5901. 'but God' means that the Divine had done so. This is clear without explanation. What is involved in all this has been explained at the point where Joseph's being sold into Egypt is dealt with, in which country he first served in Potiphar's house. That explanation shows that because in a supreme sense Joseph represented the Lord and in a lower sense those who are being regenerated by the Lord, factual knowledge is what has to be acquired first. For that knowledge is the source from which truths have to be deduced and within which those truths have then to be encapsulated. After that, progress can be made to ideas of a more internal nature. These are the things that Joseph' represented, which was why it was the Divine who sent him to that country.