Jacob & Esau

Arosa - Teacher  - This story really happened written  by Moses

Genesis 25:19-34

This Biblical  story  is written  for chldren by Grandma  Ida

Who remembers what Arosa told us about last time? It was a beautiful love story! Isaac got a wife named Rebekah. She came from the same land Abraham had left long ago. How happy Isaac was with Rebekah.

At that time people did not live in houses, but in tents. Isaac and Rebekah also lived in a tent. But there was a party in the tent. Twins have been born! One child has dark hair, but the other child... What color hair does she have now? …… It is a bit red, or brown, pink or orange. All those colors mixed together…. The Bible calls it “ruddy.” His entire little body is covered in hair. It looks like he's wearing a hairy cloak.

Mother Rebekah is happy with her two children, and you can see father Isaac is smiling too. His name actually means "laughter." Esau, with all that hair, was born first; he was the eldest child. Then came Jacob. Grandpa Abraham is happy, too. God had promised that he would become a great nation. But now there were five in his family: Grandpa Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob. Abraham, Isaac, and Rebekah thanked God.

God had spoken to Rebekah. He said: "Rebekah, the child born last—Jacob—will receive the most. He will receive the land of Canaan from Me. He will become a great nation. He will also receive the largest inheritance when his father dies. People will rejoice because of him in the future. I have chosen Jacob for this purpose."

As the children grow older, you can see that they are very different from each other. They are not twins who look exactly alike. Jacob notices the lambs wandering near Isaac’s tent; he thinks they are adorable and pets them, wanting to play with them. Esau, however, keeps crawling far away. Rebekah has to run after him and carry him back to the tent; she has to keep a close eye on him. He looks for pretty little stones and puts them in his mouth—but he isn't allowed to do that; it is dangerous.Even as Esau grows older, he keeps doing dangerous things. He often goes into the mountains and doesn't return home until after dark. Jacob always stays close to his father Isaac and mother Rebekah, looking after the sheep—which he truly loves. Because he is always near home, he also talks a lot with his mother.

Jacob dislikes the fact that Esau is the eldest, because that means Esau will receive the inheritance later—all the sheep, all the lambs, and everything belonging to his father and mother. Jacob would love to keep the sheep, the goats, and the lambs himself. But his mother says, “That is not the case. God has said that everything will eventually be yours. You, Jacob, are to stay here in the land God has promised. He will tell you what you must do.” The same promises God made to Abraham apply to Isaac and, in time, to Jacob as well. God Himself said so.

Jacob often thinks about the words God spoke to his mother.. Esau is a hunter; he shoots animals in the mountains with a bow and arrow. He does not care for animals the way Jacob does. Jacob finds this difficult, for Esau is unaware of the situation and certainly would not want to give up his rights; after all, he is the eldest, and the eldest always receives a double share of the inheritance.