Chapter 20—The Amazing Story of Joseph
This chapter is based on
Genesis 39
to 41.
Meanwhile, Joseph with his captors was on the way to Egypt. The
boy could discern in the distance the hills among which lay his father’s
tents. Bitterly he wept at thought of that loving father in his loneliness
and affliction. The stinging, insulting words that had met his agonized
entreaties at Dothan were ringing in his ears. With a trembling heart
he looked forward to the future. Alone and friendless, what would be
his lot in the strange land to which he was going? For a time, Joseph
gave himself up to uncontrolled grief and terror.
But even this experience was to be a blessing to him. He had
learned in a few hours that which years might not otherwise have
taught him. His father had done him wrong by his partiality and
indulgence. This had angered his brothers and provoked the cruel deed
that had separated him from his home. In his character, faults had been
encouraged. He was becoming self-sufficient and exacting. He felt
that he was unprepared to cope with the difficulties before him in the
bitter, uncared-for life of a slave.
Then his thoughts turned to his father’s God. Often he had listened
to the story of the vision that Jacob saw as he fled from his home an
exile and a fugitive. He had been told of the Lord’s promises to Jacob,
and how, in the hour of need, angels had come to instruct, comfort,
and protect him. He had learned of the love of God in providing a
Redeemer. Now all these precious lessons came vividly before him.
Joseph believed that the God of his fathers would be his God. He then
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and there gave himself fully to the Lord and prayed that the Keeper of
Israel would be with him in his exile.
His soul thrilled with the high resolve to prove true to God, to act
as a subject of the King of heaven. He would meet the trials of his lot
with fortitude and perform every duty with fidelity. One day’s terrible
calamity had transformed him from a petted child to a man, thoughtful,
courageous, and self-possessed.
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