YEA Lesson Library
The Favorite Son
About This Lesson
Using the story of Joseph, his coat of many colors, and his brothers’ jealousy, this lesson tells the student not to hate or be envious of anyone, but to trust God and His love.
Scriptures
Genesis 37:1-11
Ecclesiastes 5:19
John 1:11-12
John 3:16
John 4:10, 13-14
Romans 5:18
Romans 6:22-23
Ephesians 2:8-9
1 John 3:1-2
Words to Know
ETERNAL- without beginning or end, everlasting
PERISH- be destroyed, to die
SAVE - to keep safe from hurt or harm; to rescue
The Lesson
Cheryl and her friends were talking about their teacher, Mrs. Marsh. Cheryl said, “Tim is Mrs. Marsh's pet. He never gets in trouble. He thinks he is better than anyone else." Tim sat in the front of the classroom. Mrs. Marsh let Tim run errands for her. He was the one who always led the line outside for recess. Just then, Tim walked passed the girls. They began calling out, "Teacher's pet, teacher's pet. Timmy is the teacher's pet!” The girls were jealous. Jealousy can make people do bad things. It can make you angry. It may make you call someone names or do other unkind things. Sometimes it even makes you hate other people. Today's lesson is about jealousy and 12 brothers.
God kept His promise to Jacob. His family grew and grew. Jacob had 12 sons. He could have had his own baseball team and had extras! But these boys didn't always get along. The others were jealous of Joseph.
Joseph was Jacob's favorite son. He loved Joseph more than the other boys. Joseph was the beautiful Rachel’s oldest boy. And, Jacob loved Rachel more than her sister, Leah.
One day Jacob called Joseph in from the flocks. He gave Joseph a beautiful new coat. It was made of many different colors. It was the kind of coat that princes and rich men wore. Joseph was proud of his beautiful new coat. He went out to show his brothers. How do you think that made them feel?
Joseph's brothers looked at their own plain clothes. 'Then they looked at Joseph's beautiful coat. They knew that Joseph could not work in such a coat. They thought that Jacob was going to make the younger brother head of the family. Joseph's brothers were angry.
After that, Joseph began to have some funny dreams. One dream was about 12 bundles of wheat. One bundle stood up straight. The other 11 bundles bowed down to the one standing. In another dream, the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed down to Joseph.
Joseph told his dreams to his father and brothers. His brothers got even madder. They said, "You mean, you think we should bow down to you? You must be crazy!" From then on they hated Joseph. But, his father knew that God would look after Joseph.
Jacob had 12 sons - God had only One. Jacob loved his sons, but he loved Joseph the most. God loved Jesus, but He also loved the whole world - even you and me. Jacob gave Joseph a gift. It was a beautiful new coat. God gave us a gift - His only Son. Jealousy made Joseph's brothers hate him. But, one day, Joseph did a really good deed for his brothers. He saved them from getting hungry. God sent Jesus to earth to be our Savior. But many people do not love Him. God sent Jesus to die and save you and me. Because we have sinned and done bad things, Jesus had to die. He died so that we won't have to stay dead. He wants us to live with Him forever in His Kingdom.
Whenever we are jealous or hate someone, we miss out on God's blessings.
Student Prayer
Dear Father in Heaven,
Thank you for loving me so much that you sent your Son, Jesus, so that we can live forever. I want you to bless me. Help me not to be jealous or hate anyone.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Daily Devotions
Sunday - Ecclesiastes 5:19
Monday - John 4:10, 13-14
Tuesday - Romans 5:18
Wednesday - Romans 6:22-23
Thursday - Ephesians 2:8-9
Friday - John 1:11-12
Saturday - 1 John 3:1-2
Objectives
At the end of this lesson, the children will be able to:
I. Tell how many sons Jacob had.
2. Describe what Jacob gave Joseph to show his love.
3. State that God doesn't like us to be jealous.
4. Tell what God gave to show His love for us.
Topics & Themes
Dreams
Envy/Jealousy
God’s Gifts
God’s Love
Hatred
Jacob
Jesus, Savior
Joseph
Joseph’s Brothers
Joseph’s Coat
Rachel
Materials Needed
Bible, YEA students' and teacher's books, attendance and memory verse chart, stars, songbook, music player and
music tapes or CD, grocery sacks, crayons, markers or fabric strips and glue, box, construction paper, fruit, gift wrap and bow
Preparation
In order to fulfill the objectives of any lesson you must first gain the ear and attention of the children. Today we will introduce the lesson with a "teaser" that will not be revealed until the end of the lesson. The object is to keep them listening to find out what is in the gift box.
Inside a medium size box, place the following items: Bible, a construction paper heart with the word "Jesus" on it, a magazine picture of a house, a piece of fruit, a picture of a family, a yellow construction paper circle with the words "live forever" written on it. Wrap the box in colorful gift wrap and place a ribbon on it.
Cut the grocery bags up the middle of the back seam (see diagram). Cut a neck hole in the bottom of the bag and arm holes on each side.
How to Teach This Lesson
Show the children the gift box. Tell them that this is a special gift that you would like to give to someone. Ask: Who would like this gift? Tell them that you will decide at the end of class who will get the gift. (Now you will have their attention!) In today's lesson we will learn about a father who gave his son a very special gift.
Twelve Brothers - God kept His promise to bless Jacob. His family grew and grew until he had 12 sons! Ask: How would you like to have 12 kids in your family? You could have your own baseball team, with extras. You could have your own football team. You would have enough to make two teams to play basketball. You would always have someone to play with. Ask: Can you think of some bad things about having so many in your family? (You may have to prime the pump: share toys, wear hand-me-down clothes, etc.)
Father's Pet - Of all Jacob's sons, he loved Joseph the most. Joseph wasn't the oldest boy, but he was the oldest son of Jacob's favorite wife, Rachel. All the other boys knew that his father loved Joseph most, and they were jealous!
The Gift - One day Jacob gave Joseph a beautiful coat of many colors. This was much different from what the other boys wore. It was the kind of coat that a prince or wealthy person wore. The other boys thought Jacob was going to make Joseph the head of the family, and he wouldn’t have to work in the fields anymore. Now they were mad; they hated Joseph!
The Dreams - Joseph began having some funny dreams. In one dream there were 12 bundles of wheat. One of the bundles stood up tall while the other 11 bowed down to it. Ask: What does that make you think of? In another dream, the sun, moon, and 11 stars bowed down to Joseph. Joseph told the dreams to his father and brothers. This really made the boys mad. They didn’t like the idea of bowing down to Joseph. But, Jacob thought these dreams must be from God - remember, he had a dream too.
God's Gift - Jacob had 12 sons. He chose to love and give a gift to one of his sons, Joseph. God had only One Son, Jesus. He loved Him very much. But, God loves you and me, too. He chose to send His Son as a love gift to us.
(Hold up the gift box. Ask: Now who should I give this gift to? Let's look inside and see what it is. (Let the children unwrap the box. Take the items out, one at a time.) This is a love gift to all of you from God. The Bible is God's message to us. When we read it. He speaks to us. The heart shows us that He loves us and sent Jesus to show us how much. He gives us food to eat (fruit), a place to live (house) and a family to take care of us (family). And lastly, He wants to give us eternal life (circle). God wants us to live with Him forever in His Kingdom.
Isn't this a wonderful gift? You don't have to be jealous. This gift is for everyone!
Review Questions
I. How many sons did Jacob have?
2. Why were Joseph's brothers jealous?
3. What did Jacob give Joseph that he didn't give the other boys?
4. What were the two dreams that Joseph had?
5. Why did the dreams make the brothers mad?
6. How did God show how much He loved us?
Teacher-Directed Activity
Give each child a grocery sack. Allow them to decorate it with crayons or markers, or by gluing on strips of fabric, etc. They can wear their "coat of many colors" home.
REACH Activity
1. What’s in a Name? Name Jacob’s 12 sons. Write the meaning for each name.
2. Draw Joseph’s dreams: wheat and bundles and sun, moon, and stars.
3. Dreamin’: Make the following props. 1) Materials: straw or similar material—bundled into sets of twelve with rubber bands; 2) Materials: yellow lid (sun), white lid (moon), 11 star cutouts (cardboard or poster board covered with aluminum foil). Using the above props, have kids retell the lesson.
4. Love Gift: Design a new coat for a friend, a brother, or sister. Materials: heavy paper, scissors, sequins, ribbon, etc.
5. Have children use construction paper to make and cut out a coat. Write this week’s memory verse on it. Then color it brightly with crayons or markers.
6. Love Notes: Let kids write their brother or sister a love note explaining why they love him or her.
7. Loving Times: Show children how to use a concordance to find the word “love.” Record how many times it is used in both the Old and New Testament. Ask: When was it first used in the Bible? What is your favorite “love” verse?
8. Joseph’s Special Coat: With his new coat, Joseph seemed to feel “extra special.” Tell kids to discuss a time they have felt this way. Then have them write a prayer asking God to give them a humble heart in all circumstances.
9. Biography Card: Have kids begin Joseph’s biography card. Add to the card with each of the following lessons.
Note: Biography cards: Index cards for each Biblical character. Add information about that person; i.e., who their parents were, who they married, who their children were, what things they did to serve God, what their name means, etc.
10. Role play: Joseph’s dreams; jealousy of brothers.
11. Let kids write about a time when someone made fun of them unfairly.
12. Have children rewrite the beginning of the lesson, telling how the classmates should have acted towards Tim.
13. On brightly colored 11 x 17 construction paper let kids show how the following are alike and how they are different: Joseph and Jesus, or jealousy vs. love.
14. You do not have to give gifts. They are a freewill offering of love. Tell children to send a postcard to someone they love telling them that they love them. But tell them: don’t unless you really want to—like God sent His Son as a gift for us.
Other Ideas:
The biography cards can be used in so many ways. They can eventually be kept in a file of Who’s Who in the Bible. Store in a plastic card file box. The cards can be separated by men and women of the Bible; people of the Old and New Testament; prophets; kings, etc. Cards can be used to record information on Bible foods, animals, and places. Cards come in different sizes and colors!
The biography cards can also be used as “note cards” for a future book about that person. Books come in all shapes and sizes, and are a very creative way for a young person to express themselves. Be sure to make an author’s page.
Cartography (making and drawing maps) is very interesting and fun for young children. Paper towel rolls will help keep the storage issue under control for small paper maps. For the study of one specific area, a floor map would be fun. Use a shower curtain instead of paper. Fold and store in a plastic zipper bag.
Dramatic play is an area children usually love. Save old shirts and belts, hats and scarves, and let them play dress up. Acting out a story makes it easier to remember as well as making a lesson more relevant to them.
Song
“Jesus Loves Me” is on page 6 of Kids Classics Collection.
Closing Prayer
Have the children hold hands in a circle. Ask each one to thank God for something He has given them.
Printable Pages
