Jacob loves his son Joseph
key words
biblical reference
Genesis 30:22-24; 37:2-3
lesson objective
To help children understand that families should love and care for each other.
memory verse
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34, NIV*).
prepare yourself to teach
The story of Joseph’s birth involves a series of unique facts that help us understand many events in the life of this young servant of God. In the first place, Rachel, the mother of Joseph, and Leah were sisters, and wives of the same man. Jacob, the father of Joseph, loved Rachel more, but she was barren, while Leah was the mother of his children.
After many years, Rachel had a son, whom she named Joseph, which means “given by God,” because he was a response to the prayers of his parents.
Jacob loved Joseph deeply. As a sign of his affection, he presented him with a robe of beautiful colors, which was a sign of distinction and luxury. He was not to be employed as a field worker, like the other sons of Jacob, who worked as shepherds and wore short and simple robes.
Jacob’s favoritism for one of his sons was not correct, yet this account shows us the love of a father to a son. In 1 Corinthians 13:7, this kind of love is described as a love that “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
It is important to emphasize that the family is the immediate world of young children, and it is in this nucleus that they experience unconditional love and acceptance or rejection and pain. For those children who are sure of the love of a family, Jacob’s feelings toward Joseph will be easy to understand. However, some children do not feel loved, and for them it will be more difficult to understand the concept of this story.
All children should grow up with the knowledge that the people of the church are part of an extended spiritual family, a living example of what a loving family represents. You, as a teacher, have the important task of helping your children understand paternal love and the love of God, and the importance of bonding with the family of faith.
Take advantage of today’s Bible story opportunity to encourage your children to be loving to one another and to live in harmony with their family.
note to the teacher
It is likely that some who attend class come from broken homes or have a deceased parent. Take special care during the presentation of this lesson, and help them know that they are a special part of the family of God, who is a loving Father and loves and cares for them.
introduce the lesson
What do families do?
Before the session gather newspaper or magazine clippings showing families doing different activities, cardboard or construction paper.
Glue the clippings to the construction paper or cardboard. (You can decorate the edges of your sheets with colors and make them more striking for your children).
Show your class the pictures one-by-one and explain the importance of families and who makes up a family. Some families have one child and other families have five or ten children. Some families may have only a dad or only a mother. Ask your children about their families and the activities they do together. It is important for them to understand that God’s plan is for parents to love their children and to help one another.
teach the lesson
Choose some activities that will help your children experience and understand the Bible story.
Songs of love
Begin this part of the lesson with a song about God’s love. You may want to add motions to help the children remember the words. If the children know the song, “Jesus Loves Me,” they can substitute God for Jesus. After singing tell them: “God’s plan for parents is to love their children. Today’s story is about Jacob, who loved his son Joseph very much and gave him a special gift. How do your parents show love to you?” (Allow them to answer.)
Open your Bible to the study passage and keep it open throughout the story so your children will learn that what they hear comes from the Word of God.
Jacob loves Joseph
Jacob and his wife Rachel had a baby. They were very happy for their little son and they loved him very much. “God has been good to me,” said Rachel. “This child will be called Joseph, which means given by God”.
Joseph grew up and became a cheerful, obedient boy. His father loved him and cared for him because his mother Rachel had died. When he was 17, he sometimes helped his older helped his older brothers care for the animals.
Joseph had ten older brothers! Sometimes these boys did not behave well, and Joseph told his father what his brothers did. They did not like this and they were furious.
One day Jacob made a beautiful gift for his son Joseph: a very special robe of different colors. This was a sign of how much Jacob loved Joseph.
connect the lesson
Jacob loved his son Joseph
Before class, gather Student Activity Sheet #27-A and #27-B and crayons.
Hand out the activity sheets and crayons. Have your children color the shapes with the dots in SAS #27-A. This way the children can easily see the word “Love”. Help the children trace the Word of Faith (Loves).
As you work, remind them: “In today’s story we learned about the love Jacob had for his son Joseph. Families show love in different ways. There are other ways to show love than giving a gift.” Ask: “How can you show love to a family member if you have no money?” (Suggested answers: make the person a card. Do something nice to help the person. Make something for the person.) God wants us to love and care for our family.
You may want to make additional copies of the "Love" strip at the bottom of SAS #27-B so the children can color them and use them as bookmarks or to write letters to family members to express how much they love them.
Encourage the children to take home their activity sheets to share what they have learned with their families and friends.
practice the memory verse
Love each other
Write the memory verse, large and clearly, on a large piece of paper. Read it word for word to your children, and have them repeat it with you. This will be of help to those who have not started reading. Remember that preschoolers are learning to join syllables and form words, so it will be easier for them to learn the text in this way. Make up motions for the words: command, I (Jesus), give, you, love, one another. Repeat the verse several times and, if possible, ask parents to reinforce learning during the week.
wrap-up
Pray
Pray, thanking God for extended family members, such as aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. Ask God to help all family members to show love and care for each other.
Encourage
Encourage the children to express thankfulness and love to all their family members.
Invite
Invite the children to return to class to learn more about Joseph and his brothers. Although Joseph’s father loved him, his brothers did something mean to him.
* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™