“Genesis 24–33,” Old Testament Institute Teacher Manual (2026)

Esau and Jacob Embracing, by Robert T. Barrett

Genesis 24–33

The Lord prepared a way for Isaac and Rebekah to begin an eternal marriage. Isaac and Rebekah eventually had twins, Jacob and Esau. As Esau grew, he did not prioritize receiving the birthright or his eternal blessings. Jacob received the birthright instead and then traveled to his mother’s homeland to find a wife. While journeying, he had a vision that led him to enter into the Abrahamic covenant with God. He went to great effort to marry in the covenant, gain the Lord’s blessings in his day-to-day work, and do what God asked him to do to heal his family relationships. The Lord changed Jacob’s name to Israel.

Additional Resources

Scripture Helps: Old Testament, “Genesis 24–33”

Note: The “Introduction to the Course” provides guidance on how to use the standard lesson elements that follow.

Encouraging Personal Study

Before class, consider sending students one or more of the following messages or some of your own:

How can I make eternal marriage a priority in my life? Consider this question as you read in Genesis 24 about the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah.
At times, all of us are tempted to put our immediate desires over eternal things. Study the experience of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25:24–34; 26:34–35. See what you can learn that inspires you to prioritize the Lord and His promised blessings.
Think about covenants you have made with God. How do they draw you closer to Him? Consider this as you study Genesis 28:10–22. Consider also reading “Genesis 28:10–15. What is the significance of Jacob’s dream about a ladder?” in Scripture Helps: Old Testament.
God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, which can be translated as “let God prevail.” Read Genesis 32, and look for blessings that can occur when we let God prevail.

Questions and Sharing

Provide time for students to ask questions and share insights and truths they discovered in their personal study of Genesis 24–33.

Skill Training

The learning activity for Genesis 24 might be a helpful place to use the skill “Using Restoration Scripture to Understand the Bible” in Scripture Study Skills.

Learning Activity Options

Multiple learning options are provided for you and your students. Prayerfully choose which option or options will be most meaningful for your class. You could also seek input from your students.

Improving Our Teaching and Learning

Use Scripture Helps. In your preparation, carefully study the related entries in Scripture Helps. These resources are designed to aid teachers’ and students’ scripture study by providing background information, language insights, and clarification for difficult scripture passages. You could send the section of Scripture Helps that corresponds with your lesson block to students during the week.

Genesis 24

Why should eternal marriage be a priority in my life?

Consider sharing the following scenario with the class:

Lucia and Maria are both faithful members of the Church. Recently, Lucia has been questioning the value of getting married in the temple. In a conversation with Maria she shared, “I just don’t see why getting married in the temple is so important. I mean, I love the Church, but sometimes I feel like it’s just adding stress to something that should be beautiful and simple. Aren’t all marriages before God meaningful?”

Invite students to think about how Maria might respond to help with Lucia’s concerns. You could also encourage them to silently consider their answers to the following questions:

How important is an eternal marriage to me?
What obstacles do I face to obtaining an eternal marriage?

Consider displaying the following map as you explain that Abraham and his family lived in Canaan, where the people worshipped idols. Abraham had family members that lived in Haran, which was more than 400 miles (650 kilometers) away.

Invite students to read Genesis 24:1–9, looking for the instructions Abraham gave to his servant. (It may be helpful to point out that the Joseph Smith Translation replaces the word “thigh” with “hand” in verses 2 and 9 [see verse 2, footnote b, and verse 9, footnote a]).

If you had been Abraham’s servant, what questions or concerns might you have about these instructions?
Why do you think Abraham cared so much about who his son married? (Consider also studying together “Genesis 24:2–9. Why didn’t Abraham want Isaac to marry a Canaanite?” in Scripture Helps: Old Testament.)

If needed, help students understand that Abraham desired Isaac to marry a covenant-keeping woman. This was how Isaac would obtain the blessings associated with the Abrahamic covenant for himself and his posterity. Isaac’s decision to marry in the covenant is similar to our choice today about whether to be married in the temple.

Explain that Abraham’s servant traveled to Haran, where Abraham had previously lived. There the Lord led him to a righteous woman named Rebekah. The servant met with Rebekah’s family to discuss her returning with him to Canaan to marry Isaac.

Invite students to read Genesis 24:50–67, looking for how Rebekah responded to this situation and the sacrifices she made to marry Isaac. Then ask questions like the following:

What stood out to you from these verses? Why?
What can you learn about eternal marriage from this account? (Students may identify a variety of truths, including this: It is worth great effort and sacrifice to obtain the blessings of eternal marriage.)
Why do you think eternal marriage is worth great sacrifice? (Consider inviting students to find and share scriptures or statements from Church leaders that help answer this question. One example of a scripture they could use is Doctrine and Covenants 131:1–4.)

During your discussion, it may be important to acknowledge that not everyone who is seeking to walk the covenant path will have the opportunity to enter into eternal marriage in this life. Be sensitive to people’s needs and situations. It may be helpful to remind students that “no one is predestined to receive less than all that the Father has for His children” (D. Todd Christofferson, “Why Marriage, Why Family,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 52). The Lord will provide the opportunity in the next life for people who did not have an opportunity to marry in this life (see Neil L. Andersen, “The Triumph of Hope,” Liahona, Nov. 2024, 5). Testify that we can experience joy now through Jesus Christ, no matter our marital status.

Invite students to write down what they can do to prioritize eternal marriage, regardless of their current life circumstances.

Return to “Learning Activity Options.”

Genesis 25:24–34; 26:34–35

What can help me prioritize eternal things over temporal things?

You could invite students to ponder and write down how each of the following statements applies to them using the answers “definitely,” “mostly,” “a little,” and “not at all.”

I am willing to sacrifice earthly desires for eternal blessings.
I understand why the Lord asks me to value His eternal blessings over things I want now.
I recognize the blessings that come when I prioritize Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ over the things of the world.

Invite students to seek inspiration as they study today about how to prioritize eternal blessings over worldly desires.

Explain that Rebekah and Isaac were unable to have children for many years. Eventually they were blessed with twin sons named Jacob and Esau. During Rebekah’s pregnancy, the Lord helped her understand that Jacob, the younger of the two boys, would eventually become the birthright son—even though the oldest son traditionally inherited the birthright (see Genesis 25:23). The son who held the birthright inherited not only his father’s lands and possessions but also his father’s position as the spiritual leader of the family and the “authority to preside” (see Bible Dictionary, “Birthright”).

Invite students to study Genesis 25:27–34 and 26:34–35, looking for how Esau felt about the birthright. (You could also invite students to study “Genesis 25:29–34. Why did Esau sell his birthright?” in Scripture Helps: Old Testament.)

What do Esau’s actions suggest about how he felt about his birthright?
What truths can we learn from the experiences of Jacob and Esau? (Students may identify a truth like this: Focusing on immediate desires can divert us from matters of eternal importance.)

To help students see how this truth can relate to situations they face, consider discussing together the following statements by Elder David A. Bednar and Brother Bradley R. Wilcox:

In the busyness of our daily lives and in the commotion of the contemporary world in which we live, we may be distracted from the eternal things that matter the most by making pleasure, prosperity, popularity, and prominence our primary priorities. Our short-term preoccupation with “the things of this world” and “the honors of men” may lead us to forfeit our spiritual birthright for far less than a mess of pottage. (“Put On Thy Strength, O Zion,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 94)

Don’t sell your birthright for a mess of pottage. Don’t trade everything for nothing. (“O Youth of the Noble Birthright,” Liahona, Nov. 2024, 95)

Consider displaying the following questions and inviting students to discuss them with a partner or small group:

What are some examples of how people today might prioritize immediate or worldly desires over the Lord’s eternal blessings?
How did Jesus Christ place eternal blessings over immediate desires?
What has helped you prioritize eternal blessings over immediate or worldly desires?

Invite students to ponder how they could apply the truths they have discussed today to their lives. Give them time to record a plan and other spiritual impressions they may have had.

Return to “Learning Activity Options.”

Genesis 28

How can making and keeping covenants with God affect my relationship with Him?

Consider contacting a few students before class and inviting them to participate in a brief discussion in class about covenants. You could send them the following questions ahead of time and ask them to choose one to respond to during class.

How would you explain the importance of covenants to someone new to our faith?
How has keeping your covenants in your daily life strengthened your relationship with God?
Why do you keep your covenants with God despite enticement to break them?

Set up a few chairs at the front of the room, and have the students you contacted earlier sit in them. Display the preceding questions and have the students respond to the one they chose.

Explain that Esau decided to kill Jacob after the two had a conflict over the birthright and Isaac’s final blessing (see Genesis 27:36-41). Rebekah and Isaac directed Jacob to travel over 400 miles (650 kilometers) to Haran, where he could be safe from Esau and could find a wife to marry in the covenant. During Jacob’s journey to Haran, he had an experience that demonstrates the importance of making and keeping covenants with God.

To help students learn about Jacob’s experience, invite them to study Genesis 28:10–15 and “Genesis 28:10–15. What is the significance of Jacob’s dream about a ladder?” in Scripture Helps: Old Testament. Then ask questions like the following:

What did you learn about covenants from Jacob’s experience?
Why do you think the promises God made to Jacob might have been particularly meaningful to him at that point in his life?
Based on what you learned in verse 15, what are some blessings we can receive when we make and keep covenants with God? (Students might share a principle like this: As we make and keep covenants with God, He will be with us, protect and care for us, and not leave us.)

Consider inviting a student to read the following statement by President Emily Belle Freeman:

The Lord stood beside Jacob, introduced Himself as the God of Jacob’s father, and then promised:

I am with you.

I will keep you safe.

I will bring you home again.

I will not leave you.

I will keep my promise to you.

Jacob had a choice to make. He could choose to live his life simply acquainted with the God of his father, or he could choose to live life in committed covenant relationship with Him. Years later, Jacob testified of a life lived within the Lord’s covenant promises: “God … answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went” [Genesis 35:3; emphasis added]. (“Walking in Covenant Relationship with Christ,” Liahona, Nov. 2023, 77)

You could invite students to share what stood out to them from this statement.

Explain that after his sacred experience with God, Jacob expressed his feelings. Invite students to study Genesis 28:16–22, looking for expressions from Jacob that stand out to them. Invite students to share what they found.

You might conclude by inviting students to sing or read the words to the hymn “Nearer, My God, to Thee” (Hymns—For Home and Church), including verses 4 and 5. Students could share a favorite line or phrase. You could ask:

What connections do you see between this hymn and Jacob’s experience?
How does keeping your covenants help you feel nearer to God?

Return to “Learning Activity Options.”

Genesis 32

Do I let God prevail in my life?

Consider displaying the following self-evaluation or printing it out for students. Give students time to complete it on their own.

For each of the following options, rate yourself on a scale from 1 (rarely true of me) to 5 (frequently true of me).

I try to make sure God is the most important influence in my life.
I follow God because I want to—not because of others’ expectations.
I have faith in God’s timing and purposes, even when I don’t understand them.
When I have gospel-related questions, I seek to have God lead me to eternal truth.

Explain that in this learning activity, students will study a sacred experience that Jacob had. Invite them as they study to look for truths that can help them increase their faith and trust in the Lord.

To help students understand the context of Genesis 32, explain that after working for his father-in-law, Laban, for 20 years, Jacob was commanded by God to return to the land of Canaan. When Jacob had previously lived there, his brother Esau wanted to slay him because of disagreements over the birthright (see Genesis 27:41). During his time away, Jacob had many experiences that brought him closer to God. But he “was greatly afraid and distressed” (Genesis 32:7) about reuniting with his brother.

Invite students to read Genesis 32:9–12, 24–30 to learn about Jacob’s feelings and his experience with God during this time. (For help understanding these verses, invite students to read “Genesis 32:24–32. What is the significance of Jacob’s wrestle?” in Scripture Helps: Old Testament.)

Give students opportunities to discuss what they learned by asking questions like the following:

What stands out to you about Jacob’s desires described in verses 9–12?
What did the Lord teach Jacob in verse 28 about why He changed Jacob’s name to Israel?

To help students understand the meaning of Jacob’s new name, share the following statement by President Russell M. Nelson:

Jacob wrestled with a serious challenge. His agency was tested. Through this wrestle, Jacob proved what was most important to him. He demonstrated that he was willing to let God prevail in his life. In response, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, meaning “let God prevail.” God then promised Israel that all the blessings that had been pronounced upon Abraham’s head would also be his. (“Let God Prevail,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 92)

Based on what you have learned from Jacob’s experience, what can happen when we let God prevail in our lives? (Students could identify a truth like this: As we are willing to let God prevail in our lives, we will receive His promised blessings.)

Invite students to think about the meaning of the phrase “Let God prevail.” You could give students a few minutes to study portions of President Russell M. Nelson’s talk “Let God Prevail” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 92–95). They could then share with a partner what they learned about letting God prevail. You could also discuss together questions like the following:

What might it look like to let God prevail in your life?
What can help increase your willingness to let God prevail?
What experiences have you had with letting God prevail? What difference did this make for you?

Invite students to consider ways they could let God prevail more in their lives. Invite them to record their goals.

Return to “Learning Activity Options.”