People of the Bible: Joseph

Book of the Bible: Genesis 37-50

Who was Joseph?

• Joseph was the 11th son of Jacob.

• He was Jacob’s favorite son because he was born to him in his old age.

• Joseph wore a coat of many colors that his father had made especially for him.

God gave Joseph dreams and the ability to interpret them. Joseph would tell his older brothers that those dreams depicted them bowing and serving him. This angered his older brothers and one day they sold Joseph as a slave to the Egyptians.

Before they sold him, they took his coat of many colors and poured goat's blood on it to make it look like he had been killed by an animal in the wilderness. When his brothers brought the coat back to Jacob, Jacob mourned for his son because he thought he had died.

After Joseph got to Egypt, he was thrown in prison for something he didn’t do. While in prison he helped to interpret the other prisoner's dreams and word began to spread about the gift Joseph had. One day the Pharaoh of Egypt had dreams that no one could interpret.

Pharaoh had heard of Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams, so he had Joseph brought from prison to help him understand his dreams. Joseph told Pharaoh that his dreams were telling them that Egypt would experience 7 years of plentiful harvest and then 7 years of drought. To be able to survive, they would need to save food from the first 7 years to eat in the second 7 years.

Joseph was put in charge of the food and its storage. Joseph was second in command, he only answered to Pharaoh himself. When the drought came along, Joseph’s family needed food so they went to Egypt to buy some. At first, his brothers didn’t recognize Joseph but when they did they were all scared that Joseph would be mad at them for the way they treated him when they were younger.

But Joseph showed mercy on his brothers, in fact, he was extremely happy to see them and he gave them food and places to live in Egypt. Eventually, Joseph’s whole family came to Egypt and he was reunited with everyone, including his dad Jacob, who loved him very much.

Instead of being mad at his brothers, Joseph saw how God used their situation to bring about something good: the saving of their whole family. Sometimes bad things will happen to us, but if we love God, He’ll always use those things for our good.

It is similar to our relationship with Jesus. Jesus is like Joseph and we’re all like his big brothers. Because of our sin, Jesus died on the cross. But God used that to give us all the chance to be saved and live with Him in Heaven forever.

Key Takeaways:

• When we seek him, God will use bad things for our good (Romans 8:28)

• We must trust in God’s plan

Parents, 3treesKIDS will be covering “Joseph", both in-person and online this week.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

People of the Bible: Jacob & Esau

Book Of the Bible: Genesis 25-28

Who were Jacob and Esau?

• Twin Brothers

• They were the sons of Isaac and the grandsons of Abraham

Differences between Jacob and Esau:

• Esau was an outdoorsman and his father’s favorite. He was also an extremely hairy man.

• Jacob was a quiet man that preferred staying at home. He was his mother’s favorite.

Esau was born first meaning he had the birthright or the greater share of the inheritance from Isaac. Esau had the rights to be the heir of the family, which meant he would also carry the covenant with God that his grandfather Abraham established.

One day, after Esau had been out in the field, he came home and saw that Jacob had made some stew. Esau asked Jacob if he could have some stew. Jacob said he could have some stew only if he sold him his birthright. And he did it, Esau was so exhausted that he sold his entire birthright for a bowl of stew.

Esau let his physical needs overpower his spiritual needs. He traded a life of blessing, for a moment of pleasure.

When their father, Isaac, was old his eyes became weak and he went blind. He knew he was getting close to death, so he called Esau to go hunt an animal and cook him a meal that way he could give him the blessing as the firstborn son. But, Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother, overheard this conversation and while Esau was out hunting Jacob prepared a meal behind Isaac’s back so he could steal the blessing.

Rebekah helped Jacob because he was her favorite. She helped him prepare the meal and dressed him up like his brother in order to deceive Isaac. She even went as far as to put goat hair on Jacob so when Isaac felt him he would feel like Esau. Because Isaac was blind, this plan worked and Jacob stole Esau’s blessing and received the birthright that Esau had sold him years earlier.

When Esau returned he was furious. Because Jacob received the blessing from Isaac, nothing was left for Esau. Fearing that Esau would kill him, Jacob fled his home to live with his mother's family. For years Jacob and Esau lived far away from each other, but later in their life, they put the past behind them and were able to work together again.

Esau shows us that we should value spiritual blessing over worldly attraction. The Bible says that a person who values physical needs over spiritual needs is “godless” or “ungodly”.

Even though Jacob stole the blessing, God still blessed him. When God blesses someone, no one can take it away.

Part of this blessing included the Messiah being born in his bloodline. We later find out that Jesus was born as the Messiah and Savior of the world. Jesus was born in Jacob’s bloodline because of this blessing.

While no one can take away God’s blessing, God’s blessing can be removed if the person He blessed doesn’t obey Him. To remain in God’s blessing we must remain in His word and continue to obey Him day after day.

Key Takeaways:

• Spiritual needs are greater than physical needs

• No one can take away God’s blessing

Parents, 3treesKIDS will be covering “Jacob & Esau ", both in-person and online this week.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

People of the Bible: Isaac

Who was Isaac?

Isaac was the promised son of Abraham and Sarah, born to them in their old age. Abraham loved Isaac as much as any person can love another. Abraham loved Isaac so much because he had always wanted children and Isaac reminded Abraham of the promise God kept!

But there came a time when God needed to test Abraham. This test was designed to see if Abraham had started to love Isaac more than he loved God. God told Abraham to go offer Isaac as a sacrifice, which would result in Isaac’s death.

Abraham obeyed God, and the next day, he took Isaac up to a mountain. He tied him to an altar and raised up a knife to kill him. But before Abraham could kill Isaac an angel called out to him and told him to stop! Instead, God provided a ram for them to sacrifice. God never wanted Abraham to kill Isaac, He just wanted to see if he trusted God enough to listen to whatever he said.

Because Abraham trusted God, God blessed him. God told Abraham that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars of the sky and the sand of the earth. And this blessing/promise was passed down to Isaac.

Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac foreshadows what God would eventually do with his own son, Jesus. But unlike the story of Isaac, Jesus was killed. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of every person, and it was because of this sacrifice that anyone who believes in him can have eternal life.

Just like Abraham loved Isaac as much as anyone can love someone else, God loved Jesus. But God let Jesus die, because He also loves us that much, and He wants all of us to live with Him forever.

Key Takeaways:

• Put God First Always, loving Him more than anything or anyone else

• God will provide

• God Word is truth and He keeps His promises to us

Parents, 3treesKIDS will be covering “Isaac", both in-person and online this week.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.