A Bible lesson for children about the life of Joseph

 In the Bible we read in Genesis 37 – 50 about the life of Joseph.  There were four periods of time in his life.  He is an example of someone who, by God’s grace,  overcame difficulties in every period of his life.  He acknowledged God’s wisdom and sovereignty in everything that happened to him.

1.       His father’s home In Gen. 37 we find Joseph in his home among his brothers and parents.  He was envied by his brothers because his father loved him more than them. He was rebuked by his father because he had strange dreams.  In spite of his brothers’ envy and his father’s misunderstanding, he was obedient to his father, he was looking after the sheep and did his work well. He was open about everything that happened in his life and talked about it.	2.       Potiphar’s home In Gen. 39 we read what happened to Joseph when he was away from his home.  His brothers sold him to Egyptians who took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar. There he had to work as a slave, but  Joseph did not allow himself to become bitter because of what his brothers did. He did his work with dedication and impressed Potiphar with his wisdom.  Potiphar’s wife fell in love with Joseph and wanted him to sleep with her. He resisted the temptation and fled from her.	3.       Prison home Potiphar believed his wife when she lied about Joseph and he was put into prison. In prison he could easily be down and pessimistic and bitter and cross with everybody, but instead we read the Lord was with Joseph – Gen. 39:21 -23.  We read the Lord blessed Joseph and he found favour with the keeper of the prison and was put in charge of the prison.  God gave him insight to interpret the dreams of the butler and baker who were in prison with him. (Gen. 40) Joseph also learned things in prison through his suffering which would help him later, and which he could not have learned anywhere else.	4.       Pharaoh’s home Gen. 41. The butler remembered Joseph when King Pharaoh was looking for someone who could interpret a dream that he had. Joseph was released from prison and interpreted the King’s dream.  Pharaoh was impressed with Joseph’s wisdom and  promoted him  to be Prime Minister of Egypt, and second only to Pharaoh himself.  In the palace, Joseph was  high in rank and he could easily have become self-satisfied and proud of himself.  Instead Joseph’s walk, and blameless life, continued as before:    He cared for the people of Egypt, and made sure that, when the famine came, they would all have enough to eat.    He showed a spirit of love and kindness to his brothers who came to Egypt to buy food, and he forgave them.  He showed a sense of responsibility to his family by supplying them with food.
Application:   It is not always easy to walk and talk at home as you should, because the people nearest to you are sometimes rude to you and make it difficult for you to do or say or think the right things.  God will help you to walk the right way in your home as He helped Joseph to do that.	Application:  When he was away from home, he could easily thought now nobody sees me and now I can do what I wanted, but Joseph was hardworking and faithful and resisted temptation and was faithful to his master.  What about you, are you faithful when you are out of the sight of your parents or guardians?	Application:  Have you experienced unfair situations in your life? What do you do about them? Do you feel sorry for yourself and become pessimistic?  Ask God to help you overcome the unfair situations and help you to make your stumbling blocks stepping stones as Joseph did.	Application:   How do you handle times of success and prosperity?  Do you just think of yourself and become selfish?  Do you care about people who have less than you have? Do you show lovingkindness to your family and friends like Joseph did?

 Application to the saved child:     If you believe in God and are His child, you will accept that God knows what He is doing in your life, and that He is going to use all the circumstances and problems you face to bring you to the place where He wants you to serve Him, and to make you more and more like Jesus Christ.
Application to the unsaved child:  Perhaps there are some of you who do not believe in God, you do not read your Bible, you do not have a relationship with God because you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour.  You can believe, if you acknowledge that you are a sinner – lost forever because of your sins.  You can believe in Jesus Christ who died for you on the cross and you can invite the Lord Jesus into your life and heart.  Only then you can start your WALK with the Lord and trust Him for every part of your life like Joseph did.

 Parallels between Joseph and Jesus – Grace Church

Joseph	Parallel	Jesus
Genesis 37:3	His father loved him dearly	Matthew 3:17
Genesis 37:2	A shepherd of his father’s sheep	John 10:11 and 27
Genesis 37:13 and 14	Sent by father to brothers	Hebrews 2:11
Genesis 37:4	Hated by brothers	John 7:5
Genesis 37:20	Others plotted to harm them	John 11:53
Genesis 39:7	Tempted	Matthew 4:1
Genesis 37:25	Taken to Egypt	Matthew 2:14-15
Genesis 37:23	Robes taken from them	John 19:23
Genesis 37:28	Sold for the price of a slave	Matthew 26:15
Genesis 39:20	Bound in chains	Matthew 27:2
Genesis 39:16-18	Falsely accused	Matthew 26:59-60
Genesis 40:2-3	Placed with 2 other prisoners, one who was saved and the other lost	Luke 23:32
Genesis 41:46	Both 30 years old at the beginning of public recognition	Luke 3:23
Genesis 41:41	Exalted after suffering	Philippians 2:9-11
Genesis 45:1-15	Forgave those who wronged them	Luke 23:34
Genesis 45:7	Saved their nation	Matthew 1:21
Genesis 50:20	What men did to hurt them God turned to good	1 Corinthians 2:7-8