Genesis 37 — Sketch

The Joseph Saga Begins

Big Idea:

• Joseph is Jacob’s favorite son, so Jacob gives him a fancy coat. Joseph’s brothers are jealous.

• Joseph has a dream about binding sheaves of grain with his brothers in which his brothers’ sheaves bow down to his. His brothers are insulted that Joseph would dream of reigning over them.

• Joseph has another dream in which the sun, moon, and eleven stars bow down to him. His whole family is insulted that Joseph would dream of them bowing down to him.

• Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers in the fields.

• When his brothers see him coming, they decide to kill him, but Reuben convinces them to just throw Joseph into a cistern.

• The brothers take Joseph’s fancy coat and throw him into the cistern. Reuben secretly plans to come back and rescue Joseph later.

• Judah suggests they sell Joseph as a slave to some traveling Ishmaelites, so they pull Joseph out of the cistern and sell him. When Reuben comes back to rescue Joseph, he finds the cistern empty.

• The brothers put goat blood on Joseph’s fancy coat to make Jacob think Joseph was eaten by animals.

• In Egypt, Joseph is resold to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s captain of the guard.

Jesus in This Chapter:

Joseph goes from being loved and favored in his father’s house to being betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery. Jesus went from being God in Heaven to being a man here among us — and we betrayed Him with the Cross.

(Originally drawn August 17, 2010)