Old Testament 2022
February 21–27. Genesis 24–27: The Covenant Is Renewed


“February 21–27. Genesis 24–27: The Covenant Is Renewed,” Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School: Old Testament 2022 (2021)

“February 21–27. Genesis 24–27,” Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School: 2022

Rebekah

Illustration of Rebekah, by Dilleen Marsh

February 21–27

Genesis 24–27

The Covenant Is Renewed

As you read Genesis 24–27, pray to know how you can encourage class members to have their own experiences learning from the scriptures.

Record Your Impressions

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Invite Sharing

To encourage class members to share their insights from Genesis 24–27, you could invite them to select a specific passage that inspired them and write it on a slip of paper. Collect the papers, and choose several to read and discuss as a class.

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Teach the Doctrine

Genesis 24

Covenant marriage is essential to God’s eternal plan.

  • The importance Abraham placed on finding a wife for Isaac provides an opportunity to discuss the importance of covenant marriage in God’s plan for us. To start the discussion, class members could scan Genesis 24 and share things the Lord did to help bring Isaac and Rebekah together in marriage. Why is marriage important to the Lord? To help class members discuss this question, you could share with them Elder D. Todd Christofferson’s statement in “Additional Resources.” How can we help ensure that God’s purposes for marriage are accomplished?

  • Ask class members what qualities they have seen in a spouse, parents, or other married couples that have contributed to a faithful, happy marriage. The account in Genesis 24 demonstrates qualities that can help a person create happiness in marriage—and other aspects of life. For example, in verse 12 we learn about being guided by prayer, and in verse 19 we learn about giving extra effort in service. What other principles can be found in these chapters? Class members might also look in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org).

Genesis 25:29–34

We can choose between immediate gratification and things of greater value.

  • How might you help class members find personal lessons from Jacob and Esau’s experiences? One idea is to invite them to make two lists on the board—one of eternal blessings God wants to give us and another of worldly things that distract us from those blessings. Then class members could read Genesis 25:29–34, replacing “birthright” with something from the first list and “pottage” with something from the second list. How does the adversary try to convince us to exchange God’s blessings for things that are less valuable? Consider inviting class members to give each other advice on how to focus on the Savior and the eternal blessings He offers us.

Genesis 26:18–25, 32–33

Jesus Christ is the well of living water.

  • Genesis 26 mentions several times that Isaac and his household had to dig wells to find water, and this often required great effort. This fact could help you teach class members about the effort required to bring the Savior’s “living water” into our lives (see John 4:10). Perhaps you could illustrate this with a drawing on the board of a water source covered by deep dirt. Class members could take turns erasing some of the dirt as they describe how they can find the Savior’s living water. Encourage them to use the Guide to the Scriptures to find verses that relate to the things they share.

    an ancient well

    A well in ancient Beer-sheba, where Abraham and Isaac dug wells.

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Additional Resources

Marriage and family are God’s creation.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave some reasons why marriage and family are so important to God’s plan:

“A family built on the marriage of a man and woman supplies the best setting for God’s plan to thrive—the setting for the birth of children, who come in purity and innocence from God, and the environment for the learning and preparation they will need for a successful mortal life and eternal life in the world to come. A critical mass of families built on such marriages is vital for societies to survive and flourish. …

“… But our claims for the role of marriage and family rest not on social science but on the truth that they are God’s creation. It is He who in the beginning created Adam and Eve in His image, male and female, and joined them as husband and wife to become ‘one flesh’ and to multiply and replenish the earth. Each individual carries the divine image, but it is in the matrimonial union of male and female as one that we attain perhaps the most complete meaning of our having been made in the image of God—male and female. … Such marriage … is as much a part of the plan of happiness as the Fall and the Atonement” (“Why Marriage, Why Family,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 52).

Improving Our Teaching

Center your teaching on doctrine. As you invite class members to share, make sure you continually bring the discussion back to the doctrine in the scriptures. You can do this by asking class members to read scripture passages in class, asking questions about what the scriptures say, and inviting class members to share their testimonies of the doctrine being taught.