Is It Fair?

Genesis 45:1-15, New International Reader's Version

Joseph Tells His Brothers Who He Is

45 Joseph couldn’t control himself anymore in front of all his attendants. He cried out, “Have everyone leave me!” So, there wasn’t anyone with Joseph when he told his brothers who he was. ² He wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him. Everyone in Pharaoh’s house heard about it.

³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers weren’t able to answer him. They were too afraid of him.

⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” So, they did. Then he said, “I am your brother Joseph. I’m the one you sold into Egypt. ⁵ But don’t be upset. And don’t be angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me ahead of you to save many lives. ⁶ For two years now, there hasn’t been enough food in the land. And for the next five years, people won’t be plowing or gathering crops. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to keep some of you alive on earth. He sent me here to save your lives by an act of mighty power.

⁸ “So then, it wasn’t you who sent me here. It was God. He made me like a father to Pharaoh. He made me master of Pharaoh’s entire house. God made me ruler of the whole land of Egypt. ⁹ Now hurry back to my father. Say to him, ‘Your son Joseph says, “God has made me master of the whole land of Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t waste any time. ¹⁰ You will live in the area of Goshen. You, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and everything you have will be near me. ¹¹ There I will provide everything you need. There are still five years to come when there won’t be enough food. If you don’t come down here, you and your family and everyone who belongs to you will lose everything.”’

¹² “My brothers, I am Joseph. You can see for yourselves that I am the one speaking to you. My brother Benjamin can see it too. ¹³ Tell my father about all the honor given to me in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

¹⁴ Then Joseph threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept. Benjamin also hugged him and wept. ¹⁵ Joseph kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After that, his brothers talked with him.

New International Reader's Version (NIRV) Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Backpack object:

Snack (Goldfish crackers)

Message:

In today’s Bible lesson, Joseph had a choice. He could choose to punish his brothers for what they had done to him, or he could forgive them and reunite with them.

Joseph had good reason to be angry with his brothers; they had sold him into slavery and caused his life to be difficult.

When Joseph arrived in Egypt, a lot of things happened to him—some good and some not so good. As I tell you what happened to Joseph, I would like you to either give a “thumbs up” if you think that was a good thing or a “thumbs down” if you think it was a bad thing that happened.

He was put in charge of a captain in Pharaoh’s guard’s money house. (Thumbs up or down?)

He had lies told about him. Those lies had him placed in jail for two years. (Thumbs up or down?)

While in jail, he discovered that he could tell others what their dreams meant. (Thumbs up or down?)

Pharaoh heard about Joseph’s ability to tell others what their dreams meant and had Joseph tell him what he was dreaming. Pharaoh asked Joseph to interpret a specific dream. Joseph said Pharaoh’s dream meant that there would be seven years when the harvest would be great and there would be plenty of food. (Thumbs up or down?)

But then, Joseph said that there would be seven years when there would be nothing—no harvest and nothing to eat. God was telling Pharaoh to set aside and store grain during the good years so that there would be plenty of food during the bad years. (Thumbs up or down?)

With God’s help, Joseph told Pharaoh what his dream meant. Because of that, Pharaoh placed Joseph in charge of the entire land of Egypt. (Thumbs up or down?)

When the bad years came, there was plenty of grain in Egypt, but all the countries around Egypt were starving. People came from all the neighboring countries to buy grain from Joseph, because the entire world needed food. Some of those people were Joseph's brothers—the ones who had treated him so badly. When his brothers showed up, Joseph knew who they were…but they didn’t recognize him.

Joseph’s brothers had left him in an incredibly low place in life. They wouldn’t have ever expected to see him in a position of great power. Just imagine if you hadn’t seen your family member for many years, and then when you did, he or she was president of the country!

When Joseph met his brothers again, he could have used his power to punish them. After all, they had treated him horribly. Instead, he said, “Come closer. I’m your brother, the one you sold! Don’t worry, and don’t be angry at yourselves for selling me into slavery. You see, it wasn’t you who sent me here. God has put me here to save people from starving.”

Joseph’s response may seem surprising to some of us. Things could’ve been bad for the brothers, especially if Joseph chose not to forgive them. But Joseph took a different approach. He forgave them and wanted to be a family again. Joseph demonstrated great grace and forgave his brothers.

Joseph chose forgiveness, and God wants us to forgive others, too.

Today, to help us remember our Bible story and how Joseph helped feed all the people in Egypt, I have a snack of Goldfish crackers to place in the backpack. After a busy day of school, all of us could benefit from a snack to eat. As you eat your after-school snack this week, remember Joseph and his family. More importantly, remember to practice forgiveness. We can follow Joseph’s example as we face situations every day where we must choose whether to forgive others.

Prayer:

God of grace and love, you showed us a great example of your forgiveness in Joseph’s life. Please remind us, as we eat our after-school snacks, to follow Joseph’s example this week and to forgive others. In Jesus' name, we pray, Amen.