Can brothers come back from a big fight?
Jacob and Esau were twins who never got along. Jacob tricked Esau out of his birthright for a bowl of stew, then tricked their blind father into giving him Esau’s blessing. Esau was so angry Jacob had to run for his life. Twenty years later, Jacob came home terrified, sending gifts ahead and praying all night. Esau ran to meet him, threw his arms around him, and they both cried.
Jacob and Esau were twins who never got along. Jacob tricked Esau out of his birthright for a bowl of stew, then tricked their blind father into giving him Esau’s blessing. Esau was so angry Jacob had to run for his life. Twenty years later, Jacob came home terrified, sending gifts ahead and praying all night. Esau ran to meet him, threw his arms around him, and they both cried.
About 8 minutes: 5 choices and 2 ways-of-knowing stops. Kids play Esau being hungry, Jacob being asked to lie, Jacob coming home scared, and Esau deciding what to do with twenty years of anger. The wrestling at the river and Rebekah’s part are in the grown-ups note. The story ends on the hug.
Ages 6–12
The Bible doesn’t hide that Jacob was a schemer, and it doesn’t explain why God chose him before he was born. You can say: God chooses people before they’ve earned it, and then spends years changing them. Jacob at the end, bowing and praying “I am not worthy,” is a different man than Jacob with the goat skins. That’s the point of the twenty years.
Genesis 25:19–34 (the twins; the birthright for stew), 27 (Rebekah and Jacob deceive blind Isaac; Esau vows to kill Jacob), 28:10–22 (Jacob’s dream at Bethel), 29–31 (twenty years with Laban), 32 (Jacob’s fear, gifts and prayer; wrestling with God at the Jabbok; renamed Israel), and 33:1–17 (Esau runs to him; they weep; Esau accepts the gifts; they part in peace). Our story follows the stew, the trick, the flight, the return and the hug, and leaves the wrestling and the name change to this note.