Elementary Level, Block 3—Jacob and Joseph
Week 28
Joseph—Helping Others while in Prison
Point to Emphasize: We can be those who help others even when we are in need.
Reference Reading: Genesis 39:20—40:23
Memory Verse: To him who asks of you, give… (Matthew 5:42a)
Story Sample
While Joseph was in Egypt, he worked for a man named Potiphar and he did his jobs really well. But one day, someone told a lie about Joseph. He was accused that he had done something that he had not done. Potiphar believed the lie, and he was so angry with Joseph that he had him thrown into prison.
But God was with Joseph even in this prison. He caused the jailer to really trust Joseph, and the jailer put Joseph in charge of the prisoners. Joseph took care of the prisoners who were under him—especially two prisoners from Pharaoh’s house: the baker and the cupbearer. Both of these men had done things to make Pharaoh angry, therefore they had been thrown into prison for a long time. One night, both the baker and cupbearer had special dreams. When they woke up they couldn’t understand what the dreams meant, though, so they got really worried.
In the morning, Joseph saw them and he saw how worried their faces looked. Joseph could have been thinking just about himself—thinking how long he had been in jail and feeling sorry for himself. But that wasn’t Joseph’s attitude at all. He asked the men, “Why are your faces so sad today?” He was concerned for them! Even though he was in prison and probably had his own reasons to be sad, he was concerned for these two men.
The baker and the cupbearer told Joseph that they were sad because they didn’t know what their dreams meant. What do you think Joseph did when he heard that? He offered to help them! That’s right! He asked them to tell him what they had dreamed, and then he explained the meaning of the dreams to them.
In a way, Joseph wasn’t too different from these men at that time: Joseph had had dreams himself, and he was stuck in jail, too. He could have just told the men to work it out for themselves. He could have said, “I had a dream, too, and I’ve been in prison even longer than you. Why should I help you? I have my own problems. Go ask someone else.” But Joseph was not this kind of person. He was willing to help others, even though his own needs had not been met.
We can be like this, too. Maybe we are playing with friends and we all realize we are thirsty. We can help someone else get some water first, before us, even though we are thirsty, too. Or maybe we want to go outside and play, but a friend needs help getting his coat zipped first. We can help our friend with his coat, even if it means he gets to go outside before us. [Storyteller, insert your own story if you would like.]
Joseph was the kind of person who helped others even when he was in need, and we can be like that, too.