perform its mission As custodian of divine revelation (Deut 4:58; Rom 3:1-2) As witness to heathen in darkness (Isa 43:912) As witness of the security of serving God (Deut 33:16-29) As blood location (i.e., physical line) for the birth of the Messiah (Gen 49:10) (25:19—26:35) Steven Barabas describes Isaac thus: G ISAAC, CHILD OF PROMISE Of the three patriarchs [Abraham, Isaac, Jacob], Isaac was the least conspicuous, traveled the least, had the fewest extraordinary adventures, and lived the longest He was free from violent passions; quiet, gentle, dutiful; less a man of action than of thought and suffering.20 First read 21:2-3 and 35:29, which record Isaac’s birth and death The span of Isaac’s life thus covers fteen chapters of Genesis But he is the main character only in the short section 25:19—26:35, as shown on Chart 11 Read this passage Isaac was a strong spiritual link in the chain of the earliest patriarchs When Abraham died, God’s blessing of Israel continued through Isaac Read 26:24-25 for God’s renewal of the promise given earlier to Abraham H JACOB, THE TRANSFORMED BROTHER (27:1— 37:2a) The story of Jacob shows how God can lay hold of a sel sh, willful, deceitful man striving by his own e orts to gain material blessing, and so transform his life that in the end his character is noble and beautiful, with a new outlook on what is true blessing Review Chart 11 and note that Jacob is the main character of ten chapters of Genesis (27:1—37:2a) Chart shows a general breakdown of these chapters Record the outlines and divisions in your Bible The geographical outline shows Jacob in three places, with a journey in between each.21 What does the two-part outline on blessing suggest about Jacob’s career? Read 25:19-34 for the story of the birth of Jacob Read 27:1—30:43 with a view to seeing how Jacob strove to gain blessing On paper, record the experiences of these passages: 27:1—28:9; 28:10-22; 29:1-30; 29:31— 30:24; 30:25-43 How was the experience of 28:10-22 di erent from the others? Why was it crucial? Jacob’s four wives—Leah, Zilpah, Bilhah, and Rachel—bore twelve sons to Jacob Most of these names later became the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.22 Read 29:32—30:24 and 35:18-26 for the names of the sons Check the names with those shown on Chart For how Jacob learned true blessing, read 31:1—37:2a Brie y stated, this is a story of Jacob’s immediate problems; of their solutions; and of his nally seeing who he really was and then surrendering ... Read 26:24-25 for God’s renewal of the promise given earlier to Abraham H JACOB, THE TRANSFORMED BROTHER (27:1— 37:2a) The story of Jacob shows how God can lay hold of a sel sh, willful, deceitful... career? Read 25:19-34 for the story of the birth of Jacob Read 27:1—30:43 with a view to seeing how Jacob strove to gain blessing On paper, record the experiences of these passages: 27:1—28:9;... was the experience of 28:10-22 di erent from the others? Why was it crucial? Jacob’s four wives—Leah, Zilpah, Bilhah, and Rachel—bore twelve sons to Jacob Most of these names later became the