少儿圣经故事:约瑟的故事(2)/Story of Joseph(2)

??"Here comes that dreamer again! He is beginning to tell father another dream that he's had. Come on, let's go hear what it's all about, one of Joseph's ten brothers might have said. They crowded around to hear yet another dream their younger brother Joseph had dreamed. Let's listen in to see what Joseph is telling his father："Father! Reuben! Judah! Listen to my dream that I had. I have dreamed another dream and the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance 1 to me."

??Oh, this time even Joseph's father was upset. His father rebuked 2 him, the Bible says, and said to him, "What is this dream you have dreamed？Do you really think that I and your mother and your brothers will indeed come to bow down ourselves to you？" Oh, you can imagine how very, very jealous Joseph's brothers were.

??The Bible tells us that one day the brothers were out feeding the flock in a town called Shechem. Old Jacob called his son Joseph to him. Joseph was about l7 at the time. And he said to him, "Go, please, see whether it be well with your brothers, and with the flocks and bring me word again." So he sent Joseph out of Hebron, and Joseph started toward Shechem. As he came up his brothers saw him coming a long way off, and they said to each other, "Here comes that dreamer again!" But this time they were not going to listen to a dream. They were not going to even listen to him at all. They made a plan to kill him. "We will see what will become of his dreams. He thinks he is going to rule over us. He will never rule over us." That's what they were saying in their hearts. They hated Joseph without a cause. That reminds me of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says He came unto His own people and they would not receive Him. They said, "You will never rule over us. We don't need You as a Savior. We do not believe that You are the Son of God." They took the Lord Jesus, beat Him, spit on Him, cursed Him, and they nailed Him to a cross. How did the Lord Jesus respond to His enemies, those who hated Him, cursed Him and nailed Him to a cross？He loved them!

??Joseph's brothers were hating him without a cause and they were planning to kill him. And the Bible says when he got there, they stripped his coat off and they threw him into a pit. But do you know those brothers were so hardened that even though Joseph was crying out, begging for mercy and help, they sat down very near that pit and calmly ate their lunch. As they ate their lunch, some of them looked up and they saw something coming. It was a caravan 3 of camels and traders from Midian. "Aha! We could sell our brothers as a slave, and not only could we get rid of him forever, but we could make some money off him!" The brothers thought that was a fine plan, so they stopped that Midianite merchants caravan. They sold their brother! And I am sure that Joseph went away weeping, and looking back at his brothers with a look that said, "How could you do this？Why have you hated me without a cause？" The brothers, still very hardhearted, were only thinking how they were going to deceive their father. They hit upon a plan. "Let's take that coat, the one they so despised, and let's dip it in the blood of a goat." So they went to their father, and said, "We found this. You are the one who would know if this is your son's coat or not." And of course Jacob knew that coat very well, and he said, "Oh, it is my son's coat. Joseph is no doubt torn into many pieces. An evil beast has devoured 4 him!" The Bible says Jacob cried for his son many days.

??Well, boys and girls, we know that God was going to be with Joseph, don't we？God was giving him strength to be longsuffering while those brothers were at home with him. God was with Joseph in that pit. God is continuing to give Joseph the strength to love his enemies and to do good to those that hate him.

??“那个做梦的人又来了，他又有一个梦要告诉父亲。快来，我们去听听看，这次他要说什么？”约瑟的十个哥哥大概会这样想。他们挤过去听约瑟的另一个梦。“让我们去听听约瑟又要对父亲讲什么。”“父亲，流便，犹大，看哪！我又做了一个梦。”约瑟说：“我梦见太阳，月亮和十一个星，向我下拜”。这一次约瑟的父亲不高兴了。圣经讲他父亲责备他说：“你做的这是什么梦？难道我和你母亲和你的弟兄真的要来俯伏在地，向你下拜吗？”你能想象得出来吗？他哥哥们都非常非常地嫉妒他。圣经讲有一天，约瑟的哥哥们去一个叫示剑的地方放羊。年老的父亲雅各把约瑟叫来，那时约瑟大概十七岁。他父亲对他说：“去看看你哥哥们平安不平安，群羊平安不平安，就回来报信给我。”于是约瑟出了希伯仑谷，就往示剑去了。他的哥哥们远远地看见他，就互相议论说：“看哪！那个做梦的来了。”但是这次他们不但不会听他的梦，而且根本不要听他讲话。他们商量要害死他。他们的心里想：我们且看他的梦会怎么样，他以为他会做我们的王，管辖我们，他的梦永远不会成真。他们无缘无故地恨约瑟。

??这使我想起了主耶稣基督。圣经说他来到自己人那里，他们却不接待他。他们对他说：你不能管辖我们，我们不需要你做我们的救主，我们不相信你是神的儿子。他们把他抓起来，打他，吐唾沫在他脸上，咒骂他，把他钉在十字架上。主耶稣是怎样对待他的敌人呢，就是那些恨他，骂他，把他钉十字架的人？他非常地爱他们。约瑟的哥哥们无缘无故地恨他，他们同谋要害死他。圣经说约瑟到了他哥哥们那里，他们就剥了他的外衣，把他扔到一个坑里。你知道吗？他哥哥们的心很刚硬。约瑟哀求他们把他放出来。但他们坐在坑边，只顾吃他们的中饭。当他们坐下吃饭的时候，举目观看，见有一夥米甸的商人和他们的骆驼队。啊哈！我们不如把我们的弟兄卖了作奴隶。这样我们不但可以除掉他，也可以赚钱。”众弟兄觉得这是一个好主意，就叫住那些商人，把约瑟卖他们。我相信约瑟是哭走的，边走边回头看他的哥哥们，说：“你们为什么做这样的事，你们为什么无缘无故地恨我？”他的哥哥们心里仍然刚硬，只想怎样回家骗他们的父亲。后来他们有了一个主意：让我们宰一只山羊，把约瑟那件彩衣染上血。他们回到父亲那里，说：“我们捡了这个。你看看，是不是你儿子的外衣？”约瑟的父亲雅各当然认得那件彩衣。他说：“这是我儿子的外衣，约瑟一定被恶兽吃掉了，约瑟被撕碎了！”圣经说雅各为他儿子伤心了许多日。

??小朋友们，我们知道神会与约瑟同在，对不对？当他还在家里的时候，神给他力量去忍耐宽容他的哥哥们。当他被扔在坑里的时候，神与约瑟同在。神也会继续与约瑟同在，给他力量去爱他的敌人，去友善地对待那些恨恶他的人。