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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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.”
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.
Jeremiah 40:13-16, 41:1-15
This ends today’s reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
At
the end of yesterday’s devotion, it seemed that things were getting back to
some sense of normalcy in Judah, even though it was a new normal.
The
Babylonians had indeed overtaken the Israelites and now ruled over the Promised
Land which was only inhabited by a remnant composed of the poorest in the land who
had been left behind to harvest wine, summer fruit, and olive oil. All the rest
of the Israelites had been taken captive and exiled to Babylon.
The
existence for the Israelite remnant in Judah wasn’t bad. They were allowed to
settle down and work the land, governed by a man by the name of Gedaliah who
was appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar to supervise all the men, women, and
children. In fact, life was so well for this remnant that word started to
spread and other Jews, who had scattered from the land during the Babylonian
onslaught, decided to return to Judah and join them. Scripture tells us these
Jews came from “Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries”, and once they
arrived they got to work and “harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit”
(Jeremiah 40:11-12).
Yes,
all seemed to be going well for the people of God who were still in Judah. But
as we know all too well, any time the people of God are doing well, Satan is
always lurking and waiting to strike. As we see in today’s scripture passage,
that definitely was true in the case of Gedaliah and the people he governed. Look
again at these verses:
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.”
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. Jeremiah 40:13-16, 41:1-15
Our
word of God for today starts with a warning given to Gedaliah, Judah’s
governor. We read where Johanon and his fellow army officers came to the
governor with some disturbing news for there were people who already wanted Gedaliah
dead. Specifically, we’re told that “Baalis, king of the Ammonites,” had sent
an assassin to take the life of the governor.
How
did Gedaliah respond?
He
was incredulous but Johanan insisted something be done, suggesting that it
would be wise to strike first and kill Ishmael before he had a chance to murder
Gedaliah. Again, Gedaliah refused to believe and flat out accused his army
officer of not being truthful to him.
He
should have listed because Johanan was right. There truly was an enemy in
Gedaliah’s midst and as we see, that enemy did strike for in the seventh month,
as Gedaliah was sharing a meal with Ishmael and his ten men, Ishmael took out
his sword and assassinated Gedaliah who scripture reminds was “the one
whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.”
But
Ishmael’s murderous antics were not finished, not by a long shot. For after he
killed Gedaliah, he next slaughtered “all the men of Judah who were with
Gedaliah at Mizpah” and “the Babylonian soldiers who were there.”
Hindsight
being twenty-twenty, Gedaliah should have listened, huh?
Well,
Ishmael wasn’t done. He hung around until the next day and when eighty men came
bringing grain offerings and incense to the house of the Lord, Ishmael met them
and asked them to follow him to Gedaliah but in reality he was asking them to follow
him to their death. God’s word tells us that when the men went into the city, all
but ten of the men were all massacred by Ishmael and his men, then thrown into
a cistern where Ishmael had placed the other bodies. The ten who were spared
were allowed to flee after they told Ishmael they had “wheat and barley, olive
oil and honey, hidden in a field.”
Ishmael didn’t kill everyone. He “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”, everyone who Gedaliah had been placed in authority
over. With these captives in hand, Ishmael set out to go back to the Ammonites
but he met some resistance when Johanan and his army officers “heard about all
the crimes” Ishmael had committed. Johanan and his offices “took all their men
and went to fight Ishmael”, catching up with him at “the great pool in Gibeon.”
Scripture tells us the captive Jews were overjoyed to see Johanan and ran from
Ishmael to him. And while that was happening, Ishmael and eight of his men
managed to escape and they fled to the Ammonites.
It
was quite a series of events but I know I can’t help but wonder how things
would have been different had Gedaliah just listened to the wise counsel of
Johanan and taken the offensive against Ishmael. So many lives could have been
spared, including his own. But as we know, that didn’t happen and catastrophe
followed as Satan’s evil rose to the forefront with a horrific outcome.
Friends,
are we ready to accept that we have an enemy in our midst who has one primary
goal and that is to destroy any good and perfect thing God is trying to do?
Will
we receive the warnings found in the scriptures and adopt proper defenses
against Satan’s attacks, donning the full armor of God every day (Ephesians 6:10-17)?
Or
are we going to be like Gedaliah and deny that an enemy is present until it’s
too late and that enemy strikes?
Satan
is real. His evil is real. We can’t deny this. If we do, we’re fools.
But
here’s the one thing that will always vanquish our enemy, a person who is
guaranteed victory over him every single time, a person who will help us become
overcomers as well, not by our own strength but rather His strength living and
abiding in us.
For
Jesus is real and He has already defeated Satan, sin, death, and the grave. We
can’t deny this truth.
And
when people choose to fully place their hope and trust in Jesus, making His
will their will and His life their life, then they become victorious people
themselves, a people that can also conquer the enemy Satan through the power of
Jesus who has already conquered him.
That’s
good news we need to hold onto through every day we’re blessed with, until that
day when this worldly life is over and we receive our eternal promise through
Jesus, an eternal promise that no longer contains an enemy or sin or pain or
suffering or hardship, just light and love and life everlasting.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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