Listening to God: Jacob’s Dream of a Stairway to Heaven

This is the first of a series of rotation Sunday school lessons for Silverdale United Methodist Church (SUMC) on the theme “Listening to God” written for September 2005 through May 2006. This lesson focuses on Jacob’s encounter with God through his dream of a stairway to heaven, on God’s intervention in Jacob’s life, and on how we also encounter God today. Gail Smith is the author of this series of lessons.
SUMC’s rotation Sunday school is called Kids’ Faith T.R.E.K. (Totally Receiving and Embracing God’s Kingdom). Lessons are taught in the following workshops:
· Creation Cove – Arts & Crafts and sometimes cooking: Make ladder-shaped pretzels
· Master’s Mountain Theatre -- Drama/Puppets: Act out the story of Jacob’s Dream of a Stairway to Heaven
· Scripture Tent – Storytelling: Listen to the story of Jacob and his dream
· Video Viewpoint – Video & Games: Watch the video, Book of Genesis, part III and then play a game
· Hallelujah Hill – Assembly: meet for 15 minutes for singing, offering and Bible verses before the first three workshops

Scripture References: Genesis 28: 10 – 22 We summarize how Jacob obtained the birthright (Genesis 25: 27 – 34) and the blessing (Genesis 27: 1 –46) and began to travel to Haran in Mesopotamia to obtain a wife from among his mother’s people (Genesis 28: 1 –7).
Memory verse:
“…listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life.” Deuteronomy 30:20

BONUS VERSE (for children who are able and willing to learn two verses): “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go…” Genesis 28:15

Theme: God loves each one of us and invites us to know Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Goals and Concepts:
1. Children will know who Jacob is and where to find the story of Jacob’s dream in the Bible.
2. Children will know that just as God loved and cared for Jacob, God also loves and cares for each one of us.
3. Children will know that just as Jacob came to know God, we can also come to know God through Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
4. Children will know that God kept His promise to Jacob, and that God also keeps His promises to us.
5. God’s promises are written for us in the Bible, God’s word to us.

Biblical Explanation and Background for Teaching
Our story starts out, “Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.” (Genesis 28:10) Jacob was setting out on a journey of 400 miles both to find a God-honoring wife and to escape the wrath of his twin brother, Esau, whom he had wronged. We need to summarize the story of how Jacob obtained the “birthright” from Esau and “blessing” from his father, Isaac, before proceeding with the story of Jacob’s dream at Bethel. Bethel, by the way, was 40 to 60 miles from Beersheba, so Jacob may have traveled two or three days before his dream and encounter with the living God.
Jacob obtained the “birthright” from his slightly older twin brother, Esau, some time before he obtained the “blessing” from his father, Isaac by deception. Although Jacob and Esau were twins and the only sons of Isaac and Rebecca, they were of very different temperaments. Jacob was a home-loving shepherd, while Esau loved to hunt and wander far from home. Esau liked sensual gratification, and he seems to have valued what he wanted more than what God wanted; he didn’t value his birthright. The birthright entitled Esau to a double portion of the inheritance, the authority in the family in place of his father, the title to the land of promise, and a place in the line of generations that would eventually bring God’s promised Savior to the world. It put him in line with Abraham and Isaac to receive God’s covenant promise. Before the twins were born, God told Rebecca “the older will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). One day when Esau returned home famished from hunting, his conniving brother Jacob offered him a succulent bowl of lentil stew in exchange for the birthright. Esau gave up the birthright for a bowl of stew, although he later regretted it.
Although Esau and Jacob were no longer children when Jacob obtained the birthright from Esau, their choices are similar to those children and adults sometimes make. Like Esau, we sometimes seek the comforts or pleasures of the moment rather than waiting for God’s best. And like Jacob, we sometimes use our own wits to obtain what we think God wants us to have rather than trusting God to accomplish it in His own perfect time.
Isaac favored Esau, but Rebecca favored Jacob. Esau married wives from the neighboring idol-worshipping people, causing more trouble at home. Rebecca conspired with Jacob so that Jacob could obtain the “blessing” from his elderly, blind father, Isaac. The blessing would insure Jacob’s inheritance in place of the firstborn, Esau. It appears that Isaac was ready to bestow his blessing on Esau; he sent Esau out to hunt for “some tasty game, the kind that I like” (Genesis 27:3). Rebecca knew that Jacob must act fast if he was to obtain the blessing, and she helped Jacob to impersonate Esau and obtain the blessing before Esau returned with food from the hunt. After Jacob received the blessing, Esau returned and was disappointed and angry that his brother had not only gotten his birthright, but had also taken his blessing. Isaac tremblingly realized that he had been trying to go against God’s will as well. So to flee Esau’s anger, Jacob was sent to look for a godly wife among his mother’s people in Haran, in northern Mesopotamia, 400 miles away.
Jacob had sinned; he had lied to his father and stolen the blessing. The blessing assured that Jacob would indeed inherit all that the birthright entitled him to inherit.
Children will probably relate to this theme of sibling rivalry, of trickery, and of being caught in a lie that causes family unhappiness. Unfortunately, it seems to be a common human trait, and just as in Jacob’s life, the bad choices cause consequences.
Jacob, his brother Esau, and his parents, Isaac and Rebecca, were all reaping the consequences of their sins. They were each in their own way wanting good things from God, but no one was willing to obtain those good things, “blessings”, in God’s time and in God’s way. Parental favoritism, sibling rivalry, hedonism and deceit were all bearing fruit as Jacob left on what must have seemed to be a guilty, fearful, lonely exile.
Then God, in love, intervened. Jacob dreamed of a stairway or ladder (actually, the Hebrew says it was a “stone stairway” according to Williams in The Storyteller’s Companion to the Bible, p. 141) between heaven and earth and the angels (messengers) of God ascending and descending on it. God spoke to Jacob in his dream, revealing Himself as the living God, the same God who had made a covenant with Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham, and with his father, Isaac. God told Jacob that he, Jacob, would (1) also inherit the land that had been first promised to Abraham (Genesis 28:13), that (2) his descendents would be numerous “like the dust of the earth” (Genesis 28:14), that (3) “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring” (Genesis 28:14), that (4) God would be with him and watch over him and bring him back to the promised land (Genesis 28:15), and that (5) God would fulfill His purposes for Jacob in his own time and in his own way (Genesis 28:15). The word “offspring” in verse 14 is used here to mean God’s Son, the Messiah, our Savior, Jesus Christ, would come through Jacob’s lineage.
Jesus, God’s Son, our Savior is descended from Jacob’s line, as God promised, and Jesus is the one true mediator between God and man (I Timothy 2:5), the one who has taken our sins on Himself so we can have eternal life. Jesus is our “stairway to heaven”, but we don’t ascend to heaven by our own good works or efforts. Only faith in what God has done for us through Jesus gives entrance to heaven, and God calls us to be obedient followers of Jesus. When Jesus called Nathanael to follow him, he told him, “…you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:51) He was telling Nathanael that he, Jesus, was literally the stairway, the link between heaven and earth, just as Jacob had seen in his dream.
Jacob wasn’t necessarily looking for God, but God was looking after Jacob, and then God revealed Himself to Jacob. Jacob recognized God’s presence in that place. The place where Jacob dreamed was called “Luz”, but Jacob named it “Bethel” which means “house of God”. God’s promise to be with Jacob, “ I am with you and I will watch over you wherever you go” (Genesis 28:15), has been repeated many times in the Bible, and Jesus gave it to us, His followers, as He ascended to heaven and said, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Genesis 28:20). Again, God promises, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:6).
When God revealed Himself to Jacob, Jacob was aggressively and sinfully seeking to obtain his inheritance. Jacob encountered God not because Jacob was good, but because Jacob was willing to hear from God, and after hearing from God, he honored and worshipped God. And because Jacob trusted God, God was able to fulfill His promises to Jacob. God will fulfill His purposes for each person who chooses to trust and obey Him.
Out of Jacob’s family of twelve sons and one daughter came the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus was descended on His human side from Jacob through the tribe of Judah. Through Jesus, billions of people have found the “stairway to heaven” by faith.
When Jacob received God’s promises, he worshipped God in that place, and he memorialized it as a holy, special place where he knew God’s presence. We, too, can recognize God’s presence and worship Him.
Part of Jacob’s worship was to promise to give God as an offering a part (a tenth) of everything God gave him. This confirmed Jacob’s faith in God’s covenant promises to him. After we encounter God, we also find joy in giving an offering as part of worshipping God. We know that God will keep his promise to be with us, and we also offer ourselves to Him.
General Tips for Teachers
1. Study the background material and the scripture references ahead of time, asking God to help you understand and to apply what He has for you.
2. Prepare your lesson prayerfully for the specific age group you will teach each Sunday. Simplify and/or summarize some parts for the younger children, if necessary.
3. Teach purposefully, with the goals and concepts in mind, but also teach as the Holy Spirit leads you.
4. The questions/journal part of your lesson will cue you on things to emphasize in your teaching section. Often questions are more effective if they’re asked during the teaching time rather than added on later.
5. Do not assume students have Bible background or Christian experience; many do not, so teach simply and clearly with the Bible as your reference.

Creation Cove – Art Workshop

Welcome the children and their guide to the workshop, introduce yourself, and open in prayer. Please try to start and end on time, and focus your attention on the children.
Guides do the attendance, and they can help with the workshop activities and the discussion questions. They should help the students with journaling and with the closing prayer circle.
Review the memory verse, part of Deuteronomy 30:20 (NIV), “…listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life.” Also review the BONUS verse because many children can also memorize it, and it’s a key part of the lesson. It is part of Genesis 28:15, “…I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.”
As you begin the lesson, before starting today’s project, explain a little about the characters in the story. Explain that Isaac was Jacob’s father, and that Abraham was Isaac’s father, so Abraham was Jacob’s Grandfather. Explain that God had given a very special promise called a “covenant” to Abraham and to Isaac before Jacob was born. Tell the children that at the beginning of today’s story Jacob is leaving home and going on a long, 400 miles long, trip to his Uncle Laban’s house in a place called “Haran” where he can stay and find a good wife and maybe start a family. Jacob has another reason for leaving home, however. He’s in trouble for tricking his twin brother Esau out of the “birthright” that gave rights to more of the wealth and authority in the family when their Dad finally died. And Jacob is also in trouble with his father, Isaac, for lying and tricking him so he could get the guarantee of the birthright, called “the blessing”. Esau has been saying angry things to Jacob, so Isaac and Rebecca have told Jacob it’s time to leave home and go to Uncle Laban’s house for awhile.
This might be a good time to ask if anybody’s ever been in trouble for lying or for doing something mean to a brother or sister. If time allows, you might allow some students to explain their experiences.
Explain that today students will hear about Jacob’s dream of a stairway or ladder between heaven and earth, and that they will be making soft pretzels shaped like ladders today in class.
Begin the cooking, letting students add pre-measured ingredients to the bowl and then take turns mixing the dough after you’ve got it started. When the dough is ready, and when all students have rubbed a small amount of flour on their clean hands, give each student an aluminum foil square for their dough, and a piece of dough to knead until it’s soft and stretchy. Maybe while students are kneading their dough and shaping it into ladders, you can read aloud Genesis 28:10 – 22 from the Bible. Explain the location of the story in the Bible before you read.
Ask students, “What did Jacob see in his dream?” (He saw a stairway, actually a stone stairway, but we could also call it a ladder, and angels were going to and from heaven and earth on the stairway.) When the dough-ladders are ready, place the foil squares with dough on the cookie sheet (or sheets) and have the guide help with taking it to the kitchen where it is baked for 10 minutes in a pre-heated 400 degree oven. While the pretzels are baking, continue the discussion of the story.
Ask students, “Who was talking to Jacob in his dream?” (God) “Was Jacob listening?” (Yes) “How do we know he was listening?” (He woke up, feeling afraid, and said, “Surely God is in this place.”)
Ask is students remember any of the five things God promised to Jacob in the dream. Those things are (1) the land that had also been promised to Abraham and Isaac, (2) many children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, etc., through whom the whole world would be blessed (by God’s Son, Jesus),(3) that he would be blessed himself, that (4) God would watch over him and be with him, and (5) that God would accomplish His purpose and plan in Jacob’s life.
Ask, “Why would God tell this to Jacob?” It was because God loved Jacob, even though he had sinned, just like God also loves each on of us, even though we also do wrong things.
Explain that Jesus said that He is like the stairway or ladder that joins heaven and earth. When Jesus, who loves us so much, died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins, he made if possible for each one of us to ask God to forgive our sins so we can someday be in heaven too.
Explain that when Jacob woke up, he worshipped God. He made a special rock marker for the place where he had met God, dedicating it with a little oil and naming it “Bethel” which means “house of God”. Then Jacob promised God that because of all God’s good promises to him, he would give God an offering of one-tenth part of everything God gave him. Remind children that we also bring an offering to Sunday school as part of worshipping God.
Journaling: Tell about a time when you faced consequences for something you did wrong. How do you know God loves you now? Younger children may draw a picture.
Close with a circle of prayer, and invite everyone to return next week with their Bible and a friend for another workshop.



Master’s Mountain Theatre – Drama/Puppets

Welcome the children and their guide to the workshop, introduce yourself, and open in prayer. Please try to start and end on time, and focus your attention on the children.
Guides do the attendance, and they can help with the workshop activities and the discussion questions. They should help the students with journaling and with the closing prayer circle.
Review the memory verse, part of Deuteronomy 30:20 (NIV), “…listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life.” Also review the BONUS verse because many children can also memorize it, and it’s a key part of the lesson. It is part of Genesis 28:15, “…I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.”
As you begin the lesson, before starting today’s drama, explain a little about the characters in the story. Explain that Isaac was Jacob’s father, and that Abraham was Isaac’s father, so Abraham was Jacob’s Grandfather. Explain that God had given a very special promise called a “covenant” to Abraham and to Isaac before Jacob was born. Tell the children that at the beginning of today’s story Jacob is leaving home and going on a long, 400 miles long, trip to his Uncle Laban’s house in a place called “Haran” where he can stay and find a good wife and maybe start a family. Jacob has another reason for leaving home, however. He’s in trouble for tricking his twin brother Esau out of the “birthright” that gave rights to more of the wealth and authority in the family when their Dad finally died. And Jacob is also in trouble with his father, Isaac, for lying and tricking him so he could get the guarantee of the birthright, called “the blessing”. Esau has been saying angry things to Jacob, so Isaac and Rebecca have told Jacob it’s time to leave home and go to Uncle Laban’s house for awhile.
Read Genesis 28:10 – 22 aloud before beginning the play, pointing out that Genesis is the first book in the Bible. Define some difficult words, like “blessing” (good things), “inheritance”, “descendants” and “offspring”. (The Amplified Bible makes it clear that “offspring” includes God’s Son, Jesus Christ.)
JACOB’S DREAM
characters: Isaac, Rebecca, Esau, Jacob, angels, God’s voice (probably needs to be a teacher), narrator
SCENE I:
Isaac: “Jacob, you must go on a long trip. Go to Haran and stay with Uncle Laban. You will find a wife there.”
Rebecca: “Yes, Jacob, you must go soon. Your brother Esau is very angry with you.”
Isaac: “May God bless you and keep you safe and give you a wife and many children. May God give you this land that He gave first to your grandfather, Abraham.”
Jacob: “I will go, Father.”
Esau walks on stage after Jacob, Isaac and Rebecca leave. He looks angry, shakes his fists, and grumbles as Jacob is hurriedly packing his backpack and getting his walking stick in another part of the room.
SCENE II:
The sun is setting in the west and Jacob wearily takes off his backpack, drops his walking stick, and uses a rock for a pillow as he lays down to sleep under the stars.
The Dream: Angels go up and down on a giant stairway or ladder that stretches between heaven and earth. As this is happening, God speaks to Jacob.
God’s Voice: “I am the LORD your God, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give to you and to your descendants the land on which you are lying. I will give you many descendants. All people on the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Jacob: (waking up, sitting up) “Surely God is in this place!”
(The sun rises and Jacob gets up.) Jacob takes the stone that was his pillow and sets it on end and pours a little oil on it as he says, “I will call this place Bethel, the house of God. I will give God one tenth of all he gives me, and I will worship Him.”
As the scene ends, Jacob puts on his backpack, picks up his walking stick, and walks off stage.
Narrator: God did go with Jacob. Jacob fathered 12 tribes of the people who became the people of Israel, and twenty years later he did return to worship God at Bethel. Jesus, our Savior, is descended from the tribe of Judah, and He is the Offspring through whom the whole earth is blessed.
Discussion:
1. Who spoke to Jacob in his dream? (God)
2. Did Jacob listen to God? (Yes) And how can you listen to God? (Pay attention to the Bible words we hear at Sunday school, read the Bible yourself, learn from people who love and obey God.) Point out that even today some people think they hear from God in dreams and visions, but that anything we hear that is really from God will always agree with Bible principles.
3. What shows you that Jacob actually listened to God? (He set up the stone, worshipped God, said that he knew God’s presence in that place, named the place “Bethel”, and promised God an offering.)
4. Who is our ladder to heaven? (Jesus is our way to heaven. He loves us, just like He loved Jacob, and he took our punishment for sins we’ve done when died on the cross and came to life again on the third day. When we ask Jesus to forgive our sins, He does forgive them, so we can live forever with God in heaven.)
Journal: Write or draw about a way God spoke to you today or on some other day, and about a way you can speak to God. What have you learned about how much God loves you? What would you like to learn?
Close with a circle of prayer, and invite everyone to return next week for another workshop and to bring a friend and a Bible.

Scripture Tent – Storytelling

Welcome the children and their guide to the workshop, introduce yourself, and open in prayer. Please try to start and end on time, and focus your attention on the children.
Guides do the attendance, and they can help with the workshop activities and the discussion questions. They should help the students with journaling and with the closing prayer circle.
Review the memory verse, part of Deuteronomy 30:20 (NIV), “…listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life.” Also review the BONUS verse because many children can also memorize it, and it’s a key part of the lesson. It is part of Genesis 28:15, “…I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.”
Explain that today’s story is from the first book of the Bible, Genesis, chapter 28, and that the Bible is God’s word to us; it is one of the main ways that God speaks to us. Read Genesis 28:10-28 aloud and follow it with an explanation of the words that might be difficult, like “descendants”, “blessing” or “bless”, and “offspring” (which in this context includes and refers specifically to Jesus as the Son of God descended on the human side through Jacob).
JACOB’S SPECIAL DREAM
Jacob was in trouble. His father, Isaac, told him he’d better go stay with Uncle Laban in Haran, a place 400 miles away from their home in Beersheba. So Jacob was packing for a long trip. (Show the route of Jacob’s trip on a map.) Jacob could find a nice wife if he stayed with Uncle Laban. Rebecca, Jacob’s mother, said, “You have to leave soon, Jacob. Your brother Esau is really angry with you.”
Esau was Jacob’s twin brother, but he wasn’t at all like Jacob. Isaac and Rebecca knew that God loved both of their sons, but Jacob was the son who seemed to want to know God. Esau was more interested in going hunting, and he had already married a woman who did not love God.
Jacob did want to know God. He knew about the special covenant promise God made to his grandfather, Abraham, and to his father, Isaac. He knew the covenant would be passed on to the firstborn son, which was Esau, even though Esau didn’t seem to care about it. That’s part of how Jacob got into trouble. Jacob had tricked Esau into giving him his “birthright”, the right to a double portion of everything when Isaac died and the right to family authority. Then Jacob got into more trouble because he lied and tricked his father and got the “blessing” that would have gone to Esau too. The blessing from Isaac meant that God would pass on the covenant promise to Jacob, and everything included in the birthright would go to Jacob too.
So Esau was angry, Jacob was feeling guilty and afraid, and it was time to go on a long, long trip to visit Uncle Laban and find a wife. Jacob walked away from home and began traveling early in the morning.
After Jacob had traveled for maybe two days or so, he came to a place where he needed to rest. He lay down under the stars, put his head on a rock for a pillow, and went to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed of a huge stone stairway that went all the way from earth to heaven. Angels, the messengers of God, were going up and down on the stairway, and then Jacob heard a voice that he knew was the voice of the living God.
God promised Jacob five things, and Jacob listened carefully. God promised Jacob the land on which he lay, He promised that Jacob would have many children, grand-children, great grand-children and other descendants who would spread out over all the earth, and He even promised that someday all the people of the earth would be blessed through Jacob’s descendant, God’s Son, Jesus. Then God promised to be with Jacob and to bless him, and to bring him back to this place again. God promised to stay with Jacob and to accomplish all his purposes and plans for him.
Jacob woke up. What a dream! “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it”, Jacob said. Jacob decided to name the place “Bethel” or “the house of God”. In the morning he took the rock he had used for a pillow, stood it up on end, and dedicated it to God by pouring a little oil on it. He would someday return to this special place to worship God again. Jacob promised that he would give an offering to God of one tenth of all he got.
Then Jacob picked up his bag and his walking stick and went on the way to Uncle Laban’s house. God taught Jacob many hard lessons at Uncle Laban’s house, and twenty years later, Jacob did return to Bethel with his big family to worship God again. God kept all His promises to Jacob.
Discussion:
1. Why was Jacob in trouble? (He had tricked his brother, Esau, out of his “birthright” and had lied to his father, Isaac, to get the “blessing”.)
2. Have you ever gotten into trouble for doing something to a brother or sister or for lying? (Let students tell about it.)
3. Where was Jacob going? (To his Uncle Laban’s in Haran.)
4. How did God speak to Jacob? (In a dream about a huge stairway to heaven and angels going up and down the stairway.)
5. How do you know God loved Jacob even though Jacob had done wrong things? (God promised good things to Jacob, and He promised to be with Jacob and to bring him back home again.)
6. What do you think the stairway in the dream meant to Jacob? (Let students suggest things. Afterward, explain that Jesus told his disciple, Nathanael, (John 1:51), that He was like the stairway, our way to heaven. Jesus loves us, and He took the punishment for our sins when He died on the cross and came to life again on the third day. Now, if we believe Him and ask Him to forgive our sins, we can be with God forever in heaven some day.
Journal: The younger children may want to draw a picture of Jacob’s dream. Ask older children to tell about a time when they were aware of God’s presence and love, or, if they’ve never been aware of God, ask them to tell how they’d like to know God better.
Close with a circle of prayer, and invite children to return to another workshop next week bringing their Bible and a friend.

Video Viewpoint – Video Workshop

Welcome the children and their guide to the workshop, introduce yourself, and open in prayer. Please try to start and end on time, and focus your attention on the children.
Guides do the attendance, and they can help with the workshop activities and the discussion questions. They should help the students with journaling and with the closing prayer circle.
Review the memory verse, part of Deuteronomy 30:20 (NIV), “…listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life.” Also review the BONUS verse because many children can also memorize it, and it’s a key part of the lesson. It is part of Genesis 28:15, “…I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go.”
Ask students to review what they already know of the story of Jacob’s dream, Genesis 28: 10 – 22. Ask them to find the place in the Bible that tells today’s story. Remind them that the first five books of the Bible are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Tell them that today’s video, Book of Genesis, part III, by The Genesis Project (1979), will show the story of Jacob’s dream done by actors. Start with the part where Jacob is leaving home.

Discussion:
1. What can you do that is something important that Jacob did? (Dream, listen to God, worship God, give an offering)
2. What are some ways we worship God? (Pray, sing, give an offering, listen to the Bible or read the Bible, serve others)
3. Who should bring an offering to worship God? (anybody, even children, can do that)
4. Did God have a plan for Jacob’s life? (Yes) Do you know anything about God’s plan for Jacob? (God wanted Jacob to love and worship Him, to get married and raise a family, to do good things.)
5. Does God have a plan for your life? How do you know? (Yes; the Bible explains that God wants us to know Him by faith through His Son Jesus Christ and to obey the things he taught us. God loves each person very much, and He does have a plan and purpose for each one’s life.)
6. How can God accomplish His plan in your life? (You have to believe the things God says in the Bible, and you have to cooperate with God.)

Jacob’s Ladder Game
This is a giant floor game in which two teams compete to answer questions about Jacob’s Dream. Each team selects a member to act as a living playing piece. The floor is marked out with tape (or use lines already on a gym floor) so that one side is “earth” and the other side is “heaven”. In between heaven and earth there are two “ladders”, one for each team. Instead of using a real ladder, use large vinyl squares on the floor to represent the steps on each ladder. Ten or fifteen steps for each ladder is adequate, depending on how many questions you want in the game.
The first team up listens to the question and has 30 seconds to come up with a correct answer. Bibles and notes are allowed as references. If they answer incorrectly or not at all, the other team may try to answer the same question. The team that answers correctly advances one step up on their ladder. If neither teams answers correctly, go on to the next question.
QUESTIONS
1. Where was Jacob going? (To Uncle Laban’s, to Haran)

2. Why was Jacob taking this trip? (To get a wife, to get away from Esau)

3. What did Jacob use for a pillow one night? (A rock)

4. Who talked to Jacob in a dream? (God)

5. What did Jacob see in his dream? (2 things: a giant stairway between earth and heaven and angels going up and down the stairway)

6. What did Jacob name the place where he had the dream? (Bethel, the house of God)

7. Why did Jacob give it that name? (Because Jacob experienced God’s presence there.)

8. Who was Jacob’s father? (Isaac)

9. Who was Jacob’s mother? (Rebecca)

10. Who was Jacob’s twin brother? (Esau)

11. Name one promise God gave Jacob in his dream. (the land on which he lay, to be with him, to bless him, to give him many descendents that would spread out over the whole earth, that his offspring would bless all the peoples on earth, to bring him back again to that place)

12. Say one of the two memory verses, including the location in the Bible. (Deuteronomy 30:20 or Genesis 28:15)

13. Tell two things Jacob did when he got up in the morning after his dream. (Stood the rock up, dedicated the place to God by pouring a little oil on the rock, worshipped God, promised to give an offering to God)

14. What did Jacob promise to God? (He promised to give an offering of one tenth of all he got.)

15. Who is our stairway to heaven? (Jesus, God’s Son, our Savior)

Give prizes to all; have a fun time!

Close with a circle of prayer.


RESOURCES
The Amplified Bible, Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1965

Genesis by A. Wetherell Johnson, Bible Study Fellowship, 1974

Halley’s Bible Handbook by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, 1962

Jesus in Genesis by Michael Esses, D.H.L., Logos International, 1974

The Storyteller’s Companion to the Bible, vol. 1, Genesis edited by Michael E. Williams, Abington Press, 1991

The Thompson Chain Reference Bible, New International Version, 2nd edition by B. B. Kirkbride Bible Co., Inc., 1990

articles from www.rotation.org used as resources:

“Jacob’s Dream (Jacob’s Ladder) Lesson Set” posted by Christine O.C., 7/29/03

“Jacob Ideas”, various postings, including the “soft pretzels” for art by Melissa on 11/18/200, an “expanding newspaper ladder” by Doris Johnson on 5/19/01, and a video suggestion by Neil MacQueen, 8/24/01.