LESSON 6 3 Own Husband

LEVEL 2 2 6 L E S S O N 6

Joseph in Egypt Joseph in Egypt

hile Jacob was working his brothers while they were herding for his Uncle Laban, God sheep several days’ journey away W blessed him with 11 sons from home. When his brothers saw and a daughter named Dinah. him coming, they agreed to take him Jacob’s 11th son was with his wife and throw him into an empty well. Rachel. The son’s name was Joseph. When a caravan of slave traders After Jacob moved his family to passed by on their way to Egypt, the Canaan, Rachel had a second son. brothers sold Joseph into slavery. But something went wrong while The brothers knew Jacob would she was giving birth, and Rachel died. be furious if he found out they had Jacob named the baby boy Benjamin. sold Joseph to be a slave. So they Because Joseph was the firstborn killed a goat, dipped Joseph’s coat son of Jacob’s favorite wife, Jacob in its blood, and went home to tell loved Joseph more than his other Jacob a lie: They said a wild beast sons. This was a serious mistake. had killed Joseph. Joseph’s brothers saw that their Meanwhile, the slave traders took father favored Joseph more than Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Po- them, and they became jealous. tiphar, a prominent officer who was As Joseph grew into a teenager, the captain of the pharaoh’s body- he began receiving extraordinary guard. But even though things were dreams from God about how his going so badly for him, Joseph still older brothers would someday bow trusted God. And because he trusted down to him. Joseph foolishly told God, and worked hard, God blessed his brothers all about these dreams, him. Potiphar saw that Joseph was which made them even more jealous. an honest and successful worker, so They became so angry they decided he decided to put Joseph in charge to get rid of Joseph. of his household and all his property. When Joseph was about 17 years However, Potiphar’s wife started old, Jacob sent him to check up on to like Joseph more than she liked her

2 IMPERIAL ACADEMY BIBLE LESSONS EMMA MOORE EMMA ILLUSTRATIONS

Joseph’s brothers mock him after throwing him into a pit.

LEVEL 2 | LESSON 6 3 own husband. She repeatedly tried to Angry, Potiphar’s wife told her get too close to Joseph, but Joseph husband that Joseph tried to hurt knew that a close relationship with her. This was an evil lie, but Potiphar her would betray his master and had Joseph thrown in jail anyway. break God’s law. He always refused Still, Joseph trusted God and obeyed her advances. God’s laws, and God blessed him

Joseph is sold as a slave.

4 IMPERIAL ACADEMY BIBLE LESSONS Potiphar’s wife is angry after Joseph refuses her.

LEVEL 2 | LESSON 6 5 God allows Joseph to be thrown in jail for a great purpose.

6 IMPERIAL ACADEMY BIBLE LESSONS for it. The keeper of the prison the skinny cows remained skinny. In recognized that Joseph had success the second part of his dream, he saw in everything he did, so he put Joseph seven ears of grain growing on one in charge of the prison. stalk. Then a withered stalk of grain After a while, the butler and the with seven diseased ears sprang out chief baker of the pharaoh were of the ground. The withered stalk thrown into the same jail. One night, swallowed up the healthy stalk, like the each of them had a strange and skinny cows had eaten the fat cows. troubling dream. They told Joseph God revealed to Joseph what both about their dreams, and Joseph parts of the dream meant. “God has told them that these dreams were revealed to the pharaoh what He is messages from God. God gave about to do,” Joseph said. “The seven Joseph the ability to interpret what fat cows and the seven good ears of the dreams meant. He said the grain both symbolize seven years of butler’s dream meant he would be plenty. The seven skinny cows and freed from jail, but the baker’s dream the seven diseased ears of grain also meant he would be hanged. both symbolize the same thing: seven Both of these interpretations lean years. God is revealing that we proved to be true! are about to experience seven years Two years later, the pharaoh of abundance throughout Egypt, himself had an unusual dream. The followed by seven years of famine.” butler remembered his own dream The pharaoh was happy to hear from prison, and he told the pharaoh about seven years of abundant food, that he knew a man who could but he was deeply concerned about interpret dreams. the seven years of famine. Joseph The pharaoh sent for Joseph and advised him to store away one fifth had him brought out of the prison. “I of all the crops that were harvested have had a dream and there is no one during the years of plenty. That way who can interpret it,” he told Joseph. the Egyptians would have enough “But I have heard that you are able to food to survive the years of famine. interpret dreams.” Impressed with Joseph’s wisdom, “I cannot interpret dreams,” the pharaoh appointed Joseph to Joseph told the pharaoh. “But there be chancellor of Egypt. In one day, is a God in heaven who will give you Joseph went from being a foreign an answer.” slave prisoner hoping God would The pharaoh described his dream: save him to being the second-highest First he saw seven fat cows. Then leader in the Egyptian empire! he saw seven skinny cows come out After the seven years of plenty of the river and eat the fat cows. Yet passed, the famine hit hard. Joseph’s

LEVEL 2 | LESSON 6 7 Joseph builds silos to store grain in the lean years.

8 IMPERIAL ACADEMY BIBLE LESSONS His brothers bow before Joseph, but do not recognize him.

LEVEL 2 | LESSON 6 9 family back in Canaan began to run brought before Joseph, they were out of food. When Jacob, Joseph’s afraid he would never let Benjamin father, heard that the Egyptians had go and that their father would die in stored away extra food, he sent his sorrow. They bowed before Joseph sons there to try to buy some grain. and begged for mercy, just as Joseph When these Hebrews arrived in Egypt, had seen in his dream when he was they encountered the chancellor. a teenager. They did not realize it, but this At that moment, Joseph could not powerful Egyptian official before hold it in any longer! whom they stood was actually their “I am Joseph!” he said. “Does my long-lost brother Joseph! They did father live?” not recognize him—but Joseph The brothers were shocked immediately knew them. and greatly troubled. They could Joseph had not seen his brothers not believe it at first. But then they since the day they ganged up on him realized it was true: The young and sold him to strangers. He decided brother they had sold into slavery to keep his identity concealed. In was now the second-most powerful fact, he devised a plan to test them, man in the world! They feared that to see if they were remorseful for he wanted to exact revenge against what they had done to him so many them for what they had done to him. years before. But Joseph was kind. He forgave his Joseph accused his brothers of be- brothers because he was focused ing spies. He said he would not give not on himself or on them, but on them any grain unless they brought what God had accomplished. their youngest brother, Benjamin, Joseph then sent his brothers to to Egypt. Fearful but desperate, the bring Jacob and the rest of the family brothers obeyed his request and some to Egypt. time later returned with Benjamin. Jacob almost fainted when he Joseph was thrilled to see his heard that Joseph was still alive. younger brother Benjamin, but he He agreed to travel to Egypt see still did not tell his older brothers who his long-lost son. When he arrived, he was. Instead, he told members of Joseph embraced him and wept with his staff to hide the brothers’ money emotion. The pharaoh welcomed in their grain sacks. He also ordered Joseph’s family and gave them land that his personal silver cup be placed in the most fertile area in Egypt. inside Benjamin’s sack. After the Before he died, Jacob adopted brothers left, Joseph sent Egyptian Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and soldiers after them to arrest them Ephraim, and passed on to them for stealing. When the brothers were the amazing birthright blessings

10 IMPERIAL ACADEMY BIBLE LESSONS that his brother, Esau, had sold to him for a bowl of soup years before. These great-grandsons of Abraham would go on to father “a nation and a company of nations”!

Jacob blesses his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh.

LEVEL 2 | LESSON 6 11 Published by the BIBLE MEMORY Matthew 5:16-17, John 3:16-17 Philadelphia Church of God and produced in cooperation with Imperial Academy.

Math Puzzle Solve the math problems below. Then match each number answer with the correct letter at the bottom of the page. Write the letters in the boxes. The letters will spell the name of one of Jacob’s sons.

6 3 6 3 5 4 + 2 4 6 2 5 2 =

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 A C B N E H O J D P F S T G