February 28 - March 6
Genesis 28-33
"Surely the Lord is in this place"
Materials: video (link below); Emoji page printed, cut out, with emojis taped to popsicle sticks.
Opening Song: "Love One Another" (Hymns, 308)
Opening Prayer:
Attention Activity: Show video about "Jacob and Esau" from churchofjesuschrist.org (2:05)
Lesson:
Esau and Jacob Embracing, by Robert T. Barrett
Activity: Emoji Story
Print and cut out the emojis on the page below and paste to popsicle sticks. Distribute the emojis to your family members and have them hold up the corresponding emojis as you read the lesson.
When Esau lost his birthright to Jacob👱, he was very angry😡. In Genesis 27 it says, "And Esau hated😡 Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then😡 I will slay my brother Jacob🔪" (v.41). After talking with his his mother, Rebekah, and his father, Isaac, Jacob 😬 decides to flee from Esau and leave his home🏃. He also wants to find a wife👰 for himself while he is away.
Jacob👱 journeys until he comes to the house of a man called Laban and he falls in love 😍with Laban's daughter Rachel👩. Laban agrees he can marry Rachel if he works for him for 7 years👷. Jacob 👱agrees and works hard for 7 years👷. On the day of the wedding👰 Laban tricks Jacob 😈and marries his other daughter, Leah 👰to Jacob instead. Still in love😍 with Rachel, Jacob agrees to work 👷another 7 years to marry her. Jacob does and eventually, Jacob 👱 and Rachel are married👰. Jacob ends up having the large family 👪 that the Lord had always promised. Jacob👱 had 4 wives, including Leah and Rachel👩, and he had 12 sons👦.
Jacob felt it was time to return to his family in Canaan🏃, but he was nervous😬. The last time Jacob had been in Canaan, Esau had been plotting to kill him🔪. Jacob heard on his journey that Esau was going to come meet him with 400 men😱. Jacob decided to pray for help🙏. "Deliver me, I pray thee😔, form the hand of my bother, from the hand of Esau for I fear him😬, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother👰 with the children👦" (Gen. 32:11). Jacob felt inspired to prepare a gift 🎁 for peace ☮ for Esau of sheep and goats🐑🐐. The Lord then appeared to Jacob and blessed him😔. He told him he would be a great leader and he changed Jacob's👱 name to Israel🧔.
--How do you think Esau will react when he sees Jacob again for the first time over 14 years?
Take turns reading Gen. 33:1-12.
1 And Jacob 🧔lifted up his eyes👀, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men😱. And he divided the children👦 unto Leah, and unto Rachel👩, and unto the two handmaids.
2 And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel👩 and Joseph hindermost.
3 And he passed over before them, and abowed himself🙇 to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4 And Esau ran to meet him🏃, and embraced him🤗, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept😂.
5 And he lifted up his eyes👀, and saw the women and the children👦; and said, Who are those with thee? 😮And he said, The children 👦which God hath graciously given thy servant🧔.
6 Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children👦, and they bowed themselves🙇.
7 And Leah also with her children👦 came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel👩, and they bowed themselves🙇.
8 And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove🐐🐑 which I met? And he 🧔said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.
9 And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself😁.
10 And Jacob👱 said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
11 Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee🐑🐐; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it🎁.
12 And he said, Let us take our journey🏃, and let us go, and I will go before thee😁.
How did Esau react to seeing his brother again? Esau embraced Jacob and accepted him back into his life and his family. The two brothers were reconciled, meaning they "made up." Have you ever had a fight with a family member?
Elder Holland said, "Surely each of us could cite an endless array of old scars and sorrows and painful memories that this very moment still corrode the peace in someone’s heart or family or neighborhood. Whether we have caused that pain or been the recipient of the pain, those wounds need to be healed so that life can be as rewarding as God intended it to be. Like the food in your refrigerator that your grandchildren carefully check in your behalf, those old grievances have long since exceeded their expiration date" ("The Ministry of Reconciliation" General Conference, Oct. 2018).
The Lord wants us to love and care for our family members, but sometimes the people we love the most hurt us the deepest. Sometimes it is hard to forgive. What helps you forgive someone when they've hurt you?
Elder Holland continued, "My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify that forgiving and forsaking offenses, old or new, is central to the grandeur of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I testify that ultimately such spiritual repair can come only from our divine Redeemer, He who rushes to our aid 'with healing in his wings'" ("The Ministry of Reconciliation" General Conference, Oct. 2018).
Bear your testimony of how forgiveness has brought you peace and healing.
Closing Song: "Love at Home" (Hymns, 294)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment:
Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies
