Alone in Egypt

Things didn’t get better in Egypt. At first Joseph rose to a position of trust and responsibility as overseer of a household, but then he was falsely accused of a crime, and was put in prison. Release from prison finally came because God gave Joseph the meaning of prophetic dreams, and Joseph became a powerful man in the land. Joseph was thirty years old.

So why is this story included in God’s Word? One reason is that Joseph is an ancestor of Jesus Christ. Another reason is that Joseph’s story is one of God’s faithfulness and protection towards his people. But God also wants us to know that He understands the human condition. He knows we have sorrow. He knows we have trouble in this life, and that loneliness comes in many forms.

Joseph was alone as a child among his family. He was alone while others talked and socialized. He was alone on a journey to a strange land, and alone in that strange land for years. God truly was Joseph’s only companion. Everyone else used him as a tool for their own purposes. God was Joseph’s companion, not only because He never left Joseph, but because He understood him. We read about Joseph’s aloneness because God knows how pervasive aloneness is, and He understands and will preserve us as He understood and preserved Joseph.

Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life...So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God...

Gen 45:5, 7