Encounter Christianity: In Journeys about Jesus lesson plan 6

Lesson six - Jacob’s dream (pages 12-13)

Text from the book

Messages (poem by Judith Nicholls)

Angels trod through Jacob’s dreams,
Stole behind his sleeping eyes;
With soundless steps they rose, descended,
Rose, descended, still ascended,
Never pausing on the ladder
Stretching to the watching skies.

Angels trod through Jacob’s dreams,
Messengers in dream-disguise.
When they try to warn or guide
Inside our dreams, shall we just hide
Or welcome them with seeing eyes?

Learning objectives

Pupils will:

recognise that the Bible tells stories where angels act as messengers of God
reflect on their dreams and what notice they take of them.

Background

Dreams can be pleasant events or nightmares. Biblical characters often received messages from God in dreams, messages that they accepted as true. Examples in the Bible include the dreams of Joseph, Samuel, Joseph (Jesus’ father) and the Magi. Could Jacob’s ladder be the stairway to heaven? Jacob thought the place was sacred and so he renamed it ‘Bethel – House of God’. Look at how John Reilley captures this in his painting. How can dreams allow us to explore some of our deepest feelings?

Ways of using the picture

Discuss pupils’ dreams. Do they know they dream? Are they vivid, recurring dreams? Would a dream change their lives?
Some people today are ‘warned’ in dreams. Do the pupils accept this? Does it mean that events are fixed and cannot be changed?
Read Judith Nicholls’ poem and look carefully at the picture. What do the pupils think the last three lines mean?

Bible reference

Genesis 28.10-22

Key words

Angels
Dream
Nightmare
Messenger
Soundless
Communication
Movement
Ascending
Descending
Whirling
Brightness
Disguise

Activity

You will need

A Bible
Paper (large piece and smaller pieces)

Look carefully at the picture and then read the poem through aloud 2/3 times.

Brainstorm (or ‘word shower’) what pupils know about angels. Surround the word ‘Angel’ with as many of the words and ideas as possible. Read aloud some of the Bible passages to explore how the Bible portrays angels.

Possible Bible passages to use are:

Genesis 28: 10 – 22
Daniel 6: 11 – 23
Matthew 1: 18 – 24
Luke 1: 26 – 38
Acts 12: 1 – 1

In groups ask the pupils:

What is happening?

What are the angels doing?

What is the message being given?

How is the angel described?

What is the response of the person doing the dreaming?

How do they feel?

Ask them to write their own poem using the words to go with a painting or drawing they have done.

Compare what the pupils have discovered through the Bible passages and their original ‘word shower’. What are the differences and similarities?

Assessment opportunity

Pupils will:

have demonstrated their ability to reflect on and express their feelings and ideas through discussion, creative writing and artwork.

Learning outcomes

Pupils will be:

able to distinguish between the Biblical portrayal of angels and the traditional portrayal of angels;
familiar with some Biblical dream stories and be able to discus them;
able to demonstrate an awareness that the Bible uses dreams and angels as messengers.

Extension work

Write an acrostic poem on the theme of Angels or messengers using one or more of the Key Words.

Web site links

http://calvarychapel.com/children/site/pdf/Old/Curr024.pdf
Download a PDF version of the story of Jacob's dream.

http://members.aol.com/bobwhit/bibleWS/bethel.htm
Simple cloze procedure exercise based on the story of Jacob's dream.

http://www.spanisharts.com/prado/ribera/jacob.htm
An artist's depiction of Jacob's dream, in this instance painted by Ribera.
A further version by Ferdinand Bol is at http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/b/bol/jacob_dr.html

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