Isaac was getting old and he wasn't able to see anymore. He wanted to give his oldest and favorite son Esau his blessing before he died. This blessing was the special promise that God promised to his grandfather Abraham, and then to his father Isaac.

Isaac loved the food that Esau hunted. So he told Esau to go hunt and prepare a special meal for him and then he would give him the blessing.

Jacob replied, "But mom, Esau is a hairy man. What if dad touches me and realizes that I'm tricking him?"

His mother said to him, "Don't worry you can wear Esau's clothes and we'll put the goat hair on your hands and neck so he'll never know."

So they did just that and Jacob went to see his father pretending to be Esau. "Hello father," Jacob said. "Hello, and who is this?" His father asked. "It is me, Esau. I have brought you the food you wanted so that you can give me my blessing." Jacob lied. "Come closer so I can touch you and know that you are really my oldest son Esau, said his father. So Jacob went to Isaac and he felt his hands and said, "You sound just like Jacob but your hands are just like Esau. Are you really Esau?"

And Jacob chose to lie again, "I am." So Isaac ate and when he was finished he asked, "Come and kiss me." When Jacob went to kiss him, Isaac smelled the clothes he was wearing just to make sure it smelled like Esau. Since Jacob was wearing Esau's clothes his father believed that he gave the blessing to Jacob. Just as Jacob finished getting the blessing he thought he heard Esau coming so he quickly snuck out the back of the tent. Just as he was walking away Esau entered the tent with the food he had prepared for his father.

His father asked, "Who are you?" "It's me, your son Esau. I'm here to get my blessing," said Esau confused. "I just gave you your blessing." And Isaac started to realize he had been tricked just like he thought.

Esau started crying and yelling, "Bless me too father!" "There is no blessing left," said his father sadly. Esau was very upset with his brother Jacob for what he had done, so Jacob had to run away so he would be safe.

After Jacob ran away he was tricked, just like he tricked his father. He had to wait seven years before he could be with the woman he wanted to marry then he was tricked with the wrong woman!

What a story! Both brothers did things that they shouldn't have, and made bad choices that they couldn't change. Be careful with the choices that you make, you never know how they will change your life later on.

Rebekah knew about Esau's plan to kill Jacob so she told him to get out of town until Esau wasn't so mad anymore.

So Jacob left. and at the end of a long day of travelling he decided to stop for the night.

It must have been a warm evening because Jacob just slept under the stars. He didn't have a pillow with him (which even if he had, I'm not sure they would be

anything like the pillows we have now), so he found a good size stone to lay his head on. He must have been tired because he fell into a deep sleep and began to dream.

First he saw a long stairway that touched the ground, with the very top of it reaching heaven. Maybe in his dream heaven was where the clouds were, it doesn't say. Next he saw angels of God moving up and down the stairway. I imagine they were floating just above the stairs almost like one escalator going up and the other down.

Above the stairway or even close to Jacob stood the Lord. The Lord then spoke to Jacob saying, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and Isaac. I will give you and all your family to come, the land on which you are lying. Your family will continue to grow through each generation, as much as the dust of the earth" (which is LOTS!).

"All of your family will spread out all over and you will bless those around you. I will always be with you, watching over you and will return you to this land until I have done everything I have promised you." When Jacob woke up he realized that the Lord had been with him there. He was afraid because of the power and presence of God and said, "How awesome is this place! This is the house of God, this is the gate of heaven."

Before he left, Jacob used the stone that he rested his head on and set up a pillar and poured oil on it. This is like a marker for Jacob to remember the dream he had from God and to remember and thank God for the promise He made to him. He called the place Bethel which means House of God.