Genesis 26 – Isaac repeats some of the mistakes of Abraham

  • Genesis 26:34-35 – Esau marries foreign wives.

Genesis 27 – Jacob tricks Isaac and Esau

  • Genesis 27:1-4 – Isaac asks Esau to bring him his favorite food so he can bless him.
  • Genesis 27:5-17 – Rebekah and Jacob trick Isaac to get the blessing.
  • Genesis 27:18-29 – Isaac blesses Jacob.
  • Genesis 27:30-46 – Isaac is angry with Jacob.

Genesis 28 – Jacob’s ladder

  • Genesis 28:1-3 – Isaac blessed Jacob and tells him to go find a wife from Laban in Paddan-aram. Do not take a wife from Canaan.
  • Genesis 28:6-8 – Esau takes a wife from Ishmael to spite his father.
  • Genesis 28:10-20 – God makes the covenant with Jacob and blesses him. Jacob realizes the “Lord is in this place and I did not know it.” Really?
  • Genesis 28:21-22 – Jacob seems to put a condition on God’s journey (“then the Lord shall be my God”).

Genesis 29 – Jacob gets snookered

  • Genesis 29:1-12 – Jacob meets Rachel. Notice the contrast between the approach of the servant of Abraham and Jacob.
  • Genesis 29:13-20 – Jacob sets his own price, saying he will serve Laban for seven years. Jacob is not motivated to go back because he is afraid of Esau.
  • Genesis 29:21-30 – Laban tricks Jacob. Did Laban really care about the marriage order of his daughters? How did Jacob not know it was Leah? Where was Rachel? What should Jacob have done instead? Laban sets the new price.
  • Genesis 29:31-35 – The results are a truly dysfunctional family, but God uses Jacob and Laban’s bad decisions to progress His plan and keep His promises.

Genesis 30 – A dysfunctional family

  • Genesis 30:1-24 – Jacob’s wives fight over him. Jacob has to deal with his family drama. Rachel’s irony of saying she will die without children, but then dying while giving birth.
  • Genesis 30:25-36 – Jacob wants to leave but Laban sets a new price. Laban recognizes that God is behind Jacob. Jacob uses the word “I” a lot. Jacob makes a deal with Laban.

Genesis 31 – Jacob goes back to Canaan

  • Genesis 31:1-19 – Jacob realizes that Laban is starting to figure out he is losing livestock. Jacob stops using the word “I” so much.

Genesis 32 – God prevails over Jacob

  • Genesis 32:9-12 – Jacob humbles himself to God and prays.
  • Genesis 32:13-23 – Jacob prepares a massive gift for Esau and changes the way he originally intended on meeting Esau.
  • Genesis 32:24-32 – Jacob wrestles with God. God renames Jacob to Israel.