Tag: Hate

Episode 18 – A Coat for Joseph

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 37

A Coat for Joseph

My name is Joseph and in all Egypt, there is no man with more power than me, except King Pharaoh himself. Wherever I travel men run before my chariot telling the people to kneel before me. On my hand, I have the signet ring of King Pharaoh and the royal chain rests around my neck.

To see me now in my fine clothes and with such power and authority, maybe you would think that I was born for such a position – that I am the son of an Egyptian nobleman. But then you would look at the colour of my skin and listen to the accent in my voice and wonder – ‘Who is this man? For surely he is not Egyptian. How did he come to have so much power and authority in Egypt?’ (PAUSE)

I was born to my father Jacob in his old age, and my mother, Rachel, was the only one of his four wives that my father truly loved. As a young man, I would go with my older brothers as they went to look after the flocks and herds, and like a fool I loved to get them into trouble with my father. Whatever they did, no matter how small, I would tell my father all about it. And so my brothers learned to hate me.

But still I tormented them even further, telling them of my dreams. In one such dream I saw my brothers and I working in the fields tying up large bundles of grain. My bundle stood up in the middle of all the others, and their bundles bowed low before mine. If I had been a wiser youth I would have kept my dream to myself, but like the fool I was – I ran to tell them, only making their anger towards me worse. ‘What are you saying dreamer?’ they shouted. ‘That someday we’ll all bow down before you? Not in this life!’ And they hated me even more.

But my greatest folly was to show my brothers just how much more my father loved me than any of them. Perhaps my father was not wise when one day he gave me a coat so beautiful that it was fit for a prince! Never had our father given any of my older brothers such a gift, how it must have hurt them to know that he loved me so much more than he loved them! But again, if I had been wiser, I would have thanked my father and hidden the coat away to make sure that my brothers were not hurt even more deeply by the constant reminder of seeing me in that coat. But I was too proud, too proud and stupid to hide the coat away. Instead, I would wear it at every opportunity, constantly showing my brothers that our father loved me the most – and that he didn’t love them as he ought.

What a horrid boy I must have seemed to my brothers. Was it any wonder that they learned to hate me so much? That they couldn’t stand the sight of me and wanted nothing to do with me? But such hatred can never lead to good – except in the hands of God alone.

One day our father called me to see him. He told me that my brothers had been gone some time, looking after our flocks near a place called Shechem. ‘Go and see how your brothers are doing Joseph,’ he said. ‘And then come back and give me a report.’

‘Of course father,’ I replied. ‘I’m ready to go.’ So I put on my wonderful coat and set out to find my brothers. But when I got to Shechem, my brothers were nowhere to be seen. A man saw me wandering in a field looking for them and told me that he had heard them saying they would move on to Dothan – and so I followed them there.

With my coat on, my brothers could see me coming from a great distance, and their hearts fell! ‘Here comes that dreamer!’ they spat out. ‘I can’t stand him anymore!’ said one of them. ‘Come on let’s kill him and be rid of him once and for all. We can tell our father that a wild animal got him!’ But Reuben, one of my brothers, did not want to see me dead, so instead he said. ‘Let’s not kill him. Why should we have his blood on our hands? Look, there’s that empty water storage pit over there. Why don’t we throw him in the pit and leave the rest to nature! That way, he’ll die without us having to touch him.’ Reuben, however, planned to come back later and rescue me from the pit and take me to our father.

But as I approached them I knew nothing of their evil plans, and instead of greeting me, they grabbed hold of me, stripped me of my coat and threw me into the pit. Happy to leave me to die!

My brothers then sat down to eat a meal, and, while they ate, they saw a caravan of traders making their way to Egypt. Then Judah, another one of my brothers said, ‘Why don’t we make some money out of Joseph instead of killing him? If we kill him, all we’ll get is a guilty conscience! Why don’t we sell him as a slave to those traders going down to Egypt?’ So when the traders came by, my brothers dragged me up from the pit. At first I hoped it was the end of a terrible joke, but as they mercilessly sold me to the traders – for twenty pieces of silver, I knew my life would never be the same again.

Reuben hadn’t been there when the others sold me to the traders, and later, when he came back to pull me out and take me back to my father, he found I was gone and tore his clothes in frustration and sadness. Then my brothers took my coat, tore it and dipped it in animal blood. They took it back to my father and asked him, ‘Is this the coat you gave Joseph? We found it like this in a field.’

My father recognised it at once and assumed a wild animal had killed me. He mourned deeply for my death. But even in his deep – deep sadness, not one of my brothers told him the truth. (PAUSE) To him, I was dead. (PAUSE)

Some time later I arrived in Egypt and was sold as a slave in the slave market. But God was still with me, and I was sold to Potiphar, the captain of the palace guard, an important official in the palace of Pharaoh. (PAUSE)

Episode 3 – Cain & Abel

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 4

Cain & Abel 

When God first made men and women, He didn’t intend that they should ever die. He hoped they would love Him and obey Him and live with Him in perfect harmony for all eternity. But when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit, that all changed.

God had warned Adam and Eve of the terrible results of disobeying His simple command not to eat the fruit. And, exactly as God had warned, when they ate the fruit – death came into the world. Now one day everyone must die. But even worse than that, since Adam and Eve’s disobedience, men and women had stopped knowing God properly and doing the things that made Him happy – because of the evil that now lived inside them. (PAUSE)

During Adam and Eve’s lifetime they had many sons and daughters. But it’s not all these sons and daughters I want to tell you about, it’s their first son Cain and what happened between him and his younger brother Abel, that interest me!

As they grew up, Cain and Abel both became farmers. Cain worked in the fields, growing all kinds of grain, vegetables and fruit. While Abel decided to work with animals and became a shepherd looking after sheep.

And although Adam and Eve had broken their relationship with God, and things weren’t how they were supposed to be. God hadn’t been forgotten and He still spoke with Adam and Eve and their children. So Cain and Abel grew up knowing God and that they still needed to show respect to Him and gratitude for all He did. So when harvest time came the two of them decided that they ought to give a sacrifice to God – a special gift to show that they hadn’t forgotten Him and that they were grateful for all He’d given them.

Abel spent quite some time deciding what it was he should bring God to say ‘thank you’. And after much thought, he decided he should give something precious. Something valuable and important to show God how much He meant to Abel. (P) As a shepherd, the most important thing Abel had were his sheep, and the most valued sheep he had were the young lambs of the best sheep in the flock – healthy lambs without anything wrong with them. If Abel gave God something as important as that, surely it would show just how grateful he was. And so Abel brought several of his best lambs to God.

Meanwhile, as it was harvest time, Cain knew that he really ought to be giving something to God as a ‘thank you’ for the wonderful crops he’d just harvested. But what to bring? (P) Well – did it really matter what he brought? Wasn’t it all the same to God anyway? (P) So instead of thinking about it and making sure he brought something that would please God, Cain rummaged through what he could find easily and brought that! (PAUSE)

You know, God doesn’t just look at the gifts we bring Him, He looks at the attitude we have as we bring Him our gifts. It’s easy to give something to God that doesn’t cost much, but it’s much harder to bring something to God that costs a great deal! Abel loved God, and because of that he gave God something that cost him a lot. But Cain didn’t really care and only gave a bit of what he had. Just enough to show that he’d ‘done his duty’!

 When God saw what Abel had brought Him, He accepted both Abel and his gift. But when He saw what Cain had given – He rejected Cain – and his gift – because Cain hadn’t treated God with the respect He deserved. (P) But when Cain realised that Abel and his gift had been accepted – while he and his gift had been rejected – you could tell by his face how angry and upset he was. (PAUSE)

So God spoke to Cain.

‘Why are you so angry Cain?’ God asked. ‘Why do you look so miserable? It doesn’t have to stay like this! You can change things if you act in the right way! (P) But watch out! Because if you refuse to act in the right way, the evil desires of sin are waiting to take you captive and destroy you! You mustn’t let that happen, you must fight against these evil desires and make sure they don’t ruin your life!’

But Cain wouldn’t listen. And now everyone would see how terrible the curse of death really was!

‘Hey Abel! You up for a walk in the fields?’

‘Yeah sure Cain, I could do with a change of scene, let’s go!’

But Cain didn’t care about a change of scene – all he wanted to do was get rid of his ‘perfect’ little brother! And in his jealousy and rage he attacked and murdered Abel where he thought no one could see – leaving Abel’s lifeless body in a pool of blood in a lonely field.

Sin was beginning to show how terrible it was with the first ever murder, coming from Cain’s bitterness and jealously. It didn’t need to happen, if only Cain hadn’t been so proud and, and, asked God to help him do what was right. But Cain only cared about himself, he didn’t care about God anymore! The desires of sin, to put himself first and do exactly what he wanted, had taken him over. And now Adam and Eve, Abel’s father and mother, would really know how terrible the curse of death was – the curse they’d brought into the world by disobeying God’s command. – It’d cost them their son! (PAUSE)

But Cain had been mistaken to think no one had seen what he’d done, because God watches everything we do. (P) He spoke to Cain, ‘Where’s your brother? Where’s Abel?’

‘How on earth on should I know,’ replied Cain angrily. ‘Am I supposed to keep track of his every movement?’

But you can’t fool God. ‘What have you done Cain?’ He asked. ‘I hear the blood of your brother Abel crying out to me from the ground! (P) And now you must be punished for this evil thing you have done. (P) I hereby banish you from your home and from the ground you have made unclean with your own brother’s blood. This ground will no longer produce wonderful harvests for you – no matter how hard you work. From this time on you will become a homeless wanderer going from place to place!’

But still, even as God told Cain his punishment, Cain wouldn’t say sorry for the evil thing he’d done. He didn’t seem to care that he’d murdered his own brother! All he could do was complain about the harshness of his punishment without any concern or sorrow for the life he’d taken.

‘This is too much God! I can’t cope with this! You’ve banished me from my homeland and from your presence and now you’re making me a wandering fugitive. Surely anyone who sees me now will try ‘n kill me?’

But still God cared for poor foolish Cain even though Cain wouldn’t turn back and say sorry and be forgiven. (P) ‘They won’t kill you Cain,’ He said. ‘For I will give seven times your punishment to anyone who does.’ And then to protect Cain, and to warn anyone else who might wish to kill him – not to, God placed a special mark on Cain as a warning.

And in His love God also remembered Eve in the loss of her son Abel, and some time later gave her another son. She named him Seth which means ‘granted’, because when he was born she said, ‘God has granted me another son in place of Abel’. And it was one of Seth’s descendants who many years later found himself in very deep water! But that’s another story!

Episode 2 – The fall – How it all went wrong

tale2tell original Bible Stories series – Old Testament

Based on Genesis chapter 3

How it all went wrong

God had finished His work of creation, He’d made the grass and trees, the birds and animals and the insects and fish. But most important of all, he’d made people, the first man Adam, and the first woman Eve.

Adam & Eve’s job was to look after the world that God had made. It was all so good and perfect, every day God Himself would come and walk and talk with Adam and Eve in a garden that He’d planted for them – the Garden of Eden. And when they heard Him in the garden they’d run to be with Him. And they loved to be with God and talk with Him about all that they were doing. Everything was perfect, everything was just how it was supposed to be (P) but it wasn’t going to last.

In the Garden of Eden, God had planted a tree, called ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’. And He told Adam and Eve that if they ate the fruit from that tree they would – die!

It seemed strange to them, the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ was fine to look at and its fruit was as good as any other, and yet they were forbidden to even try it?

And anyway, what was – death? Adam and his wife couldn’t really understand properly – because there was no death in the world. They just knew it wasn’t what God wanted and so – they left it alone. Anyway, there were plenty of other trees in the garden, apples and pears, bananas and oranges to name just a few – so it wasn’t hard to leave the tree alone. If God had said not to touch it, He must have a good reason (P) they may not understand but they knew they could trust God. (PAUSE)

God had put that tree in the garden because He wanted to know if the man and the woman really loved Him. (P) If they obeyed Him by not eating the forbidden fruit then He would know that they did love Him. But, if they disobeyed Him and ate the fruit, then He’d know that He wasn’t as important to them as He should be.

It was all so simple. Leave the fruit alone and all would be well. (P) But temptation often comes when you know something’s wrong!

Now, into the Garden of Eden, where the man and the women were living and working, there came an enemy of God. And disguising himself as a snake, he hid by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, whose fruit Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat. The enemy of God hated God and wanted to destroy all the good works God had done. He wanted to spoil God’s perfect creation, and had planned just how to do it! (PAUSE)

God knew what the enemy wanted to do, but He didn’t stop him being near the tree. He didn’t even stop the enemy from talking to the man and woman, because He wanted the man and woman to love Him by choosing to obey His simple command and not eat the fruit – no matter what anybody said to them! (P) All heaven waited to see what the man and woman would do. (PAUSE)

One day, as they worked in the garden, Adam and Eve came near to the place where the enemy, disguised as a snake, was waiting. As the woman was nearest to it, the snake started talking to her.

‘Hello,’ he said.

‘Hello,’ she replied.

‘This is a very beautiful garden you live in,’ continued the snake.

‘Thank you,’ replied the woman, ‘God planted it for us and asked us to look after it.’

 Then the crafty snake asked a question that started to twist what God had said. ‘Tell me, did God really say that you aren’t allowed to eat any of the fruit in the garden?’

‘Of course we can eat it,’ replied the woman. Then she pointed to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ‘It’s only the fruit from that tree that we aren’t allowed to eat. God said that we shouldn’t eat it, or even touch it, or else we will – die!’

‘You won’t die,’ lied the snake. ‘God said you weren’t allowed to eat that fruit because He knows that when you do you’ll be able to understand everything and become as wise and as powerful as He is.’

‘Ooh’, said the woman. And as she looked up at the glistening fruit hanging temptingly on the tree, she saw how ripe it looked and thought how good it must be to eat. And as she stared at it, a longing came up inside her, and she could see herself, wise like God, powerful and majestic. Almost without noticing she was touching the fruit – and then she decided. She wanted to be like God. She wanted wisdom and power. And she was going to have it. The fruit pulled easily from the branch, she lifted it to her mouth and deliberately bit deeply into the ripe flesh. And then, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, a cold triumphant look on her face, she walked over to where her husband, Adam, had been watching.

Why hadn’t he stopped her? Why hadn’t he just taken her by the hand and led her away, or reminded her once again of what God had told them?

But now it was too late for the woman, there she stood before him, with an expression on her face that he’d never seen before. In her hand she held the fruit, and her lips were stained from the juices. Adam watched wide-eyed as she raised her hand to him, offering him the remainder of the stolen fruit.

If only he’d said no! If only he’d been stronger. If only he’d remembered what God had said and – and – just run away. But like a fool, he took the ripe fruit and without hesitation bit deeply into it, dreaming of how he too might become wise and powerful, majestic and mighty like God Himself. (P)

At that very moment their minds and their hearts were changed. Up until then everything had been simple, but now, things were somehow different. The enemy disguised as a snake was laughing at them. How easy it had been to trick them, and now they would no longer be God’s friends, but his slaves!

And now, everything seemed complicated! They were naked! Why hadn’t that bothered them before? How could they possibly face God naked! How embarrassing! In a hurry they found some leaves and tried to make something to cover themselves up with, but before they’d managed to make it work properly, and to their horror, they heard God walking in the garden. What were they going to do? How could they face God now?

In their fear and confusion Adam and Eve hid themselves amongst the trees of the garden, unwilling to go near the one they’d always previously longed to be with. Instead of running to greet Him at the sound of His voice, they ran away in their shame – and hid! Oh how things had changed! (PAUSE)

So God called out to the man and woman, ‘Where are you?’

The man called back, ‘I heard you in the garden, and … and … well … I’m naked! I can’t come to you like this, it’s so embarrassing and you might be angry with me!’

‘Who told you that you were naked?’ asked God. ‘Have you eaten the fruit from the tree I told you not to eat from?’

‘Yes,’ admitted the man as they slowly came out from their hiding places. ‘But it wasn’t really my fault,’ he lied. ‘It was her fault,’ He pointed at the woman. ‘She gave it to me.’

God looked at the woman. ‘How could you do such a thing after I told you not to?’

‘It’s not really my fault,’ she lied. ‘The snake tricked me into eating it.’ (PAUSE)

Adam and Eve regretted that day for the rest of their lives, wishing that they’d listened to God and never disobeyed Him. But it was too late now, death had come into the world and it couldn’t be undone by anyone!

So what was the point in continuing? Why didn’t God end it all then? His own creation had chosen to reject Him. (P) But even before He’d made the world, He’d known that Adam and Eve would disobey Him. But He still loved them – that’s why He called out to them instead of destroying them. And, He was already working on His own plan, a plan made before the world had begun, that one day He would destroy the power of the enemy – death itself – so we could not only be His friends again, but His children.