Day 37 – Joseph & the Betrayal

• So, welcome to the story of Joseph! Over the next week we’re going to be delving into this wonderful and familiar story, and see what we can learn that’s new. This may be the first time you’re reading this with a full understanding of the passages that came before it, so I hope that it opens your eyes to new ways to understand the text and the message God has for us through it.
• Turn to the Genesis account in chapter 37. If you have an ESV bible, you might have the word “sojournings” in the first verse – in this case it just means “travels”, or where Isaac lived.
• Throughout the passage, your bible might refer to “Israel” as a person. Don’t forget what we learned yesterday – this is just another name for Jacob. The word “Israel” means both the man and the nation to come.
• How old was Joseph at the start of the story? That’s not too much older that you three. When reading this story, ask yourself whether you think you act like Joseph did sometimes (Joseph is a bit of an annoying brat at times). At the same time, you may like to consider whether you could have shown some of the courage and wisdom Joseph shows in later chapters.
• What two dreams did Joseph have? What did they mean?
• A lot happens in Genesis 37. Make sure you don’t just write the whole story down in your journal! Instead, write notes that help you to jog your memory, and that pick up on interesting things. For example, what poor choices do you think Jacob, Joseph and the brothers make in this passage? I think there are mistakes from all of them. Try and spot how each group of people could have made wiser choices in what they did and said.
• Humans do make mistakes, don’t we? What do you do that makes family life difficult sometimes? Think back to the last argument you had at home. Did you act in the best possible way?
• What happened to Joseph when he went to visit his brothers? Think about how he must have felt in the pit. How does the Acts 7 passage help us in those dark (literally, in this case!) moments?
• Joseph’s brothers use the blood of a goat to trick their father into believing that Joseph was dead. Can you remember what trick Jacob himself did with the skin of a goat? Like father, like son, perhaps…?
• Our third reading today shows us part of the build-up to Jesus’ death. How did the chief priests and elders act in a similar way to the brothers of Joseph? You might consider the money involved, as well as the hearts of the priests as recorded in Matthew 27:18.
• Joseph points us to Jesus in many ways, as we’ll find out over the next week or so. How was Jesus treated like Joseph in these two passages?

   

If you’re interested in delving into ways in which Joseph foreshadows Christ, you could take a look at the link below, which has a detailed set of similarities. Have a flick through the list.

The theme that the One Story team are pointing us towards today is one of dealing with envy and jealousy. Joseph’s brothers could perhaps be forgiven for their anger at Joseph’s special treatment and annoying habit of sharing his dreams, but their actions were completely wrong. They thought that they could just get rid of Joseph and everything would be fine. Reuben and Judah helped keep Joseph alive, but they weren’t really that much better.

The chief priests also showed similar reactions to Jesus. They, too, figured that killing him would be the way to get him out of the way. Little did they understand, of course, that in doing so, God would work a miracle. He did it through Joseph, and thousands of years later He did it gloriously through Jesus too. As we read the story of Joseph, God’s “upper story” will continue to shine through!

LINK: similarities between Joseph and Jesus