Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah. He had found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah who were being carried into exile to Babylon. When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The Lord your God decreed this disaster for this place. And now the Lord has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey him. But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don’t come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please.” However, before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan added, “Go back to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the towns of Judah, and live with him among the people, or go anywhere else you please.”
Then the commander gave him provisions and a present and let him go. So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land.
When all the army officers and their men who were still in the open country heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam as governor over the land and had put him in charge of the men, women and children who were the poorest in the land and who had not been carried into exile to Babylon, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men. Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you. I myself will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine, summer fruit and olive oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the towns you have taken over.”
When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit.
Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah and said to him, “Don’t you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.
Then Johanan son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?”
But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true.”

• Jeremiah 40:1-16

In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king’s officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. Ishmael also killed all the men of Judah who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were there.
The day after Gedaliah’s assassination, before anyone knew about it, eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the Lord. Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he met them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.” When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern. But ten of them said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have wheat and barley, olive oil and honey, hidden in a field.” So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others. Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.
Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—the king’s daughters along with all the others who were left there, over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
When Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon. When all the people Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him, they were glad. All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites.
Then Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him led away all the people of Mizpah who had survived, whom Johanan had recovered from Ishmael son of Nethaniah after Ishmael had assassinated Gedaliah son of Ahikam—the soldiers, women, children and court officials he had recovered from Gibeon. And they went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt to escape the Babylonians. They were afraid of them because Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.

• Jeremiah 41:1-18

To read Jeremiah 42:1-22, click this link HERE.

When Jeremiah had finished telling the people all the words of the Lord their God—everything the Lord had sent him to tell them—Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to settle there.’ But Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to hand us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or carry us into exile to Babylon.”
So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the Lord’s command to stay in the land of Judah. Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan—the men, the women, the children and the king’s daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah along with them. So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the Lord and went as far as Tahpanhes.
In Tahpanhes the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “While the Jews are watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them. He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive. As a shepherd picks his garment clean of lice, so he will pick Egypt clean and depart. There in the temple of the sun in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

• Jeremiah 43:1-13

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Jeremiah 40:2-6 ‘prior to Gedaliah’s assassination’: “The pagan captain understood the judgment of God better than the leaders of Judah.
“The captain did exactly as Nebuchadnezzar had told him in 39:12.
“Jeremiah chose to go to Gedaliah, the newly appointed governor at Mizpah several miles north of Jerusalem. Gedaliah was soon to be assassinated (cf. 41:1-3).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Jeremiah 40:7 ‘a naïve Gedaliah’: ”When the good news got out that Gedaliah was in charge of affairs in Judah, the people who had fled and hidden because of the siege began to come back to the land (Jer. 40:7, 11-12). Gedaliah was a good man from a good family, although events proved that he was very naïve about practical politics.
“Gedaliah told the people exactly what Jeremiah had been telling them for many years: Serve the Babylonians, and you will live safely in the land. The people couldn’t reap any harvest of grain because the fields hadn’t been sown during the siege, but they could gather the produce that had not been destroyed in the war. The remnant in Judah had to follow the same instructions that Jeremiah gave to the exiles in Babylon: Live normal lives, turn to the Lord with all your hearts, and wait for the Lord to deliver you (29:4-14). God had promised a future for the nation because the nation had important work to do.”

• Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive

Jeremiah 41:5 ‘eighty men’: “Most likely, this group had come in mourning over the destruction of Jerusalem, and so servants (v. 8) were led to slaughter. He did amazing damage with only ten men (v. 1). Eventually, they must have acquired more to do than what is described in verse 10.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Jeremiah 41:12-15 ‘went to fight with Ishmael’: “Johanan heard of Ishmael’s murders and taking people captive; thus, he brought men to stop him. They freed the captives (vv. 13, 14), but Ishmael and his men escaped (v. 15).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Jeremiah 42:1-6 ‘pray for us’: “The remnant in Judah asked Jeremiah to pray to God and find His will on what they should do. They promised to obey (v. 6).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Jeremiah 42:4 ‘eat from the good of the land’: “The Lord has spoken to us all and said, ‘If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:19).
“Willing and obedient Christians—where are they? Why do we have so many spineless and shrinking Christians, apparently without any strength of character?
“Why should we find a Christian man praying, ‘Oh Lord, help me to be honest.’ He knows well enough that if he is not honest he will go to jail.
“l have heard people pray, ‘Oh Father, help me to quit lying.’ God never taught them to lie-He just says ‘Quit your lying.’ …
“It is time that we Christians wake up and assume our spiritual responsibilities. Let us ask God to wind up our backbones; let us ask Him to give us the courage to pray, ‘Now, God, show me what to do!’ and get out there and get active.
“lf we are ‘willing and obedient, [we] shall eat the good of the land’—that is the promise of God. But if we refuse and rebel, nothing but judgment lies before us.”

• A. W. Tozer, Echoes from Eden

Jeremiah 42:19-22 ‘keep asking until you get the answer you like’: ”Johanan was once brave enough to want to kill Ishmael, but now he didn’t have the courage to stand for what he knew was right. He was afraid to trust the Lord and stay in the land of Judah, perhaps because he feared what the Babylonians might do when they found out that Gedaliah was dead and Ishmael had filled a pit with dead bodies.
“Their request to Jeremiah sounded sincere and spiritual, but there was deception in the hearts of the leaders, including Johanan (see Jer. 42:19—22). They had their minds already made up to go to Egypt, and they were hoping Jeremiah would agree with them. Sometimes God’s people take this false approach in discerning the will of God. Instead of honestly seeking God’s will, they go from counselor to counselor, asking for advice and hoping they’ll find somebody who will agree with their hidden agenda.
“The Lord kept the people waiting for ten days, possibly to give them time to search their hearts and confess their sins. During those ten days, they could see that the Lord was caring for them and that they had nothing to fear. That should have convinced them that the plan to flee to Egypt was a Foolish one.”

• Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive

Jeremiah 42 ‘challenge’: “Our response to truth should be eager and instant. We dare not daily with it; we dare not treat it as something we can obey or not obey, at our pleasure. It is a glorious friend, but it is nevertheless a hard master, exacting unquestioning obedience. …
“The true follower of Christ will not ask, ‘If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?’ Rather he will say, ‘This is truth, God help me to walk in it, let come what may!’”

• A. W. Tozer, The Set of the Sail

Jeremiah 43:1-7 ‘when Jeremiah … stopped speaking’: “The incorrigible, disobedient leaders accused him of deceit and forced Jeremiah and the remnant to go to Egypt, despite the fact that all his prophecies about Babylon had come to pass. In so doing, they went out of God’s protection into His judgment, as do all who are disobedient to His Word.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Jeremiah 43:3-6 ‘Baruch’: “The faithful recorder of chapter 36 was still with Jeremiah, kept safe as God promised him at least twenty years earlier (45:5; cf. 605 B.C. in v. 1).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Jeremiah 43:9-13 ‘Take large stones’: “Stones, placed in the mortar of the brick pavement in the courtyard entrance of the Pharaoh’s house, signaled the place where the conquering king of Babylon would bring devastation on Egypt and establish his throne. This was fulfilled in an invasion c. 568/67 B.C.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Jeremiah 43:12 ‘as a shepherd puts on his garment’: “A simple and easy task describes how quickly and easily Nebuchadnezzar will conquer Egypt.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

Jeremiah 43:13 ‘sacred pillars of Beth Shemesh’: “Hebrew ‘house of the sun.’ This refers to a temple for the worship of the sun. Located north of Memphis, east of the Nile River, these pillars were said to be sixty to one hundred feet high.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics

 

My Thoughts

While there are not many scholarly quotes for this section, I find there is a tremendous wealth of wisdom regarding human depravity.

First Jeremiah is gathered up with others to be taken to Babylon as captives.  He is still in chains, but Nebuzaradan, the commander of the Imperial guard, not only recognizes Jeremiah, he recognized that the people of Judah were not faithful to their God as Jeremiah had prophesied.  Nebuzaradan let Jeremiah go free.  He offered Jeremiah freedom to go anywhere, but he suggested until he made up his mind, Gedaliah’s palace in Mizpah was probably the safest place.  Gedaliah had been made governor by Nebuchadnezzar.

Then Gedaliah ordered the people to do as Nebuchadnezzar had commanded.  This was also what Jeremiah had told the people what God wanted, but Ishmael gathered others with him and they killed Gedaliah.  Johanan then gathered people to kill Ishmael.  Most of those were killed, and Ishmael started out for the land of the Ammonites.  They were eventually chased.  Most of the remaining Jews joined Johanan, but Ishmael and eight others escaped to the Ammonites.

How often do we hear someone say that the safe course is best, but that gets people run out of office.  Most people want change and rapidly.  They are greedy.  Everything would have been fine, but they killed the governor.

Now, with the new leader of the Jews, they want to run to Egypt, scared.  They want Jeremiah to pray, and they promise to do whatever Jeremiah says, but they had no intention of doing anything other than run away to Egypt.

How many times do we pray with our wanted goal in mind and do what we want rather than what God said.  Why bother praying if our mind is made up?  But we do it anyway.

And in this case, they took Jeremiah and Baruch with them.

And then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah again.  He placed large stones in the clay at Tahpanhes and he prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would set his throne upon those stones.  Going to Egypt sealed their doom.  It did not save them.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

“Jeremiah 40:1-6 Jeremiah Freed 1. How do you respond to unexpected setbacks: Complain? Fight? Rebound? Give up? Give an example.
“2. Ever been ‘freed’ by a non-believer to pursue God’s will? How did that feel?
“3. Do you need support from your group? How so?
“Jeremiah 40:7-41:15 Gedaliah assassinated 1. Do you think Gedaliah was right not to make a preemptive strike at Ishmael? Why or why not? What else could he have done to protect himself?
“2. Are you a good judge of character? What sorts of things influence your impressions? Have you ever seriously misjudged someone’s intentions towards you?
“3. ls there any situation in which you are tempted to take matters into your own hands and rid your self of the person you can’t get along with? If violence only begets more violence, why do you do it’? If running away from your problems or striking first doesn’t solve your problems, what does?
“Jeremiah 41:16-43:13 Flight to Egypt 1. Review the dialogue this past week between you and yours. When were your questions really statements? When were your statements really questions? Do you have trouble being direct? When is it toughest to ask what you really want to know or say how you really feel?
“2. In your decision-making process this past week, at what point did you seek God’s counsel? The input of others? Did you truly want advice, or simply a blessing on your plans?
“3. Have you ever obeyed God’s word to you at a time when all your gut instincts said ‘no’? What happened as a result of your obedience?
“4. When in doubt about someone’s intentions, do you assume the best or the worst? Are you naturally trusting or skeptical? Has anyone ever doubted your integrity, as they did Jeremiah’s? Why?
“5. Do you prefer to ‘call the shots’ in work situations? In relationships? What do you find objectionable about ‘submitting’ to someone? When was the last time you deliberately surrendered control? What happened?
“6. Have you ever felt beyond Gods reach? Did God reach you, alter all? How so? Do you know anyone who feels ‘out of touch’ with God? How can you help?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

These four chapters have been divided into three sets of questions as shown above.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.