Part 3 of 5 - Jacob’s Adventures in Love & Trickery
Genesis 30
re-told by Debbie Dunn
Story highlights:
* Rachel asked Jacob to give her child by servant Bilhah like Sarah did with Abraham
* To have more sons -Leah convinced Jacob to marry servant Zilpah
* Rachel finally gave birth to Joseph after 14 years
Bible role-play begins:
Narrator
#1: Hi,
again! It is Leah, the first but not the favorite wife of our cousin Jacob.
Narrator #2: Who was Jacob's favorite wife? It is my
younger sister, Rachel. Sigh!
Narrator
#1: It
hurts my heart to say this, but I know that she is the one woman he truly
loves. Double sigh!
Narrator #2: God took pity on my hurting heart and
blessed me with four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.
Narrator
#1: As
for my sister, she has not managed to get pregnant even though Jacob spends
most of his nights with her.
Narrator #2: Rachel was so sad and jealous that she had
no children, she decided to copy something that our Grandma Sarah did when she
could not get pregnant for years and years and years.
Narrator
#1: When
Grandpa Abraham was 75 and Grandma Sarah was 65, God promised them a son. They
waited with great excitement for it to happen.
Narrator #2: But when ten years had gone by, Sarah came
up with a desperate plan.
Narrator
#1: Instead
of having faith that God would keep His promise, she decided to allow her
husband to take her servant Hagar as his second wife.
Narrator #2: She thought that if they had a child, she
could pretend that the child was hers instead of Hagar's. Hagar did have a son
whom they named Ishmael [ish-may-ell].
Narrator
#1: It
was not a great plan, as this caused a lot of sorrow, jealousy, and bitterness
between the two women!
Narrator #2: It was not God's plan for this to happen,
but He had mercy on Sarah anyway.
Narrator
#1: Fifteen
years later, when Grandma Sarah was 90 years old and Grandpa Abraham was 100
years old, God worked a miracle.
Narrator #2: The two of them finally had a son whom they
named Isaac. By the way, Isaac is the father of Jacob and my father-in-law.
Narrator
#1: My
sister must have forgotten all the negative parts of that story and only
remembered the part where Sarah got to pretend that her servant's child was her
very own.
Narrator #2: So, one day, Rachel went to Jacob and shared
her plan with him.
Narrator
#1: She
said, "Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear
children for me, and I, too, can build a family through her."
Narrator #2: Just as my sister hoped, Jacob and her
servant had two sons: Dan and Naphtali [naf-taa-lee].
Narrator
#1: After
her servant gave birth to her second son, Rachel bragged, "I have had a
great struggle with my sister, and I have won."
Narrator #2: Since it had become like a competition, I
decided to do the same.
Narrator
#1: I
know now that it was not God's will for me to do this. But, in any case, I had
Jacob marry my servant, Zilpah, as well.
Narrator #2: They had two sons together, whom I
considered my own: Gad and Asher.
Narrator
#1: So,
in case you have lost count, Jacob now had four wives and eight sons.
Narrator #2: One day, during wheat harvest, my oldest
son, Reuben, came home with a mandrake plant.
Narrator
#1: We
grew up hearing stories that a mandrake plant could help a woman get pregnant.
Narrator #2: Rachel begged me to give her that mandrake
plant. Instead of trusting God to give her a child, she wanted to put her faith
in a plant.
Narrator
#1: I
made a bargain with Rachel. "If I give you that plant, you must allow
Jacob to come and spend the night with me."
Narrator #2: Rachel agreed. She said, "Very well.
He can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes."
Narrator
#1: I
walked up to Jacob when he came in from the fields that evening.
Narrator #2: I then said, "You must sleep with me
tonight. I have hired you with my son's mandrakes."
Narrator
#1: I
put my faith in God. And sure enough, He allowed me to give Jacob a fifth son,
whom we named Issachar [iss-uh-kar].
Narrator #2: As for Rachel, that mandrake plant did not
help her get pregnant. But God blessed me with a sixth son and then a daughter:
Zebulun [zeh-byoo-luhn] and Dinah.
Narrator
#1: Finally,
after many years, God remembered Rachel, listened to her prayers, and enabled
her to conceive.
Narrator #2: Fourteen years after her wedding day, Rachel
finally had a baby boy whom they named Joseph.
Narrator
#1: Rachel
said, "God has taken away my disgrace. May the Lord add to me another
son."
Narrator #2: Would my sister and Jacob have a second son?
Tune in next week to find out.
Narrator #1: END OF SKIT. Let's give our volunteers a great big hand!
Are you a Bible enthusiast or do you lead a Youth Group or Family Bible Study? To get a FREE PDF download of this story, click on this link below:
Free PDF download of Part 3 of 5 - Jacob’s Adventures in Love & Trickery.
Do you want more stories about Jacob, his four wives, his 12 sons, & 1 daughter? If so, visit the JACOB chapter from my EXPLORE BIBLE STORY dot org website.
Click here to get more stories about Jacob.
My ever-expanding Explore Bible Story dot org website includes Bible stories and Biblical Family Trees about
- Creation, Adam, & his Descendants
- Noah, the Ark, & the Flood
- Abraham & Sarah
- Isaac & Rebekah, Esau & Jacob
- Jacob & his 4 wives
- 12 sons of Jacob who became known as the 12 Tribes of Israel
- Moses who was from the line of Levi
- Joshua who became leader of Israelites after death of Moses
- 12 Judges of Israel including Deborah, Gideon, & Samson
- Kings of Israel including Saul, David, & Solomon
- 4 Major Prophets of Israel: Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
- 12 Minor Prophets of Israel
- More Prophets of Israel: Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, & Elisha
- Women from Old & New Testament
- Jesus Christ, our Messiah, Lord, Savior, & King of king
- 12 Disciples of Jesus
- Apostle Paul & other Significant Followers of Christ
- Triune God: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit
- The Free Gift of Salvation & The Sinner's Prayer
- About Website: Explore Bible Story.org
- About the author: Debbie Dunn
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