THE PATRIARCHAL AGE (PART 4) - Lesson 6 : Joseph
Jacob had twelve sons and one daughter. Of all these sons, Joseph stands out most in Bible history.

In Genesis 32:28, we read that Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. The descendants of Jacob were subsequently called the Israelites. Descendent means someone’s children, their children’s children and so forth. We also read of the twelve tribes of Israel. These are from Jacob’s twelve sons. Jesus Christ was born many, many years later through one of the tribes called Judah.

Joseph was Jacob’s favourite son. Jacob showed this by giving Joseph a coat of many colours. This made the other brothers very jealous of Joseph. One day, they sold Joseph to some merchants who were on their way to Egypt. They took Joseph’s coat of many colours, dipped it in the blood of a goat and told their father that Joseph had been killed by a wild beast. Jacob was deeply grieved at this news.

Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold as a slave to a man named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh (king of the Egyptian Empire). Joseph was a very good young man who worked very hard for his master and all this time, God was with Joseph. Potiphar liked Joseph very much and made him overseer (chief) of his household. In Genesis 39:6, we read that Joseph was in charge of all that Potiphar had and that he was “handsome in form and appearance”.

Potiphar’s wife liked Joseph very much and she asked him to commit a sinful act with her. Joseph would not sin with Potiphar’s wife and he resisted her. One day, she lied to Potiphar about Joseph (read Genesis 39:10-18). As a result of this, Joseph was put in prison. Even while in prison, God was with Joseph (read Genesis chapters 39 to 41). After several years in prison, God helped Joseph to interpret a dream that Pharaoh had which nobody could interpret. The dream was that a famine (not enough food to eat) would come and as a result of the ability to interpret the dream, Pharaoh placed Joseph to be second in charge over the whole country.

Then there arose a great famine throughout the world. Because of Joseph’s wisdom, Egypt had already stored up food in large storehouses and they all have enough to eat during the time of famine.

Joseph’s brothers came from afar to Egypt to buy corn. They did not know that it was Joseph that they came to buy corn from. Joseph was very happy to see them although he did not tell them at first that he was their brother.

Finally, Joseph told his brothers who he was and he sent for all of his family. They came and lived close by in a place called Goshen. Jacob died in Egypt and Joseph took his body back to Canaan to bury him. Joseph died when he was 110 years old and was put in a coffin in Egypt. Later on, when the children of Israel returned to Canaan, they carried Joseph’s body with them.

The next lesson will be a study from the birth of Moses until the law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Section I
Fill in the blanks

Question 1
Jacob had _____ sons and ______ daughter.

Question 2
After Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, the descendants of Jacob were subsequently called the ______

Question 3
______ was Jacob’s favourite son.

Question 4
There was a great famine through the _______

Question 5
Joseph’s entire family moved to the land of ______ and lived closed by in a place called ______

Section II
True Or False

Question 1
There were twelve tribes of Israel.
TrueFalse

Question 2
God was with Joseph even while he was a slave in Egypt
TrueFalse

Question 3
Joseph was not able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream.
TrueFalse

Question 4
When Jacob died, his body was buried in the land of Egypt
TrueFalse

Question 5
Joseph lived till he was 110 years and was buried in the land of Canaan
TrueFalse

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