Unit 4: Joseph OT4.1 Joseph and His Jealous Brothers Lesson · OT4.1 Joseph and His Jealous...

1

OT4.1 Joseph and His Jealous Brothers Lesson ©Beverly Wilson 2017

Unit 4: Joseph OT4.1 Joseph and His Jealous Brothers Lesson

Scripture: Genesis 37

Lesson Goal: In this lesson we will learn how Joseph and his brothers treated one another. We

can learn from this story that jealousy can cause us to do things that will hurt other people

Introduction: This is the ninth lesson in Unit 4: Joseph. Joseph was one of the twelve sons of Jacob. God would allow him to go through many problems in his life but God would take all the bad things and make them into good. In this lesson we will learn how Joseph and his brothers treated one another. The lesson is found in the first book of the Bible called Genesis. Genesis is the first book of Law. The books of the Law are the first five books in the Old Testament. Let's say the books of Law together. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Attention Getter: "Tie Dye Shirts" Do you have a tie dye shirt? Here is one that has lots of beautiful colors--red, green, blue, purple, yellow, orange--every color of the rainbow! Do you think that you would see someone coming from a long distance if they wore this shirt? I think you would!

Here is a whole family with tie dye shirts! Would you like to have a shirt like this? Let's say that you wanted one of these shirts so badly that you would take it from one of these people if you could. Or you wished that one of the people would spill something on their shirt and would take if off to clean it. Then you could take it while they were not looking.

Do you know what that feeling is called? Yes it is called jealousy. Being jealous means that you are willing to do something harmful just to get what someone else has. Some other words that mean jealous are envy, covet, resentful, and suspicious. If a person is jealous then sometimes they are called "green eyed." Jealous people can often do some very mean and hurtful things to get what they want.

In this lesson we are going to talk about someone who had a coat that looked like a tie dyed shirt! His name is Joseph. Joseph had some very jealous brothers who wanted what he had! We are going to see how jealousy can lead people to do some very mean things.

Opening Prayer: "Father, you love all of your children and you want the very best for them. Help us to guard against feelings of jealousy that might come into our heart. Help us learn to be happy with the good things that you have given us. Thank you for loving us so patiently and kindly. Help us to love others with that same kind of love. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Memory Verse: The memory verse is I Corinthians 13: 4 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast; it is not proud."

Lesson Video: https://youtu.be/VVABgro8qHo

What a large family Jacob had! Jacob had two wives--Rachel and Leah and their two maid servants. Through them God had given Jacob twelve sons and one daughter. His two youngest sons, Joseph and young Benjamin, were especially precious to him, because they reminded him of their mother Rachel, who had died the same day little Benjamin was born. The other ten sons were all grown men now, but they lived very wicked lives and brought much grief to their father's heart.

Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children, because Joseph was born to him in his old age by his favorite wife Rachel. Unlike his brothers Joseph trusted God with all his heart, and he

https://youtu.be/VVABgro8qHo

2


wanted to obey God.

So Jacob gave Joseph a richly decorated coat of many colors. This upset Joseph's older half-brothers. They were very jealous of Joseph.

All of Jacob's sons worked as shepherds. Joseph also tended his father's flock but he would always come running to Jacob and complain about his brother's work. This made matters worse!

The brothers hated Joseph, They hated Joseph and could not speak a kind word to him. They made fun of him for being good! They were very angry and said, "Father's never given us fine coats like that!"

When Joseph was seventeen years old, he had a strange dream. He and his brothers were all out in the field. They were putting newly cut wheat into sheaves, or bundles.

Suddenly Joseph's sheaf stood straight up, and the sheaves the brothers had made gathered around Joseph's sheaf and bowed down to it! Joseph shared his dream with his brothers. He said, "We were binding bundles of grain out in the field," explained Joseph, "when suddenly your sheaves were bowing down to mine!"

The brothers were very angry. "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us? And they hated him all the more because of his dream.

Later Joseph had another dream. He shared it with them, too. "Listen," he said, "this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." God was telling Joseph that something special was going to happen in the future. God was planning on using him for a very important purpose! But the brothers thought that Joseph was just thinking that he was more important than them.

This made his brothers even more jealous of him. They hated him all the more because of this dream. They began to plot on how to get rid of Joseph!

Joseph shared the dream with his father. "What is this dream you had?" Jacob asked. When Joseph told him Jacob asked, " Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?"

Jacob was upset about the dream too and thought about what it might mean. Was God trying to tell him something? You see, in that day and time when people didn't have a Bible, God would speak to them through dreams, visions, or other ways.

One day Joseph's ten older brothers took their father's sheep and travelled north to find pastures to graze their father's flocks. Joseph stayed home to help his father Jacob in the valley of Hebron.

After several days with no news from them, Jacob called Joseph. "You know that your brothers are far away grazing the flocks," said Jacob. "Go and find them and see how they are getting along and if the sheep are all right, and bring me some word about them."

So Joseph obeyed his father and began walking over fifty miles from Hebron to Shechem to find his brothers. Finally, he came to Shechem, where his brothers were supposed to be. Joseph looked all over for them, but they were nowhere to be found.

A man who lived there saw him wandering in the field. "What are you looking for?" he called out to Joseph."My brothers," Joseph answered. "Have you seen the ten sons of Jacob?""Why, yes," said the man. "They went over to Dothan—about fifteen miles down the road."

So off Joseph went further north toward Dothan. At last, in the distance, Joseph saw the flocks of sheep grazing.

3


However, when Joseph's brothers saw him coming; they recognized the beautifully colored coat he was wearing. "Now's our chance," they said. "We can get rid of that dreamer once and for all!" So they began to plot to kill him. Let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams!"

But Reuben, the oldest brother, was kinder than the others. He hoped to spare Joseph's life. "Let's not kill him," Reuben said. " Let's throw him alive into this deep, dark pit. He'll never be able to get out. He'll starve, or some wild beast will tear him limb from limb. That way he will die without our touching him." They all agreed.

Reuben said this because he was planning to secretly rescue Joseph later and take him back to his father. So when Joseph arrived his brothers stripped him of his beautiful coat of many colors and threw him into an empty pit.

They shouted, "We told you we were going to fix you! We're going to throw you into this deep, dark pit, and you'll die down there."

Joseph cried out, "Help! Help! Let me out. Don't leave me here to die," Joseph cried. But they would not listen to his pleas and cries.

The brothers sat down to eat their meal, while Reuben went to work in another part of the field. As they looked up from their food, they saw a caravan coming toward them, a group of Ishmaelite merchants going to Egypt on camels to trade their rich spices, herbs and sweet-smelling myrrh. One of the brothers had an idea.

"Look," Judah said to the others. "There are some Ishmaelite merchants. Let's sell Joseph to mer-chants going to Egypt. It's a chance to make some easy money! Besides, why kill him and have a guilty conscience? For after all, he is our brother." The rest agreed at once.

So they pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelite traders. All of Joseph's begging and pleading did not soften the hearts of his cruel and wicked brothers. They were just happy to be rid of him.

Joseph was bound hand and foot and carried off to the land of Egypt. The Midianites were taking Joseph many miles across the desert to be sold as a slave to the Egyptians. Joseph would never see his home again.

Rueben had not been with the other brothers when Joseph was sold. When he discovered Joseph was no longer in the cistern he tore his clothes in grief. "The boy isn't there! What can I do now?" Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. They were planning to lie to cover up the terrible thing they had done!

Joseph's brothers went home and took the bloodstained coat to their father. They showed the robe to their father and said, "We found this. Is it your son's robe?" "It is my son's robe!" Jacob cried. "Some ferocious animal has devoured him."

Grief stricken, Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for Joseph. No one could comfort him. He wept and wept. He said, "I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave." What a cruel, dirty trick these men had played on their elderly father!

It is sad to think how unhappy poor Jacob was when Joseph was really not dead. It is sad to think of Joseph away from home in a land that he did not know. But, it is wonderful to know that God is going to watch over Joseph and will let nothing happen to Joseph unless God Himself wants it to happen. Through all his trials, the Bible tells us, "The Lord was with Joseph."

What a terrible thing for Joseph's brothers to do -- just because they were jealous of their brother--

4


they threw him into a pit and then sold him into slavery! I hope that we would never do anything so terrible, but we can learn from this story that jealousy can cause us to do things that will hurt other people. It is something that we should guard against. We have to learn to be happy with whatever our Heavenly Father has given us.

Our memory verses is I Corinthians 13: 4 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast; it is not proud." God is telling us to love others without jealousy. The word "envy" means being angry because you don't have what someone else has." Let's say our verse again together. I Corinthians 13: 4 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast; it is not proud. "

I'm glad that this is not the end of the story of Joseph and his brothers. The story does have a happy ending and Joseph is reunited with his father and brothers. But in this lesson we learned about the terrible things that can happen because of the sin of jealousy.

Let's pray. "Father, you love all of your children and you want the very best for them. Help us to guard against feelings of jealousy that might come into our heart. Help us learn to be happy with the good things that you have given us. Thank you for loving us so patiently and kindly. Help us to love others with that same kind of love. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Remember love is patient and kind--not jealous!

Review Questions: "Coat Relay" (Grades K-5) Preparation: Collect masking tape, two paper bags, marker, two large coats (bath robes, sweaters, or jackets may be substituted for coats), scissors. Procedure: Use masking tape to make a starting line. Print "1" on one bag and "2" on the other bag. Place bags ten feet from the starting line. Place coats on the starting line. Divide class into two teams. Designate one team as Team 1 and the other Team 2. Write the following questions on note cards. Divide the question cards evenly and put all the cards into the two team bags. Teams are to line up behind their team bag and take turns putting on the coat, running to his or her teams' bag and then taking a card from the bag. Winner of the relay reads his or her question first. Child must read the question and the team will answer. Continue game until each team has collected all the cards in their bag. Give one point for each team's correct answer.

1. Which of his sons did Jacob love the most and why? (He loved Joseph best because he

was the son of Rachel, his favorite wife.) 2. What did Jacob do for Joseph that made his brothers especially jealous of him? (Jacob gave

him a coat of many colors.) 3. What did Joseph do that constantly irritated his brothers? (He would go to his father and

complain to him how his brothers were not working.) 4. What was Joseph's first dream? (Joseph dreamed that he and his brothers were out in the

field binding sheaves and his sheaf stood up and their sheaves all gathered around it and bowed low before it.)

5. What was Joseph's second dream? (He dreamed that the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before Joseph.)

6. What did Joseph's dreams seem to mean? (God was telling them that someday Joseph would rule over his brothers.)

7. How did Joseph react to his brother's hatefulness and unkindness? (The Bible doesn't say that he spoke or acted unkindly to them.)

8. When someone is unkind, what is your natural reaction? (We generally want to get even or get back at them.)

9. Why were Joseph's brothers gone so long from home? (They had gone over fifty miles to take the herds of sheep to find pasture.)

5


10. What did Joseph's brothers do when they saw Joseph coming out to the fields? (They plotted to kill him.)

11. What did Reuben the oldest brother talk them into doing? (He suggested that they throw Joseph into a dry well or pit.)

12. Why did Reuben want them to throw him into the pit? (He intended to come back later and free Joseph and return his brother to his father.)

13. Did Joseph's brothers leave him in the pit to die? (No, they sold him to some Midianite traders for twenty shekels of silver.)

14. How did Joseph's brothers lead their father to believe Joseph was killed by wild animals? (They dipped Joseph's beautiful coat into blood and asked their father to identify it. They didn't actually say that Joseph was dead; but they led their father to believe he was dead. And they didn't correct his thinking.)

15. What does God want us to learn from this lesson? (That we should not be jealous and angry toward others because it will lead us to hurt other people.)

Bible Memory Verse Activity: "Hearts of Love" (Grades K-5) Say: Our memory verse is I Corinthians 13: 4 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast; it is not proud." Have students locate the verse in scripture. Say: "God is telling us to love others without jealousy. The word "envy" means being angry because you don't have what someone else has." Have students repeat the verse together several times in unison. Preparation: Collect Bible, construction paper, scissors, and markers. Cut 10- 18 heart shapes from construction paper. On one side of each heart print one or two words of 1 Corinthians 13:4 on the backs. Number the hearts in verse order. Hide the hearts around the room. Procedure: Have the children find the hearts and then arrange them in numerical order. Children then turn hearts over to discover the verse. Lead the children in reading the verse aloud. Say: "Envy means being jealous or angry because you don't have what someone else has. What happened in our lesson when ten brothers became jealous of another brother? " (Invite volunteers to hide hearts for others to find.) "What is jealousy? (A hurt or angry feeling people sometimes get.) When is a time a kid your age might feel jealous? (When another kid has a cool birthday party. When the teacher puts someone else's picture on the wall. When someone else gets a new toy.) Each child draws a picture of a situation in which someone might be jealous.

Group Learning Activity: "Crepe Paper" Coat (Grades K-5) Preparation: Get several rolls of crepe tissue paper or toilet paper in a variety of colors. The more colors or crepe paper you have the more fun this activity will be. Procedure: Divide students into two or more teams. Each team should consist of at least 3 or 4 children. Each team is to choose one child to be Joseph. The other members of the team are to wrap the crepe paper strips around their "Joseph" to make a coat of many colors. Give teams several minutes to complete their coat of many colors. After teams have finished the activity, have each team 's Joseph model his coat. Class may select the winner by choosing which team made the best coat for Joseph. Say: "In our lesson today Jacob gave his son Joseph a coat of many colors because he was his favorite son. This made the other brothers so jealous that they wanted to kill their brother. What might cause a child your age to become jealous of other students? (Other children may have a very popular toy and they want it so bad that they decide to take it.) What are some things that children your age might do if they were jealous?" (They might call someone a bad name. They might try to steal the toy. They might purposefully break the toy so the child they are jealous of does not have it any more.) Get students to respond with different examples of jealousy among students their age.

6


Group Learning Activity: "Charades of Advice" (Grades 3-5) Preparation: Collect the following items: Bible, pencils or pens Procedure: Divide the class into groups of two to four students each. Ask each group to think secretly of a situation in which someone might feel jealous. Give help to groups by asking questions such as, "When might a kid be jealous of someone at school? during the summer? on a soccer team? in a family? Each group of students is to take a turn to act out the situation without words for the other groups to guess (kicking a soccer ball to indicate a student who scores a goal or opening packages to indicate a student who is having a birthday party.) After each situation is identified, volunteers tell what advice they think an advice columnist would give about positive actions to take when feeling jealous. Say: "How would this action help to make or keep a friend? When has someone treated you this way? What was the result? What other choices could be made? Are these actions hard or easy? How this action follow the instructions in our memory verse 1 Corinthians 13:4?" Optional: Have student in each group work together to write a letter, pretending to be an advice columnist. Volunteers read completed letters aloud. Teaching Tips: If students pause during their pantomimes, ask a question or two to help them remember the action or think of what to do next. Plan for an area of your room that can be cleared of furniture and used as a stage. Allow groups several minutes to plan and practice if possible their pantomimes. Be available to help students as needed. In your conversations with students, avoid making assumptions regarding family. Include references--without sounding negative--to children who live in a blended family and /or who visit their other parents.

Group Learning Activity: "What the Bible Tells Us" Discussion (Grades 3-5) Purpose: To help students to learn to read and apply God's commandments to their lives. To understand that God begins His plan to rescue the family of Israel (Jacob) and to keep His promise to send a Savior through their descendants. Preparation: Collect the following items: Bible, markers, white board Procedure: Write the following passages on a whiteboard. Have students look up the following passages and apply them to Joseph's live and your own life. Write the life principle beside each passage. Encourage students to share practical examples of each principle from their own lives.

Colossians 3:9 "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices." (Joseph's brothers lied to the father Jacob and caused him much grief as he mourned the loss of his son Joseph. Lies caused the brothers to feel guilty. Modern example: Peter's sister had just told their mom she was going to the library. Peter knew she was going to see a movie with her friends. Lying to parents will eventually get children into trouble.) Life Principle: Lying is sin.

Isaiah 40:31 "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Joseph's brothers were not willing to let God rule their lives. They were not willing to wait and see how God would use "bowing to their brother Joseph" as a way to save their lives. God will work all things even bad things out for our own good. Modern example: Timothy's mother had been sick for many years. It was getting very hard for him to watch her suffer.) Life Principle: Trust God in everything.

Matthew 5:44 "But I tell you: Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." (Joseph did not take revenge on his brothers when they treated him badly. Later Joseph would forgive his brothers for selling him as a slave and tell them that God meant it for his good.

7


Modern example: Sue was sad to see how tired her father was each night after a long day at work. She wished that she knew a way to help him feel better.) Life Principle: Do good to everyone even your enemies.

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Joseph's family committed the sin of jealousy with one another. Jealousy caused them to lie, hurt their father, and loose contact with their brother Joseph., Their sin caused much grief to Joseph. God used these difficult circumstances in Joseph's life to help him learn to trust in Him. Later Joseph forgave his brothers for this sin even though they did not deserve it. The family of Israel was being prepared to receive the birth of Jesus the Son of God. They had to be shown that they needed a Savior by suffering the consequences of their sin. God would keep His promise to send a Savior through their descendants. Modern example: Paul didn't want to go to school. He was angry about being teased so much. He needs to understand that God may be helping him to understand what His Son Jesus went through when He was persecuted for our sake on the cross. Jesus' death on the cross was really a victory over the power of sin and death because through it we are all brought to life and can receive the gift of eternal life.) Life Principle: God gives us eternal life.

Group Learning Activity: "Square Go-Round" (Grades 3-5) Preparation: Collect the following items: Bible, masking tape, marker, construction paper in a variety of colors, number cube; slips of paper, marker, paper bag. Tape construction paper onto the floor as shown in the following sketch to make a game path. Make one game path for every group of six to eight students. Draw a star on two or three of the papers in the path. If a number cube is not available print the numbers one to six on separate slips of paper and place them in a paper bag. Procedure: Students are to stand on the game path one student to each square of paper. Each student decides if he or she will move clockwise or counterclockwise throughout the entire game. To play each round of the game roll the number cube or choose a slip of paper from the bag. All players move that number of papers on the path. It is all right if more than one students is standing on or near the same paper. Any student who ends up standing on a paper marked with a star must tell about a situation in which a kid his or her age might feel jealous. (Examples might be the following: "when my friend gets to go on a big trip" , "when my sister has a birthday". "when my friend scores a goal in a soccer game.") Read the memory verse 1 Corinthians 13:4. Ask: "What would God want you to do in this situation? What are some other helpful and positive things you could do?" Table Alternative: Use index cards instead of construction paper, taping the cards to the top of the table. Students use game markers to move around the game path. Enrichment Idea: Draw several different colored stars on papers in the game path. When a student lands on those papers he or she must quote the memory verse 1 Corinthians 13:4.

Group Learning Activity: "Joseph's Life Time Line" (Grades 3-5) Preparation: Collect the following items: Bible, butcher paper, scissors, note cards, pencils or pens, colored markers, ruler, glue. Attach a long strip of butcher paper to the wall. Draw a thick horizontal line in the middle of the paper. Review the events in this lesson inviting volunteers to add events to the time line. Students are to write the events on the note cards and attach them to the time line in the appropriate order. Students may draw objects or stick figures to show the story events. Save the time line to use again for each lesson in this unit.

8


Events in this lesson to record would include: Birth, Gift of coat, Dream about the Sheaves of Wheat, Dream about the Sun, Moon, and Stars, Joseph traveling to field; Brothers throwing Joseph into pit; Joseph being sold to the Midianites, Joseph traveling to Egypt.

Craft Learning Activity: Paper Collage of Joseph's Coat (Grades K-3) Preparation: Collect the following items: Bible, butcher paper, scissors, construction paper in a variety of colors, ruler, glue. Cut butcher paper into shape of Bible times coat. Cut construction paper into 2 X 5 inch strips; camera Procedure: Have students glue strips of construction paper strips onto the butcher paper coat. Suggest that the children form a repeating color pattern as they attach the strips. After the children finish the collage, hang Joseph's coat on a rope clothes line hung across the side of the room. Have students stand behind the coat to have their pictures taken as if they are wearing the coat. Optional: Make a picture book of all the kids wearing a “coat of many colors.” This will be a fun thing for the kids to remember and also a great way for you to pray for each child. Each week as you tell another story about Joseph, take another photograph to put in the book. For example: dropping his coat as he is running away, wearing jail clothes, wearing a robe and ring when he helped the pharaoh. Alternative: Make individual outlines of the Bible times coat for each child out of the butcher paper. Sprinkle various colors of crayon shavings over the outline of the shirt. Cover the shavings with a sheet of wax paper. Using a warm iron (teacher only) press the wax paper until the crayon shavings melt. Remove the wax paper. Mount the crayon painting to light cardboard or poster board. Say: "In our lesson Joseph's father gave him a color coat. Joseph's brothers were angry when their father gave Joseph the beautiful coat. They took Joseph's coat and sold him to traders going far away to the country of Egypt. God was with Joseph even in Egypt. (Hold open Bible) The Bible says, "The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." God was with Joseph as he was taken into Egypt as a prisoner."

Craft Learning Activity: Joseph's Coat (Grades K-3) Preparation: Collect paper grocery bags, bright-colored poster or tempera paint, paint brushes, paint smocks, and scissors. Prepare a "coat" before class for each child. Procedure: To make the coat turn a paper grocery bag upside down. Turn the grocery bag inside out to hide any promotional printing. (It is easier than you think!) Make a cut in the middle of the bag, starting at the bottom opening and stopping when you reach the top (which is really the bottom of the bag.) Continue to cut about a third of the way across the top of the bag and then cut a circle for the neck opening. Cut armholes in the sides of the bag. Have each child try on his or her coat to make sure it fits. Bring extra bags to class to make new coats if necessary. Explain that the class will make a colorful coat like Joseph wore and then act out the Bible story. Help the children into paint smocks. Provide paint and paint brushes. Have the children paint colorful designs on their coats. Explain that people don't know exactly what Joseph's coat looked like except that the Bible said it was beautiful. Allow time for the paint to dry. After the coats are dry have the children act out the story of Joseph taking turns to play the part of Joseph and wearing their beautiful coats.

9


Alternative Option: Make a weaving area in the front of the jacket by folding the side parts in half. Cut slits going vertically. Begin cutting slits on the side part not near the middle. Next cut out colored construction paper slits to weave into the front part. See pictures for details.

Craft Learning Activity: "Many Colored Words" (Grades 3-5) Preparation: Collect the following items: Bibles, food coloring in several different colors, permanent makers (black or dark colored); water, small containers, newspapers, a 12 inch square of muslin for each child (or you can use solid colored paper towels or white coffee filters); large sheet of paper Procedure: Pour several colors of food coloring into the separate containers. Add water to make lighter colors. Cover table with newspapers. Ask each student to think of a word or short phrase which will remind him or her of positive actions to take when feeling jealous. (Example: Be kind, be patient, be forgiving, be humble, don't boast, etc.) Review the memory verse to help them think of ideas. Say: "What is something you have or can do that someone might be jealous of? What are kids your age often jealous of? How can being jealous make it difficult to make and keep friends? (List a variety of words or phrases on the large sheet of paper from which students may choose.) Students are to write a word or phrase with permanent marker on the square of muslin. Student should then fold the muslin square. (You can use different kinds of folds such as an accordion fold; triangular fold, or simply fold in squares.) After folding muslin square students are to take turns dipping the corners of the folded muslin into containers of food coloring, holding the muslin in the food coloring for several seconds. Squeeze out extra dye by firmly pressing the folded muslin between several layers of newspaper. Unfold the muslin and place on newspapers to dry. Students make take home their muslin squares or display them in the classroom on the bulletin board. Teaching Tip: You may wish to provide paint shirts for students to wear to protect clothing. Invite one or two parents to assist with this activity.

10


Craft Learning Activity: "Loving Family Portrait" (Grades K-5) Preparation: Collect the following items: Bibles, poster board, corrugated cardboard, pencil, ruler, scissors, craft knife, markers, glue, short lengths of yarn, tape, foam shaped letters. Cut poster board and corrugated cardboard into 7 X 9 inch rectangles, one of each for each child. Use craft knife to cut out 4 X 6 openings from the corrugated pieces. Say: "In our lesson Joseph and his brothers did not have a loving family. Joseph's brothers were jealous of him. Jealousy can cause many problems. God does not want us to have families that do not care about one another. Today we are going to make frames for family pictures to remind us of ways we can love our families. Loving families is a way to obey God's command to us in 1 Corinthians 13:4." (Read verse aloud.) Procedure: Children will color each rib of corrugated piece a different color to make stripes. Then have students glue the corrugated piece to one side of the poster board piece, gluing only the side edges and bottom so that a photo can be inserted. Children are to tape ends of yarn length to back of frames for hanging. Have students print 1 Corinthians 13:4 on fun foam shapes and glue the shapes to the frames. Say: (While children color the corrugated cardboard) "Who are the people in your family? What does your family like to do together? What does 1 Corinthians 13:4 say to do to show love? (Be kind. do not envy. Do not boast.) What can you do to show love to someone in your family? When are some times people in your family might feel jealous of each other? What can you do to show God's love when you feel jealous?"

Craft Learning Activity: "Joseph and Coat of Many Colors" (Grades K-4) Purpose: To make a puppet of Joseph to reenact the Bible story Preparation: Collect the following items: large craft sticks; small Styrofoam balls; colorful scraps of paper OR colored yarn OR fabric, glue or hot glue gun (used only by teacher); OR brown paper lunch bags and rainbow colored fabric Procedure: Choose one of the following to make a mini puppet: 1. Stick puppet: Students are to stick a craft stick into a small Styrofoam ball. The ball will be Joseph's head. Using colored markers have students draw the facial features on the head. Tape or glue another craft stick across to make the "arms." Glue colorful cloth scrap pieces or felt pieces to the man. OR cut 1 yard lengths of multicolored yarn. Tie the yarn around the arm of the stick puppet. Wrap the yarn around the person repeatedly forming a multi colored coat. Tuck the end of the yarn under the yarn in the back. 2. Paper Lunch Bag puppet: Make a paper bag puppet using a brown paper lunch bag as the puppet. Have children decorate a face with markers or crayons. Purchase some rainbow colored fabric (or use remnants whenever possible) and cut the fabric into pieces about the same size to fit on a brown paper lunch bag. Have the children glue the rainbow fabric onto the puppet for Joseph's coat. If you don’t want to go to the expense of buying fabric, you can use colored construction paper instead. Cut different colors of construction paper into strips and have children glue the colored strips on the

11


bag. You would need to make the paper strips about one inch narrow and cut them as long as needed for your paper bags. Teaching Tip: Use the stick puppet of Joseph to reenact the Bible story in a mini puppet show while the teacher reviews the lesson. Make a pit: Use an empty juice can that has been washed out to be the pit where Joseph was thrown. Cut a strip of contact paper large enough to cover the outside of the juice can. Cut a string long enough to go around the stick puppet and to tie. Cut a large length of string for lowering and raising Joseph into the pit (juice can).

Craft Learning Activity: "Joseph's Dream Stars" (Grades K-5) Preparation: Collect the following items: craft jewels, construction paper, scissors, glue, hole punch, yarn Procedure: Step 1: Fold the construction paper in half the long way. Fold it in half again. Step 2: Cut out a "snowflake" star. Remember do not cut all of the folds or it will not stay together. Step 3: Punch a hole in the top of the star. Decorate the star with craft jewels. When everything is dry tie a piece of yarn through the top to form a hanging loop. Say: "In our lesson Joseph had a dream about eleven stars, the moon and sun. Today we will make a mobile of a star to hang in our room to remind us of God's direction and plan for Joseph's life. You can make one star or if you are very creative--eleven of them!"

Craft Learning Snack Activity: "Joseph" Cookies (Grades K-5) Preparation: Bake a gingerbread man sugar cookie for each child in your class. Bring several different tubes of colored frosting. Cut small sheets of wax paper approximately 12 X 12" for each child. Procedure: Have students wash their hands before doing this activity. Distribute each child in your class a sugar cookie. Place cookie on a small sheet of wax paper. Have tubes of cake frosting available in as many colors as possible. Decorate the gingerbread men "Joseph" cookies with several colors of frosting to make a striped coat for Joseph. Let the students take turns making at least four stripes of each color on the cookie. Optional: Use colored M & M's to decorate the cookie!

12


As students eat their snack, review the key points of the story reminding them that God wants them to love one another, do not envy, and treat each other with kindness. Review the memory verse 1 Corinthians 13:4.

Life Application Challenge: Melodrama Review (Grades K-5) Purpose: To review the Biblical story of Joseph and His Brothers and to respond appropriately as to whether the action was godly or not. Preparation: Make two signs---Yeah and Boo. Procedure: Read the following story, pausing between sections to allow the children to respond appropriately with YEAH-H-H or BOO-O-O; while holding up the right sign. Allow children to take turns holding the “YEAH” & “BOO” signs. You may use cutout figure puppets to enhance the story. Joseph and his older brothers took care of the sheep for their father, Jacob. (YEAH-H-H) One time when Joseph got home, he told his father that his brothers hadn’t been taking very good care of the sheep. This made his brothers very unhappy with him. (BOO-O-O) His father, Jacob gave Joseph a very beautiful coat of many colors (YEAH-H-H) because he loved Joseph more than the other children. (BOO-O-O) One morning, Joseph told his brothers about a dream that he had the night before. (YEAH-H-H) They were all out in the field, gathering and bundling wheat. Joseph’s bundle stood up tall while the brother’s bundles gathered around Joseph’s and bowed down. This dream made the brothers mad again. (BOO-O-O) Joseph had a second dream that he told to them. (YEAH-H-H) He said, “ I dreamed that the sun and the moon and eleven stars all bowed down to me.” This time Jacob said, “ Do you think your mother and father and brothers will all bow down to you?” The brothers hated him even more and were very jealous of him. (BOO-O-O) Jacob sent the 10 older boys to pasture the sheep in a place called Shechem. After they had been gone from home for quite a while, he sent Joseph out to check on them. Joseph was to find them and see if everything was all right. Then he would come back with a report for his father. (YEAH-H-H) Joseph traveled towards Dothan to find his brothers and the sheep. Joseph’s brothers could see him coming towards them from quite a distance. They were angry when they saw him coming, and started planning what they could do to get rid of him. (BOO-O-O) One of them said, “Let’s kill him and throw his body in a pit and tell Father a wild animal got him!” But Ruben heard them planning and said, “No, let’s not kill him! (YEAH-H-H) Let’s just throw him down in a pit and leave him.” (BOO-O-O) Ruben planned to come back to get Joseph out of the pit when the others were away. (YEAH-H-H) When Joseph got close to his brothers, they jumped on him, took off his coat of many colors, and threw him in an old dried up well. (BOO-O-O)

13


The brothers sat down to eat supper, leaving Joseph in the well. While they were eating, a caravan of merchants from Gilead came by. Judah said to the other brothers, “Let’s not kill Joseph, (YEAH-H-H) let’s just sell him as a slave to these merchants. (BOO-O-O) The brothers were worried about feeling guilty if they killed Joseph. (YEAH-H-H) The brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver, ten pieces less than the current value of a slave, because they didn’t cared what they got for him, they just wanted to get rid of him! (BOO-O-O) The brothers thought they would never see him again. But God was in control of Joseph’s life. (YEAH-H-H) The brothers took Joseph’s coat of many colors, dipped in goat’s blood, and returned it to their father. When their father saw the coat, he was sure that a wild animal had killed Joseph. He cried and put on sackcloth and ashes (BOO-O-O) Years and years went by, and Jacob thought Joseph was dead. But all the time he was alive in Egypt. God would guide his life and he would become a great leader to save his people. (YEAH-H-H)

14


Joseph and His Jealous Brothers

I Corinthians 13: 4 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast; it is not proud."

15


16


17


18


19


Joseph's Amazing Coat Maze

20


21


22


Unit 4: Joseph OT4.1 Joseph and His Jealous Brothers Lesson · OT4.1 Joseph and His Jealous...

Documents

Transcript of Unit 4: Joseph OT4.1 Joseph and His Jealous Brothers Lesson · OT4.1 Joseph and His Jealous...