And [as for] the people that remained in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left behind, over them he appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan.
Jerusalem lies in ruins, the temple is stripped, and Judah's leaders are dead. Yet the land is not left empty. Babylon puts one of Judah's own men over the few who remain. What should a ruined people do with the small mercy God has left them?
Gedaliah was not a stranger to Jeremiah's story. His own father had already saved the prophet's life.
Nebuchadnezzar sets Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the people left in the land to work the vineyards and the fields. This Ahikam had saved Jeremiah in the days of Jehoiakim, when Jeremiah, like the prophet Urijah, had prophesied against Jerusalem. No doubt this had its influence on the king of Babylon, who respected and protected Jeremiah. Gedaliah lived at Mizpah, a strong city that Asa, king of Judah, had built with stones from Ramah. Jeremiah went there. So did all those from the surrounding regions who had escaped, along with the poor people who were left. They came to seek the protection of Gedaliah, this noble officer of the king of Babylon. He reassured the people, swearing to them that they had nothing to fear in accepting their subjection to the Babylonians.
Judah keeps an administration but loses its monarchy. Commentators differ on who made the appointment. The verse names Nebuchadnezzar; Grant credits his officer Nebuzaradan.
No king was allowed to rule over Judah. But the country still needed some form of government to keep order. So Nebuzaradan appointed a descendant of the kings, Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, to be governor of the people left in the land.
Gedaliah's policy was submission to Babylon, and he bound the returning officers to it by oath. That looks like defeat. Grant calls it wisdom, and turns it on God's people today.
Gedaliah meant to stay in the land and to be subject to the king of Babylon. He took an oath to that before these men, and required them to serve Nebuchadnezzar too. This was the wise thing to do, for God had brought them down and rebellion would have been rebellion against God. It is the same in the Christian world today. Because of the sad failure in testimony, God has allowed confusion — that is what the name Babylon means — to take public possession of the church. It is only right that we bow to the shame of our confusion, and never expect to return to the bright early days of the church at Pentecost.
Nothing about this group was impressive. What mattered was where it stood, and others came to join it.
Despite all that had happened, this feeble remnant were in their right place in the Lord's land. Many were drawn to them, sought them out, joined the remnant, and received much blessing.
Babylon offered Jeremiah comfort. He turned it down and stayed in the ruined land.
But Jeremiah had no heart for Chaldea, whatever attractions it might appear to offer. He chose to suffer in the land with the lowliest people that men had left behind. … Staying in the place of their humiliation was love, and it was a pledge of restoration.
After Gedaliah's death the survivors faced a choice. Stay in the ruined land, or run to Egypt.
If they would stay, this would be their salvation. Blessing always comes with accepting God's judgment, when the soul submits in humility and, despite everything, counts on Him to bless. To go down to Egypt, where they thought they would find security, would be to walk on into certain judgment.
Gedaliah's rule ended in murder. His killer, Ishmael, belonged to Judah's royal line — the very family that should have protected him.
Normally, and with good reason, this would have guaranteed help to a governor, and support and shelter to the people. But God was forgotten. His judgments and His will counted for nothing, and human corruption ran its course where it least belonged. The ruin of Israel was complete when a man of the royal line sank to the lowest kind of cunning, treachery, and murder — and this against the best of their own people.
- Left — the poor stayed in the land as farm workers, with a governor set over them. No king was allowed, yet God did not leave His people without order.
- Given — Gedaliah came from the family that had once saved Jeremiah. Under his protection, scattered Jews came home from every direction.
- Bowed — his oath to serve Babylon was wisdom. God had brought Judah down, and fighting that would have been fighting God.
- Blessed — the weak remnant stood in the right place, and those who joined it were blessed. Jeremiah chose that shame over comfort in Babylon.
- Lost — a royal kinsman's sword, and then the flight to Egypt, undid it all. Staying would have been salvation; going meant judgment.
And all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, and they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
Jerusalem lies burned, and Babylon has carried off its king. Babylon has put Gedaliah in charge of the few people left in the land. This verse records what happens next. The army officers who had scattered into the countryside come out of hiding. They gather to the new governor at Mizpah. It looks like the start of recovery. It is not.
One writer describes the town Gedaliah lived in, and who came to him there:
Gedaliah lived at Mizpah, a strong city that Asa, king of Judah, had built with the stones of Ramah (1 Kings 15:22). Jeremiah went there too. The people from the surrounding regions who had escaped came there as well. So did the poor people who were left. They came to seek the protection of Gedaliah, this noble officer of the king of Babylon. He reassured the people. He swore to them that they had nothing to fear if they accepted having to serve the Chaldeans.
The town's name has a meaning of its own:
Mizpah — Watch-tower
Gedaliah made the officers swear to serve Babylon. One commentator calls this the wise choice, and says why:
Word spread that Gedaliah had been made Governor. So the officers of the armies and their men, who had scattered from Judah, came to Mizpah, where Gedaliah lived. Among these were some prominent men, especially Ishmael and Johanan (v. 23). Gedaliah planned to stay in the land and to be subject to the king of Babylon. He took an oath to this effect before these men, and required them to serve Nebuchadnezzar too. This was the wise thing to do, for God had brought them down, and rebellion would have been rebellion against God.
Another writer reads the same scene very differently. He notes who swore to whom:
Everything, however, was out of order. The return of the scattered captains and their forces counted for nothing, because the Lord was not in their thoughts at all. And there is a strange reversal here: the governor swore to them, not they to him... The governor's words could not have been friendlier, and his ways could not have been more sincere. He was willing to do his duty to the conqueror while the land lay in distress, and yet also to serve the people as far as he was able.
The first name in the verse is Ishmael. Someone else had sent him:
The captains of the forces that remained gathered around Gedaliah. At their head was Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, a member of the royal family. This man, however, came with evil purposes. Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, had sent him, and his own ambition no doubt pushed him on. Johanan, one of the captains, warned Gedaliah that treachery was being planned. Gedaliah refused to believe it, and refused to take any part in killing Ishmael. Ishmael struck him down in a cowardly way. He also killed the governor's followers and the Chaldean soldiers who were there... Johanan and the captains of the forces went after him, defeated him near the waters of Gibeon, and took the captives back from him.
One writer sets two of the names in the verse side by side:
Johanan, whose name means "Jehovah is a gracious giver," saw clearly that Ishmael was a traitor who had come to kill Gedaliah. He warned Gedaliah against Ishmael, but Gedaliah did not believe him. Gedaliah, being governor, symbolises the government of God, and Johanan, God's grace... Johanan (grace) was a true friend of government (Gedaliah). But sadly, Ishmael deceived Gedaliah. Ishmael could agree to a covenant, then break it very soon after and murder the governor he had come to serve!
The story does not end with Gedaliah's murder. Those who escaped still had one decision to make:
These rescued captives were full of fear and wanted to go to Egypt. They consulted the Lord through Jeremiah to get an answer that suited their own wishes. In fact they had already decided to disobey if the answer did not suit their purpose. The prophet warned them solemnly. If they would stay, this would be their salvation. Blessing always follows the accepting of God's judgment, when the soul humbly submits and still counts on Him to bless despite everything. To go down to Egypt, where they thought they would find security, would be to go on to inevitable judgment (Jer. 42).
- Gather — The scattered officers came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, a strong town whose name means watch-tower. Refugees and the poor of the land came too.
- Bow — Serving Babylon was the wise choice. God had brought Judah down, so rebelling against the conqueror would have been rebelling against God.
- Blind spot — Commentators differ here. One sees a wise submission to God's hand. Another sees a gathering where the Lord had no place in anyone's thoughts.
- Betray — Ishmael stood first in the list and led the captains. A foreign king had sent him to kill. Gedaliah would not believe the warning, and it cost him his life.
- Beyond — The survivors chose Egypt instead of staying. Staying would have saved them. Blessing follows the soul that accepts God's judgment and still counts on Him.
And Gedaliah swore unto them and to their men, and said to them, Fear not to be servants of the Chaldeans dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
Babylon had burned Jerusalem and carried its people away. Nebuchadnezzar left Gedaliah as governor over the poor who remained, and the scattered army captains came to him at Mizpah. His oath to them raises the hardest question of that hour: can accepting defeat ever be the path of faith?
Gedaliah was not a random choice. His father had once saved the prophet Jeremiah, and that may be why Babylon trusted the family.
Nebuchadnezzar puts Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the people left in the land, to work as vine-growers and labourers. This Ahikam had saved Jeremiah in the days of Jehoiakim, when Jeremiah, like the prophet Urijah, had prophesied against Jerusalem (Jer. 26:24). No doubt this act had its influence on the king of Babylon, who respected and protected Jeremiah. Gedaliah lived at Mizpah, a strong city that Asa, king of Judah, had built with the stones of Ramah (1 Kings 15:22). Jeremiah went there. So did everyone from the surrounding regions who had escaped, along with the poor people who were left, to seek the protection of Gedaliah, this noble officer of the king of Babylon. He reassured them, swearing that they had nothing to fear in becoming servants of the Chaldeans.
Notice who swears. A governor would expect oaths of loyalty, not give them.
Everything, however, was out of order. The return of the scattered captains and their forces counted for nothing, because the Lord was not in their thoughts at all. And here is a strange reversal: the governor swears to them, not they to him… Nothing could be friendlier than the governor's words, nor more sincere than his ways. In the distress of the land he was content to do his duty to the conqueror, and to serve the people with all his power.
Serving Babylon sounds like simple surrender. The Chaldeans in the verse are the Babylonians, and one writer explains why bowing to them was wisdom.
Gedaliah intended to stay in the land and to submit to the king of Babylon. He took an oath to this effect before these men, and required them to serve Nebuchadnezzar too. This was the wise thing to do, for God had brought them down and rebellion would have been rebellion against God.
The same test still divides people, and not always in the way you would expect.
In a day of ruin, faith always recognises God's chastening and bows to it. Unbelief always resists, and counts its opposition patriotism, or perhaps religion. This is why the men of Judah saw Jeremiah as a false Jew. He always advised them to submit to the king of Babylon. They thought themselves much better Jews, because they were willing to fight against him.
Gedaliah's oath ends with a promise: it shall be well with you. The same promise met the survivors later, when the choice was to stay in the land or run to Egypt.
The prophet warned them solemnly. If they stayed, this would be their salvation. Blessing always goes with accepting God's judgment, when the soul humbly submits and, despite everything, counts on Him to bless. Going down to Egypt, where they thought they would find safety, would only lead to certain judgment (Jer. 42).
In the end the survivors fled to Egypt, driven by the very fear Gedaliah told them to drop. One writer weighs that fear against open rebellion.
Fear is proof of unbelief just as surely as bold or treacherous rebellion, even if it is not as obvious. The prophet had warned them to submit to the king of Babylon, not to flee into Egypt. This disobedience flowed from distrust. How good it is for the believer that he may trample on his fears, and trust the word of the Lord without anxiety!
One writer draws the same lesson for the church.
It is the same in the Christian world today. Because of the sad failure in testimony, God has allowed confusion — which is what the name Babylon means — to take hold of the church in public view. It is only right that we bow to the shame of our confusion, and never expect a return to the bright days of Pentecost… Some proudly think their heroic efforts will bring in another Pentecost. Fighting for that cause, they sadly persuade themselves that they are really achieving something.
- Bow, don't fight. God had brought Judah down. Rebelling against Babylon would have been rebellion against God, and Gedaliah's oath put that into words.
- Bowing is faith. Faith recognises God's chastening and bows. Unbelief resists, and calls its resistance patriotism or religion.
- Bowing brings blessing. Blessing follows when the soul accepts God's judgment and still counts on Him. That is why the oath ends with a promise of well-being.
- Refusing to bow looks like fear. Fear proves unbelief as surely as open rebellion does. The flight to Egypt was disobedience born of distrust.
- Bow today. Where testimony has failed, own the confusion. Do not stage a heroic recovery of better days.
And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, came, and ten men with him, and smote Gedaliah, that he died, and the Jews and the Chaldeans that were with him at Mizpah.
Two months after Jerusalem fell, ten men killed the governor Babylon had left in charge of the ruined land. The murderer was Ishmael, a man of Judah's own royal family, and the commentators ask how the king's line sank that far.
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The verse records Ishmael's family line. One writer says that detail is there on purpose.
The Holy Spirit adds a description to Ishmael's name and family, and it means something: "of the royal family." Normally, and by right, this should have been a guarantee of help to a governor, a support and shelter to the people. But they forgot God and slighted His judgments as well as His will. Human corruption takes its course where it fits least of all. The ruin of Israel was complete when the royal line sank into the lowest form of cunning, treachery, and murder — and this against the best of their own people.
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Gedaliah did not die unwarned. Johanan told him exactly what was coming, and the plot traced back to a foreign king who wanted no peace in Judah.
But sin ruins everything everywhere. Ambition and intrigue, treachery and violence can work in crushed Judea just as well as in victorious Babylon, and they hurt more there. Evil men find nothing harder to bear than good men, and sometimes how much they owe a good man only makes their plan worse... A wicked Jew lends himself to the plans of a pagan neighbour, who resents any order or easing of sorrow in the land.
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Ishmael ate at the governor's table before he killed him. And the killing did not stop with Gedaliah.
This murder took place right after Ishmael had eaten with Gedaliah, pretending to be his friend. In fact, on the second day after this happened, 80 men came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria wanting to meet with Gedaliah.
after Ishmael met them, weeping, and guided them into the city, where Ishmael and his men killed them, except for ten men who bribed Ishmael to let them live.
One writer weighs what drove Ishmael, and finds the obvious motives too small.
It was not only jealousy of the good man who fell without suspicion at his own table, where he had welcomed these evil messengers as guests. It was not only plain rebellion against the conquering king of Babylon, which then broke out against the local governor and the foreign soldiers at Mizpah. This royal criminal had tasted blood and would carry on his desperate course, not caring whom he killed or why.
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There is another way to read the death of good men at the hands of a bad one.
Who can doubt that it pleased God to take Gedaliah away from the evil to come, and with him those who grieved over the ruins of Israel? It was mercy to them. It was also a further chastening on the guilty people, high or low, that those who acted and felt most rightly should be swept away — and swept away by their own countrymen's hands.
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The murder terrified the survivors, and the next verse records their flight to Egypt. They asked Jeremiah what to do — but the asking was not honest.
Johanan and others with him asked Jeremiah to enquire of the Lord what they ought to do now that Gedaliah was gone. This should not have been difficult, for they had accepted the oath of Gedaliah to remain in the land. Now they told Jeremiah that whatever the Lord said, they would obey. However, Jeremiah told them the Lord had plainly said they would be blessed if they stayed in the land under the rule of Babylon. He also told them they had been hypocritical in saying they would obey the Lord. They had already decided to go to Egypt, and were only hoping God would confirm it.
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Staying would have been their safety: "blessing always accompanies the accepting of God's judgment when the soul humbly submits."
Centuries later, this murder was still being marked on the calendar — and God questioned the marking.
In His answer through Zechariah, God joined to the fast they asked about another one in the seventh month. It seems to have remembered the murder of Gedaliah and others, and the flight into Egypt of the remnant left in the land... The people kept these tragedies with fasting and tears through the seventy years of captivity. As far as we can tell, God gave no direct answer to the question they raised. Instead He raised another question with them.
after Did they have the Lord before their minds in their observances, or only themselves?
- Position. Ishmael's royal descent should have made him a shelter for the people; instead it made his treachery the proof that "the ruin of Israel was complete."
- Plot. The scheme came from outside. A pagan neighbour resented any order or relief in the land, and a wicked Jew lent himself to the plan.
- Table. Ishmael killed the governor right after eating at his table, then killed eighty men who had come in peace.
- Mercy. God took the mourners "from the evil to come" — kindness to them, and a further chastening for the guilty left behind.
- Flight. The survivors asked God what to do with their minds already made up. The blessing lay in staying in the land; they went to Egypt instead.
And all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces, arose and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.
Jerusalem had fallen, and Babylon left a few people in the land under a governor named Gedaliah. Then Gedaliah was murdered, and the last of Judah fled to Egypt — the one place the prophet had told them not to go.
The book of Jeremiah fills in the detail. As one writer shows, the people had already made up their minds. Only then did they ask God what to do.
Verse 26 (of 2 Kings 25) tells how all those people who had come to Gedaliah decided to go to Egypt, because they feared the Chaldeans, or Babylonians. Johanan and others with him asked Jeremiah to ask the Lord what they ought to do now that Gedaliah was gone (Jer. 42:1-3)... However, Jeremiah told them the Lord clearly declared that they would be blessed if they stayed in the land under Babylon's rule. He also told them they had been hypocritical in saying they would obey the Lord. They had already decided to go to Egypt, and were only hoping that God would confirm this.
The verse gives their motive: they were afraid of the Babylonians. One commentator sets that fear beside open rebellion. He finds the two are not far apart.
Fear is proof of unbelief just as surely as bold or treacherous rebellion is, even if it is less obvious. The prophet had warned them to submit to the king of Babylon, not to flee into Egypt... How blessed for the believer! He has every right to trample on fears, and to trust the word of the Lord without anxiety.
Babylon had already carried another group of Jews away. Their story ran the opposite way.
This short history holds a special interest. The story of this remnant stands in complete contrast to the story of the remnant at Babylon. These go down into Egypt, against the word of the Lord, and sword and famine and disease will consume them. Those at Babylon have peace and prosperity and plenty promised to them for the time being... God at the beginning redeemed the people out of Egypt, but Babylon became the place of their captivity when they had turned away from the Lord. To return to Egypt therefore was fatal, but from Babylon there was deliverance.
Egypt was not their only option. If they had submitted to Babylon, the land would have stayed theirs. Instead, the danger they ran from caught up with them.
Still, if at this last hour this remnant had submitted to Nebuchadnezzar's yoke, peace would have reigned in the land. The few who remained would have kept it. But some revolt, and the others fear the consequences of their folly. There is no thought of trusting in Jehovah. They consult Jeremiah, but refuse to obey the word of the Lord from his mouth. They take refuge in Egypt to escape Nebuchadnezzar. But they only fall under the sword that would have spared them in Judea, if they had stayed there under the king.
They went to Egypt for safety. But their old sin went with them.
These wretched people begin again to serve other gods in the land of Egypt to which they had fled. God describes their condition in these words: "They have not humbled themselves even to this day, nor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers" (Jer. 44:10). So God declares that of all those who had gone down to Egypt, none of the remnant should "escape or survive or return to the land of Judah" (Jer. 44:14). Only a very small company would escape (v. 28).
Egypt was the place God had rescued Israel from at the very start. That history is what made leaning on Egypt an insult. The same lesson reaches us today.
This reliance upon Egypt was specially offensive to God, since from that very people He had delivered them by His judgments at the start of their national history. It is just as offensive to God when a Christian goes back to the world-system. God has delivered him from that system and from the judgment coming on it. Yet he leans on its power or its wisdom, instead of finding his resource in God when emergencies arise.
- Fear — They left because they dreaded Babylon's revenge. Fear proves unbelief as surely as open rebellion does.
- Pretence — They had already chosen Egypt before they asked Jeremiah for God's answer. They only wanted it confirmed.
- Refuge — Egypt looked like shelter. The sword they ran from struck them there, and staying would have spared them.
- Relapse — In their chosen refuge they took up idol worship again, unhumbled to the end.
- No return — Babylon's captives had a way home. Almost none in Egypt would come back. Accept God's discipline and there is a road back; run from it and there is none.