Jeremiah 40-41

Jeremiah 40

1-16 Jeremiah with Gedaliah the Governor

• Nebuzaradan, captain of Nebuchadnezzar's guard, releases Jeremiah from the court of the guard in Ramah, with the acknowledgement that Judah's defeat has been a judgment of God for its wickedness. This pagan seems to realize what the people of God have not realized: that their destiny lay in their choice to obey or disobey God, that whatever strength Babylon had was not the issue.
• He gives him the choice of going to Babylon or staying in Judah.
• If he stays in Judah, he must return to Gedaliah (son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan), whom Nebuchadnezzar has appointed as governor of the towns of Judah.
• Jeremiah chooses to stay in Judah, and Nebuzaradan gives him an allowance of food and a gift and lets him go.
• When the leaders of the forces (including Ishmael son of Nethaniah) who have fled into the fields hear that Gedaliah has been appointed governor, they come to him at Mizpah.
• Gedaliah tells them if they serve the king of Babylon, it will go well with them.
• He tells them to gather wine, summer fruits and oil in their vessels and live in the towns they have taken over.
• All the Judeans return from the places to which they had scattered.
• Johanan (son of Koreah) and other force leaders come to Gedaliah to warn him that Baalis, king of the Ammonites, has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take his life, and they offer to assassinate him.
• Gedaliah doesn't believe them.

Jeremiah 41 (7th month of Gedaliah's term as governor)

1-18 Insurrection against Gedaliah

• Ishmael (son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama of the royal family) comes with 10 men to Gedaliah
• As they eat, Ishmael and his men get up and strike Gedaliah with the sword, killing him, the Judeans that are with him and the Chaldean soldiers that are there as well.
• The day after the murder, before anyone knows about it, 80 men from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, with beards shaved, clothes torn and bodies gashed, bring grain offerings and incense to the temple.
• Ishmael comes out from Mizpah, weeping, and tells the 80 men to come to Gedaliah.
• When they reach the middle of the city, Ishmael and his men slaughter them and throw them into a cistern.
• Ten of the men beg Ishmael for mercy, telling him they have stores of wheat, barley, oil and honey hidden in the fields, so Ishmael spares their lives.
• The cistern, which Ishmael fills with the bodies of those he kills, had been built by King Asa for defense against King Baasha of Israel.
• Ishmael captures all the rest of the people at Mizpah, including the king's daughters, and sets out to cross over to the Ammonites.
• When Johanan (son of Karesh) and all the leaders of the forces hear about what Ishmael has done, they follow him to the pool at Gibeon and rescue his captives.
• However, Ishmael and eight men escape to the Ammonites.
• Johanan and those he has rescused plan to go to Egypt because they are afraid of Ishmael.

Note: What a lot of action takes place in these chapters! I actually want to read on to see what happens next, but for the sake of the day's plans, I'll wait until the next posting.