Before these men started for home, the story tells us, Joseph caused each man’s silver to be returned to him in one of his purchased sacks of grain. In addition, he gave them provisions for their journey. The use of these provisions would have kept them from opening their sacks until well along in their journey. But at last, for some reason or another, perhaps because the traveling provisions ran short, one of the brothers opened his sack and discovered the money Joseph had returned. What consternation! “My silver has been returned,” he said to the others. “Here it is in my sack.”
This caused their hearts to sink, and they turned to each other fearfully. “What is this that God has done to us?” they said (v. 28).
Here we must really stop. For this is the first time in the entire story, from the birth of the first of the sons of Jacob in chapter 29 to chapter 42, when any one of these brothers (Joseph excepted) is said to have mentioned God. As we have seen, Joseph spoke of God constantly. There is hardly a sentence he utters that does not have the name of God in it. Not so with these brothers! Not once in all their story until now have they even uttered the word “God.” Now significantly, as the hand of God tightens around them, they exclaim in anguish, “What is this that God has done to us?”
This statement is such a significant breakthrough in these lives that it is worth examining in detail. I ask two questions of it:
1. What do the brothers mean by this question? A person who is reading this casually might think that the answer is obvious. Their silver had been returned in circumstances which might cause them to be accused of having cheated the ruler of Egypt. Therefore, they might be thought to be saying, “What is God trying to accomplish in our lives by allowing us to fall into such questionable and dangerous circumstances?” or even “Why is God allowing us to fall into these circumstances?” I suggest that although these questions are not excluded, what the brothers are actually uttering is not so much a question (though it is phrased that way) as a statement. Actually, for the first time in their lives they are acknowledging that God is controlling a specific and important circumstance of their lives. They mean: “God has done this! God is not forgetful of our sin, as we had thought! God has seen it! God remembers it! God is requiring a reckoning! God is intervening powerfully and directly in our lives!”
What makes this so significant and particularly relevant to us is that the circumstance to which they referred was no miracle. When we are far from God and arrogantly think that God should intervene in our lives to do something we want, we generally have a miracle in mind. Or at least we want God to work contrary to the normal course of events. This was no miracle, this finding of their money in their sacks. We know how it happened: Joseph caused it to be put there. And even though the brothers did not know exactly how their money was returned, they certainly did not think it was a miracle. They did not understand it, but the money got there somehow—through some mistake perhaps. What bothered them was not the miraculous but rather the providential nature of the event. It could have been the most insignificant of circumstances. It was not insignificant to them. However small it was, it was proof that God was present in their circumstances and that he was going to demand a reckoning for their sin where Joseph was concerned.
