The Story of Jesus Life for Children

In this episode, we learn how Joseph and his brothers loved their father, kept their promise to him and had him buried in Canaan. And we learn what happens to Joseph and his brothers after their father, Jacob, dies. In these 42 episodes, we heard about the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph--four famous patriarchs in the Bible and their families. Thank you for listening.

Jacob knew he was dying and he had one more important thing to do. He needed to tell his sons what would become of them in the future. Some of the sons are given great blessings and some of them are not given good blessings. Listen to hear which receive good blessings and which do not.

As the famine grew worse and worse in the land of Egypt and people were near starvation. They purchased food with their money until it was all gone. Now what would they do??? What?? And at the same time, Jacob got older and older, and his time was coming to an end. But he had two important missions he had to do. Would he live long enough to accomplish his missions? Would he??

Joseph is very anxious to tell the Pharoah that his father and brothers and all their families and possessions had arrived in Egypt. He wanted the Pharoah to meet his father and he hoped the Pharoah would allow them to settle in Egypt. Would the Pharoah allow them to stay in Egypt?? Listen to the story to find out.

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Jacob had not seen his son since he was 17 years old, and here many years later, they finally meet. What a wonderful time for an aged father to meet the son he thought was dead, never to be seen again!!

Joseph listened to his brother, Jacob, plead to take Benjamin's place as a slave and when he heard Jacob's pleading, he could no longer hold it together. Through tears and deep emotions, he cried out to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Your brother, Joseph!" The brothers were stunned, speachless, just staring at the governor, who is telling them he is Joseph!!! Could this be true???? Could it really be true or is this another trick??!!

Things were looking brighter for the brothers with Simeon returned to them, they were able to purchase more grain, and now they were on their way back to their father in Canaan. But as they are on their way, they notice dust rising in the background as if someone were coming to find them....And someone was coming to find them! And as the band of men got closer, they could tell it was being led by no other than the governor's steward! What now? What could he possibly want with them? You will have to listen to the story to find out what happens when the band of men surround them.

The brothers make another long journey back to Egypt and this time, with Benjamin. They arrive and find the governor who looks them over carefully, and especially gazes at Benjamin. Then he orders the manager to take them away and the manager takes them away. Where is he taking them?? Will this turn out good...or is there more bad news ahead for the brothers? They do not know............

Jacob would not let Benjamin go to Egypt. No! He lost Joseph and Simeon seemed to be lost to him, too. For a year, Jacob and his sons manage to feed themselves and their animals, but the severe famine goes on and on....and no food is left. They have to go back to Egypt, they have to! And they have to take Benjamin with them, they have to......

With the famine getting worse in the land of Canaan, Jacob hears there is grain in Egypt. Jacob directs his sons to travel to Egypt to buy grain---but Benjamin stays behind with Jacob. Well, all kinds of things happen to them when they get to Egypt! Unimaginable things! Listen to the story to find out what happens.

When Joseph takes charge of the land of Egypt, one of the first things he does is build storehouses for storing food.  That was very wise because soon rains came at just the right time and in just the right amount.  And the land was producing an abundance of food!  And just as Joseph directed,  about 1/5 th of that food was put in those storehouses for the future.  The rains came for 7 years with plenty of food for everyone; and then things changed.....    Oh how they changed.....   Listen to find out what happens next.

Joseph is still in prison 2 years after interpreting the butler's dreams.  And about that time,  the Pharoah of Egypt has two terrible dreams--dreams that really puzzle him.  He calls all the magicians and wise men in Egypt to come and interpret his dreams.  But after much discussion, the magicians and wise men cannot tell the Pharoah what his dreams mean.  All this happens in front of the butler who is standing by the Pharoah and...  POP!!  .. he remembers the man in prison who could interpret dreams!  He cannot stay silent!   "I know a man who can tell you the meaning of your dreams!"    Listen to hear what happens next.  It's very exciting!!

While Joseph is in prison and in charge of the prisoners, the king throws his butler and baker in prison on suspicion one of them tried to poison him to death.  And while the butler and baker are in prison, they have upsetting dreams and they want to know what the dreams mean.  But how can they know?  Who could interpret the dreams?  Can anyone interpret the dreams??   Yes. Yes, someone can...and does interpret the dreams.  Listen to the story to know more.

Joseph arrives in Egypt and is put up for sale.  A man named Potiphar buys him.  Potiphar is in charge of the Pharoah's prison and his house is large and wealthy.  Joseph works very hard and he learns how to do all the work in the household ...so well that Potiphar puts him in charge of all his house and business affairs.  Wow!  That is quite an honor for a slave.  But then trouble arrives!  How will Joseph manage to get out of trouble?  Listen to the story to find out what happens to him.

Joseph's brothers ignore his cries for help as they sit around the campfire.  Joseph languishes in the well, knowing he will die if no one rescues him.  Then Reuben (who plans on rescuing Joseph) leaves to check on a flock of sheep some miles away from the camp.  And while he is gone,  a caravan of traders pass by the camp on their way to Egypt; and Judah has a great idea!   "Hey! Let's sell Joseph to the traders!" he tells his brothers.  Do the brothers agree with Judah to sell Joseph to the traders?  Listen to the story to find out what happens.

Joseph grows up to be a strong, young man capable of caring for the flocks of animals along with his older brothers.  But while he tends the flocks with them, he often notices they do not do what is best for the animals and Joseph reports this back to his father.  That did not settle well with his brothers. NO!  And then his father makes him this beautiful coat, but nothing like that is made for the brothers.  They become very jealous, and then other things happen that turn that jealousy into hatred; and more things happen that turn hatred into murderous intentions.  They make plans to get rid of him for good!  Will their plans work??  Will they get rid of Joseph??

After Simeon and Levi kill all the men in Sechem and take the wives and children captive, God warns Jacob to gather up all his family and possessions and move far away because their lives were in danger!  And Jacob does move.. to Bethel and on and on until he arrives home.  But many things happen on the journey home..... some that are terrible, some that are very sad, and some that are very good.  Listen to the story to find out what all happens on his journey home.

Jacob's wife, Leah, had six sons and then she has a daughter, Dinah.  By the time they are settled near the city of Shechem, Dinah has become a beautiful, young woman.  One day, she decides to go to the city and meet some of the young women who live in the city.  And while she is there, a terrible thing happens to her--terrible!!   What could have gone so wrong with a visit to the city?  What?   

Jacob sees the dust rising in the distance and he knows it is his brother, Esau, and his 400 men coming towards him.  Jacob is worried.  Do they come as enemies or as friends?  Will his brother, Esau, finally have his chance to kill Jacob like he planned to do 20 years earlier?   Jacob does not know.  Esau and his 400 men come closer and closer.....what will happen?!?  Listen to the story to find out.

Jacob and his caravan are moving across the land and getting closer to home.  Jacob knows Esau will soon hear he is coming so he sends messengers ahead to meet Esau and tell him, "I am Jacob, your brother, and I am coming home.  I hope we  can meet as friends."  And the messengers return to Jacob telling him, "We found Esau and gave him your message.  He is coming to meet you and he has 400 men with him."    400 men!!!  Jacob is shaken to the bone, scared!!  He knows he cannot stand against an attack by 400 men who are led by no other than his brother who wanted to kill him.  What will he do???  What?  

Jacob notices Laban and his sons have turned against him.  They are jealous that Jacob got rich and they mean to do harm to him.  Jacob needs to escape! But how will he leave without Laban knowing?  How can he manage to take everything with him?  How?  Listen to the story and find out what happens to Jacob.

Jacob's family has become large and he is ready to return home to his father who is very, very old by now.  He tells Laban, "I want to return to my homeland."  But Laban has become rich with Jacob's help with the animals.  Laban does NOT want Jacob to leave.  NO!  What does Laban do to keep Jacob from leaving??  Listen to the story and find out.

In our last story, we learned Jacob had two wives!  Yes, two!  Leah and Rachel.  And life changes for Jacob, Leah, and Rachel.  Listen to the story to learn about all the blessings and troubles that come their way.  

Jacob meets the beautiful sheperdess, Rachel, at the well and then he meets Laban, his mother's brother.  Laban invites Jacob to stay as long as he wants.  Jacob tries to help out as much as he could.  He often went with Rachel and helped with the flock of sheep.  And before long, Jacob falls in love with Rachel.  Life seemed so good, until........ !!

Esau is very, very angry with Jacob for stealing his blessings... so angry, he wants to kill Jacob!  Jacob has to escape to save his life.  Where will he go and what will happen to him??   Listen to the story to find out.

In this story we learn Isaac has become a very old man and he is blind, he cannot see anything.   He decides to put his affairs in order before he dies.  He has one last important task to do and that task is to give a blessing to his oldest son, Esau.  But things go wrong.....VERY WRONG!  Listen to the story to find out what happens.

 Isaac becomes very rich with many herds of animals, but  then a drought comes over the land.  Soon there  is no grass for the animals to eat., nor enough food for Isaac and his family. Isaac decids it is time to move and he moves all his animals and family near the city of Gerar.  And oh my!  All kinds of things happen to Isaac and Rebekah!!  Listen to the story to find out what happens...

Abraham marries after Sarah dies and has more sons!!  You will want to hear about this for sure.  We learn more about Ishmael.  And we will hear that Rebekah has twin boys and how different they are.  And we will hear about those two boys growing up and something about a birthright.  You will have to listen to this story to find out more.

Abraham was nearing the end of his life, very old, he wanted to find a wife for his son, Isaac, among his relatives in his homeland.  He gives the task to his most trusted servant to travel to the far away land and see if he can find a wife for Isaac.  Can the servant find a wife for his master's son??  How would he know which girl was the right girl??  Could he accomplish such a difficult task?? 

Both Abraham and Sarah are getting very old.  When Sarah is 127 years old, she passes away.  Since Abraham owned no land, where would he bury her?  Sarah had been highly respected among the people in the land and Abraham wanted to give her great honor ----but how??  How could he do that if he did not even own land to lay her to rest.  What would he do??  

This story is a difficult story for me.  And it is a time in Abraham's life that was very, very difficult, but God had to know Abraham's heart and through this very difficult decision Abraham had to make, God really did know...REALLY KNOW....Abraham's heart.   

Abraham and Sarah waited many years for a son and finally, Isaac is born!  What a happy time!  But  there is some sadness in the story today, too.  And we will hear about King Abimelech wanting to make a treaty with Abraham.  I wonder what kind of treaty? There are a lot of interesting events in this story.  

Abraham and Sarah move again and this time they move south to an area near a city called Gerar.  Soon after they move the the area, they visit the city of Gerar and people notice them since they are new to the area.  And they really notice Sarah!  She is beautiful and the news that a gorgeous lady is in town travels fast.  And soon there is a big problem.   I wonder what that problem is and I wonder how it gets solved????   Listen to the story to find out.

Today we will learn if there are 10 righteous people in Sodom.   Remember, Sodom is where Lot and his family live.   You will have to listen to the story to find out if there are 10 righteous people.  I wonder what happens to Lot and his family if there are not 10 righteous people???   

In today's story, we learn that God changes Abram & Sarai’s names and why.   And we will learn about what Abram does to seal the promises from God.  You will have to listen to the story to know how Abram seals the promise with God.  

In our last story, we learned that God made a promise to Abram that he would have many decendants.  How could this be since he and Sarai had no children??  How?!  In today's story, we learn how Sarai and Abram try to make the promise of many descendants come true.  You will have to listen to the story to find out what they did.

In this story, we learn about a promise from God and how it was sealed for good -- it would come true!!   But some very strange and unusual things take place when God makes this promise or covenant with Abram.  You will have to listen to the story to find out what kind of  strange and unusual things happen!

This story is about the first war recorded in the Bible.  Four powerful and cruel kings go to war against five other kings and defeat them, taking all their possession, riches, and people who would become slaves to their conquerers.   So what does this have to do with Abram???  Did the four kings attack Abram??  You will have to listen to the story to find out.  

A BIG problem comes up with Abram and Lot.  They both had become so wealthy with thousands of livestock that there was not enough grass and water for all their animals.  And on top of that, there were the locals who used the land for their livestock, too, and it was becoming a very BIG problem with heated arguments! This created an huge issue and instead of Abram and Lot’s herdsmen working together to solve the problem, they ended up fighting among themselves which only made matters worse. Something had to be done!!   Listen to the story to find if they are able to solve the BIG problem.

Because there was no rain for a very, very long time, Abram knew he had to move.  Where to go?  He saw the land of Egypt had plenty of good food, green pastures and all one needed so he decided to move to Egypt.  BUT Abram had a very, very big worry!  He was not worried about enough food for him or his family or his animals. No.  That was not his big worry.  Listen to the story to know what Abram was so worried about and did his worries come true??

This Bible Story series is about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.  They are often called patriarchs in the Old Testament.  These Bible Stories are about four men who trusted God through the good times and hard times in their lives.  God was very personal to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jospeh.  He talked with them and they worshipped God with great faith.    We can listen to their stories and learn to trust God in our lives and we can have faith He will be with us and guide us in our lives.  

This is the last story of Jesus life while he was on earth as told in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  This story tells of his last talk with the disciples, an amazing miracle they see with their own eyes, and how that miracle changed their lives.  They were empowered and ready to go out to the world and tell about Jesus, what Jesus taught, and how Jesus gives power to his disciples.   Listen carefully to this last story.  But..but it is not the last of Jesus.  NO!  Another story begins.....  another very good story.  You can read about it in the book of Acts.

When the disciples went back to Galilee as Jesus had instructed some time earlier, they waited for Jesus to come to them.  But he did not come.  Peter didn't know what to do since Jesus did not appear to them.  He decided they should go fishing.  They got in the boat with nets and all their equipment and sailed out to sea to fish.  BUT...BUT this did not turn out to be any ordinary fishing trip.  NO! NO!    Listen to the story to find out what happened to the disciples when they were fishing on the sea.  Changed their lives forever, that is what this fishing trip did.  YES!  Listen and find out more.

Excitement filled the air for those who believed in Jesus.  There had been rumors that Jesus had appeared to some people.  Was he really alive?!  Did he really come back out the grave alive??!! The disciples of Jesus were gathered together behind closed doors in fear of the Jewish leaders when all of a sudden....YES! The most amazing thing happens right before their eyes! Listen to this story and find out the amazing, exciting, wonderful event that happens right before the disciples eyes!!  Almost unbelievable!

On the day that the women discovered Jesus body was missing from the tomb, two of Jesus followers were leaving Jerusalem and walking to another village.  While they walked along, a stranger came up next to them and was listening to them talk about Jesus death and how the women reported his body missing.  The stranger asked them some questions.  Very interesting questions from a total stranger.  If you want to find out more about the questions and the stranger, you will have to listen to the story.

For three nights and three days, Jesus tomb was secure, watched carefully day and night and nothing disturned that tomb. But at the end of that third day, something happened---something BIG happened!  Listen to this story to find out what that something is that happened.  Exciting story!!

Saying these words, "It is finished."  Jesus dies.  But that is NOT--NO NOT--the end of his story!  And as you listen to the story of all the wonderful and strange happenings the evening of Jesus death, you will know why this is a night that should always be remembered!  

Yes, the verdict was....Jesus must die!  And this story tells about his death--and the things that happened.  Terrible things, strange things, kind things, forgiving things, sad things.  

When Pilate tells the crowd, lead by the Jewish leaders, that Jesus did no crime worthy of death, they shout back to Pilate, "By our laws he must die for he claims to be the Son of God."   Now that really, really worried Pilate!  He took Jesus aside and questions him "Are you the Son of God?"  What does Jesus tell Pilate?  Does Jesus really have to die??  Listen to find out the answers to those questions.

The Jewish leaders brought Jesus before the Roman governor since they could not sentence a man to death. They told the governor Jesus must die! The Roman governor questions Jesus.  Then he sends him to another ruler, Herod.  Herod questions Jesus.  Do the rulers find Jesus worthy of death?  Listen to the story to find out.