Joseph
Genesis 42-45
Background--country scene with some sheep to one side
Narrator or puppet 1: Joseph was the next to the youngest in a very big family. There were 12 brothers and their father, Jacob, loved Joseph the most. Jacob had a special coat made for Joseph, because he loved him so much. Every time Joseph wore that special coat of many colors, everyone who saw him knew that he was Jacob’s favorite.
Jacob: Joseph, I want you to go out to the fields to check on your brothers and make sure they are ok. They are out near Shecham with the sheep, letting them eat.
Joe: Ok, Dad. I’ll go right now.
Jacob: Be sure to wear your coat of many colors. I don’t want you to get cold.
(Three or more people puppets and some sheep puppets are on one side of the stage. Joseph is on the other side of the stage. Joe is moving like he is walking but not advancing yet.)
Brother 1: Oh look, here comes Joseph. (sarcastic) I’ll bet he’s going to tattle tale to Dad again if he doesn’t like what we’re doing.
Bro 2: You know that’s right.
Bro 3: And look. He’s got on that special coat of many colors. I think he just wears it to show off that he’s dad’s favorite.
Bro 1 & 2: Yeah…
Bro 1: Hey! I’ve got an idea. (excited) Let’s get rid of him. We can kill him and tell Dad that a wild animal ate him. We can smear some blood on his coat to show to Dad. Then we won’t have to worry about the tattle tale.
Bro 2: (pointing) Look, over there. There’s a caravan coming, a group of travelers. Let’s not kill him. Let’s make some money. We can sell him to those travelers and they will take him to Egypt.
Bro 3: He’ll never come back from Egypt. That sounds like a plan.
(Joe walks over to them. The brother puppets jump on him and wrap rope around him like they are tying him up. They pull Joe off the stage toward the caravan.)
The brother puppets come back with Joe’s coat of many colors.
Bro 1: We’ll take his coat to show to Dad.
Bro 2: Yes. We can still tell Dad that a wild animal ate him. He’ll never know the difference.
Bro 3 (carries some paper play money that they from the sell. The brothers walk off the stage. Puppet looks at the money and laughs.) Ha, ha, ha.
(Backdrop changes to show some pyramids in the background.)
(While the narrator is talking, put Joe’s small crown on him.)
Narrator or puppet 1: So the people who bought Joseph took him to Egypt which was a long, long way off. When they got there, Joseph became a slave to some of the people of Egypt. Well, Joseph was really smart and he worked really hard and he really loved God a lot. After a long, long, long time, Joseph wasn’t a slave anymore. He had worked so hard and had done everything that God told him to do. He became the vice president of all of Egypt. The only person who had more power than Joseph was President Pharaoh.
Joe talking to Pharaoh: Pharaoh, God told me that there’s going to be 7 years when everything is going to grow really well. We will have lots of food and things will be great.
Pharaoh: That’s fabulous!
Joe; Well…the problem is that after that there’s going to be 7 years when nothing will grow and things will be really bad.
Pharaoh: Oh no! that doesn’t sound good.
Joe: No, it’s not. It will be that way all over the world. Not just in Egypt.
Pharaoh: Well, then, we’d better make some plans. I’ll put you in charge of it all.
Joe: God has already told me what to do. We will store up and save grain and food during the 7 good years. Then we will have plenty for the bad years.
Joe & Pharaoh walk off the stage making their plans.
(Brother puppets & Jacob come on stage from the other side.)
Bro 1: Dad, we’re running out of food. What are we going to do. I’m hungry.
Bro 2: I heard that the people in Egypt have plenty. They are even selling it to other countries.
Jacob: Well, go to Egypt and buy some. We have the money. There’s just no groceries here to buy.
(Jacob leaves stage. Brother puppets begin walking without getting anywhere to Egypt. As the narrator talks, the backdrop changes to one with pyramids in the distance.)
Narrator: The brothers take their money to buy food from Egypt. When they get there, Joseph recognizes his brothers but they don’t recognize him.
(Brothers walk up to where Joe is standing in front of pyramids)
At first the brothers bow down to Joseph. (Puppets bow down in front of Joe.)
Joseph lets them tell him about how hungry they are and about their family back in Canaan. (Puppets look like they are talking to Joe but no one talking except narrator) Joseph pretends he doesn’t know who they are. Then he decides to tell them.
(The brothers start to walk away)
Joe: Wait guys. Look at me. Don’t you know who I am?
(Brothers look at Joe & each other & shake their heads.)
Bro 3: (slowly) No. it can’t be. He’s dead.
Joe: It’s me. Joseph. (pause) Is my father still alive?
Bro 1: But we sold you.
Bro 2: Aren’t you mad at us?
Joe: No. I was sad at first but then I learned that God sent me ahead of you so that our whole family could be saved. I know that God planned this for good and I forgive you for your evil plans.
`Go home now and get my father and the rest of the family. Bring all of your animals and I will give you the best of all the land in Egypt. You will all live here and we will all be happy together. God has taken of me and He will take care of you too.
(All the puppets come together in a group hug.)
Group leader comes forward:
Did you like the story of Joseph? Sometimes bad things happen that really turn out to be good for everyone.
1. Which one of the brothers was Jacob‘s, the dad’s, favorite? Joseph
2. What did Jacob give to Joseph that showed everyone that Joseph was the favorite? A coat of many colors
3. What did the other brothers think about Joseph? They didn’t like him. They thought he was a tattle tale.
4. What plan did the brothers come up with to get Joseph out of the way? They would sell him to travelers.
5. Even though Joseph was a slave when he first got to Egypt, what job did he get after he had worked hard for a long time? Vice president or first assistant to Pharaoh
6. Why did Egypt have food when none of the other countries did? God told Joseph ahead of time what was coming. They planned and saved food to have during the lean years.
7. Did Joseph pay back his brothers when they came to get food? No. Why not? Joseph knew that God had sent him ahead so that their whole family could be saved.
Joseph forgave his brothers of the bad that they had done to him. Joseph loved his brothers because he knew that God loved him and God loved his brothers too. Sometimes, it seems really hard to forgive someone when they are mean to you or do something that hurts you. But we do mean things to other people too. No on is perfect. We all do bad things sometimes. We might fight with our brother or sister or tell a lie to someone. Those things are called sin. God loves us but He doesn’t love our sin. Jesus died on the cross so that we don’t have to. Jesus paid the price for our sins. Jesus died on the cross so that we don’t have to be punished for our sins. He died and He was buried in a tomb or a kind of grave. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead and walked on earth again. Jesus took the punishment for our sin so that we don’t have to. What we have to do is to believe that Jesus died for our sins and ask him to come live in our hearts. He will live with us forever and ever. If any one would like to talk about asking Jesus to come into your heart, tell your group leaders when we break into small groups. They will ask someone to talk with you.
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