TEXT: Genesis 37:12-28

Jacob’s older sons had been gone for several days. They had taken the sheep and gone to a faraway place to find good grass for them to eat. One day Jacob asked Joseph to go and find his brothers. He said, “See how your brothers are doing. Ask them if everything is going well with the sheep. Then hurry home because I am anxious to hear about them.” So Joseph started out.

Joseph’s brothers saw him coming while he was still far down the road. They knew it was Joseph because of the coat of many colors that he was wearing. That reminded them of the dreams he had told them about.

“Look, the dreamer is coming!” they said. They hated Joseph and wanted to put an end to him and his dreams once and for all. One of the brothers even said they should kill Joseph!

Reuben, the oldest brother, said, “Oh, no! Let’s not kill him. Let’s just throw him into this deep hole.”

Joseph finally came to the place where his brothers were. Instead of receiving a friendly greeting, his brothers tore off his beautiful coat. Then they threw him into the hole!

After that the brothers sat down to eat their lunch. As they ate they looked up and saw a group of men coming with camels. They were merchants who were taking spices and other things to sell in Egypt.

One of the brothers said, “I know what we should do! Let’s sell Joseph to those men. That way we won’t be guilty of killing our brother, and we will still be rid of him.”

The men bought Joseph for twenty pieces of silver. Then they took Joseph with them to Egypt where, later, they would sell him as a slave.

After Joseph was gone, the brothers thought about their father. They knew he would be waiting at home for Joseph’s return. What were they going to tell him? They were afraid to tell him the truth, so they thought of a plan. They killed a young goat and put its blood all over Joseph’s beautiful coat. Then they took the coat home to their father.

When Jacob saw the coat he said, “That is Joseph’s coat. A wild animal must have killed him.” Oh, Jacob was so sad. He cried and cried for his son. He thought Joseph was dead and he would never see him again.

The brothers had not only sold Joseph, but they had lied to their father! They were sure Jacob would never know the truth about their wicked deed. They thought they were rid of their brother forever. They were sure that would be the last they heard of Joseph’s dreams. But they didn’t know that God was watching over Joseph. This was all a part of God’s plan for him.

PARENT’S CORNER