“Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them. (As impartial and objective observers who have a clearer view of the whole picture than the brothers, what we see here is simply Joseph in his Goodness and in the spirit of burgeoning forgiveness seeking to bless his own flesh and blood. Already in his earlier weeping we see a Joseph that is coming to terms with all that has happened, is finding closure and the Grace to forgive since his earlier harshness, when it was evident that his forgiveness was not yet complete. As a matter of fact his heart is now simply breaking for the torment he has since come to see the brothers have brought upon themselves through their sin and recognises that this is perhaps punishment enough. It is also evident from his retaining merely one brother in prison and freeing as many brothers to carry as much grain as possible to his extended family back home, that his only prerogative now is to meet dear Benjamin and show Goodness to his very own people as best he can. Being a generous, Gentle, Kind, Godly man he stops at nothing in seeking to ensure that they have ample provisions for the journey, as well as of course restoring their property which was seized when they were imprisoned. As logical as this might seem to us, imagine how mind-boggling this must be to the brothers who do not yet see the whole picture. I can also imagine that the servants who have been given the command by Joseph must also have found it quite peculiar, especially if they bore witness to his earlier distrust of these foreign men; luckily they know better than to question their wise young ruler, knowing from experience no doubt that despite his often unorthodox methods, his ways are always blessed.) So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, (i.e. even the family animals have thankfully been saved from starvation as they too are now able to enjoy some of the very same Egyptian grain) he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack. So he said to his brothers, “My money has been restored, (this carefully chosen word used here in Scripture seeks to prophesy of their coming full restoration and forgiveness of sin) and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts failed them (or: “sank”) and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?” (One can only imagine the utter confusion and paranoia suffered by the brothers. For the repaying of evil with Good is such a foreign Kingdom concept even to the best of us that it truly is difficult to wrap one’s head around. No, they must anticipate at this point that some greater device of wrath is here at play and their inability at first to guess it’s rules must have been paralysing! It is also interesting to take note of how they persist in automatically equating the actions of Joseph with the very hand of God. This is of course born of their inherent holy Fear of God as members of His Chosen People, whereby they know that sin against a brother is sin against God Himself and that vengeance is ultimately the Lord’s. It is also very pragmatic in the sense that they believe Joseph to be a mere ignorant instrument in the hands of God for surely a foreign dignitary should have no personal quarrel with them. But finally, simultaneously, it forever serves to be a prophetic banner reasserting Joseph’s Christlikeness for we know that indeed he has been divinely ordained and chosen to represent God on earth for a time in many respects and truly is His instrument in every sense of the word, not merely as a random tool picked up by the Lord for a moment, but as an enduring vessel and ambassador of the Kingdom for many seasons.) 

“²⁵Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them. ²⁶So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. ²⁷But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸So he said to his brothers, “My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!” Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”

– Genesis 42:25-28 (NKJV)