Welly Church Kids Lessons

Youths · 9-12 · Lesson 6

Joseph and Providence

Genesis 37:18-36; Genesis 45:1-15; Genesis 50:15-21

God's purposes continued through human wrongdoing without making wrongdoing good.

Teach the lesson

Goal: Students explain Genesis 50:20 without calling the brothers’ wrongdoing good.

Pick how long you want to teach. The plan updates to fit.

Short · 25 minutes
  1. 3 min
    Connect

    Use the opening prompt from the Teach Now card.

  2. 8 min
    Read

    Read Genesis 37:18-36 and 50:15-21, making separate notes for intention, action, consequence, and later outcome.

    Ask: Which words and actions show the brothers’ intention?

  3. 5 min
    Understand

    Compare the two intentions in Genesis 50:20 and test applications against the whole narrative.

    Ask: What good purpose does Joseph identify later? · Why does a good outcome not make an evil act good?

  4. 6 min
    Do

    Complete the Intention, Action, Outcome Grid activity.

    Activity: Intention, Action, Outcome Grid

    Printable: Y1-L06-P01-intention-action-outcome-grid

  5. 3 min
    Respond

    Repeat the take-home line and close in prayer.

    Ask: What must be considered before trust is restored?

Standard · 35 minutes

  1. 4 min
    Connect

    Use the opening prompt and invite two or three brief responses.

  2. 4 min
    Context

    Introduce the passage setting, speaker or main characters, and genre in age-appropriate language.

  3. 8 min
    Read and observe

    Read Genesis 37:18-36 and 50:15-21, making separate notes for intention, action, consequence, and later outcome.

    Ask: Which words and actions show the brothers’ intention? · What good purpose does Joseph identify later?

  4. 7 min
    Discuss

    Compare the two intentions in Genesis 50:20 and test applications against the whole narrative.

    Ask: Why does a good outcome not make an evil act good? · What must be considered before trust is restored?

  5. 8 min
    Activity

    Complete the Intention, Action, Outcome Grid activity and review what it demonstrates.

    Activity: Intention, Action, Outcome Grid

    Printable: Y1-L06-P01-intention-action-outcome-grid

  6. 4 min
    Respond

    Review the objective, repeat the take-home line, and pray.

Extended · 45 minutes
  1. 4 min
    Connect

    Use the opening prompt and identify the question the lesson will answer.

  2. 6 min
    Context

    Locate the passage in the whole-Bible story and explain its literary setting.

  3. 9 min
    Read closely

    Read Genesis 37:18-36 and 50:15-21, making separate notes for intention, action, consequence, and later outcome.

    Ask: Which words and actions show the brothers’ intention? · What good purpose does Joseph identify later?

  4. 8 min
    Interpret

    Compare the two intentions in Genesis 50:20 and test applications against the whole narrative.

    Ask: Why does a good outcome not make an evil act good? · What must be considered before trust is restored?

  5. 7 min
    Activity one

    Complete the Intention, Action, Outcome Grid activity.

    Activity: Intention, Action, Outcome Grid

    Printable: Y1-L06-P01-intention-action-outcome-grid

  6. 7 min
    Activity two

    Complete the Slogan Audit activity and compare the results.

    Activity: Slogan Audit

  7. 4 min
    Respond and assess

    Use one quiz item orally, repeat the take-home line, and pray.

Close the class

Memory verse: Genesis 50:20

Prayer: Ask for trust in God, moral clarity, and wisdom in forgiveness and safety.

Take-home line: God can continue His good purposes through human evil without making the evil good.

More help: full script, questions, and printables

A word-for-word way to run the lesson, plus every question, activity, and printable.

Teach now

Students explain Genesis 50:20 without calling the brothers’ wrongdoing good.

Read
Genesis 37:18-36; 50:15-21
Opening
Write two headings: What they intended / What God brought about. Ask why those are not the same moral claim.
Say
  • The brothers’ hatred, sale, and deception are named as wrongdoing.
  • Joseph’s life in Egypt becomes the means by which many lives are preserved.
  • Genesis 50:20 keeps both truths: human evil intention and God’s good purpose.
  • Providence is not permission to excuse harm or pretend trust repairs instantly.
Ask
  • What did the brothers intend?
  • What outcome does Joseph identify?
  • Does the good outcome make the original act good?
  • How are forgiveness and restored trust different?
Do
Complete the Intention, Action, Outcome Grid using Genesis 37 and 50.
Close
Pray for trust in God, truth about wrongdoing, and wisdom in forgiveness and repair.
Materials
  • Bible
  • Intention, Action, Outcome Grid
  • Pens

Discussion questions

  • Which words and actions show the brothers’ intention?
    Simple answer: Plot, sell, deceive.
    Going deeper: Trace responsibility through the chapter.
  • What good purpose does Joseph identify later?
    Simple answer: Preserving many lives.
    Going deeper: Locate the statement in famine and family context.
  • Why does a good outcome not make an evil act good?
    Simple answer: The text still calls the intention evil.
    Going deeper: Distinguish outcome, intention, and action ethics.
  • What must be considered before trust is restored?
    Simple answer: Truth, change, safety.
    Going deeper: Distinguish forgiveness, reconciliation, trust, and consequences.

Activities

Intention, Action, Outcome Grid · 10 min

Materials: Grid; Pens

  1. Record the brothers’ intention.
  2. Record their actions.
  3. Record harmful consequences.
  4. Record the life-preserving outcome Joseph identifies.

Low-resource option: Use four board columns.

Slogan Audit · 10 min

Materials: Prepared statements

  1. Read a providence slogan.
  2. Identify what is true.
  3. Identify what it could wrongly excuse.
  4. Rewrite it with truth, safety, and humility.

Low-resource option: Audit one statement together: “Everything happens for a reason.”

Printables

Prepare before class (optional, about 25 minutes)

Passage context

The Joseph story spans Genesis 37-50. Genesis 50:20 is a retrospective interpretation after slavery, false accusation, imprisonment, famine, family testing, confession, and provision.

  • Genesis 37 repeatedly reports hatred and deception.
  • Genesis 45 and 50 contain intense emotion and material provision.
  • Genesis 50:20 grammatically contrasts the brothers’ intended evil with God’s intended good.
  • Do not isolate Genesis 50:20 from the long narrative.
  • Providence can affirm God’s continuing purpose without claiming the harmful act was morally good.
  • Reconciliation in Genesis cannot be mechanically applied to unsafe relationships today.

Keep it faithful

  • Do not tell a victim that God wanted abuse or that they must immediately trust an offender.
  • Do not use providence to erase human responsibility, law, consequences, or safeguarding.
  • Do not claim to know the hidden purpose behind every modern tragedy.
  • Do not overstate: Do not tell a harmed person that the harm itself was good or that reconciliation erases accountability.
  • Do not overstate: Do not claim exhaustive knowledge of why a specific modern harm occurred.

Questions children may ask

Did God make the brothers do it?
Do we have to reconcile with anyone who hurts us?

Every child can join in

  • Use a visible timeline or comparison grid.
  • Allow written, drawn, or spoken responses.
  • Model one completed example before independent work.
  • Offer a seated alternative to movement activities.
  • Read passages aloud in sections.
  • Use prepared cards so participation does not depend on fluent reading.
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