by Mike Bennett

Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him. They sold him as a slave! Then a woman lied about him, and he was put in jail! But God turned everything around.

Joseph’s older brothers could tell that their father loved Joseph most. Jacob even gave his young son a special coat.

When Joseph saw his brothers doing bad things, he told his father. He also told his family about dreams he had. The dreams seemed to say his family would bow down to him!

All of these things made his brothers mad at Joseph. They were jealous and became more and more angry.

Angry brothers

Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers. They saw him coming and talked about killing him! But Reuben told them to throw Joseph in a pit instead.

When a group of traders went by, Judah said, “Let us sell him.” The traders gave the brothers money for Joseph, and he became a slave.

But the brothers didn’t tell their father the truth. They tricked him. They put blood on Joseph’s special coat, so Jacob thought Joseph was dead!

Meanwhile, the traders took Joseph to Egypt where he served Potiphar.

In spite of all he went through, Joseph worked hard. He obeyed God, and he pleased Potiphar. God blessed Joseph’s work, and He blessed Potiphar because of Joseph.

Potiphar knew he could trust Joseph, and he put him in charge of everything he owned.

Angry woman

But then Potiphar’s wife tried to get Joseph to break God’s law. Day after day she tempted him. But Joseph refused.

One day she was alone with Joseph and tried to tempt him again. This time she grabbed his clothes, and he ran. She became very angry. She still had some of Joseph’s clothes she had pulled off of him. So she lied to her husband. She said that Joseph had tried to hurt her.

Potiphar was very angry and put Joseph in prison.

Making the best of it

Joseph must have been discouraged. He was being punished for something he didn’t do.

But still Joseph worked hard and obeyed God. And God gave him favor with the keeper of the prison. The keeper of the prison knew he could trust Joseph, and he put him in charge of all the prisoners.

One day the king put his butler and his baker into the prison. Joseph took care of them. And one night the butler and the baker both had dreams. They were sad because they didn’t know what the dreams meant.

Joseph told them that God could show them what the dreams meant. And God showed Joseph the meanings of the butler’s and baker’s dreams. The baker would be killed. But the butler would get his job back.

Joseph asked the butler to tell the king about Joseph to get him out of the prison.

But the butler forgot Joseph. So Joseph was in the prison two more years.

The king’s dreams

Then the king of Egypt had two dreams. He was troubled, but he couldn’t find anyone who could tell him what his dreams meant.

Then the butler remembered Joseph. He told the king that Joseph could tell the meaning of dreams.

The king sent for Joseph. He told Joseph he had heard that Joseph could interpret dreams.

But Joseph said it was God who would give the king the meaning. He then explained that both of the king’s dreams were about seven good years and seven bad years. During the first seven years, Egypt would have more than enough food. During the seven bad years, very little food would grow.

Saving Egypt and his family

Joseph suggested to the king that he should find a wise man to prepare for the bad years. They should store up food during the good years. Then they would be saved from hunger during the bad years.

The king decided this was a good idea. He chose Joseph to be the man in charge of preparing. Joseph went from being a prisoner to being second in charge in one day!

Again, God blessed everything Joseph did. Egypt saved enough food for themselves, and more to sell to people from other countries.

When the bad years came, Joseph’s father sent Joseph’s brothers to buy food in Egypt. When they saw Joseph, they didn’t know it was their brother. But he knew who they were.

Joseph asked them about their father. He also wanted to know about his younger brother, Benjamin. He wanted to see his brother so much, he told his brothers not to come back unless they brought Benjamin.

But Jacob didn’t want to lose his youngest son. He thought Joseph was dead, and he didn’t want to risk losing Benjamin.

Finally, all the food was gone, and Jacob reluctantly allowed Benjamin to go to Egypt. The brothers bowed down before Joseph. They still did not know who he was. But when he decided to keep Benjamin from leaving Egypt, the brothers begged him to let Benjamin go. They worried that their father would not be able to take the loss of his youngest son.

Joseph couldn’t pretend any longer. He told his brothers, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.”

They were afraid. But instead of punishing his brothers, he comforted them. He told them that he realized that God had worked this all out. “God sent me before you to preserve life.”

He told his brothers to hurry and bring his father and the whole family down to Egypt. Then they would have food for the rest of the bad years.

Jacob was shocked to hear that Joseph was still alive! He was so happy to see Joseph again.

This story unfolded over many years, but it turned out for the best because Joseph faithfully obeyed God. God blessed the whole family through Joseph. The one who was a slave became the one God used to save them.

Questions

Here are some questions to think about or talk about as a family:

1. Was Joseph wise to tell his brothers about his dreams?
2. Why were Joseph’s brothers jealous and angry?
3. What should Joseph’s brothers have done?
4. Why did God allow Joseph to suffer?
5. Why did God bless Joseph?

by Shelby Faith

Jacob’s family grew large. Then he decided it was time to go back to the Promised Land. But on the way Jacob had to deal with both Laban and Esau.

After Laban tricked him, Jacob married both Leah and Rachel. (God created marriage to be between one man and one woman. Jacob should not have had more than one wife.) Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, and this made Leah sad.

God blessed Leah with a firstborn son named Reuben. She then had three more sons: Simeon, Levi and Judah.

When Rachel did not have any children, she became upset. She told Jacob, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Have a child with her so it will be as if it were mine.” So Jacob took Bilhah as his wife. She had two sons, Dan and Naphtali.

Since Leah had stopped having children, she gave her maid, Zilpah, to Jacob as a wife. Zilpah had two sons, Gad and Asher.

God then blessed Leah with two more sons: Issachar and Zebulun. She also had a daughter named Dinah.

Later God blessed Rachel with a son named Joseph. Then she had another son named Benjamin.

Jacob becomes rich

During this time, Jacob’s years of serving Laban were finished. Jacob wanted to return to his home country and take his wives and children with him.

Laban begged him to stay. “Please stay, for I know that the LORD has blessed me because of you.” Then Laban said, “Tell me what you want, and I will give it to you.”

So Jacob said, “You know how I have worked hard for you. You only had a little, but I have increased your herds. Now I need to provide for my own family. If you will do one thing for me, I will again care for your flocks.

“Let me remove all the speckled and spotted sheep and goats. And let me remove all the brown lambs. These will be my wages.”

Laban agreed. Jacob came up with a plan to increase his herds. He worked hard and became rich. He had large flocks and many servants.

Time to leave

Then Laban’s sons complained. They said, “Jacob has taken away our father’s wealth. That’s how he has become rich.”

Jacob saw that Laban was becoming angry with him.

He told Leah and Rachel that it was time to go back to his country. He took his family and livestock and left Haran.

Laban didn’t know that Jacob had left. Three days later he found out. Then Laban noticed that some of his idols were gone. Rachel had stolen them from his house before they left. (She should not have done this.)

Laban chases Jacob

Then Laban and his family pursued Jacob. After seven days, they caught up with him. Laban asked Jacob, “Why did you leave secretly? Why did you steal my daughters away from me? You didn’t allow me to kiss them good-bye. And why did you steal the idols?”

Jacob answered, “I was afraid that you would take your daughters away from me by force. I didn’t take your idols. Go ahead and look for them. Whoever stole them, do not let him live.”

Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

So Laban searched all of their tents, but he did not find them. Rachel had put the idols in a camel’s saddle and sat on them. Her father didn’t search there.

Jacob was angry with Laban. He said, “Why have you so angrily chased me? You accused me of stealing your idols. You searched and found nothing. I have served you many years. You would have sent me away empty-handed if it had not been for God’s blessing.”

An agreement

Laban answered, “These are my daughters. I wouldn’t do anything to my daughters or to their children. Let us make an agreement.”

So Jacob took a stone and set it up. They gathered more stones and made a heap. Then Laban said to Jacob, “This is a witness. We will not pass beyond this heap to cause harm to each other.”

Early in the morning Laban arose. He kissed his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban went back home.

God said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your family, and I will be with you.”

So Jacob continued on his journey to his country. The angels of God appeared around him. When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” He knew God was taking care of him and his family.

Contacting Esau

Many years before, Jacob had left his country because his brother Esau wanted to kill him.

Now Jacob sent messengers to Esau. He told them to tell Esau, “We are from your servant Jacob. He says, ‘I have lived with Laban all these years. Now I’m coming back. I hope I may find favor in your sight.’”

The messengers returned to Jacob. They said, “Esau is coming to meet you with 400 men.”

Jacob was very afraid. He thought Esau was still angry with him and might attack him and his family. He divided the people, flocks and herds into two groups. He hoped at least one group would be safe.

Then Jacob asked God to protect them from Esau.

Jacob decided to send Esau some gifts. He sent many goats, rams, sheep, camels and donkeys ahead with his servants. He divided them into three gifts, each one to arrive after the other. He hoped that Esau would accept these gifts and forgive him. He hoped Esau would no longer be angry.

That night Jacob sent his family over to the other side of a river. He stayed alone.

Wrestling with God

A Man appeared to Jacob. He wrestled with Him all night. This was God testing Jacob. Jacob would not give up. So God put Jacob’s hip out of joint.

God said, “Let Me go, for day is coming.”

Jacob said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

So God said, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.”

Then God said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel. You have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

Then Jacob said, “Tell me Your name.”

God did not tell Jacob His name, but He blessed him there. Jacob called this place Peniel. He said, “I have seen God face to face, and I lived!”

Meeting Esau

After this, Jacob saw Esau coming with his 400 men. Then Jacob crossed over ahead of his family. He bowed down to the ground seven times until he came near his brother.

Esau ran to meet him! He hugged and kissed him, and they both wept. Then Esau saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these?”

Jacob said, “These are my children that God has blessed me with.” Then all of Jacob’s family came to Esau and bowed down.

So Esau returned back to his home.

Jacob had finally returned to Canaan, the land of his father, Isaac. He had made peace with his brother, Esau. God blessed him and was with him all the days of his life. His 12 sons multiplied their families. They became known as the 12 tribes of Israel.

Joseph, one of Jacob’s younger sons, was taken to Egypt as a slave when he was a young man. God had a special plan for Joseph. He helped save Jacob’s family when a great famine came on their land.

Questions

Here are some questions to think about or talk about as a family:

1. How many sons did Jacob have? Can you memorize their names?
2. Jacob had a daughter. What was her name?
3. What did God intend for marriage? What problems were caused by going against this and having more than one wife?
4. What happened when Jacob wanted to take his family back to his country?
5. Whom did Jacob wrestle with?
6. What was Jacob’s name changed to?
7. What happened when Jacob saw his brother Esau?

by Joshua Travers

God tested Abraham’s trust in Him in a totally unexpected way. God used Abraham to picture the greatest example of His love—long before Jesus gave His life for us.

“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’

“And he said, ‘Here I am.’

“Then He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’”

This conversation between God and Abraham in Genesis 22:1-2 was the beginning of probably the greatest trial of Abraham’s life. It is a story of faith that goes beyond Abraham’s time. It has a direct impact on us today.

But realize this was a very unusual event—something God does not ask of fathers today.

The son of promise

God said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love” (verse 2, emphasis added). God asked Abraham to sacrifice the son he loved deeply.

Abraham had waited for many years for Isaac to be born, even when it seemed impossible (Genesis 17:15-17). God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations through Isaac. The command to sacrifice Isaac seemed to contradict the promises that God had made to him.

To Abraham, this must have been confusing. It might have seemed like God was going back on His promises. Instead of continuing his family through Isaac, God was going to have him sacrificed. But Abraham didn’t say, “I quit.” He did as he was told.

In spite of all the confusion, Abraham stepped out in faith. He knew that God would fulfill His promises, even if that meant doing what seemed impossible. He knew God could raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:19).

Many chances

Abraham had many chances to quit and keep from sacrificing Isaac. After God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the Bible says, “So Abraham rose early in the morning” (Genesis 22:3). Abraham probably spent all night thinking about what God had told him to do. He had all night to decide whether he would obey God or not.

The temptation and chance to stop didn’t end there. The special place where God commanded Abraham to do the sacrifice was three days’ travel away from where Abraham lived (verse 4). For three days Abraham rode his donkey, looking at the son that he knew he would be sacrificing. Those few days would have been some of the worst of Abraham’s life.

As they got near the mountain, Abraham and Isaac continued on foot. Isaac carried the wood, and Abraham took the fire and the knife.

When they finally reached the place, Abraham had to create the altar on which he would sacrifice his own son. After the altar was built, he set the wood in place (verse 9). Then the moment finally came. After days of thinking and preparing, it was time.

The whole thing would have been all too real as Abraham prepared to do what God had said. Then he picked up the knife, took a deep breath, and …

A God who saves

“But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’

“So he said, ‘Here I am.’

“And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’

“Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son” (verses 11-13).

God saved Isaac! In spite of all the chances to stop, Abraham continued in faith. He passed the test. Knowing that Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac, God stepped in and instead provided a ram for the burnt offering.

God is not a God who tests us pointlessly. Instead, “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Just as God was with Abraham and Isaac in this time of trial, so will He be with us in our trials!

What’s the point?

What was the purpose of having Abraham prepare to sacrifice Isaac? Why would God have Abraham go through that? Here are two reasons this story was recorded in the Bible:

1. To test Abraham’s faith. God had great things planned for Abraham. He knew Abraham would need strong trust and character. He wanted to know if Abraham actually had the faith to sacrifice Isaac. The only way for God to know was for Abraham to actually prepare to do it. Faith isn’t just a feeling. It’s something that we show by our actions (James 2:14-24). For his faith, God gave Abraham many great blessings (Genesis 22:15-18).
2. To represent Christ’s sacrifice. The sacrifice of Isaac was a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice. Both were firstborn sons who were promised for years and greatly loved by their fathers who were prepared to sacrifice them. God wants us to understand how much He loves us. He was willing to sacrifice His Son because it was the only way to save us. We deserve the death penalty because of our sins. But Jesus was willing to pay that penalty for us!

The story of Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac is an incredible story that shows us what true faith is like. It shows us that God is with us, even when things don’t seem to make sense. In the end, God will be there for us during our trials, just as He was there for Abraham and Isaac.

Questions

Here are some questions to think about or talk about as a family:

1. What is faith?
2. Why did God want Abraham to have strong faith?
3. How was what Abraham and Isaac did like what God the Father and Jesus Christ would do?
4. How was it different?

by Mike Bennett

The first brothers didn’t get along. Cain got jealous of his brother Abel. He let himself get so mad, he did something terrible and tried to hide it from God!

After Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God told them not to eat, they had to move out of the beautiful Garden of Eden. Their lives were harder now because they had chosen to disobey God.

Adam and Eve had a baby, and they called him Cain. His mother said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” Perhaps she thought he would be the one who God promised would defeat Satan. Even if she didn’t, she certainly had high hopes for her firstborn son.

Then Adam and Eve had another baby boy. He was named Abel.

The brothers grow up

Cain and Abel were different in many ways. Cain grew up to be a farmer. Abel raised sheep.

More important, their attitude toward God was different. Abel gave an offering to God, and it was the best he had. Abel believed and trusted God (Hebrews 11:4).

Cain also gave an offering to God, but the Bible says God was not happy with it.

Cain got very angry. Perhaps he felt it was unfair. Maybe he was jealous that God was happy with Abel.

But God cared about Cain too. He asked Cain, “Why are you angry?” God told Cain that if he did the right things, God would be happy with him. But if not, he was in danger of sin. Just as when Satan talked Cain’s parents into sinning, sin was waiting to pounce on Cain. God told him to rule over these bad attitudes.

But Cain didn’t listen. He got angrier and convinced himself he was right.

Killing and lying

Sin can lead us to do things we did not plan to do. The results of sinful thinking and acting may be far worse than we intended.

Cain was so mad he murdered his brother! Cain killed Abel because Cain’s “works were evil and his brother’s righteous” (1 John 3:12). He didn’t like being shown up by his younger brother. Satan is a hater, and Cain chose to hate too. So when they were alone in the field, Cain killed Abel.

Cain thought no one had seen him do it. But Cain should have known that he couldn’t hide from God. God knew what happened, but he gave Cain the chance to admit it. God asked Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”

Cain said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

But Cain lied. He knew exactly where Abel’s body was.

And he knew that we all should do our best to take care of our brothers. We can’t control our brothers and sisters, but we shouldn’t do anything to hurt them. We should help and care for them. In that way we are our brother’s keeper.

Cain’s punishment

God knew exactly what Cain had done. He knew Cain was lying. It was as if Abel’s shed blood was crying out to God that a terrible murder occurred.

Cain’s final punishment would be to die. But before that, God told Cain about the curses he would face. The ground wouldn’t grow as much food for him, and he would have to work harder. He would have to move around and worry that others would try to kill him.

Cain complained that the punishment was too much. He did not say he was sorry. He did not admit that he had done a terrible thing.

But God did not want other people to take revenge on Cain. He put a mark on Cain to remind people not to kill him.

The way of Cain

Cain picked the road that leads to death. He chose to be selfish. He chose to trust in himself instead of God. He chose to think about his hurt pride. The Bible calls this the way of Cain (Jude 1:11).

We must remember that when we get mad, sin is waiting to pounce on us too. We must remember that hating others is like murder (1 John 3:15). We must ask God to help us rule over ourselves and sin. We must try to care for our brothers and sisters.

We must not follow the way of Cain.

Questions

Here are some questions to think about or talk about as a family:

1. Why was God happy with Abel’s gift?
2. Why was Cain mad?
3. What should Cain have done?
4. How can we make sure we don’t follow the way of Cain?

by Shelby Faith

In six days God made the earth ready for people. All the things, plants and animals He created are amazing!

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). We don’t know how many ages ago God first created the universe with all its stars, planets and moons. When He first made the world, it was beautiful and perfect. Scientists believe the earth may be billions of years old. But we believe mankind was created about 6,000 years ago.

God is the Creator of everything. Creator means someone who creates or makes something. 

At some point in time, the earth became a dark, ugly place (Genesis 1:2). The entire earth was covered with water. There was no light shining on the earth. The air might have been thick with gases, smoke and water vapor. We don’t know how long the earth was like this.

But God had a plan. He was going to make mankind. We would look like Him and become His family. God was going to renew the earth so it would be a beautiful and comfortable place for mankind to live. He wanted to make sure we would have healthy air to breathe, pure water to drink, good food to nourish our bodies and heat to keep us warm.

God worked for five days to make sure the earth was ready for His most awesome creation, human beings.

First five days of creation

At that time, the earth was dark and covered with water. God said, “Let there be light.” God divided the light from the dark. He called the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” This was the first day (Genesis 1:3-5).

Then God separated the oceans from the water-filled clouds above. Beautiful clouds were formed in the sky. God made the air pure and just right for man to breathe. Our atmosphere was made on this day so there would be healthy air on the earth. This was the second day (Genesis 1:6-8).

God then gathered the waters together, and dry land appeared. He called the dry land “Earth” and the waters “Seas.” God also created all kinds of trees, grasses and flowers to grow from the dry land. The earth was again becoming a beautiful place. This was the third day (Genesis 1:9-13).

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the heavens to divide the day from the night.” The sun, moon and stars became visible. The sun was to shine during the day, and the moon and stars to shine at night. This was the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19).

Then God said, “Let the seas be full of living creatures. Let the birds fly above the earth.” All the creatures in the seas were created at this time. This includes great whales, sharks, dolphins and many kinds of small fish. And all the birds that fly in the sky were created, such as geese, hawks, bluebirds, canaries and parrots. These were all made on the fifth day (Genesis 1:20-23).

The sixth day of creation

On the sixth day God created all the land animals (Genesis 1:24-31). This included bears, giraffes, snakes, turtles, squirrels, horses, cats, dogs, cows and more. He made all living creatures that walk or crawl on the land.

Adam and Eve were also created on the sixth day. God made Adam first, from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into this first man. Then Adam became a living, breathing being (Genesis 2:7).

Then God put Adam into a deep sleep and took out one of his ribs. God made the woman, Eve, from Adam’s rib (Genesis 2:21-22).

Then God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). God gave mankind the rule over all the creatures He made. Adam and Eve were to have children and spread out around the earth.

God had renewed the earth and made it ready for mankind. All plants, animals and mankind were made to multiply so that in time the whole earth would be filled with plants, animals and people.

“God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

The seventh day of creation

“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day. … Then God blessed the seventh day” (Genesis 2:2-3). God made this day special. It is called the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11).

Adam names the animals

Out of the ground God created every land animal, every sea animal and every bird. He brought them to Adam. Whatever Adam called each animal, that was its name (Genesis 2:19). Adam gave the tiny hummingbird a name. He gave the huge elephant a name. He named all the living creatures that God had created.

God makes Eve

God made Eve to be a helper for Adam. God used one of Adam’s ribs to make her. Adam called her a woman, because she was taken out of the man (Genesis 2:18-23). She was named Eve, because she was “mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20).

The creation we see around us is awe-inspiring. Even more awesome are the people God made from the dust of the earth. Even though we started as dust, the Bible tells us God wants us to become His children (2 Corinthians 6:18). He wants us to live forever in His majestic Kingdom.

Questions

Here are some questions to answer or to talk about as a family:

1. What does the word beginning mean?
2. What does the word Creator mean?
3. How many days did it take God to re-create the earth?
4. On what day did God create mankind?
5. Name some things God created.
6. Name five animals and five plants God made.
7. What did God do on the seventh day?
8. What were the names of the first two people God made?

This story is found in Genesis 1 and 2. Read more about Adam and Eve in our Bible story “Adam and Eve and the Two Trees.”