Genesis Part 3 Week 1

Day 1 

READ 

Genesis 37:1-2 

¹ So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner. ² This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing. 

Genesis Part 1 dealt with creation, the fall, the flood and Babel. Part 2 dealt with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Part 3 deals with Joseph. He was only 17 when the Bible begins the story about Joseph that will take to Genesis 50 to complete. Joseph was known at this time for telling his father about what his half-brothers were doing. Understandably this would not be thought well of. 

REFLECT 

Have you told your parents about some of the bad things your siblings have done? If so, did it make them appreciate you? 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 37:1-8. Notice that Joseph had a dream and he told his brothers about it. They disliked him because he was his father’s favorite and this caused them to despise him more.  

Day 2 

READ 

Genesis 37:9-11 

⁹ Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!” ¹⁰ This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” ¹¹ But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant. 

One wonders if Joseph was arrogant. He surely knew his brothers did not want to hear him tell what he dreamed that seemed to make him superior to them. In addition to telling his brothers, Joseph also told his father about this dream. It only made his brothers more jealous, but it made his father wonder about the meaning of his dreams. 

REFLECT 

Have you had some vivid dreams that you told others about? Did others seem to appreciate you telling them what you dreamed if it involved any of them? 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 37:9-17. This passage tells of Jacob sending Joseph to his brothers to learn how they were doing. Joseph was to return and give the report to his father.  

Day 3 

READ 

Genesis 37:18-20 

¹⁸ When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. ¹⁹ “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. ²⁰ “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” 

Joseph was known by his brothers as “the dreamer.” He and his dreams irritated them greatly. As they saw him coming they devised a plan about how they could get rid of him. They knew they would have to lie to their father to cover their scheme. This, they reasoned, would put an end to Joseph’s intolerable dreams.  

REFLECT 

Have you ever had dreams get you into difficulty with others?  

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 37:18-25. Reuben was the oldest in the family and as such he was responsible for the others in the absence of his father. He knew he would be in trouble if they carried out their plans so he devised another one. Seeing the Ishmaelite traders gave the brothers another idea about how to get rid of Joseph.  

Day 4 

READ 

Genesis 37:26-28 

²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime. ²⁷ Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. ²⁸ So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt. 

Judah had a plan for getting rid of Joseph and making some money at the same time. His brothers agreed so they were not blameless in what was planned. Joseph was sold into slavery for 20 pieces of silver and was taken off to Egypt.  

REFLECT 

Think of how sad it was that Joseph’s brothers were willing to sell him into slavery.  

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 37:26-36. This reveals Reuben was absent when the brothers made their deal with the Ishmaelite traders. He was horrified that Joseph was missing but he apparently went along with the other brothers in deceiving their father by dipping Joseph’s robe in blood. Notice the deep grief Jacob had when he thought his favorite son had been eaten by a wild animal. The chapter ends with the Midianite (interchangeable with Ishmaelite) traders selling Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh.  

Day 5 

READ 

Genesis 38:1-3 

¹ About this time, Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he stayed with a man named Hirah. ² There he saw a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he married her. When he slept with her, ³ she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named the boy Er. 

The chapter records what the Old Testament marriages were like. When a husband died, a brother or close relative had the responsibility to have sexual relations with the widow to raise up an heir for the family. Some did not want to do this and jeopardize their own hereditary rights. The first mistake was in Judah marrying a Canaanite woman.  

REFLECT 

Have you witnessed problems in families from believers marrying unbelievers? 

RESPOND 

With your friend read Genesis 38:1-11. This sad story interrupts the story about Joseph but would reveal he was a shining light in contrast to what some of his family members did.