JEREMIAH 41
This chapter tells a very tragic incident that demonstrates the fact that sinners
are pursued by evil. Here, the dark cloud that was forming in the last chapter erupts
in a terrible storm. When their brethren had fled to places they did not know, the few
Jews who had managed to survive the captivity were proud to believe they were still
in their homeland. They also loved the wine and summer fruits they had gathered
and felt very secure under Gedaliah’s protection. However, all of a sudden, even
these remnants turned out to be in ruins.
I. Gedaliah is brutally murdered by Ishmael (v. 1, 2).
II. A pit was filled with the bodies of all the Jews who were with him and were killed in
the same manner (v. 3). (v. 9).
III. Ishmael drew in and killed a number of pious men who were traveling towards
Jerusalem, numbering forty (v. 4-7). Ten only managed to get away (v. 8).
IV. Those who managed to avoid the sword were captured by Ishmael and taken to
the Ammonite nation as prisoners (v. 10).
V. Johanan’s actions and bravery led to the release of the inmates and his
appointment as their commander-in-chief, despite the fact that the victims’ deaths
were not paid for (v. 11-16).
VI. His plan is to take them into Egypt (vv. 17, 18), about which we will learn more in
the following chapter.
It’s difficult to decide which is more amazing: God’s approval or men
committing the kind of crimes we see here. Such heinous, barbaric, bloody work is
here carried out by men who by their birth ought to have been men of honor, by their
religion ought to have been just men, and this carried out upon those of their own
nature, nation, and religion, and now their brethren in distress, when they were all
brought under the control of the victorious Chaldeans, and smarting under the
judgments of God, upon no provocation, nor with any prospect of advantage-all
done, not only in cold. We hardly ever find such a case of heinous brutality in the
Bible, so we can understand John’s amazement when he encountered the woman
who had been drinking saints’ blood. However, God allowed it in order to bring about
a people’s total destruction and to allow their judgments, which had already reached
their full extent, to be fulfilled. Let it stir up in us a fury at human wrongdoing and awe
at the justice of God.
I. Ishmael and his cohorts murdered Gedaliah on purpose in the first place.
Although God had made him a good man and a great blessing to his country,
and his agency for its welfare was like life from the dead, neither of these
things could secure him, despite the fact that the king of Babylon had made him a great man and had appointed him to be governor of the land that he had conquered. Ishmael was of the royal seed (v. 1), thus he was angered that Gedaliah should earn and accept a commission under the king of Babylon and was jealous of his rising prominence. He was accompanied by ten princes of the king who shared the same peevish resentments as he did and who had previously visited with Gedaliah to seek his protection (ch. 40:8).
They had a meal in Mizpah and broke bread together. Despite the knowledge
Johanan had given him, he gladly entertained them and showed no signs of
jealousy. He was genuinely cordial to them and did everything he could to
please them even though they pretended to be friends with him and didn’t
warn him to be on guard. However, those who did break bread with him raised
their heel in his direction. Instead of picking a fight with him, they waited for a
chance to kill him when they had him by themselves in verse 2.
II. They also put to death everyone they discovered armed there, both Jews and
Chaldeans, who worked for Gedaliah or were involved in any way in seeking
retribution for his death (v. 3). As if the Chaldeans’ bloodshed of Israelites
wasn’t enough, their own rulers in this place mix it with Chaldean blood. Due
to how skillfully the horrible atrocity was carried out and camouflaged, the
vinedressers and husbandmen were preoccupied in the fields and were
unaware of it.
III. Ishmael drew in some nice, upright men who were mourning the destruction
of Jerusalem with tears in their eyes and killed them along with the others.
See,
- They originated (v. 5) in Shechem, Samaria, and Shiloh, once famous but
now greatly diminished towns; they belonged to the ten tribes, yet some
people in those nations still had a soft spot for the worship of the God of
Israel. - Where they were heading was to the temple in Jerusalem, the home of the
Lord, of which they had probably heard about the destruction. They were
going to pay their respects to its ashes and to view its remains so that their
eyes may fill with sadness for them. They prefer the dust of it, Ps. 102:14.
They carried sacrifices and incense in case they came across an altar—even
one made of earth—and a priest who was willing to perform rituals. If not, they
nevertheless displayed their goodwill, like Abraham did when he arrived at the
altar’s location even though it was empty. The people of God used to enter the
Lord’s house with joy, but these went in the manner of mourners, with their
clothes torn and their heads shaven; the providence of God had loudly cried
out for weeping and mourning because the faithful worshipers of God were
not present as they had been in recent months. - How Ishmael’s malice lured them into a deadly trap. He made the decision
to kill them all when he heard of their approach since he was so bloodthirsty.
He gave off the impression that he detested anyone with an Israelite last
name or an honest man’s looks. He had resentment for these pilgrims
heading for Jerusalem because of their mission. Ishmael went out to greet
them with crocodile tears, appearing to lament the destruction of Jerusalem
alongside them. He courted them into the town to see how they felt about
Gedaliah and his administration and discovered that they had respect for him,
which reinforced his decision to kill them. Come to Gedaliah, he said, saying
he wanted them to come and live with him while, in reality, he wanted them to
come and die with him (v. 6). They were willing to get to know Gedaliah
because they had heard about his character, but Ishmael killed them when he
found them in the middle of the town (v. 7). He probably took the offerings
they had and used them for his own purposes because he wouldn’t stick with
such a murder and wouldn’t stick with sacrilege. - When Asa the king of Judah built or fortified Mizpah (1 Ki. 15:22) to
serve as a frontier-garrison against Baasha the king of Israel and out of fear
for him, he dug the same pit that Asa the Judahite had long before, either in
the city or adjacent to it, to dispose of the dead bodies of those he had killed
and the others (v. 7). Be aware that those who dig pits with good intentions
often have no idea how they could be used negatively in the future. He killed
so many people that he was unable to provide them all a burial or refused to
treat them with the respect they deserved, so he promiscuously piled them all
into one pit. Ten of the last ones to be killed succeeded in getting a pardon by
preying on the covetousness, not the compassion, of those who had them at
their mercy (v. 8). Slay us not, for we have treasurers in the field, country
treasures, large stocks upon the ground, abundance of such commodities as
the country affords, wheat and barley, and oil and honey, they pleaded with
Ishmael as he prepared to devour their blood like an insatiable horseleech
after that of the companions. They implied that they would discover it to him
and put him in possession of it all, if he would spare them. - A man will give his entire possessions, including his skin, to save his
life. This lure was effective. Ishmael saved them out of greed for money rather
than out of pity. Here, wealth was preserved for its owners—not for their harm
(Eccl. 5:13) or to take their lives (Job 31:39), but for their benefit and the
preservation of their lives. Solomon notes that a man’s wealth can
occasionally serve as the price for his life. However, those who attempt to
appease death when it arrives on a commission and begs for mercy, saying,
“Slay us not; we have treasures in th犀利士 e field,” will discover death to be
unavoidable and themselves to be pitifully deluded.
IV. He took the prisoners with him. The poor of the land, the vine-dressers and
husband-men who were put under Gedaliah’s care, and the king’s
daughters—whom the Chaldeans did not care to bother themselves with
when they had the king’s sons—were all led away captives toward the
Ammonites’ homeland (v. 10), with Ishmael likely intending to present them as
the trophies of his barbaric victory to the king of that nation who had sent him
on. This depressing tale serves as a reminder to us that we can never feel
secure in this world. When we think the worst is gone, there may be worse to
come; also, what we perceive to be the conclusion of one problem could
actually be the start of a bigger problem. These inmates believed that the
bitterness of death and imprisonment had long since passed, yet some had
been killed with the sword and others had been taken captive. When we start
to relax and believe we are safe, destruction might surprise us in that
direction. Numerous ships have sunk in the harbor. On this side of paradise,
we can never be certain of serenity.
It would have been better if Johanan had remained with Gedaliah after
informing him of Ishmael’s treacherous plan, even though he was unable to kill
Ishmael and stop it that way. He and his captains could have served as a lifeguard
for Gedaliah and a terror to Ishmael, stopping the mischief without the spilling of
blood. However, it appears they were out on an expedition, possibly Those who tend
to ramble frequently find themselves in the wrong location at the wrong moment. But
eventually they learn about all the bad that Ishmael did. Those who tend to ramble
frequently find themselves in the wrong location at the wrong moment. But eventually
they learn of all the wrongdoing Ishmael had committed (v. 11), and they decide to try
an after-game, which is described in these verses.
- We fervently wished that Johanan had been able to exact retribution on the killers,
but instead, he was only successful in freeing the prisoners. It seems surprising that
revenge allowed them to survive, yet it did, for those who had lost so much blood. It
was unfortunate that their blood had to be shed. Upon learning of the murders
Ishmael had committed (because even though he had covered them up for a while,
v. 4), Johanan assembled what forces he could and headed to battle with him (v. 12).
He then chased him and caught up with him near the large pool of Gibeon, which we
learn about in 2 Sa. 2:13. Ishmael’s heart gave out in response to his sudden
appearance with such intensity, his guilty conscience flew in his face, and he dared
not defend himself against an adversary who was roughly a match for him. The
cowardliest people are frequently the cruelest. Ishmael did not offer to hold them
when he saw Johanan, and the unfortunate hostages were pleased to see him and
the captains who were with him, looking upon them as their deliverers (v. 13), and
they right away found a means to wheel about and come to them (v. 14). Keep in
mind that those who want help must first seek it out.
These prisoners did not wait until their conquerors were defeated; instead,
they seized the first chance to flee as soon as they saw their allies arrive and their
foes get discouraged as a result. In order to save his life, Ishmael stopped praying
and fled with eight other men (v. 15). He made the best of his way to the Ammonites
as a perfect renegade who had completely abandoned all relations to the
commonwealth of Israel, despite the fact that he was of royal seed, and we hear
nothing more of him. It appears that two of his ten men, who were his banditti or
assassins (spoken of in verse 1), either deserted him or were killed in the
engagement.
- We fervently wish that Johanan, after freeing the captives, would have sat down
with them and administered them peacefully, as Gedaliah did; however, he is instead
in favor of leading them into Egypt, just as Ishmael would have led them into the land
of the Ammonites; consequently, even though he gained control of them more
honestly than Ishmael did, he did not use it much better. Johanan, who had a strong
and restless spirit, was placed in charge of them for their harm and to bring about
their ultimate downfall, even after they had been, as they believed, redeemed.
Gedaliah, who had a meek and peaceful soul, was a tremendous blessing to them.
So God continued to act in opposition to them.
Johanan and the commanders made a hasty decision; according to them, the
only option was to travel to Egypt (v. 17), and in order to do so, they set up camp for
a while near David’s hometown of Bethlehem. Most likely, it was some land that
David gave to Chimham, the son of Barzillai, but that still bore Chimham’s name
when it was given back to David’s family during the Jubilee year. Here, Johanan
established his base of operations while directing his route toward Egypt out of either
a personal fondness for that nation or an ingrained national belief in the Egyptians’
ability to assist in times of need. It appears that some of the powerful warriors had
managed to flee. Those he took with him as well as the women and children he had
rescued from Ishmael were thus moved from ship to ship because they were still
unaltered.
This resolution’s justification was absurdly trivial. Because Ishmael had killed
Gedaliah, they appeared to be scared of the Chaldeans and that they would arrive
and do something to them (v. 18). Although it is true that the Chaldeans had fair
cause to detest the murder of their viceroy, they were not so irrational or unjust as to
exact retribution on those who stood out so vehemently against the killers.
Therefore, I do not believe that they truly believed they were in danger. But they
merely use this as a ruse to mask the wicked desire to go back to Egypt that their
unbelieving forefathers had, which was very strong in them. Those who use
imagined worries to justify their misbehavior will justly lose their solace in real
anxieties.