Lesson 1.10: Joseph In Egypt

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LESSON 1.10: JOSEPH IN EGYPT

Loved one, Joseph was a young man, only seventeen years old. Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than he loved his other sons. Israel gave his favorite son a special colorful coat which was long and very beautiful. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated Joseph because of this (Genesis 37:1-4).

Joseph Has A Dream

One night Joseph had a special dream. Later he told his brothers about the dream. He said, "I had a dream. We were all working in the field, tying bundles of wheat together. My bundle stood up, and all your bundles made a circle around my sheaf. Then all your bundles bowed down to mine."

His brothers said, "Do you think you will be a king and rule over us?" After this, his brothers hated him even more (vs. 5-8).

Joseph Is Sold As A Slave

One day, Joseph's brothers went to Shechem to care for their father's sheep. Israel sent Joseph to see if the brothers were safe. Joseph found his brothers at Dothan, some distance away (vs. 12-14).

Joseph's brothers saw him coming. They said to each other, "Here comes Joseph, the one who dreams. We should kill him now while we can." But instead of killing Joseph, they put him in a dry, empty well.

While Joseph was in the well, the brothers sat down to eat. Then they looked and saw a group of traders traveling to Egypt. Their camels were carrying many different spices and riches. So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit will we get if we kill our brother? We will profit more if we sell him to these traders!"

The other brothers agreed. When the Midianite traders came by, the brothers took Joseph out of the well and sold him to the traders for twenty pieces of silver. The traders took Joseph to Egypt (vs. 18-28).

Jacob Grieves Over Joseph

The brothers killed a goat and put the goat's blood on Joseph's beautiful coat. Then they showed the coat to their father. They said, "We found this coat. Is this Joseph's coat?"

The father saw the coat and knew that it was Joseph's. "Yes, that is his! Maybe some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been eaten by a wild animal." Jacob was so upset about his son that he tore his clothes and put on special clothes to show that he was sad. All of Jacob's sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but Jacob was never comforted (vs. 31-35).

Joseph Refuses Potiphar's Wife

The traders who bought Joseph took him down to Egypt. They sold him to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard (v. 36). (The ruler of Egypt was called "the Pharaoh.") But the Lord helped Joseph, and Potiphar made Joseph the ruler of his house. Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything he owned (Genesis 39:1-6).

Joseph was a very handsome, good-looking man. After some time, Potiphar's wife began to pay special attention to Joseph (vs. 7-20). One day she said to him, "Sleep with me." But Joseph refused. He said, "My master trusts me with everything in his house. I cannot sleep with his wife. That is wrong! It is a sin against God."

The woman talked with Joseph every day, but he refused to sleep with her. One day she grabbed Joseph's coat and said to him, "Come to bed with me." But Joseph ran out of the house so fast that he left his coat in her hand.

When Potiphar came home, his wife told him that Joseph had tried to rape her, but she had cried out and scared Joseph away. When Potiphar heard this, he became very angry and put Joseph in prison.

But the Lord was with Joseph, and after some time, the commander of the prison guards put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners. The commander of the guards trusted Joseph with everything in the prison. God was with Joseph, and he became successful in everything he did (v. 21-23).

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dreams

While Joseph was in prison, the Pharaoh had two dreams (Genesis 41:1-49). None of Pharaoh's wise men could explain the dreams. Then Pharaoh's wine-server remembered that Joseph had interpreted a dream for him. So Pharaoh called Joseph from the prison.

Joseph shaved and put on clean clothes. Then he went and stood before Pharaoh, and Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams. Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Both of these dreams have the same meaning. God is telling you what will happen soon. For seven years, there will be plenty of food in Egypt. But then, there will be seven years of hunger."

When Pharaoh heard these things, he said to Joseph, "God showed these to you, so I will put you in charge of my country, and the people will obey all your commands. I will be the only one more powerful than you."

Joseph was thirty years old when he began serving the king of Egypt. He traveled throughout the country of Egypt. During the seven years of plenty, Joseph saved one-fifth of the food and stored so much grain that it could not be measured.

Famine Brings Joseph's Brothers To Egypt

After seven years, the time of hunger began. No food grew anywhere in any of the countries in that area. But in Egypt, people had plenty to eat (vs. 53-54).

During the famine in Canaan, Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, and he sent ten of his sons to Egypt to buy grain (Genesis 42:1-9). At this time Joseph was the governor of Egypt. Joseph's brothers came to him and bowed before him. Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but they did not know who he was. Then, Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about his brothers.

Later, when his brothers made a second trip to Egypt to buy grain, Joseph could control his emotions no longer (Genesis 45:1-8). He cried and cried. Joseph said to his brothers, "I am your brother Joseph. Is my father doing well?" But his brothers did not answer him. They were confused and scared.

So Joseph said again, "I am your brother Joseph. I am the one you sold as a slave to Egypt. Now, do not be worried. Do not be angry with yourselves for what you did. It was God's plan for me to come here. I am here to save people's lives."

Joseph Brings His Family to Egypt

Joseph said to his brothers, "Hurry up and go to my father. Tell him his son Joseph sent this message: 'God has made me governor of Egypt, so come here to me quickly. Do not wait. You can live near me in the land of Goshen. I will take care of you’” (vs. 9-11).

So the brothers left Egypt and went to their father in the land of Canaan. The brothers told their father everything Joseph had said. Their father did not know what to think. At first, he did not believe them. But when their father saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to bring him back to Egypt, he became excited and very happy (vs. 24-28).

So Israel began his trip to Egypt. First, he went to Beersheba. There, he worshiped God by offering sacrifices. During the night, God spoke to Israel in a dream. God said, "I am God, the God of your father Isaac. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt. In Egypt I will make you a great nation. I will go to Egypt with you, and I will bring you out of Egypt again" (Genesis 46:1-4).

Then Israel and his family left Beersheba and traveled to Egypt. The total number of people who went with him to Egypt was sixty-six, not counting his sons' wives or the family of Joseph (v. 26).

Joseph learned that his father was coming, so he prepared his chariot and went out to meet his father, Israel, in Goshen. When Joseph saw his father, he hugged his neck and cried for a long time (v. 29).

Israel lived in Egypt seventeen years (Genesis 47:9, 28). When he was 147 years old, he became very sick. Then Israel called all his sons to him and said, "I will tell you what will happen in the future" (Read Genesis chapter 49). One by one, Israel told his sons what would happen. To Judah he said, "Judah is like a young lion. Men from Judah's family will be kings. The sign that his family rules will not leave his family before the real king comes" (vs. 8-10). After Jacob finished talking to his sons, he lay down, put his feet back on the bed and died (v. 33).

Applications Of This Lesson:

1. Jealousy and hatred lead to serious problems. Joseph was born at a time when his father Israel was very old, so Israel loved Joseph more than he loved his other sons. Israel gave Joseph a special coat that was long and beautiful. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they were jealous. They hated their brother.

At Dothan, Joseph's brothers saw Joseph coming and wanted to kill him. But instead, they decided to sell him as a slave. Then, they dipped his coat in goat's blood to make their father think Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Jealousy and hatred can cause us to do terrible things.

2. God rewards those who are faithful. Joseph could have become bitter. He could have been bitter against his brothers for selling him, bitter against his father for not coming to get him, bitter against Potiphar's wife for falsely accusing him, and bitter against Potiphar for putting him in prison even though he was innocent. But Joseph trusted in God and remained faithful to God in every situation.

In his mercy, God blessed Joseph and turned every bitter experience into a stepping-stone to success. Joseph rose to the top in Potiphar's house, in prison, and in Pharaoh's court. Joseph was faithful to God, and God blessed him in everything he did. Joseph then became a blessing to others.

3. God has plans that we do not understand. When Joseph's brothers sold him to the traders, Joseph could not understand why. When Potiphar put Joseph in prison, Joseph probably thought, "Why is this happening to me?"

But when Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy food, Joseph looked back and saw the hand of God in everything. Joseph said to his brothers, "It was God's plan for me to come here. I have come here to save your lives." Later Joseph said, "You had planned to do something bad to me. But God was really planning good things. God's plan was to use me to save the lives of many people."

Remember that God is in control. He may be using you, as He used Joseph, to save the lives of many people or to serve others in some special way.

4. God points to the coming King. Thus far we have learned that a descendant of Eve will crush Satan's head, and that all nations will be blessed through a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In this lesson we have discovered that a descendant of Judah will be the real King who deserves to rule the nations. If you know your Bible, you know that Jesus is that descendant (Revelation 5:5).