The Story of Joseph (3): Genesis 37:25-36; Genesis 39

Joseph’s brothers talked loudly together so that they wouldn’t hear his cries. Mean thoughts went through their mind. Now they could finally get rid of this tattler!

Reuben had to go back to the sheep for a minute. Maybe he had to go check on them. But, while he was gone, some people came by on camels.

“I have an idea!” cried Judah, one of the brothers who wasn’t so nice. “There are some traders! We can sell Joseph to them, and we can get money for him! He can be their slave. If we kill him, we won’t get any money for him.”

The other brothers liked this plan. “That’s a good idea,” agreed another brother. “Then we won’t get the blame for whatever happens to him.”

Joseph was very happy when his brothers pulled him out of the hole! Now he could go home again! But — who were those men? And what was happening? They were giving his brothers money, and now — now they were pulling him away to the camels!

“Simeon, Judah!” cried Joseph. “Please, what’s going on? Help me!” But his brothers walked away.

The men were soon gone with Joseph. His brothers were happy. Now they were rid of him! Now he couldn’t tattle on them anymore.

And then Reuben came back.

Reuben was very angry when he found out what happened to Joseph. But his brothers were still hardhearted. They did something very bad.

First, the brothers killed a goat. Then they took Joseph’s coat, the coat of many colors, and made it dirty with the goat’s blood. And then — they went home.

“Look what we found,” they said to their father. “Doesn’t it look like Joseph’s coat?”

“It is his coat,” said Jacob. “And there is blood on it! A wild animal must have eaten him up.”

And Jacob cried and cried.

Why was that so wicked, so bad, of the brothers? They did not say that an animal had killed Joseph, did they?

No, they didn’t, but they made it look as if that had happened. And that is a lie, just as much as if they had really said an animal had killed him. And all lies are sinful.

Jacob cried for Joseph many, many days. The brothers tried to make him happy. “You still have us,” they said. “Don’t cry.” But Jacob still cried, and no one could make him happy.

But—what did happen to Joseph? What did those men do to him?

The men, who were traders, brought Joseph to the country of Egypt. Then they sold him. And do you know who bought him? Potiphar, a man who worked for the king! Joseph now had a very hard job. He was a slave in the house of this strange man. How was God going to make Joseph’s dreams come true?

But Potiphar really liked Joseph. He soon put him in charge of everything. He saw that he was a good worker. Joseph was different from his other slaves, and he saw that God was with Joseph. Whatever Joseph did, God made it to work out well. God blessed Potiphar because of Joseph.

But Joseph was not going to be happy much longer. God had different plans. Sometimes in our life, too, it may look like everything is going wrong, but God is still in charge; He has a different plan. God knows what is best.

Potiphar was nice to Joseph, but he had a wife who was not so nice. One day she tried to make Joseph do something bad. But Joseph said, “No, I won’t do it. It is a sin against God! Also my master, Potiphar, lets me do whatever I want. He trusts me to do anything. How can I do such a bad thing to him?”

So Potiphar’s wife went away. But the next day she tried to make him do the bad thing again. And Joseph said “no” again.

But Potiphar’s wife didn’t give up. She kept asking him day after day. Finally one day, she grabbed him! Joseph pulled away and ran off, but Potiphar’s wife had his coat in her hands!

Potiphar’s wife was quick to tell everyone lies about Joseph. “Did you hear what that man did? He tried to make me sin! And I yelled for help! Then he got scared and ran away. See, I have his coat here to prove it.”

Soon Potiphar came home, and his wife told him the same story. He became very angry and — he threw Joseph in prison!

But — God was with Joseph. He soon made the keeper of the prison trust him, just like Potiphar had. The jailer put Joseph in charge of everything. And God was with Joseph and made everything he did to go well.

— SW

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