Genesis 24-50

Choice 3: Genesis 29-30, 35, 37, 39-41. Joseph Endured His Trials.

a) Read the chapter summaries for Genesis 29-30, 35. List the birth order of Jacob's 12 sons.

Answer: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

b) Read Genesis 37:1-11 and the Student Institute Manual commentary for Genesis 37:3, "What Was the Coat of Many Colors?" (pg. 93) Write an explanation of possible reasons Joseph's brothers were envious of him.

Answer: Joseph had a dream that he would have dominion over his brothers. This made his brothers upset because Joseph was the second to youngest and they didn't believe that Joseph should reign over them. Joseph received a coat of many colors when he was 17 years old and this made his brothers very jealous because of the high quality of the coat and they had never received such a great gift like Joseph did.

c) List the challenges in Genesis 37 that Joseph faced. How do you think Joseph felt about his challenges. How are Joseph's challenges like the ones young people face today?

Answer: Joseph faced hatred and jealousy from his brothers because of their father's favoritism towards him. He faced being the outsider with his brothers because they did not want include him. I think Joseph felt that his challenges were really tough and he didn't quite understand at the time why he had these challenges. Joseph's challenges are like the ones young people face today in that there is still jealousy and hatred towards siblings in today's world.

d) Read Genesis 39:2-3, 21, 23, and find a phrase that is similar in all four verses. Then answer the following questions:
   1) What did Joseph do in Genesis 39 that allowed the phrase in verses 2-3 to still be true in verses 21, 23? When do you think that Joseph made the commitment be morally clean?
   2) Give examples for Genesis 40-41 and the Institute Student Manual commentary for Genesis 39:21-23; 40:1-23 (pg. 95) that illustrate how the Lord remained with Joseph.
   3) Write two or three paragraphs listing the lessons you learned from the life of Joseph. What can you learn from Joseph about turning bad experiences and circumstances into good ones.

Answer: "The Lord was with him (Joseph)". 1) He made the best of the situation and did not complain. When Potiphar's wife tempts him to lie with her is the time when I think Joseph made the commitment to be morally clean. 2) Joseph has the ability to interpret dreams and he acknowledges that it is not possible without God.
3) The lessons that I learned from the life of Joseph are that when I am placed in a bad situation then I need to make the most of it and not complain and the other lesson is that I need to acknowledge God in all that He does in my life. Joseph is a fantastic example of how we should be when trials and tribulations come our way. He never complained and just did his very best in the bad situation.
Giving credit to Heavenly Father for all that He does in our lives is the proper thing to do in order to show respect for Him. It is easy to sometimes forget about God and become proud. Pride is not recognizing God and thinking that you can accomplish anything without God. This way of thinking will never get you ahead and is definitely not a good choice. Getting back to Heavenly Father requires us to be humble, meek, and forgiving.