Life of Joseph: 1. Joseph's Coat and His Dreams

https://www.biblefunforkids.com/2019/09/life-of-joseph-1-josephs-coat-and-his.html

This begins an in-depth series of the life of Joseph.

Lesson is found in Genesis 37:1-11

We are beginning a study of Joseph. He is found in the Old Testament book of Genesis. This study is found in Genesis 37:1-11 (except for the additional scriptures listed). Joseph’s father was Jacob (also called Israel Genesis 35:9-10) and Joseph had 11 brothers and one sister. Read Genesis 35:22b-26. Benjamin was younger than Joseph and they had the same mother. His mother was Rachel and she died when she had Benjamin. (Genesis 35:16-20) They lived in the land of Canaan (Genesis 35:12).

When Joseph was 17 years old, he was feeding the sheep with some of his brothers. Joseph told his father Jacob something that these brothers had done. We are not told what happened or what was said, but it would cause contention between the brothers.

Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. He was born when Jacob was old and he loved Joseph’s mother Rachel. Jacob made Joseph a coat of many colors and gave it to him. But when his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph the most, they hated him. They couldn’t even talk politely to Joseph.

Joseph had a dream and told his brothers about it. Then they hated him even more. Joseph described the dream to his brothers. He said that they were binding sheaves (grain bundles) in the field. While they were working, Joseph’s sheaf stood up. His brother’s sheaves stood around Joseph’s and bowed down to his.

The brothers asked Joseph if he would rule over them. Did Joseph think he would control them? Now they hated Joseph even more because of his dreams.

Joseph had another dream and he told it to his brothers again. He said that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. Joseph’s father heard about this dream also and scolded him. He asked Joseph if he thought that his mother, father and brothers were going to bow down to him.

This caused his brothers to not only hate him; they also envied (were jealous of) him. But, his father thought about this and kept it in the back of his mind.

Jacob’s love for Joseph and the dreams Joseph had made his brothers despise him and will lead to what they do to him in the rest of the chapter. It doesn’t make it right and it is absolutely not how God wants us to treat others. Jealousy and hatred can lead to other sins. It is important to be careful and recognize these feelings and not let them be a part of our life.

There is a question and answer worksheet with a teacher's answer sheet. There's a maze, crossword with an answer sheet. There are word scrambles with answers. I included a plain coat for any craft you might want to do and a conversation starter worksheet. Click here to download.