Curriculum
Joseph Forgives His Brothers
Memory Verse:
“And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.” Genesis 45:15
Bible Background
What Kids Will Learn
Joseph’s life was full of prospering success as well as hurtful rejection. Then God gave Joseph an opportunity to forgive his brothers for selling him into slavery and seemingly beginning his roller coaster life.
Scripture Summary
Joseph was the son of Israel (Jacob) and Rachel. Israel loved Joseph more than all his brothers and gave him a fine cloak of many colors. Joseph’s brothers became jealous and plotted to kill Joseph. They, instead, sold him into slavery.
As a slave, Joseph was a hard worker for Potiphar. Joseph became Potiphar’s right-hand official and made many decisions. Potiphar’s wife tempted Joseph, and Joseph fled. Because of the lies Potiphar’s wife told about Joseph, he was put in jail.
As an inmate, Joseph continued to work hard and do what he was told. He began interpreting dreams for the cupbearer and baker, who were also in prison. As the cupbearer and baker were released, Joseph asked them to remember him and speak highly of him. They both forgot Joseph for two years.
Pharaoh had a dream that he needed interpreted. The cupbearer remembered and recommended Joseph. Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, began to work for Pharaoh, and saved Egypt by storing grain for the coming drought.
Decades of time had passed since Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. Ten of Joseph’s brothers traveled from Canaan to Egypt to buy food amidst the drought. While Joseph recognized his brothers, they didn’t recognize him. Joseph shrewdly asked for the brothers to leave their brother Simeon in Egypt while they returned home with food, gathered the eleventh brother, Benjamin, and came back to Egypt.
God provided an opportunity for Joseph to be reunited with his brothers. While Joseph was governor of Egypt, he could have dismissed his brothers. But Joseph joyfully (and tearfully) forgave his brothers and rejoiced at the reunion.
Why Is This Important
Life is unfair. Whether due to bizarre circumstances or at the hand of an enemy, we can be wronged. When we are wronged, we have a choice to make. We can either hold onto the wrong and become bitter, or we can give the wrong to God and forgive.
Teacher Devotion
Scripture
New Level of Freedom
“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13)
I remember sitting in the pew at a Good Friday Service. Being raised in the church, I was quite familiar with what Jesus did for all of us on the cross. While He was without sin, He took upon Himself all of the sin of the world and paid the ultimate price with His life. Your sin. My sin. All of the world’s sin. The best was yet to come as He arose from the dead, conquered death, and is still alive today.
But something changed in me that day. Until then, I had recognized that Jesus took my sin upon Himself and He died for me and my sins. While I knew that He died for everyone’s sins, I hadn’t really explored the fact that Jesus died for the sins committed against me. The hurtful wrongs, the lies, the attacks. Each and every one of those acts have been covered by Jesus.
When someone hurts me, I have two choices: forgive or become embittered. Of course, there are biblical and wise steps to conflict resolution (Matthew 18:15-17). Forgiveness is what God intends for us to extend to someone with the same grace God gave us. Max Lucado writes, “Forgiveness doesn’t diminish justice; it just entrusts it to God.”
Forgiveness doesn’t always include restoring the relationship to what it once was, though it is a freeing release. Knowing and remembering that Jesus has already paid the ultimate price for each and every sin that is committed against me helps me enter into the act of forgiveness.
Prayer
Dear God, thank You for forgiveness. Help me remember how You forgave me as I extend forgiveness to others. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Bible Memory Verse
You’ll Need: Nametags - one per child, Fine-tipped markers
“And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them.” Genesis 45:15
SAY: Let’s take a few minutes and practice our Bible memory verse. Keep in mind that Joseph could have chosen to punish or ignore his brothers. He could have chosen not to give them any grain and let them starve. But instead, he forgave them and they became a family again.
SAY: God led Joseph to forgive his brothers and reconcile, or reunite, with them. God also chooses to forgive us for our sins so we can be reunited with Him.
Show kids the name tags and markers.
SAY: A lot of times, people wear name tags at big family reunions because they might not recognize everyone, so it’s easier to put your name where everyone can see. So, we’re going to use name tags to learn our Bible memory verse.
- Give each child a marker and name tag.
- Help children each draw a happy face on their nametag and then stick it to their shirt.
- Form a circle.
- Have children individually repeat the Bible memory verse with you, then say it on their own.
- Then all together, have everyone repeat the Bible memory verse aloud together.
Interactive Bible Experience
You’ll Need: “Family Tree” handout - one per child, Pencils
Give a “Family Tree” handout and pencil to each child.
SAY: Have you ever been to a family reunion? A reunion is a lot of fun. You get to visit with aunts, uncles, and cousins that you haven’t seen for a long time. Family reunions usually include plenty to eat and lots of hugs and kisses. But if you haven’t seen your family members in a long time, you might not recognize them right away
SAY: Today’s Bible lesson is a bit like a family reunion. You might remember how Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him. They beat him up, threw him in a pit, and sold him to some merchants who were on their way to Egypt. Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and they betrayed him in a terrible way.
Help children draw a picture of Joseph in a colorful coat on the first leaf of the “Family Tree” handout.
SAY: When Joseph arrived in Egypt, a lot of things happened to him. He got a job in Potiphar’s house. Potiphar’s wife told terrible lies about Joseph. So Potiphar had Joseph thrown into jail.
Help children draw Joseph in jail on the second leaf of their “Family Tree” handout.
SAY: Joseph was stuck in jail for more than two years. Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, heard that Joseph had the ability to understand dreams. Pharaoh released Joseph from jail to explain his dreams. Pharaoh believed what Joseph told him and put him in charge of the entire land of Egypt.
Have children draw a crown for Joseph on the third leaf of their “Family Tree” handout.
SAY: Next, Pharaoh asked Joseph to interpret a specific dream. God was telling Pharaoh to set aside grain during the seven good years so that there would be plenty of food during the seven bad years. So that’s exactly what Pharaoh did. When the bad years came, there was plenty of grain in Egypt, but all the countries around them were starving.
Have children draw a plate of food on the fourth leaf of their “Family Tree” handout.
SAY: When Joseph’s brothers showed up to get food, Joseph knew who they were…but they didn’t recognize him. Joseph could’ve used his power to punish them. After all, they had treated him horribly. Instead, Joseph forgave his brothers. That’s pretty surprising. Joseph wanted to be a family again.
Have children draw a picture of Joseph’s happy heart on the fifth leaf of their “Family Tree” handout.
SAY: Their reunion became a happy, joyful celebration. And guess what? There were hugs and kisses and plenty of food for everyone.
Snack
Family Faces Snacks
You’ll Need: Stick pretzels, Mini pretzels, Round cookies, Red licorice laces, Rolos candies, White icing in a tube, Napkins, Sanitizing hand wipes
Invite children to think about different people in their family who might attend a family reunion. Then encourage them to use the snack supplies to create the faces of two family members they’d like to give a hug to.
For instance, they can use the cookies for the face, pretzels for hair, Rolos candies for eyes, and licorice laces for mouths. They can use the icing as “glue.”
SAY: In today’s Bible lesson, we learned that forgiving others is good for everyone because it helps people reunite and be happy. We learned that Joseph had to make a really hard choice to forgive after the way his brothers had treated him, but he did it anyway. Joseph’s decision reunited his whole family!
Game
Family Reunion Game
Explain to kids that they’ll be playing a game called “Family Reunion!” Play the game like this:
- Choose one child to be “Joseph.” The rest of the kids are “family.”
- Have Joseph stand on one side of the room and the family stand on the opposite side.
- Explain that Joseph will yell, “Family reunion!” and the family must run across the room and make it to the other side without getting tagged by Joseph.
- Once the last family member has been tagged, that person becomes Joseph in a new round.
SAY: Joseph gave a wonderful gift to his brothers when he forgave them. God wants us to forgive others, too, and give them the special gift of forgiveness.
Craft
Ruler of Egypt Craft
You’ll Need: “Joseph Forgives His Brothers How-to Video”, “Ruler of Egypt” handout - one per child, Self-adhesive gems, Craft decorations such as ribbon, Construction paper, Scissors, Markers, Glue
Help children follow these steps to create a “Ruler of Egypt” craft to remind them that God helps us forgive and reconcile with others.
- Cut out the tunic from the handout.
- Use markers to decorate the tunic like a servant or inmate on one side.
- Use the self-adhesive gems and decorations to decorate the tunic like a royal leader of Egypt on the other side.
SAY: Joseph had some big setbacks in his life. His brothers beat him up, threw him in a pit, and sold him. He probably looked and felt like he was worthless. (Have kids hold up the servant/inmate side of Joseph.)
SAY: But he overcame it all and became a ruler of Egypt. He saved Egypt’s people, and he had the power to save or punish his brothers. (Have kids hold up the ruler side of Joseph.)
SAY: Joseph chose to forgive and reconcile with his brothers. God wants us to forgive others, too.
Prayer
Royal Prayer
You’ll Need: Self-adhesive gems
Give each child a self-adhesive gem and have them stick it to the back of one hand while they hold their “Ruler of Egypt” craft.
PRAY: Dear God, You showed us a great example of Your forgiveness in Joseph’s life. Please remind us through the gems on our hands to follow Joseph’s example this week and to forgive others. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
