Jacob: Sons vs. Tribes Overview

Click here to download the Spanish file.

Thank you, Katie Quin, for translating and sharing.

Click here to download the Spanish Tri-Fold Visuals.

This is lesson four in a 13-week series that I used in my class. I wanted one quarter to introduce the Old Testament with a basic timeline of the people and events. The students can learn what happened in the Old Testament and how those events lead to Jesus. These lessons are a combination of the Life Overview Series and other lessons. They have been updated and tweaked since I taught these. I will show you what I used to blend several posts into 13 lessons. It was basically pick and choose and you can change any to fit your needs or wants. For instance, I always teach Esther so that is one of the lessons. And I picked Daniel as the last lesson. Those can be substituted if you prefer another.

This lesson teaches about Jacob and his 12 Sons vs. the 12 Tribes of Israel. This lesson will explain how the two statements are somewhat alike, but what the differences are and God’s plan for that. They need to understand this concept before teaching about the land division with Moses and Joshua. The lesson explains the Big Picture. This is an updated lesson that was posted here. Keep in mind these lessons are slightly longer with very different application reviews.

This file has AI realistic pictures of Jacob and each son. Teaching the students Jacob's 12 sons vs. the 12 tribes of Israel using a tri-fold science board or magnets on the pictures and a whiteboard make it so easy for students to understand the name changes and the brother changes and why. Click here to see the original (old) post with directions.

Click here to download the AI realistic brother's file.

If you don't like the realistic, here are the updated pictures by Sweet:

One of the updates I created are these picture visuals. Click here to see the original post. Yes, it was time... they are 10 years old! Actually, older than that because I used them for several years before adding them here. I previously used Velcro on a tri-fold board. This time I decided to add magnets on the back of everything and use my white board. Either way makes a nice way to teach this lesson.

Click here to download the updated visuals. (updated again in 2025)

I used these information Anchor Charts to explain certain concepts as I taught the lesson. There are more Anchor Charts and a map included. I added the question-and-answer worksheet to the application pack for convenience. The lesson is updated, and the notes are included so you know when I changed certain items. For instance, changing the title from Sons to Tribes and Jacob to Israel.

Click here to download the lesson, these posters and the worksheet.

I also used this Bible Timeline File Folder Game. I made the pictures into stickers (which they love!) and the students added to it each week. This file has a teacher's visual completed. and a student file folder without any pictures on the timeline. All pictures will need to be cut and glued or made into stickers to use.

Click here to download.