For Kids · 4 min with a grown-up
God calls Jacob back to Bethel — the place where they first met. It's a chapter of coming home to God, with both joy and goodbyes.
Today's Story
God said to Jacob, “Go back to Bethel — the place where I first met you when you were running away. Build an altar to Me there.”
So Jacob gathered his whole family and went back to Bethel. Along the way, he had everyone get rid of the little idols and good-luck charms some of them had been carrying. “We're going to worship the real God,” he said. At Bethel, Jacob built an altar, and God met him again. “Your name is Israel,” God said. “I will keep every promise I made to you.”
It was good to come back to the place where God had first found him, and to remember all that God had done.
But the chapter also held sad goodbyes. As they traveled on, Jacob's beloved Rachel had a baby boy — but it was very hard, and Rachel died. Jacob named the baby Benjamin. Jacob was heartbroken, and he set up a stone to remember her.
Later, Jacob's old father Isaac died too, very old and full of years, and Jacob and Esau buried him together, as brothers.
Life held both worship and weeping — both hellos and goodbyes. And through all of it, God was faithful, and Jacob kept coming back to Him.
A Big Word
Memory Verse
Talk About It
- God called Jacob to come back to Bethel and remember. Is there a special place or time that helps YOU remember God?
- Jacob had everyone get rid of their little idols first. What things sometimes try to take God's place in our hearts?
- This chapter had both a happy birth and sad goodbyes. How can God be with us in both the happy and the sad times?