Joseph

Jim and Bob learn about...

...Joseph

(Puppets up)

Jim: Hey Bob! How’s it going?

Bob: Going fine, Jim. Ready for your next story?

Jim: Ready steady, teddy!

Bob: Uh, my name is Bob. Not teddy.

Jim: But teddy rhymes with steady and ready!

Bob: Oh. Ok, then. So, are you ready to learn about Joseph?

Jim: Joe’s what?

Bob: Joseph. He’s my favorite character in the book of Genesis.

Jim: Ok, tell me the story!

Bob: It starts in Genesis 37, verses 3-4: “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably with him.”

Jim: Wait a minute! Too many words not enough explanations!

Bob: Basically, this is telling us that Israel, or Jacob, had a bunch of sons, but he loved Joseph the most. In fact, he loved him so much that he made Joseph a coat of a bunch of pretty colors.

Jim: Oh! So, his brothers were mad that THEY didn't get coats?

Bob: Kinda. I think they were just mad that they weren’t the favorites…Joseph was.

Jim: Understandable.

Bob: Well, yeah. Israel wasn’t being smart by taking favorites. But Joseph’s brothers didn’t take being less than their brother well, either.

Jim: What’d they do?

Bob: Kids, do you know? (Wait for answer) Unfortunately, yes. They tossed him in a pit.

Jim: WHAT?!

Bob: Yep. Joseph told them about two dreams he’d had, and they got mad and shoved him into a dry well.

Jim: All because of dreams?

Bob: Uh-huh. In one of the dreams, Joseph was represented by a stalk of wheat, as were his brothers. And his brother’s stalks all bowed down to his. In the other dream, the same thing happened again, only this time Joseph and is brothers were represented by stars.

Jim: I bet his brothers didn’t like THAT.

Bob: Oh, you’re right about that. Like I said, they threw him into an empty pit and Laughed at him. That’s when they saw something that made Joseph’s day even worse.

Jim: I didn’t think that was even possible!

Bob: Guess what they saw.

Jim: Um…a dragon?

Bob: Nope.

Jim: A goose?

Bob: Uh-uh.

Jim: A brontosaurus?

Bob: Give up already!

Jim: Wait! I know what he saw! (Waits) It was a PUPPY FROG, wasn’t it?

Bob: No, what? A puppy dog wouldn’t have made his day worse!

Jim: I didn’t say puppy DOG. I said puppy FROG. They’re dog/frog hybrids. Trust me, they’re terrifying.

Bob: Kids, do puppy Frogs exist? (Wait for an answer) No, they don’t!

Jim: But then what was chasing me yesterday?

Bob: That was a butterfly.

Jim: Oh. Well, did Joseph’s brothers see a butterfly?

Bob: No! They saw some traders headed for Egypt.

Jim: Butterflies are scarier.

Bob: Not if you’re Joseph. Genesis 37:28 reads: “Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit-“

Jim: Yay!

Bob: “-and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.”

Jim: No!

Bob: Yup. Joseph was now a slave, bound for a country where he didn’t even know the language!

Jim: That’s terrible!

Bob: I know. Jealousy isn’t a good thing, Jim.

Jim: No, it’s not!

Bob: And because of it, Joseph ended up in Egypt.

Jim: So what happened to him there?

Bob: Genesis tells us! Chapter 39:1 says: “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there.”

Jim: So Potting-Far bought him?

Bob: Uh, no. Pot-i-phar. He was a really important figure in Egypt. And now Joseph worked for him.

Jim: So, is that a good thing?

Bob: Well, actually, yes. Joseph was a good worker, and soon, Joseph was head of his house.

Jim: Hurray!

Bob: …BUT, Potiphar’s wife wasn’t pleased with some of the choices Joseph was making, so she had him thrown in jail.

Jim: COME ON!!!!!!

Bob: I know. But God works in mysterious ways, and I think Joseph was meant to go to that prison.

Jim: What do you mean?

Bob: When Joseph went to prison, he met two men: a butler and a baker. Both worked for the Pharaoh, the Egyptian king.

Jim: So, that was a good thing?

Bob: Yes. Remember back to the beginning? Joseph had two dreams.

Jim: That was part of the reason his brothers chucked him in the pit.

Bob: That’s right. The butler and the baker both had interesting dreams, one of which had a good meaning, but the other didn’t.

Jim: So what were they?

Bob: The butler went first. His dream was that he saw a vine full of grapes. He then pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup and gave it to him. The baker dreamed that he was carrying baskets of food, when all of a sudden a flock of birds attacked the food and ate it all!

Jim: Wow! Did Joseph know what they meant?

Bob: He did. See, God actually TOLD Joseph what these special dreams mean. The butler’s dream was good; He went free three days later. But the baker was less lucky…

Jim: Interesting! Did Joseph go free?

Bob: Not at first. But when Pharaoh had an interesting dream, he asked the butler about it, and the butler knew exactly who should be summoned, and Joseph was brought before the king.

Jim: So what was Pharaoh’s dream?

Bob: His was kinda weird. At first, he saw five healthy, good-looking cows. Then, seven scrawny, ugly cows came up and ATE the first cows!

Jim: Whoa! Do cows actually eat other cows?

Bob: Of course not! That’s what makes this dream weird.

Jim: So what did the dream mean?

Bob: Well, God told Joseph. He said that the seven healthy cows meant that there would be seven years of plenty of food. But the seven scrawny cows meant that there would also be seven years of famine.

Jim: There would be seven years of Flanagan?!

Bob: Of what? No, this was FAMINE. That meant there would be little or no food grown during those years.

Jim: No food? Did everyone die?

Bob: (Laugh) No! This is where Joseph saves the day!

Jim: Oh, I was wondering when that was coming.

Bob: Joseph figured out a way to ration the food so that they had enough during those seven bad years.

Jim: That’s cool!

Bob: I know! And because of that, Joseph was made Pharaoh’s second-in-command!

Jim: Whoa! That’s awesome!

Bob: But you haven’t even heard the best part: Joseph’s brothers and father came down to live with him in Egypt!

Jim: But wasn’t Joseph super mad at them?

Bob: They were sorry that they had let jealousy make them do what they did. They asked him for forgiveness, which he gave them.

Jim: Wow! He really forgave them?

Bob: That’s right.

Jim: After all his brothers did to him, Joseph just let it all go!

Bob: That’s how WE should be, Jim. We should be ready to forgive people, if they truly are sorry.

Jim: That is amazing, Bob. What a great story!

Bob: It’s not just a story, Jim. It actually happened, and so have all of the stories I’ve told you! And this true story of Joseph shows us that God always takes care of people who believe in him.

Jim: He sure does.

END SKIT