📖 From the Bible
Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons. Joseph was born when Jacob was already old. He made Joseph a coat in many colors.
The brothers saw that their dad loved Joseph more than them. They were very angry with him and couldn’t talk to him normally.
One day Joseph had a dream. He told it to his brothers: “Listen to the dream I had. We were tying wheat into bundles in the field. My bundle stood up straight, and your bundles bowed down to mine.”
The brothers asked, “So, do you want to be our king? Do you want to rule over us?” They were even angrier with him because of his dreams and his words.
Then Joseph had another dream. He told it to his brothers: “I had another dream. The sun, the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.”
He told it to his dad, too. His dad scolded him: “What kind of dream is that? Are we all going to bow down to you, me and your brothers?”
The brothers were jealous of Joseph. But his dad kept wondering what the dream might mean.
Remember Jacob? He had two names: Jacob and Israel.
3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a tunic of many colors. 4His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him. 5Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. 6He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: 7for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. 9He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” 10He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to the earth before you?” 11His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.
This is how we tell this passage to kids. The exact words of the Bible are under “As it is in the Bible”.
The sign (…) marks a place where we left something out. The sentence in italics is ours. We never change the words of the Bible.
Genesis 37:3-11 · Scripture: World English Bible Updated (public domain)
Your mom or dad comes home from a trip. In the bag there’s one present. For your brother or sister. Everybody is happy, and you’re standing off to the side. What’s going on inside you right then? In the Bible there’s a boy who got a present like that. And because of that present, his brothers stopped talking to him.
Remember Jacob? His son Joseph was seventeen and had eleven brothers. They took care of the sheep together. Jacob loved Joseph the most. Joseph was born when Jacob was already old. So Jacob gave him a gift: a beautiful, colorful coat. None of the brothers had one like it. They saw it every single day. They were so angry with Joseph that they couldn’t talk to him normally. On top of that, Joseph told his dad about the things his brothers did wrong. What do you think, did they like that?
Then Joseph had a dream. He told it to his brothers: they were tying wheat into bundles in the field, and his bundle stood up straight while theirs bowed down to it. The brothers asked sharply, “Will you indeed reign over us?” That means, do you want to be our king? Then Joseph had a second dream. He said, “the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” It looks like Joseph told his dreams to the very people who couldn’t be happy about them.
His dad was surprised, too, and he scolded Joseph. But deep down he kept wondering what the dream might mean. And the brothers got more and more jealous. The jealousy grew and grew. Nobody stopped it. In the end they did something very bad to Joseph. They sold him as a slave to faraway Egypt. A slave is someone who has to work for a master and isn’t allowed to leave. That’s sad, isn’t it? But this story isn’t over yet. We’ll see what happens next.
Everybody feels jealous sometimes. What matters is what we do with it. If something starts to feel bitter inside, it’s best to say so right away, before the jealousy grows.
Did you know?
Jacob’s family was far from perfect. Joseph’s brothers had different moms. Their dad openly loved Joseph the most. The Bible doesn’t hide any of that. It says plainly that the brothers were angry and jealous. And still, God made that family into a whole nation. God doesn’t wait for a family to be perfect. He works with the one it is.
Look at Jesus
Joseph was his dad’s favorite son. And yet his own brothers pushed him away. Many years later, it was something like that with Jesus. God loves Him most, and some people didn’t welcome Him. The Bible says, “He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him.” Even so, Jesus gave His life for everyone, even for the people who pushed Him away.
What about you?
Being jealous is nothing to be ashamed of. It happens to everybody. What matters is what you do with it. Joseph’s brothers stopped talking to him. That only made things worse. Say it straight to your mom or dad: “I miss having time just with you.” Or: “I’m jealous that he got that.” Then something can change. And when you’re the one with good news, tell it in a way that doesn’t make anyone feel smaller.
Let’s talk about it
- Remember what Joseph got from his dad, and what happened inside his brothers when they saw it.
- What can you do when something turns bitter inside? Or can you think of something else?
- When did you feel sad because someone had something you didn’t?
Today’s challenge
Find something today that your brother, your sister, or a kid in your class is great at. Tell them out loud.
Prayer
God, sometimes I’m jealous of someone, and then it turns bitter inside. Help me be happy for other people’s joy. And help me say what I feel. Amen.
Tap when you have prayed.