Day 1
We ended Genesis 47, and now we are starting Genesis 48! In preparation for the lessons to come, let’s read all of Genesis 48 to your Tiny Arrows!
Day 2
Joseph’s family now lived in Egypt! One day Joseph learned that his father wasn’t feeling good, so Jospeh and his sons went to visit him! Today let’s read Genesis 48:1 and play pretend! You pretend to be sick and have your Tiny Arrow come to visit you!
Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. – Genesis 48:1 NIV
Day 3
When Jacob learned that Joseph had come to see him, he sat up in bed! Today let’s read Genesis 48:2 and lay on a flat surface and have your Tiny Arrow stand nearby. When your Tiny Arrow comes near you, sit up and when they leave lay back down! Do this a few times.
When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed. – Genesis 48:2 NIV
Day 4
When Jacob got to see Joseph, he told him what God had said to him! He reminded Joseph how God had blessed him at Luz! Today let’s read Genesis 48:3-4 and Genesis 28:10-15 to see when God talked to Jacob at Luz!
Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me and said to me, ‘I am going to make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’” – Genesis 48:3-4 NIV
Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” – Genesis 28:10-15 NIV
Day 5
Jacob told Joseph about God’s promise, then he told him that he would now be considered Ephraim and Manasseh’s father! So instead of Jacob having 12 sons, he would have 14! Today let’s read Genesis 48:5 and help your Tiny Arrow count to 14!
“Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.” – Genesis 48:5 NIV
Day 6
Jacob told Joseph that his two sons would now be his sons! But if Joseph had any more sons, they would be Joseph’s and they would inherit what their older brothers inherited! Today let’s read Genesis 48:6 and grab 4 objects. Place two objects side by side and explain to your Tiny Arrow what one represents Manasseh and one Ephraim. Then put the other objects behind them in a line. This represents them being together with their older brother’s inheritance and not separate!
“Any children born to you after them will be yours, in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers.” – Genesis 48:6 NIV
Day 7
Jacob told Joseph about his mom Rachel; where she died and where she was buried! Today let’s read Genesis 48:7 and tell your Tiny Arrow’s where their relatives are buried, or you can explain to them what a cemetery is!
“As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). – Genesis 48:7 NIV
Day 8
Jacob wanted to bring Joseph’s sons close to him and to bless them! Today let’s read Genesis 48:8-9 and have your Tiny Arrow sit on your lap or next to you and give them a blessing!
When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?” “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” – Genesis 48:8-9 NIV
Day 9
Jacob was having trouble seeing! So Joseph brought his sons close to him! Today let’s read Genesis 48:10 and try to find your Tiny Arrow with your eyes closed (or by squinting). Have them stand still while you try, then when you find them, give them a big hug!
Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of his old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons closer to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. – Genesis 48:10 NIV
Day 10
Jacob was so happy! He not only got to see Joseph again, he got to see Joseph’s children! Today let’s read Genesis 48:11 and draw a picture of your Tiny Arrow, and have them draw a picture of you!
Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.” – Genesis 48:11 NIV
Day 11
Joseph’s sons were sitting on Jacob’s lap! Then Joseph bowed down on the ground! Today let’s read Genesis 48:12 then have your Tiny Arrow sit on your lap, jump down, then bow!
Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. – Genesis 48:12 NIV
Day 12
Joseph brought his sons close to Jacob again! He put Manasseh by Jacob’s right hand and Ephraim by Jacob’s left hand! Today let’s read Genesis 48:13 and grab another sibling or a toy. Have your Tiny Arrow and the toy/sibling stand in front of you side by side. Place your right hand on the one to your right and your left hand on the one to your left. Then tell them which brother they are representing!
And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right towards Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left towards Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. – Genesis 48:13 NIV
Day 13
Even though Joseph put his sons by Jacob’s hands, Jacob switched them! Jacob put his right hand on Ephraim and his left of Manasseh! Today let’s read Genesis 48:14 and do the same exercise as the previous lesson with your Tiny Arrow and their sibling/toy. Then switch your hands so they are crossed!
But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn. – Genesis 48:14 NIV
Day 14
Jacob put his hand’s on Joseph’s sons and began to bless them! First he talked about God and how God was his God and his father’s God! Today let’s read Genesis 48:15 and tell your Tiny Arrow when you or someone they know got saved! How old they were, and how long they have known Jesus! Then tell them if that same person had parents who believed, or if they were the first ones!
Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day.” – Genesis 48:15 NIV
Day 15
Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons first by telling them about God, then saying they would be like his sons! Then Jacob prayed that they would increase! Today let’s read Genesis 48:16 and lay your hand on your Tiny Arrow and pray that the Lord deliver them from all harm and that they increase greatly on the earth!
“The Angel who has delivered me from all harm—may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.” – Genesis 48:16 NIV
Day 15
Jacob put his arms crisscross and put his right hand on the youngest child. But Joseph wanted him to put his right hand on the oldest child! Today let’s read Genesis 48:17-18 and have your Tiny Arrow and their sibling/toy in the same position as the other lessons. Then crisscross your arms and put them back. Do it again and say this is how Jacob wanted it (with your arms crisscrossed) and uncross them and say this is how Joseph wanted it!
When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” – Genesis 48:17-18 NIV
Day 16
Jacob crisscrossed his hands because he wanted to bless the younger brother more! He said the youngest would be greater than the older! Today let’s read Genesis 48:19 and tell your Tiny Arrow a situation where your family or one they know has two or more children. Then tell them their names and explain that the youngest would be greater than the oldest!
But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, he too will be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” – Genesis 48:19 NIV
Day 17
Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons and put Ephraim first! He put the youngest ahead of the oldest! Today let’s read Genesis 48:20 and grab the sibling/toy you used in the previous lessons and put them in a line in the correct order! Whoever was in Manasseh’s spot, put last and whoever was in Ephraim’s spot, put first!
He blessed them that day and said, “In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. – Genesis 48:20 NIV
Day 18
Jacob told Joseph he was about to die, but he would give him a certain piece of land in Canaan! Land that Jacob fought for and won using his sword and bow! Today let’s read Genesis 48:21-22 and grab some pretend weapons. Designate a spot to be the land your Tiny Arrow is trying to win and have them fight you for it! After they win, have them say that land will go to their children!
Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers. And to you I give one more ridge of land than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.” – Genesis 48:21-22 NIV
Day 19
Today let’s reread Genesis 48 and remember some of the activity’s we did!