Along with a number of other dads, I help with the “Tree Climbers” group at my local church. This is a group of rowdy six and seven-year-old boys, with the typical activities of a craft, some games (usually involving hitting the other boys with a red rubber ball, as in dodge ball), and a short Bible story.<\/p>\n
We are covering the stories of Genesis, and my unenviable task last night was to tell the story of Jacob and Esau. You might recall from Genesis 25<\/a> that Jacob swindled Esau out of the birthright for a pot of stew, and from Gen. 27<\/a> that Jacob conspired with his mother (who didn’t get along with Esau’s wife) to trick his elderly and nearly blind father into giving him a blessing intended for Esau. You might also recall from Genesis 28<\/a> that the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant were passed on by God to Jacob through the “Jacob’s Ladder” dream rather than to Esau. And, you might remember Romans 9:13<\/a>, in which God, explaining His election of Jacob, says “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” How do I explain this to six and seven-year-olds? In my frenzied, late afternoon research before having to teach the lesson (of course, as usual, I forgot until the last minute), I came across this old sermon<\/a> by C.H. Spurgeon. Spurgeon was a cantankerous fellow, but I can’t help but think he’s right about this story. It isn’t a moral lesson about obedience. It’s all about God’s sovereign election, His grace towards Jacob, and His faithfulness to the Abrahamic covenant.<\/p>\n
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\nThe workbook we’re supposed to use for these lessons was utterly useless for this story. It said we should teach that Esau lost the blessing because he disobeyed God, while Jacob was blessed because of his obedience. This is untrue even on a casual reading of the story. True, Esau arrogantly threw away his birthright for a bowl of stew, and later married a Canaanite woman. But Jacob was a liar and a sneak of the worst kind — he stole from his own brother by tricking his elderly and nearly blind dad — not a great lesson for a group of little boys and their dads!<\/p>\n