August 8, 2025 Children Sermon Jacob and Esau

Good morning boys and girls. Please take a seat and listen as I read to you a story from Genesis 27. Well, as Isaac was getting older, he wanted to divide his possessions between his two sons. He would give his elder son, Esau, a special blessing, and would pass on to him the promise which Yahweh had made to Abraham. Esau was a clever archer and did not care much for his father’s blessing or for Yahweh’s word. He cared more about being a good hunter. Jacob however loved his father and cared for Yahweh’s word. He always wished he were the elder son so that he can receive this blessing. As the years went by and the two brothers were grown men, Isaac was old and nearly blind. He could not distinguish his son’s faces, but he knew them apart by their voices. He also used to touch them and he knew the strong hairy arms of his favorite son Esau. One day, Isaac called his son Esau and told him “Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me [some] venison; And make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring [it] to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.” Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, heard the conversation between Isaac and Esau. She called her favorite son, Jacob in and told him what his father said to Esau. Then she said, “Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth:” Jacob was afraid that his father would recognize him from the smoothness of his arms. When the meal was ready, Rebekah called Jacob and made him wear a coat that belonged to Esau. She also tied pieces of hairy goatskin on his arms and hands and sent him to his father. “Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou [be] my very son Esau or not.” said Isaac to Jacob. “The voice [is] Jacob's voice, but the hands [are] the hands of Esau.” thought the old man. Isaac dined from the meat and wine that Jacob brought for him, and he gave him the wished-for blessing. After Jacob left, Esau returned from the fields and went to see his father. “Who [art] thou?” Isaac said as he heard Esau’s footsteps. “I [am] thy son, thy firstborn Esau.” Esau replied. Isaac trembled as he heard this. “Who is it that came before you, brought the meal and took the blessing?” Isaac said. Esau wept for the blessing, which he began to value when he knew it could not be his. He left his father in anger and set out to kill his brother Jacob. When his mother saw him, she knew what he was up to and feared for the life of her favorite son Jacob. Rebekah told Jacob “Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, [purposing] to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury turn away;” Jacob received the last blessing from his father and left home without seeing his brother.