Lesson 11 – Jacob’s Dream

God revealed the certainty of His presence now and forever to Jacob in his dream. God reveals Himself and His plan of salvation for us in His Word and Sacraments; we respond with praise and worship.

Opening

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

This lesson will use the Bible and the Lesson 11 Leaflet from the Student Pack. The front cover shows how the artist sees Jacob dreaming about the ladder between heaven and earth with angels ascending and descending and the Lord standing at the top. Also paper and colored pencils or crayons will be needed.

Prayer:  Dear heavenly Father, thank You for bringing us to church. It is Your house, the gate of heaven. We thank You that You are always with us and that we see You in Your Word and Sacraments. Send Your Holy Spirit to be with us this day and through all our endings and our beginnings. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Listen to the hymn “How Firm a Foundation”.

Endings and beginnings are exciting - finishing a big project, moving to a new city, joining a new team. Today, we will study an ending and a beginning for Jacob, Isaac's youngest son. He is leaving one life behind and starting over in a new place.

The Church recognizes that there will be an ending to this earthly life for all of us, when Jesus will come for a second time, gathering all believers to Himself in heaven. We call those days the end times. We have a big word that means the "study of the end times." It is called eschatology (ess kuh TOL uh jee). Look at the Faith Words Alpha and Omega on page 4 of he leaflet.

The earth as we know it had a beginning and will have an end, but that God has always been God, without beginning or end. He is our "firm foundation"

God Speaks

Our Bible study about Jacob's ending and beginning includes the familiar passage about Jacob's dream.

Read Genesis 27:41-28:22

When this story begins, Esau is very angry because Jacob has tricked him out of his blessing. Esau wants to kill Jacob.

How does this affect the whole family? The whole family suffers consequences because of their sinful actions. Jacob fears for his life. Perhaps Rebekah fears that Esau might be killed in revenge if he kills Jacob. Isaac realizes that he cannot change God's plan, and his words of blessing to Esau show that now they must accept God's plan. Rebekah must send her favorite son away for what will be twenty years. In spite of the family's sinful actions, God will work all for good. Rebekah is still not completely honest with Isaac.

Why does she say she wants Jacob sent away? How does Esau also respond to this? Rebekah says she doesn't want Jacob to marry a Canaanite. She wants Jacob to marry one of her brother's daughters. To please his parents, Esau, who had married a Canaanite woman, marries again, this time to a daughter of Ishmael. However, the Ishmaelites, descendants of Abraham's son by Hagar, were outside of God's promise and probably no more pleasing to them than the Canaanites.

Describe Jacob's dream. What is important about the angels going up and down the stairs to God? The angels traveling up the stairs show Jacob's requests being carried to God; the descending angels show God's love and care coming down to earth. God Himself stood at the top of the stairs and made His promise to Jacob. The promise that God makes to Jacob in his dream is the same promise that God made to Abraham.

What exactly did God promise? Who are the descendants God is talking about? He promised that Jacob would possess the land he was lying on and that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth. All people would be blessed through Jacob. God also promises to remain with Jacob. All believers will be blessed because of Jacob's most important descendant, Jesus. We are among the blessed families of earth. Just as God promised He would not leave Jacob, He has also promised to be with us always.)

How does Jacob respond when he wakes from his dream? How is this the same for us? He is frightened and amazed.

Jacob set the stone he'd used under his head on end, anointed it with oil, and named the place Bethel, or "House of God". The vow that Jacob makes in verses 20-22 is not a conditional bargaining tool. He wasn't trying to make a deal with God. Rather, it is a statement that because God has promised to care for him and to remain with him, Jacob's response could be nothing other than worship and praise. Our response, too, is worship and praise. Without our Savior, Jesus, we would be lost. He died and rose from the dead so we could be forgiven. By faith in Him, we have eternal life.

Complete the Endings and Beginnings activity on page 2 of the leaflet.

 The matched phrases are as follows:

• Jacob had to leave home - God prepares Jacob to be patriarch of a great nation
• High school graduation - First day of college
• Jesus died and rose again - My sins are forgiven, and I will go to heaven
• Omega – Alpha

Abraham, Isaac, and now Jacob are considered the patriarchs of a great nation. Read the definition of patriarch on page 4 under Faith Words.

Continue with A Letter From Bethel on page 2.

We Live

Leaving his home was an ending for Jacob. He had to leave behind everything and everyone he knew in order to save his life.

How do you think Jacob felt? Fearful, uncertain, anxious. We also have fears like Jacob.

Predict what new beginning will happen to Jacob, now that he has heard God's promise again. God promises to be with Jacob, and Jacob's coming experiences will strengthen his faith and prepare him to become the patriarch of a great nation.

When do we not trust God to take care of us? When do we think God has left us alone? Do we ever doubt that we are saved from sin and death? Has there ever been a time when you don't feel like your parents' child? Does that change the fact that you are your parents' child?

When we don't feel like God is with us, or when we feel that God is not protecting or providing for us, the facts don’t change – God loves us, promises to provide for us, and has made us His precious children through Holy Baptism. We have been sealed, or marked, with water and His Word. That is a fact-a sure and certain hope that does not change!

 Read the Bible Words on page 4 of the leaflet.

Jacob named the place where he slept and dreamed of Jesus "Bethel".  He called it the gate to heaven; he saw God there, and God promised that He would always be with Jacob. He promises to always be with us also.

Where is God present with us today? God reveals Himself to us today in His Word and Sacraments. He is present with us every Sunday when we celebrate the Divine Service. The Words of institution in the Divine Service tell us He is present in Holy Communion. We receive the Holy Spirit in Baptism. The explanation of the First Article of the Apostles' Creed also assures us that He is with us.

Look at the lyrics to "How Firm a Foundation”. The assurances of God's promise to be with us in this hymn, especially stanzas 2 through 5, which are written as though God Himself were speaking.

Jacob had taken matters into his own hands to make things go his way. In spite of that, God made everything work out the way He wanted.

What prayers do we pray that ask God to do His will among us? The Second and Third Petitions of the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come" and "Thy will be done".

Like Jacob, we respond with worship and praise. On page 3 of the leaflet, complete the activity God Protects Me.

The completed sentences are:

• In Baptism, God gives us His Holy Spirit. John 3:5
• Angels guard us. Psalm 91:11-12
• Angel means "messenger"
• God defends me against all danger. First Article
• God guards and protects me from all evil. First Article
• Let your holy angel be with me. Luther's Morning Prayer
• ...that the evil foe may have no power over me. Luther's Morning Prayer
• On the Last Day, God will raise me and all the dead. Third Article Explanation
• ... and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. Third Article Explanation
• Thy kingdom come. Second Petition of the Lord’s Prayer

Closing

 

Again listen to the hymn “How Firm a Foundation”.

Review the topics on page 4 of the leaflet.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, You are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. We thank You that You have promised to be with Your children and that You remain with us today. Forgive us when we fail to trust You and when we feel we are alone. Because of Your Son, Jesus, we look forward to our new beginning in heaven. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.