Why did Joseph have to go through such terrible things?
Joseph endured terrible things because it was all within God's sovereign plan. God sent him ahead to Egypt to preserve his family, so the twelve sons would not die in the famine. Though God's ways are often beyond understanding, He acted according to His own will and providence.
Les teaches that Joseph's terrible experiences were part of God's sovereign plan, even though much of it was miserable. In Genesis 45, Joseph told his brothers, "Be not grieved nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me hither," because God sent him ahead of time to preserve them. If Joseph had not been in Egypt, the twelve sons would likely have died in the famine, but God in His providence had prepared everything. Les also connects this reunion and weeping to Israel's future recognition of Christ, when they will look upon the one they pierced and mourn.