Advanced Level, Block 3—Outcomes of Jacob and Joseph
Week 26
Joseph’s Behavior according to His Dreams
Point to Emphasize: We must let what we learn from the Bible affect our behavior.
Reference Reading: Genesis 37:5-36, footnote 51, Life-study of Genesis, msg. 111
Memory Verse: …I will put My law in their inward parts and write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. (Jeremiah 31:33b)
Story Sample
Joseph had two dreams. These dreams came to Joseph from God. In the first dream, all the brothers were binding sheaves of wheat in a field and all the sheaves bowed down to Joseph’s sheaf. In his second dream, he and his brothers were stars, and his brothers were bowing down to him. The reaction from Joseph’s brothers as they heard Joseph’s dreams was pure anger and they acted on it. They were terrible! I want you all to consider this. Suppose you were Joseph, your brothers are so angry at you that they plot to kill you, they throw you into a pit, and then sell you to a group of traders and then they tell your dad you are dead. How would you expect Joseph to react? [Let the children answer. Discuss when someone treats them meanly.]
Joseph was reporting to his brothers what he saw in his dreams. His brothers heard the dreams and they assumed this meant that they needed to bow down to him. This caused them to react in anger. The only thing that Joseph’s brothers saw was they were bowing down to Joseph. BUT, what Joseph saw in his dreams was that he and his brothers were sheaves and stars. He had a different view of himself and his brothers in his dreams. Sheaves are necessary for people’s life. You need wheat to make your bread; wheat provides food. Stars are something that shines in the darkness. What Joseph saw in the dreams affected his actions and his words.
What are you influenced by? You are influenced by what you watch, the games you play, and the music you listen to when you are online. These days there are people online who even call themselves “influencers”. That means they want to have an influence over you and even are paid money to try to influence you in certain ways. If you let what you see and what you hear control your behavior, this will end up happening to you; you will be influenced. When you see these kinds of persons saying certain things and doing certain things, you will want to do the same. However, you should not let what you see or hear on shows, online games, or in songs control your behavior. This is not beneficial to you, and it will not help you consider your words and actions in the best way.
Joseph’s behavior was affected by the dreams from God and not from the poor behavior and opinions of his brothers. You also can let what you learn in the Bible influence your behavior. God spoke to Joseph in his dreams and God speaks to you in the Bible. The Bible is full of golden verses that should direct your behavior in a wonderful way.
I recalled a day when my younger cousin did something very mean to me and I could have reacted in anger back to him. But instead, my parents helped me consider a Bible verse and let it control my actions and my words. We were in my living room playing board games and my cousin lost. He was so upset. He said he was going to get back at me. But I and my sisters didn’t think anything of it. Minutes later, I was lying on my sofa when he came with his plastic baseball and hit me so hard in my stomach that I couldn’t breathe for a moment. My parents came quickly and sat both of us down. They read James 1:19 to us, “But let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” This Bible verse helped me to slow down, listen to what my cousin had to say, and listen to how my parents helped us apologize and forgive each other. [Storyteller, share a personal story on how the Bible helped you control your actions and your words.]
Although Joseph suffered the ill-treatment of his brothers due to their anger and passed through various trials and sufferings, he later became prosperous in all things because he had the presence of God. His behavior was controlled by God’s word to him in his dreams. In the same way, each one of you must let what you learn from the Bible affect your behavior, rather than be affected negatively by all of the “influencers” around you.