D - Joseph Pt. 1 (Genesis 37: 1-11)

Psalm 31:24 NIV

24 Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

I am so glad we got a chance to spend some time together talking about hopefully placing our hope in Jesus instead of other things. But I wanted for us to move on to the next thing and read some Bible stories. I really enjoy reading the New Testament, but I love the stories of the Old Testament a little bit more.

The Old Testament point to Jesus, and it reveals our heart, a heart that is hurting because of sin, and points to the Savior that will one day come and save us from our sins and that person is Jesus. Without the Old Testament, the life of Jesus would have caught us off guard, but thanks to God’s words through the Old Testament we have the hope of Jesus.

I want us to spend some time talking about a specific character in the Old Testament, his name is:

Joseph

Have you ever heard about Joseph? What do you know about him?

Well, why don’t we take a look at Joseph’s story.

Genesis 37:1–11 NIV

1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line. 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 an ornate 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.

Joseph was the youngest of all of his brothers. There was 11 of them total at the time and Joseph was the baby. Now, the 2nd verse immediately reveals to us 1 of the reasons why Joseph was hated by his brothers:

Joseph would go with his brothers and they would take care of sheep together. But when Joseph's brothers did things they weren’t supposed to, he would come back home and snitch on his brothers. So they hated him.

The next thing that happened was that Joseph’s dad gave him a pretty coat and didn’t make one for the rest of the kids. How would that make you feel? if the people around you recieved something and you were the only one who didn’t get it.

And finally, Joseph began to have some dreams given to him by God. Now, these dreams weren’t just any dreams, they were dreams that made Joseph sound like he was going to be a king one day, and his brothers and parents were going to be his servants.

Now, for those of us who know the story, we know that this dream would one day come true. but at that time, that dream made Joseph sound entitled because he was already the favorite.

Now, this story is going to set the stage for what’s going to happen next. We see how Joseph is honestly not helping his relationship with his family. But we also see how Joseph’s dad, Jacob, was not helping Joseph build a strong relationship with his siblings.

I mean, I’m not going to lie, I had a hard time finding some application in this portion of scripture, but truthfully this is for parents and leaders. It identifies that we have a human tendency to pick favorites and have favorites. And that having favorites can hurt family dynamics, and jealousy can push people to do unspeakable things.

The second people it speaks to are just everyone else. What is your relationship with others look like? Are you being kind to people? Are you being a part of the group? or are you isolating yourself and making yourself look entitled? Joseph would snitch on his siblings, and if you see someone doing things they aren’t supposed to you should get help from an adult. But if you are doing it just to make yourself look good, then the people around you will see that.

We should strive to have meaningful relationships with others so that they can see Jesus. We should not behave like we are entitled or make others feel like we are better than them

And next week we are going to see how Joseph’s brothers respond to Joseph. But even through all of the things that are going to happen, we will also see how God is going to reveal Himself to Joseph and ultimately use Joseph in a very miraculous way.

Discussion questions:

1. How is the relationship between Jacob and Joseph? Explain

2. How was the relationship with Joseph and his brothers? Explain

3. What are some thing YOU can do in order to improve your relationships with the people around you?

4. In the story we will learn that even though Joseph was not perfect, God still had a unique plan for his life. Pray in your group that God’s plan for your life will come to fruition. Additionally, ask that God will show you His will.