Each meeting covers one lesson. The passage, questions and notes are all on the lesson page, and group members can print their own copy.
Leaders need only this guide: first the flow that is the same every time, then the focus points and tips for each lesson.
A lesson takes about an hour. Meet weekly or every other week — whatever fits your group.
Each Meetingabout 55 min
Snacks and catching up
10 min
Read together
10 min
Discussion
25 min
This week
5 min
Close (prayer optional)
5 min
Opening: Start with last time’s ‘This week’: ‘Did you do it? How did it go?’ For the first lesson, ask everyone to say in one sentence why they want to read about this person. The leader goes first.
Read together: Take turns reading the passage, a few verses each. The leader reads the short notes between sections.
Discussion: You don’t need to discuss every question in ‘Think It Through.’ Pick one or two from each group, add this lesson’s focus points, and that is plenty.
This week: Read it together, and ask each person to decide on the one small thing they will do this week.
Close: You can pray using a verse from the lesson. If some aren’t used to praying aloud, a minute of silence together is fine too.
Focus 1 (vv. 50–58): Laban and Bethuel say, “The thing proceeds from the LORD,” and in the end they ask Rebekah herself. Ask the group: reading these verses, how do you see this marriage being decided?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 50 and 56 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone chooses one of the two: tell God plainly about a decision they face, or take a quiet walk one evening. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Isaac’s birth and the mountain in Moriah were read in Abraham, Lessons 6 and 7; this lesson does not go over them again, and does not guess how old Isaac was on the mountain or how he felt. Don’t analyze Isaac’s character: he appears only at v. 62; don’t call him ‘passive’ or ‘quiet’; read where he was and what he did. Read Rebekah’s “I will go” as written; don’t make her a model of ‘courage’ or ‘obedience,’ and don’t call her rash. The passage does not say directly how old Isaac was when Sarah died, or how long after it he married; don’t calculate it. Read the veil in v. 65 as written; don’t explain it from customs outside the Bible. Don’t make this lesson into ‘pray and you will find the right person.’ There may be people in the group who are single, unhappy in marriage, or newly bereaved — don’t press on questions 9 and 10; only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (vv. 21–23): Isaac “entreated the LORD for his wife”; Rebekah “went to inquire of the LORD.” Ask the group: reading these verses, what do you see each of the two doing?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 21 and 23 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone thinks of one person who is waiting and prays for them specifically this week. Next time, anyone who wants to can share (without naming the person).
Leader tip: The passage gives two ages, forty (v. 20) and sixty (v. 26); read them as written, and don’t work out for the group how many years they waited, or say ‘they waited a long time.’ Verse 21 is the LORD answering Isaac’s prayer; don’t make it ‘pray and you will conceive’ or ‘pray and you will receive.’ Read “The elder will serve the younger” (v. 23) as written; don’t go into debates about predestination. Read v. 28, each parent loving one son, as written; don’t make it a parenting lesson, and don’t press the group about their own families. Read “So Esau despised his birthright” (v. 34) as written; don’t make Esau a villain, and don’t build character studies of Jacob and Esau. There may be people in the group who are childless, have lost a pregnancy, or have been waiting a long time — don’t press on questions 5 and 9; only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (vv. 2–7): God first says, “I will be with you, and will bless you”; later Isaac says, “She is my sister.” Ask the group: reading these two side by side, what do you see?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 3 and 12 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone writes down the thing they are most afraid of right now, with the promise of v. 3 beside it, and reads it once each day this week. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Read what Isaac says in v. 7 as written; don’t defend him, and don’t call him ‘cowardly’ or ‘weak’ — that he was afraid is what the passage itself says. Abraham said the same thing (Gen 12:13; 20:2); set them side by side as written, and don’t make it ‘sin runs in families’ or ‘like father, like son.’ “The LORD blessed him” (v. 12) follows straight after this; read it as written, and don’t explain for God why. Rebekah says nothing in this passage; don’t speak for her. Gerar and the Philistines don’t need archaeology. There may be people in the group who have been hidden or betrayed by a spouse — don’t press on questions 6 and 9; only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (vv. 19–22): Wells are taken one after another, and Isaac digs one after another, until “For now the LORD has made room for us.” Ask the group: reading these verses, what do you see?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verses 24 and 28 — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone thinks of something they are starting over and calls quietly on God about it once this week. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: Don’t analyze Isaac’s character: don’t call him ‘good-natured’ or ‘weak’; read what he did. Don’t make this lesson into ‘give way and you will win’ either. The passage does not explain the names Sitnah and Shibah; there is no need to look them up in the Hebrew, and the wells don’t need archaeology. Read Abimelech’s words in vv. 28–29 as written, without judging whether he was right. On question 10, don’t urge anyone to go and make peace with someone who hurt them — Isaac’s feast is what the passage records, not a rule for everyone. There may be people in the group who have been pushed out or had things taken from them — don’t press on questions 9 and 10; only those who want to share need to.
Focus 1 (vv. 30–38): “Isaac trembled violently”; Esau “cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry.” Ask the group: reading these verses, what do you see?
Focus 2 (questions 7–8): Ask each person to say what comes to mind as they read verse 33, and Gen 28:3–4 where Isaac blesses Jacob a second time — the leader does not draw the conclusion for the group, and the group does not need to agree.
Focus 3 (This week): Everyone writes down the verse from Isaac’s life that has stayed with them most, and prays once this week for a relationship that has come apart. Next time, anyone who wants to can share.
Leader tip: This chapter defends no one, and the leader doesn’t either; don’t judge who was right or wrong. Don’t call Isaac ‘foolish’ or ‘partial’; don’t make Rebekah a bad woman, or someone ‘fulfilling God’s word’; read Jacob and Esau as written. Read Jacob’s words, “Because the LORD your God gave me success” (v. 20), as written; no comment is needed. How “The elder will serve the younger” (Gen 25:23) relates to this chapter is not discussed in this lesson, and predestination is not taken up. Read Esau’s weeping as written; don’t make it ‘too late to repent.’ Don’t make this a parenting lesson, and don’t press the group about their own families. The passage does not say directly how old Isaac was here or how many more years he lived; there is no need to calculate it. There may be people in the group whose families have broken apart, or who no longer speak with a parent, brother, or sister — don’t press on questions 9 and 10; only those who want to share need to. Question 11 is for looking back.
Principles
The leader is not a teacher, but someone walking alongside everyone else.
Give everyone a chance to speak. If some talk a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s hear from those who haven’t spoken yet.’
Don’t rush to give answers. If there is silence, wait a few more seconds.
If you can’t answer a question, it’s fine to say, ‘I don’t know — let’s look into it together,’ and come back to it next time.
What is said in the group stays in the group.
At the start, the leader can share their own answer first. Keep it simple and honest.
In the lessons, words in double quotes with a reference are scripture. What the passage does not say, we can only guess; guessing is fine, as long as we say we are guessing.
Don’t press on painful things. If someone becomes upset, stay with them after the meeting; if needed, involve a pastor from their church or a professional counselor.