Joseph, the faithful man who saw tomorrow

Theme: Integrity in temptation


Scriptures:
Genesis 39:1-23
Genesis 45:1-28
Genesis 50:22-26


Objectives: (From the D6 Fusion Sunday School Lesson book)
Know: Joseph made difficult but wise decisions that led to God’s future blessings.
Think: I consider my integrity to be more important than my feelings and desires.
Do: Choose what is good and right and refuse every temptation that would call me away from God.

Notes and questions:
B1 What is temptation?

C1 Our life before believing in Jesus: Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, (20) idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, (21) envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

C2 Our life after believing in Jesus: Galatians 5:22-24 NKJV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (24) And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

C3 Are there different desires, yet different struggles?

C4 Is temptation the same as sin? See Hebrews 4:15 NKJV For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

C5 Can a non-christian resist sin? How about a Christian, or an atheist?

B2 What to do in temptation

C1 Pray to be delivered from temptation: Mark 14:38 GNB And he said to them, "Keep watch, and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

C2 God limits the strength of the temptation: 1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

C3 Resist: Genesis 39:7-12 NRSV And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, "Lie with me." (8) But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. (9) He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (10) And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. (11) One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, (12) she caught hold of his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.

C4 How did the Lord Jesus resist temptation?

D1 Hebrews 4:15 GW We have a chief priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way that we are, but he didn't sin.

D2 Luke 4:1-4 NKJV Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (2) being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. (3) And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." (4) But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

D3 Hebrews 4:15-16 GW We have a chief priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way that we are, but he didn't sin. (16) So we can go confidently to the throne of God's kindness to receive mercy and find kindness, which will help us at the right time.

D4 The dog resists temptation?

E1 How?







E2 Why?




B3 Genesis 39:1-23,

C1 How can we avoid temptation?

C2 What does this verse say about Joseph and Potiphar? Genesis 39:3 GW Joseph's master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made everything he did successful.

C3 How would you handle the lies and false accusations? Genesis 39:13-19 NRSV When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, (14) she called out to the members of her household and said to them, "See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; (15) and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside." (16) Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, (17) and she told him the same story, saying, "The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; (18) but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside." (19) When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, "This is the way your servant treated me," he became enraged.

C4 Why didn’t Potiphar ask Joseph for his side of the story?

C5 What is most significant about this verse? Genesis 39:21 NRSV But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.

C6 Genesis 39:23 NRSV The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph's care, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper. What character trait is God approved in this verse?

C7 What did Potiphar think when Joseph was promoted to his position by Pharaoh?

B4 Genesis 45:1-28,

C1 Genesis 45:5-8 NRSV And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. (6) For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. (7) God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. (8) So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Calvinists use this verse to teach that God exhaustively decrees all things.

Does this verse teach that or does it teach that this situation with Joseph was sovereignly guided? Is every event in life exhaustively decreed? Is this passage descriptive or prescriptive?

C2 What is the importance of having Dad (Jacob) there?

C3 Genesis 45:21-22 NRSV The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons according to the instruction of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey. (22) To each one of them he gave a set of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of garments. Why did Joseph give more to Benjamin? Was that the right thing to do?

C4 How does this verse apply? Proverbs 11:8 NKJV The righteous is delivered from trouble, And it comes to the wicked instead.

C5 Jude 1:24-25 NKJV Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, (25) To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.

D1 We all stumble, but this would be a permanent stumbling.

D2 Why does God keep us?

D3 How does God do this? Hebrews 7:25 NKJV Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Also read: 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 GNB Yet we who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that the supreme power belongs to God, not to us. (8) We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair; (9) there are many enemies, but we are never without a friend; and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed.

C6 How do we know how to do and what is the right choice in our everyday situations?

D1 The Bible

D2 Some things we must do, as Hebrews 11:6 NKJV But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

D3 Some things we must NOT do, as Colossians 3:21 NKJV Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

D4 We have principles we can apply to the situation, as 2 Corinthians 6:14 NKJV Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?

D5 We have examples of those who made choice

E1 Bad choice: Luke 22:3-6 NKJV Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. (4) So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. (5) And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. (6) So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.

E2 Good choice: Luke 18:13 NKJV And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!

E3 What other examples can you think of?

B5 Genesis 50:22-26,

C1 Timeline

D1 Joseph goes to Egypt– 17 years old

D2 Joseph in Potiphar’s service– until he was ~27-28 years old

D3 Joseph in prison– ~30-31 years old

D4 Joseph promoted by Pharaoh– ~30-31 years old

D5 Joseph asks for His father, Jacob to come to Egypt– Joseph ~39-40 years old and Jacob ~ 130 years old

D6 Joseph dies– 110 years old

C2 Genesis 50:24-25 NKJV And Joseph said to his brethren, "I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." (25) Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.

D1 What character traits do we see in Joseph?

D2 Why was Joseph so confident that the children of Israel would go back to the promised land?

D3 How can we be confident to go to our promised land?

C3 How did integrity affect Joseph’s life?

B7 Next week:

C1 Undivided

C2 Theme: Unity in Christ

C3 Text: 1 Corinthians 1:10-31

In His care

Theme: God provides for His people

Objectives:

Know: God arranged events that promoted Joseph to a prominent position in Egypt to provide a way for Israel and his descendants to survive the famine.

Think: Be constantly aware that God provides for His people on His terms, sometimes in ways we would never expect.

Do: Do what you know is good and right, and expect God to provide the rest.

Scriptures: Genesis 45:1-28

Notes and questions:

1. What's happened since Joseph was sold as a slave?
1. Joseph interprets various dreams--Genesis 40
2. Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams--Genesis 41
3. Joseph's brothers go to Egypt and return the first time--Genesis 42
4. Joseph's brothers go to Egypt with Benjamin and have a feast with Joseph,--Genesis 43
5. Joseph's keeps Benjamin from returning to Israel and Judah's plea to Joseph for Benjamin's release,--Genesis 44
6. Joseph would have been about 32 years old at the time of Genesis 45. See Genesis 41:46 and Genesis 45:6.
7. Joseph had spent about 13 years as a slave.
2. What happens in Genesis 45?
1. Joseph reveals to his brother who he is--Genesis 45:1-2
2. Joseph explains what has happened, how his being in Egypt is good, and that Israel must come to Egypt--Genesis 45:3-15
3. Pharaoh hears of Joseph's brothers--Genesis 45:16-20
4. Joseph does as Pharaoh instructs and gives gifts and instructions to Joseph's brothers--Genesis 45:21-24
5. The brothers tell Israel all that has happened to them--Genesis 45:25-28
3. Up until Genesis 45 what would Israel and Joseph's brothers think happened to Joseph?
4. Why did Joseph hide his identity from his brothers?
5. Could God have kept Israel's family alive by other means that Joseph being sold as a slave?
6. Genesis 45:1, why did Joseph send everyone out of his presence except for his brothers?
7. Genesis 45:3, what was the response of Joseph's brothers to his true identify? Can truth be shocking?
8. This passage speaks of deliverance. Who are all those who are being delivered?
9. What is the worst bondage of all? (Sin. And having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. (Romans 6:18 EMTV).
10. What is the best slavery there is? (Righteousness)
11. Who is our deliverer?
12. If we find ourselves as a slave, what should be our attitude? (To be the best slave ever).
13. Joseph had worked for Pharaoh about 2 years at the time of this story. Why didn't he leave to visit his father?
14. Genesis 45:9, who made Joseph lord (prime minister under Pharaoh) over all Egypt? Who has the ultimate authority? How does this authority affect our lives?
15. Genesis 45:13, is Joseph bragging, boasting?
16. Genesis 45:17-20, does Joseph obey Pharaoh?
17. Genesis 45:24, why did Joseph tell his brothers not to argue?
18. Genesis 45:36, it would have been enough to tell Israel that Joseph was still alive, but what do you think was going through Israel's mind when told Joseph was ruler?
19. What is the difference between what the world gives and what God gives?
20. God has restored our relationship to Him through faith in Jesus Christ's Gospel. In what ways are we to restore fellowship with others?
21. Does God always provide the life we want? What are some ways, that if we are willing, God's way is best?
22. In our Christian life how does God provide deliverance, sustenance, and restoration?

What we can learn from the story of Joseph

Part of a sermon by delivered August 20, 1893, by J. W. McGarvey. Originally published by the Standard Publishing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, in McGarvey’s Sermons. 

"You go, as Joseph did, but you fail to find them. While you search you meet a stranger who tells you they are gone to Dothan, fourteen or fifteen miles farther away. With this news Joseph continued his journey, and how his heart leaped at last to see his brothers again! How glad a welcome he expected from them and inquiries about home, and father, and all. But when he came up, he saw a scowl upon every face. Instead of welcoming, they seized him, and with rough hands stripped the coat from his back, dragged him to the mouth of a dry cistern, and let him down in it. “Now we will see what will become of his dreams.”

"How did the boy then feel? I have thought that perhaps he said to himself, “My brothers are only trying to scare me. They are just playing a cruel joke on me, and don’t mean to leave me here to perish.” But perhaps he had begun to think they were in earnest, when he heard footsteps above, and voices. He sees one of their faces looking down, and a rope let down to draw him up, and he thinks the cruel joke is over. But when he is drawn up and sees those strangers there, and hears words about the sale of the boy, and his hands are tied behind him, and he is delivered into their hands, and they start off with him, what would you have thought or felt then? If the thought had come into his mind that it was another joke, he might have watched as the merchants passed down the road, on every rising piece of ground he might have looked back to see if his brothers were coming to buy him back again, and to get through with this terrible joke; but when the whole day’s journey was passed, and they went into camp at night, and the same the next day, no brothers have overtaken him, what must have been his feelings? When he thought, “I am a slave, and I am being carried away into a foreign land to spend the rest of my life as a slave, never to see father and home again,” who can imagine his feelings? So he was brought down into Egypt and sold.

"But it seems to me that Joseph must have had one thought to bear him up, at least for a time. “My father loves me. He loves me more than he does all my brothers. He is a rich man. When he hears that I have been sold into Egypt, he will send one hundred men, if need be, to hunt me up; he will load them with money to buy me back. I trust in my father for deliverance yet. But he is sold into the house of Pharaoh, and years pass by. He is cruelly cast into prison, and years pass by, until thirteen long years of darkness and gloom and sorrow and pain have gone, and he has never heard of his father sending for him. He could have done it. It would have been easy to do, And now, how does he feel toward his brothers and toward his father? Would you have wanted to see those brothers again? And when he found his father had never sent for him, knowing, perhaps, how penurious and avaricious his father had been in his younger days, may he not have said, “The old avaricious spirit of my father has come back on him in his declining years, and he loves his money more than he loves his boy?” And when that feeling took possession of him, did he want to see his father anymore? Or any of them? Could he bear the thought of ever seeing those brothers again? And could he at last bear the thought of seeing that father who had allowed him to perish, as it were, without stretching out a hand to help him? The way he did feel is seen in one little circumstance. When he was married and his first-born son was placed before him, he named him Manasseh, “forgetfulness,” “Because,” he says, “God has enabled me to forget my father’s house.” The remembrance of home and brothers and father had been a source of constant pain to him; he never could think of them without agony of heart; but now, “Thank God, I have forgotten them.” Oh, brethren, what a terrible experience a boy must have before he feels a sense of relief and gladness that he has been enabled to forget all about his father and his brothers in his early home! That is the way Joseph felt when Manasseh was born. And would not you have felt so, too?

"Everything was going on more pleasantly than he thought it ever could, with him—riches, honor, wife, children: everything that could delight the heart of a wise and good man—when suddenly, one day his steward comes in and tells him that there are ten foreigners who desire to buy some grain. He had a rule that all foreigners must be brought before him before they were allowed to buy grain. Bring them in. They were brought in, and behold, there are his brothers! There are his brothers! And as they approach, they bow down before him. Of course, they could not recognize him, dressed in the Egyptian style—governor of Egypt. Even if he had looked like Joseph, it would only have been a strange thing with them to say, He resembles our brother Joseph. There they are. It was a surprising sight to him and a painful one. He instantly determines to treat them in such a way that they will never come back to Egypt again. He says, “Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.” “No,” they say, “we are come to buy food; we are all the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. We are twelve brothers. The youngest is with our father, and one is not.”

"That remark about the youngest awakened a new thought in Joseph. Oh how it brought back the sad hour when his own mother, dying on the way that they were journeying, left that little Benjamin, his only full brother, in the hands of the weeping father! And how it reminded him, that when he was sold, Benjamin was a little lad at home. He is my own mother’s child. Instantly he resolves that Benjamin shall be here with him in Egypt, and that these others shall be scared away, so that they will never come back again; so he says, “Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, that your words may be proved, or else by the life of Pharaoh ye are spies.” He cast them all into prison; but on the third day he went to them and said: “I fear God; if ye be true men let one of you be bound in prison, and let the others go and carry food for your houses; and bring your youngest brother to me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.” When he said that, they began to confess to one another their belief about the providential cause of this distress, when Reuben made a speech that brought a revelation to Joseph, He said to his brethren, “Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear. Therefore, behold his blood is required.” Joseph learns for the first time that Reuben had befriended him, and this so touched his heart that he turned aside to weep. He passes by Reuben and takes the next to the oldest for the prisoner.

"He now gave the directions to his steward to sell them the grain; and why did he order the money to be tied up in the mouth of every man’s sack? “They were once so mean and avaricious that they sold me for fifteen petty pieces of silver. I will put their silver in the mouths of their sacks, and I will see if they are as dishonest as they were then. If they are, I will never hear of that money again.” Not many merchants in these days, if you go in and buy ten dollars’ worth of goods, will wrap the ten dollars in the bundle to see if it will come back. “I will see,” thought Joseph, “if they are honest.”

"Time went on—a good deal more than Joseph expected, on account of the unwillingness of Jacob to let Benjamin make the journey. But finally the news is brought that these ten Canaanites have returned. They are brought once more into his presence, and there is Benjamin. They still call him the “little one” and “the lad”; just as I have had mothers to introduce me to “the baby,” and the baby would be a strapping fellow six feet high. There he is. “Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke?” He waits not for an answer, but exclaims, “God be gracious unto thee, my son.” He slips away into another room to weep. How near he is now to carrying out his plan—to having that dear brother, who had never harmed him, to enjoy his honors and riches and glory, and get rid of the others. He has them to dine in his house. That scared them. To dine with the governor! They could not conceive what it meant. Joseph knew. He had his plan formed. He wanted them there to give them a chance to steal something out of the dining-room. They enjoyed the dinner. They had never seen before so rich a table. He says to the steward, “Fill the men’s sacks with food; put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth, and put my silver cup in the sack’s mouth of the youngest.” It was done, and at daylight next morning they were on their journey home. They were not far on the way when the steward overtook them, with the demand, “Why have ye rewarded evil for good? Is it not this in which my Lord drinketh, and wherewith he divineth? Ye have done evil in so doing.” They answered, “God forbid that thy servants should do such a thing. Search, and if it be found with any one of us, let him die, and the rest of us will be your bondmen.” “No,” says the steward, “he with whom it is found shall be my bondman, and ye shall be blameless.” He begins his search with Reuben’s sack. It is not there. Then one by one he takes down the sacks of the others, until he reaches Benjamin’s. There is the cup! They all rend their clothes; and when the steward starts back with Benjamin, they follow him. They are frightened almost to death, but the steward can not get rid of them. Joseph was on the lookout for the steward and Benjamin. Yonder they come, but behind them are all the ten. What shall now be done? They come in and fall down before him once more, and say, “We are thy bondmen. God has found out our iniquity.” “No,” he says, “the man in whose hand the cup is found shall be my bondman; but as for you, get you up in peace to your father.”

"Joseph thought that his plan was a success. They will be glad to go in peace. I will soon have it all right with Benjamin. They will hereafter send somebody else to buy their grain. But Judah arose, drew near, and begged the privilege of speaking a word. He recites the incidents of their first visit, and speaks of the difficulty with which they had induced their father to let Benjamin come. He quotes from his father these words: “Ye know that my wife bore me two sons; one of them went out from me, and I said surely he is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since, If ye take this one also from me and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.” He closes with the proposal, “Let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the lad, a bondman to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brethren.” Here was a revelation to Joseph—two of them. First, I have been blaming my old father for these twenty-two years because he did not send down into Egypt and hunt me up, and buy me out, and take me home; and now I see I have been blaming him unjustly, for he thought I was dead—that some wild beast had torn me in pieces. O what self-reproach, and what a revival of love for his old father! And here, again, I have been trying to drive these brothers away from me, as unworthy of any countenance on my part, or even an acquaintance with them; but what a change has come over them! The very men that once sold me for fifteen paltry pieces of silver, are now willing to be slaves themselves, rather than see their youngest brother made a slave, even when he appears to be guilty of stealing. What a change! Immediately all of his old affection for them takes possession of him, and with these two revelations flashing upon him, it is not surprising that he broke out into loud weeping. He weeps, and falls upon his brothers’ necks, He says, “I am Joseph.” A thought flashes through his mind, never conceived before, and he says, “Be not grieved, or angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither.” He sees now God’s hand all through this strange, sad experience, and using a Hebraism, he says, “It was not you that sent me hither, but God; God did send me before to preserve life.” When he was a prisoner there in the prison, he did not see God’s hand. I suppose he thought that it was all of the devil; but now that he has gotten to the end of the vista and looks back, he sees it is God who has done it. He sees in part what we saw in the first part of this discourse. O, my friends, many times when you shall have passed through deep waters that almost overwhelm you, and shall have felt alienated from all the friends you had on earth, thinking that they had deserted you, wait a little longer, and you will look up and say it was God; it was the working of grand, glorious, and blessed purposes that He had in his mind concerning you.

"The last question we can dispose of now very quickly, because it has been almost entirely anticipated. Why did God select ten men to be the heads of ten tribes of his chosen people, who were so base as to sell their brother? O, my brethren, it was not the ten who sold their brother that God selected, but the ten who were willing to be slaves instead of their brother. These are the ten that he chose. If you and I shall get to heaven, why will God admit us there? Not because of what we once were, but because of what He shall have made out of us by His dealings with us. He had his mind on the outcome, and not on the beginning. If you and I had to be judged by what we were at one time, there would be no hope for us. I am glad to know that my chances for the approval of the Almighty are based on what I hope to be, and not on what I am. Thank God for that!

"And they were worthy. How many men who, when the youngest brother of the family was clearly guilty of stealing, and was about to be made a slave, would say, “Let me be the slave, and let him go home to his father”? Not many. And what had brought about the wondrous change which they had undergone? Ah, here we have the other illustration of God’s providential government to which I have alluded. When these men held up the bloody coat before their father, knowing that Joseph was not dead, as he supposed, but not able to tell him so because the truth would be still more distressing than the fiction, What father would not rather a thousand times over that one of his sons should be dead, than that one of them should be kidnapped and sold into foreign bondage by the others? If their father’s grief was inconsolable, their own remorse was intolerable. For twenty-two long years they writhed under it, and there is no wonder that then they should prefer foreign bondage themselves rather than to witness a renewal of their father’s anguish. The same chain of providence which brought them unexpectedly into Egypt, had fitted them for the high honors which were yet to crown their names.

"Is there a poor sinner here today, whom God has disciplined, whether less or more severely than He did those men, and brought to repentance? If so, the kind Redeemer whom you rejected, and sold, as it were, to strangers, stands ready to forgive you more completely and perfectly than Joseph forgave his brethren. He has found out your iniquity; he knows it all; but he died that he might be able to forgive you. Come in his appointed way; come guilty and trembling, as Joseph’s brothers came, and you will find His everlasting arms around you."

The wonder that God can change any situation if we are willing. Even if God does not want to change the situation He will give us grace to bear it. 2 Corinthians 12:7

Never beyond His reach

Theme: God is in control

Objectives:

Know: Joseph faced death at the hands of his brothers and oppression as a slave in Egypt, but God spared his life and provided him favor and position with his master.

Think: Live with the awareness that this world can be full of danger and disappointment, but God can convert those distresses into His purpose for those He calls His children.

Do: Be confident and endure hardship with hope because God is in control and nothing is beyond His reach.

Scripture: Genesis 37:1-36 and Genesis 39:1-5

Notes and questions:

B1 Define: favoritism"...the unfair practice of giving someone help or advantages that you do not give to other people. Provided by Macmillan Dictionary.

B2 Have you seen the effects of favoritism? Has it been good or bad?

B3 Genesis 37: 1 (picture)

B4 Genesis 37:2, how old is Joe? What is he doing with his brothers? What was this bad report? Was he being to picky, seeking revenge against his brothers, criticizing them so that he could get special favors from his father?

B5 Genesis 37:3, what is the reason Jacob (Israel) loved Joseph more than the other?

B6 Genesis 37:3, what is so special about this coat, that Joseph's brothers were jealous? (We don't know, except that Israel knew, the brothers knew, and Joseph knew that is was special and was given to Joseph alone. See Genesis 37:4).

B7 Genesis 37:5-7, why did this dream make the brothers so angry? See Genesis 37:8.

B8 Were the things that happened to Joseph of God, of man, of circumstance? (Bible doesn't say, but used it anyway).

B9 Were these dreams from God?

B10 Genesis 37:20, why did they want to kill Joseph? Did the brothers really think that they would be successful?

B11 Genesis 37:21, why did Reuben want to rescue Joseph?

B12 Genesis 37:26-27, what is the motive for wanting to sell Joseph into slavery? (Covetousness)

B13 How many brothers were present at the time of selling Joseph? (9. Joseph was sold, Benjamin was home, Reuben was gone for a short time).

B14 How much money would each of these receive for their "sale?" (A little over 2).

B15 Genesis 37:29, why was Reuben upset?

B16 Genesis 37:31-32, what sin is shown in this deception?

B17 Genesis 37:34-35, how could the brothers join in mourning for the "death" of Joseph and try to comfort Israel?

B18 Genesis 39:2, it is said that God was with Joseph, was God with the brothers, too?

B19 Genesis 39:5, why did the LORD bless Potiphar?

B20 Why do trouble and suffering come to Christians?

B21 Name some times in your life where God has turned something bad into good.

B22 How are we to act when we suffer for doing the right thing or suffering because of false accusation?

B23 Do we continue to do the right thing (in God's eyes), when we are accused falsely or suffer?

B24 Does showing favoritism ever result in good?

Next week "In His care"

God provides for His family.

Scripture: Genesis 45:1-28