Because Jacob had deceived his brother Esau, he had to leave his home and go far away to the place his mother Rebekah had come from to find a wife in his uncle’s house. There he grew rich and his family grew large. He ended up with four wives and eleven sons.
Rachel was Jacob’s favorite wife and he loved his son Joseph that he had with Rachel more than his other sons. This lesson is about Joseph’s relationship with his brothers.
When Jacob and his family were back in the land God had promised to Abraham, Jacob’s wife Rachel had one more son and then she died giving birth to him. This son was named Benjamin and he was the brother of Joseph.
1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
2 This is the account of Jacob.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
His brothers didn’t like Joseph much probably because it was clear that Joseph was his father’s favorite. Joseph also seemed arrogant. He didn’t have to tell his brothers his dreams. He wanted to lord it over them. Everyone interpreted the dreams to mean that someday they would bow down to him as he would be ruler over them.
Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him. Jealousy is a sin that causes a person to act in ways that hurts oneself and others. Being jealous separates a person from God and eats away at one’s soul.
12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 13 and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”
“Very well,” he replied.
14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.
When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”
17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”
So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”
21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the richly ornamented robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”
31 Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”
33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”
34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son.” So his father wept for him.
36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.
Although they had wanted to kill him, instead the brothers sold him to a caravan that took him down to Egypt. There he was sold as a slave to Potiphar who was an important official in Pharaoh’s court. To make matters worse Potiphar’s wife told lies about Joseph, saying that he tried to hurt her, and so he was thrown into prison.
Because bad things were happening to Joseph doesn’t mean God wasn’t with him. The Bible says (Genesis 39:20-23) But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
When we believe God and put our trust in Jesus God promises to work all things together for our good. God wants us to grow in our faith and our likeness of Jesus. When we trust him in difficult times he does a work in us that causes us to grow. Joseph wasn’t treated fairly but he still believed God and put his trust in him. God was working in ways Joseph didn’t even know. As you read through more of Genesis you will see the good that God brought out of Joseph‘s troubles.
Romans 8:28 says, And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
When we go through bad times, we can trust that God is working for our good when we love him and give ourselves to him for his work to be done in us.
- Overview Questions: Why did Joseph’s brothers hate him? What did they plan to do to him? What did they do instead? What did Jacob think happened to Joseph? Why did he think that? What happened to Joseph in Egypt?
- Thought Questions: Because of his dreams and father’s favor how do you think Joseph viewed himself? What effect do you think that had on his brothers? What did Joseph need to learn about himself? What do you think Joseph learned from being sold into slavery? What do you think Joseph learned from being put in prison? What would be a right attitude to maintain in those circumstances? How does one maintain an attitude like that? How do you know Joseph had a right attitude? What is the result of keeping a right attitude towards God and one’s circumstances?
- Prayer: Thank God that he never stops loving you and wanting what is good for you. Pray that you would trust him so that even in bad times you would know that he is working for your good. Pray that you would focus on the eternal work God is doing and not the circumstances of the moment.
- This Week’s Memory Verse: Romans 8:28
What does God do for those who love him? God works for our good in all things.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Questions: Who does God work for the good of? What is the good God wants for us? What is God’s purpose for us? What does it mean to be called according to God’s purpose?