Joseph's Dreams

TEXT: Genesis 37:1-11

"Oh, Father!" Joseph exclaimed. "I have never seen a coat like this! How beautiful!" As Joseph took the coat in his hands, the many colors woven into it caught the gleam of the sun.

Jacob smiled at his son. "Joseph, you are very special to me. You have given me much joy in my old age. This coat is a gift to you. I want you to know how much I love you."

Joseph had ten brothers who were not happy when they saw the coat. They already thought that their father loved Joseph the most. This special gift made them sure. They became very angry. After that, they wouldn't even speak nicely to Joseph.

Soon after he received the beautiful coat, Joseph had a dream. This dream was from God.

When Joseph awoke he went to his brothers and told them all about the dream. "We were tying bunches of wheat together in the field to make sheaves," Joseph said. "All of a sudden each of your sheaves of wheat bowed down to my sheaf of wheat."

Oh, that made his brothers ever so angry! They said to Joseph, "Do you think we are going to bow down to you?" They hated him even more because of the dream he had told them!

A little later Joseph had another dream. This one was also from God.

When he woke up, he again went to his brothers and his father. He told them that in this dream the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed to him.

Jacob did not like what Joseph told them. He asked, "What kind of a dream is this? Do you think your mother and brothers and I should bow down to you?" But even though he didn't understand Joseph's dream, Jacob kept thinking about it. He knew there must be a reason that God had sent the dreams.

This second dream made Joseph's brothers even more angry. They were jealous of their younger brother. They did not know that someday they would no longer hate Joseph. Someday they would love him and be very thankful for him.

Joseph was only seventeen years old when God gave him these dreams. But God wanted to prepare Joseph for the special plan He had for his life. God's plan for Joseph was very real. And one day his dreams would come true.

PARENT'S CORNER

This lesson begins a unit on the story of Joseph. It deals with Joseph's dreams, and the special coat that his father made for him.

Children are fascinated by dreams. Draw several simple speech-balloon shapes on paper. In two of the shapes, draw Joseph's dreams - the sheaves of grain bowing to his sheaf, and the sun, moon, and stars bowing to Joseph. Let your child illustrate a dream or two of his own in the remaining balloons. You may wish to explain to your child that all dreams do not have particular meanings. Joseph's dreams were special ones sent from God, and they gave a hint as to what was going to happen in the future.

For an activity concerning the special coat, draw the outline of a coat and allow your child to color in stripes of various colors, or paste strips of colored material into the outlined shape.