Joseph Genesis 37
Joseph was one of Jacob’s twelve sons. Jacob loved him more than all of his other sons. Jacob made Joseph a colorful Robe. His brothers were jealous. They wanted nice robes, too. And they wanted to be loved as much as Joseph was loved.
Joseph had a dream. He told his family, “We were bundling grain from the field. Your bundles of grain bowed down to mine.” Then Joseph had another dream. He said, “This time, the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” His father asked, “Does this mean our family will bow down to you someday?”
The brothers were even more angry. They threw Joseph into a dry well. Along came some traders. The brothers sold Joseph to them as a slave. They lied to their father and said Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. But God was with Joseph.
The traders took Joseph to Egypt. He was thrown into jail. But he did nothing wrong. Joseph trusted God to help him. He made friends with some of the prisoners. One of them had been a wine taster for Pharaoh. Pharaoh was the leader of Egypt. The wine taster said, “Last night, I had a dream. I was picking grapes and squeezing them into Pharaoh’s cup. Then I put the cup in his hand. What does this mean, Joseph?” Joseph answered, “You will be Pharaoh’s wine taster again. Once you are free, please don’t forget about me. Help me get out of jail, too.”
A few days later, the wine taster’s dream came true. He got out of jail and became Pharaoh’s wine taster again. But he forgot about Joseph.
Later, Pharaoh had two strange dreams. In one dream, he saw seven heavy cows and seven skinny cows. The skinny cows ate up all the heavy cows.
In another dream, Pharaoh saw seven healthy plants. Then he saw seven dried-up plants. The dried-up plants ate all the healthy plants. Pharaoh was confused.
Pharaoh’s wise men were confused, too. Then the wine taster remembered Joseph. He told Pharaoh that Joseph could explain his dreams. With God’s help, Joseph told Pharaoh what his dream meant. “For the next seven years, plenty of food will grow. For seven years after that, not enough food will grow because there will be no rain.” Pharaoh said, “Joseph, you are a very wise man. I will make you a ruler over Egypt.”
For the first seven years, Joseph was in charge of gathering extra food for the people of Egypt. That way, when hardly any crops grew, there would still be plenty to eat.
The seven bad years began, and people in other countries had no food at all. Even Joseph’s family did not have enough to eat. So Joseph’s father sent his sons to Egypt to buy some food.
When the brothers arrived in Egypt, they went to Joseph and bowed down to him. They did not know he was their brother. But Joseph knew. Joseph sold them some food. Then the brothers left to go home.
Sometime later, they returned to buy more food. Just as Joseph had dreamed, they bowed down to him — again. Finally, Joseph told them, “I am your brother!” His brothers were afraid!
But Joseph told them not to be afraid. “God meant it for good. He had a special plan for me,”
he said. They all hugged.
Joseph’s brothers rushed home. They told their father what had happened. Jacob was so happy to hear that Joseph was alive. The whole family moved to Egypt.
Discussion Questions
- What did Jacob make for Joseph? A colorful robe.
- What were Joseph’s dreams about? His brothers would bow down to him.
- What did Joseph’s brothers do to him? They threw him into a pit and then sold him to some traders
- How did Joseph tell what the different dreams meant? With God’s help.
- Did Joseph’s brothers recognize him in Egypt? No, and they were afraid when he told them who he was.
- Who was with Joseph through everything? God!
Prayer
Thank you for the story of Joseph. Thank you for teaching us that we can trust you all of the time even when we don’t understand why something is happening, and that you do amazing things! Amen.
Bible Verse for August
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:31Activity:
Science Experiment: Mixing Colors
Materials:
- Six clear jars with lids (baby food jars work well)
- Water
- Red, yellow and blue food coloring
- Plastic spoons
- Paper towels
Guide Your Child to:
· Help fill the jars half full with water.
· Help squeeze a few drops of red food coloring into one jar, blue into another jar, and yellow
into a third jar.
· Put the lids on the jars and shake them until the color is throughout the water.
· Pour a little red and yellow into the fourth jar. Shake it to see what happens to the colors.
· Pour a little blue and yellow into the fifth jar. Shake it to see what happens to the colors.
· Pour a little red and blue into the sixth jar. Shake it to see what happens to the colors.
Talk about with your child:
· How did the red change when we mixed yellow with it? How did the blue change when we
mixed yellow with it? How did the red change when we mixed blue with it?
· Who made colors? Which is your favorite color?
· What else in the world is blue? green? red? yellow? orange? purple?
· What was colorful in our story?
