L aban h i s m o t h e r 's br o t h e r , t h at J ac o b w e n t n e ar an d r o l l e d t h e s t o n e f r o m t h e w e l l 's m o u t h , an d w at e r e d t h e f l o c k o f L aban h i s m o t h e r 's br o t h e r .

Jacob traveled a long distance to where his ancestors were from. 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. When the others would not open the well, Jacob removed the stone and served Rachel by giving water to her sheep.

G EN ES I S 29:11-14 T h e n J ac o b k i s s e d R ac h e l , an d l i f t e d u p h i s v o i c e an d w e p t .

An d J ac o b t o l d R ac h e l t h at h e w as h e r f at h e r 's r e l at i v e an d t h at h e w as R e be k ah 's s o n . S o s h e r an an d t o l d h e r f at h e r . T h e n i t c am e t o p as s , w h e n L aban h e ar d t h e r e p o r t abo u t J ac o b h i s s i s t e r 's s o n , t h at h e r an t o m e e t h i m , an d e m br ac e d h i m an d k i s s e d 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 L aban al l t h e s e t h i n gs .

An d L aban s ai d t o h i m , " S u r e l y y o u ar e m y bo n e an d m y f l e s h ." An d h e s t ay 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 told his uncle all about his travels and he stayed with him one month. After having to run away from his home he was very glad to be able to spend some time with his relatives.

G EN ES I S 29:15-20 T h e n L aban s ai d t o J ac o b, " B e c au s e y o u ar e m y r e l at i v e , s h o u l d y o u t h e r e f o r e s e r v e m e f o r n o t h i n g? T e l l m e , w h at s h o u l d y o u r w age s be ?"

N o w L aban h ad t w o d au gh t e r s : t h e n am e o f t h e e l d e r w as L e ah , an d t h e n am e o f t h e y o u n ge r w as R ac h e l .

L e ah 's e y e s w e r e d e l i c at e , bu t R ac h e l w as be au t i f u l o f f o r m an d ap p e ar an c e . N o w J ac o b l o v e d R ac h e l , an d h e s ai d , " I w i l l s e r v e y o u s e v e n y e ar s f o r R ac h e l y o u r y o u n ge r d au gh t e r ."

An d L aban s ai d , " I t i s be t t e r t h at I gi 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 e r t o an o t h e r m an . S t ay w i t h m e ."

S o J ac o b s e r v e d s e v e n y e ar s f o r R ac h e l , an d t h e y s e e m e d bu t a f e w d ay s t o h i m be c au s e o f t h e l o v e h e h ad f o r h e r .

As a result of Jacob deceiving Esau (taking his birthright and blessing), Jacob became a servant to Laban. Deceit will always come back on those who practice it. 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 didn’t seem like very much. Maybe you were promised a big bowl of ice cream if you weeded out a flowerbed at home. Once the work is done and you get your ice cream the work doesn’t 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 e n J ac o b s ai d t o L aban , " G i v e m e m y w i f e , f o r m y d ay s ar e f u l f i l l e d , t h at I m ay go i n t o h e r ."

An d L aban gat h e r e d t o ge t h e r al l t h e m e n o f t h e p l ac e an d m ad e a f e as t .

N o w i t c am e t o p as s i n t h e e v e n i n g, t h at h e t o o k L e ah h i s d au gh t e r an d br o u gh t h e r t o J ac o b; an d h e w e n t i n t o h e r .

An d L aban gav e h i s m ai d Z i l p ah t o h i s d au gh t e r L e ah 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 be h o l d , i t w as L e ah . An d h e s ai d t o L aban , " Wh at 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 e l t h at I s e r v e d y o u ? Wh y t h e n h av e y o u d e c e i v e d m e ?"

An d L aban s ai d , " I t m u s t n o t be 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 ge r be f 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. This all sounds very familiar doesn’t it? Jacob received the blessing and it was too late for Esau. But now Jacob is learning what it is like to be deceived.

We need to be careful in our life not to be deceptive. The truth will always be found out and it will only cause problems in our lives. We will find that when we deceive others that we ourselves will end up being deceived.

Jacob then received Rachel as wife, but had to work seven more years for her. Now Jacob was forced to wait for his heart’s desire and to respect the birthright. Though Jacob was deceitful, Laban was also; Jacob tasted the consequences of deceit. 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. Deceit will always come back on those who practice it.

G EN ES I S 29:27-30 " Fu l f i l l h e r w e e k , an d w e w i l l gi v e y o u t h i s o n e al s o f o r t h e s e r v i c e w h i c h y o u w i l l s e r v e w i t h m e s t i l l an o t h e r s e v e n y e ar s ."

T h e n J ac o b d i d s o an d f u l f i l l e d h e r w e e k . S o h e gav e h i m h i s d au gh t e r R ac h e l as w i f e al s o .

An d L aban gav e h i s m ai d B i l h ah t o h i s d au gh t e r R ac h e l as a m ai d .

T h e n J ac o b al s o w e n t i n t o R ac h e l , an d h e al s o l o v e d R ac h e l m o r e t h an L e ah . An d h e s e r v e d w i t h L aban s t i l l an o t h e r s e v e n y e ar s .

So Jacob fulfilled his service to Laban and Jacob loved Rachel and favored her over Leah. Jacob learned a valuable lesson. We see in Jacob’s life that God was changing a man who was filled with deceit into a man who was ruled by God. In fact, Jacob means “heel catcher or deceiver” and later God changes his name to 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 experienced the same deceit used on him that he had used earlier. When God wants to do a work in our lives and teach us something, we cannot avoid it. Deceit will always come back on those who practice it.

We need to be open to God’s instruction, and patient for His action. We need to seek God’s will and allow him to work in His own time. Never be deceitful, but always be honest.

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 avoid deception. If there are any children who have not yet responded to the gospel, give them opportunity to do so.