This lesson is compatible with the "Abraham & Isaac" Flash-A-Cards from Abeka Books.  

Scripture References: Genesis 24: 62-67

“Isaac, we have waited for years for a baby, and God has not given us a baby yet.  Do you think He will ever give us a baby?” asked Rebekah.  “God will give us a child.  He promised my father, Abraham, that He would make a great nation out of our family.  He said He would bless the whole world with our family.” replied Isaac. 

A few years passed, and again Rebekah went to Isaac, this time with tears in her eyes.  “When will God give us a baby.  I want to have a baby so badly.” She said.  “Be patient.  God will keep His promises.” Said Isaac.

Again, several years passed and Rebekah went to Isaac, this time crying big drops of tears.  “Isaac, we have been married for 19 years!  You are almost 60, and we STILL don’t have children.  I always dreamed of a house full of children, but God has not given me any.  I’m just so sad!” Isaac could see the pain in her eyes.  I imagine Isaac knew that God’s timing isn’t always our timing.  I’m sure he heard his parents talking about how they waited for 25 years for God to give them Isaac.  But Isaac knew Rebekah was heartbroken, so he prayed to God and asked God to give them a child soon. 

God answered!  Rebekah jumped for joy when she found out she was pregnant.  “Isaac!  We are having a baby! Finally!  After 19 years, we are having a baby!  I’m so excited!  I have already knit several baby blankets…I wonder if I should knit any more?  I can’t wait to have a little one running around the house.  We can take our child on long walks to see our herds of animals and the grains our servants grow.  Isn’t this exciting?!” 

I imagine Isaac was just as excited as Rebekah.  “I will teach our child so many things, just as my father taught me.  I can’t wait until our child is born and I can hold it in my arms.  Just as I said, God keeps His promises!”

Rebekah began to grow bigger as the months went by.  I think she probably had morning sickness, just as many pregnant women do.  She probably heard all about having a baby from her mother when she was growing up.  But her mother was far away now.  I often wonder if she asked her maids questions about how it was when they had their children.  She knew her stomach would grow so big that she would have trouble sitting and standing up.  She knew she would waddle like a duck when she walked.  She even knew she would feel the baby move and even kick her stomach now and then.  It happens to all pregnant women.  The first time she felt the baby move she was so excited.  “Isaac, come here!  The baby!  I feel it moving!  Here, put your hand on my stomach.  Can you feel it?”  Isaac and Rebekah must have laughed together.  “Wow!  This kid is going to be an active one!  I wonder if we will be able to keep up!” said Isaac.

As the weeks went on, and Rebekah felt the baby move and kick more and more, she began to feel concerned.  She was SO uncomfortable because the baby was kicking so much.  She felt it all over her stomach, sometimes on both sides of her stomach at the same time!  This didn’t sound like anything she had heard of from the women she had talked to.  I think she probably even went to her maids to ask if they felt the baby move ALL the time, kicking and hitting their stomachs.  No one seemed to have gone through what she was describing.  She wondered if there was anything wrong.  Maybe the baby was sick.  Rebekah decided to ask God about it.  She prayed and said something like this “God, I seem to be healthy, and everything else seems to be going normally, so why am I like this?  Why is the baby moving and kicking so much?  What is going on?”  God answered Rebekah and said “There isn’t just one baby.  There are two.  The two babies will become great nations many years from now.  But one of the nations will be stronger than the other.  The older son will serve the younger son, the older nation will serve the younger nation.”

God was telling Rebekah what would happen in the future.  God was going to use the younger son to keep His promise to bless the world with a Savior to die for sins.  This was very unusual in that place and time.  The older son was always the most important.  He would get the biggest part of the inheritance when the father died.  He would take care of the family. 

But God was saying that He was going to use the younger son instead of the older son.

Rebekah told Isaac all about what God had said.  They didn’t understand why God would choose the younger son over the older.  But God rarely does things like we think He should.  The Bible tells us that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.  He doesn't think like us because He is much wiser than we are.  He knows EVERYTHING!  The Bibles also says God’s ways are not our ways.  He doesn’t do thinks like we would.  Because He knows how everything will turn out, and we don’t know anything about tomorrow, or even the rest of today!  But we can ALWAYS trust God.  He keeps His promises.  He has promised to forgive us and clean our sins through Jesus.  He has also promised to be with us and help us through ANYTHING!  If we have accepted Jesus, He will never leave us or forsake us.  Isn’t that great!  Even if we don’t understand what God is doing, we can trust Him.

Just as Isaac and Rebekah didn’t understand everything about the future of their sons.

The time came for Rebekah to give birth.  The first boy was born, and he had red skin, probably meaning a darker, brown skin color like clay.  He was also a very hairy baby!  He had hair already covering his arms, legs, chest, and back.  I imagine he had a head full of hair, too!  His name was Esau.  Something strange happened as Esau was being born.  His brother had grabbed onto his foot and wouldn’t let go!  That is how his brother was born!  His name was Jacob.  Jacob was holding onto the foot of his brother.  Usually when twins are born, the first baby is born, and the parents have to wait a bit, sometimes hours, for the second baby to be born.  But there wasn’t any time between the two babies.  I often wonder if Rebekah and Isaac thought about what God had said about the second son ruling over the first son.  It seems like it might be a difficult relationship between the brothers.  What do you think?  You have to come back next week to find out!

Let’s thank God for His goodness.