Joseph Forgave His Brothers

Bryce and Boden Loukusa  |  The Shepherd’s Voice December 2024/January 2025 - Home and Family Article –

The Children of God are merciful (Matt. 5:7). Joseph is an example of the mercy of God’s children. Even though he was treated unfairly by his brothers and sold into slavery, he was merciful and forgave his brothers.

Joseph was a believer in the Old Testament, one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Joseph was especially loved by his father, and because of this his brothers hated him. Joseph had dreams that represented his brothers bowing down to him, and he told his brothers of these dreams. Because of this, his brothers were jealous and hated him so much that they wanted to kill him. Joseph’s oldest brother Reuben didn’t want to kill him and suggested that they cast him into a pit. As they sat by the pit eating bread, they saw some travelers going by. They sold Joseph to these travelers – into slavery – for twenty pieces of silver.

Many years later, when Joseph had become a governor in Egypt, his brothers came to Egypt to buy food. They didn’t know that the important man who helped them was their brother, Joseph. They came a second time to buy food and bowed themselves to the ground. Eventually, Joseph couldn’t refrain from telling them he was their brother. His brothers were concerned that Joseph might be angry at them, but Joseph had a forgiving heart. Joseph told them even though they had done evil to him, God meant it for good.

Things to visit about:

1. Do you think it was difficult for Joseph to forgive his brothers?

2. When might it be difficult for us to forgive our siblings?

3. What does it mean to forgive someone?

2024_06DecJan SV_HF_Joseph Forgave His Brothers.pdf

Download PDF • 81KB