And while he had not yet given answer; [he said,] Yea, go back to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath appointed over the cities of Judah, and abide with him in the midst of the people; or go wheresoever it seemeth right in thy sight to go. And the captain of the body-guard gave him provisions and a present, and let him go.
Jerusalem lay in ruins, and Jeremiah — who had warned of it for years — stood in chains among the captives bound for Babylon. The captain of the guard set him free and put two roads before him, and this verse tells us how the prophet chose.
One writer weighs the two roads open to a prophet near the end of his work:
Jeremiah is now reaching the end of his public ministry. He is probably at least sixty years old. Two choices lie before him. He may go to Babylon. There he can enjoy the king's favour. There he will find his friends Daniel, Ezekiel, and other captives taken away earlier. And there he can spend the rest of his life in relative peace. On the other hand, he may stay with the poor of the land in Palestine and serve them there. His ministry will likely be received no better than his earlier preaching. Still, on God's part, it will bring one last encouragement to these desolate remains of Israel.
Older translations open the verse with "while he had not yet given answer" (DARBY). One writer reads that silence as the prophet's answer:
Jeremiah stays silent; "he had not yet given an answer." Nebuzaradan surely expects him to welcome the attractive offer to settle in Babylon with thanks. The prophet's silence tells him the offer is refused. So he urges Jeremiah to go to Gedaliah, or to "go wherever you think it right to go" (40:5). He gives him provisions and a gift, and sends him away. Jeremiah goes to Gedaliah and stays "with him among the people" left in the land. He would rather stay with the poor of the people of God in their deep poverty than enjoy the favours of the king of Babylon.
Another writer names the motive behind the choice, and sees a promise in it:
But Jeremiah had no heart for Babylon, whatever attractions it might seem to hold. He chose to suffer in the land with the lowliest of those left behind… It was love that kept him in the place of their humiliation; it was a pledge of restoration.
The verse names Gedaliah as Babylon's appointed governor. His father had already saved Jeremiah once, and that history shaped how Babylon treated the prophet:
Nebuchadnezzar puts Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the people left in the land to tend the vines and work the fields. This Ahikam had saved Jeremiah in the days of Jehoiakim, when Jeremiah had prophesied against Jerusalem, as Urijah the prophet had done (Jer. 26:24). No doubt what Ahikam did influenced the king of Babylon, who respected and protected Jeremiah. Gedaliah lived at Mizpah, a fortified city that Asa, king of Judah, had built with the stones of Ramah (1 Kings 15:22).
The chapters that follow show what those left in the land were really like:
Chapters 40-41 expose the mistake of thinking that a remnant in the land — in the right place — must have some higher standing. To be in the right place without being right with the right Person only opens us to bad behaviour and to godless hypocrisy, as we see here. Even with the prophet of God among them, whose word they pretended to value, they acted with deceit.
One writer sets this choice beside other choices in Scripture:
The Word of God speaks of several choices. Abraham is content with whatever land Lot does not want, so he invites his nephew to choose first. Instead of leaving the first choice to his uncle, Lot lifts up his eyes and looks at the plain of Sodom. We know the rest of his life. As for Moses, the letter to the Hebrews confirms that by faith he chose "rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin" (Heb. 11:25)… Mary "has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her," the place at the feet of Jesus.
The same writer applies this to a young person choosing work, to the choice of a wife, and to where a believer settles for fellowship — choices "not made in the head, but in the heart."
- Offer — Babylon set two paths before Jeremiah: comfort and favour there, or hardship among the poor left in the land.
- Silence — He gave no answer, and his silence was the answer; the officer understood, supplied him, and let him go.
- Choice — He had no heart for Babylon. He chose to suffer with the lowliest of those left behind.
- Love — Staying in the place of their humiliation was love. One writer calls it a pledge of restoration.
- Caution — The right place is not enough. Those left in the land were not right with the right Person, and they acted with deceit.
And Jeremiah came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and abode with him among the people that remained in the land.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that had not been carried away captive to Babylon.
Jerusalem has fallen, the king is gone, and Babylon has installed Gedaliah over the handful of people left in Judah. Here the news reaches the armed men still out in the open country. What happens next turns on how they answer it.
One commentator reads Jeremiah 40 as the start of a new section. What follows is not recovery but breakdown.
This is the first of a series of chapters. They show the disorder and moral confusion that ruled among the Jews left behind in or near the land. Babylon had carried the rest away captive. Judgment by the hand of man has no softening effect on those who slight the word of God. We shall find that those who would not bow to the Lord's chastening are false and treacherous in how they deal with their brothers.
Babylon handed Gedaliah men, women, children, and the poorest of the land, and saw nothing in them worth carrying away. One writer saw far more in them.
Nevertheless the clearing out was not complete. The poor did not fail in the land; some were left in it. The foreigner thought little of it, but they were a pledge that a poor remnant would return. They pledged a nation yet to be poor in spirit, when God brings back the captivity of His people. Then Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad.
One writer traces where the news took these captains, and why bowing to Babylon was wisdom and not surrender.
When people learned that Gedaliah had been made governor, officers of the armies and their men, who had scattered from Judah, came to Mizpah, where Gedaliah lived. Among them were some prominent men, especially Ishmael and Johanan. 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 also to serve Nebuchadnezzar. This was the wise thing to do, for God had brought them down and rebellion would have been rebellion against God. So too in Christendom. Because of the sad failure in testimony, God has allowed confusion — the meaning of the name Babylon — to take open possession of the church. It is only right that we bow to the shame of our confusion. We should not expect to return to the bright early days of the Church at Pentecost.
Another writer states what submission would have secured, and what they chose instead.
If at this last hour this remnant had submitted to the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, peace would have reigned in the land. These few who remained would have held it. But some revolt, and the others fear the consequences of their folly. There is no idea of trusting in the Lord.
Jeremiah was free to go wherever he wanted. Where he chose to settle says a great deal about this small, poor group.
Jeremiah had full liberty to go where he pleased (Jer. 40:1-5). But, gracious and faithful man that he was, he chose to stay with the poor few who were in the right place (Jer. 40:6). Despite all that had happened, this feeble remnant were in their right place in the Lord's land. The remnant drew many; they sought it out, joined it, and got much blessing (Jer. 40:7-12).
The next verse names these captains one by one. They came with their men, and it looked like a reunion. One writer sees the flaw in it.
Everything, however, was out of order. The return of the scattered captains and their forces counted for nothing, because the Lord was not at all in their thoughts. And there is a strange reversal here: the governor swears to them, not they to him.
Within months Ishmael, one of the captains who came to Mizpah, murdered Gedaliah. One writer reads chapters 40 and 41 together and asks what the right place is worth.
Chapters 40-41 expose the mistake of thinking that a remnant in the land — in the right place — must have some superior qualifications. To be in the right place without being right with the right Person will only expose us to bad behaviour and to the godless hypocrisy shown here. Even with the prophet of God among them, whose word they pretended to value, they acted deceitfully.
- Left — Babylon spared the poorest. Their presence in the land was a quiet pledge that God would bring His people back.
- Gathered — News of Gedaliah's appointment drew the captains out of the fields. Jews came home from Moab, Ammon, and Edom, and many found real blessing.
- Submitted — Bowing to Babylon was obedience, not defeat, because God Himself had brought them down. Those who bowed would have kept the land in peace.
- Empty — The reunion counted for nothing, because the Lord was not in their thoughts. Even the oath ran backwards: the governor swore to them.
- Exposed — The right place is no safeguard without being right with God. Within months one of these captains murdered the governor.
And they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah; even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
Jerusalem has fallen. The king of Babylon has made Gedaliah governor over what is left of the nation. Verse 8 lists the army officers who came in from the countryside to Mizpah. One name on that list belongs to the man who would murder the governor.
The chapters that follow the fall of the city are not a story of recovery. They record what happened to the poor who were left behind.
Jeremiah 40 to Jeremiah 44 show us the anarchy and moral disorder among the Jews left behind in the land, or near it. Most of their fellow countrymen had been carried captive to Babylon. Jeremiah becomes their helper and brings them the word of the Lord. But he finds among them the greatest unbelief… Now even the little remnant, the poor left in the land where Jeremiah stayed, were full of jealousy, full of their own plans, full of treason, full of deceit and violence. God was not really in their thoughts.
These captains and their men had been scattered across the fields. Their arrival at the governor's town looks like safety in numbers.
But the people of God can never be a place of ease. Least of all can they give security, except where faith looks straight to the Lord.
The name of the town they gathered at means:
Watch-tower
The list names Ishmael the son of Nethaniah first. Here is what he went on to do.
Son of Nethaniah, of the royal line, though which family is not known. His cunning and ferocity show he was unworthy of a throne. He betrayed Gedaliah and killed him. The king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor over the cities of Judah. Ishmael killed all the Jews who were with him at Mizpah too. He followed up this crime with the cruel and treacherous murder of eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria. They were bringing gifts to the temple, and he spared only ten. He then carried off everyone left in Mizpah and set out to cross over to the Ammonites. But Johanan the son of Kareah, and those with him, rescued the captives. Ishmael escaped and is never heard of again.
A ruined country does not produce humble men.
But sin ruins everything, everywhere. Ambition and scheming, treachery and violence can work in a flattened Judea. They work there as surely as in victorious Babylon — and more painfully. Evil men find nothing so unbearable as the good. Wickedness does not have to wait long for an opportunity, even when it has no excuse to cover its shame. A wicked Jew lends himself to the plans of a pagan neighbour, jealous of any order or easing of sorrow in the land.
The verse records a reunion. It looks like the start of a new community.
Everything, though, 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.
One captain in this list appears under a different name in 2 Kings 25:23. The two names belong to the same man.
Son of Hoshaiah, a Maachathite, and a captain among those left in the land by the king of Babylon, 2 Kings 25:23. Called Jezaniah in Jeremiah 40:8 and Jeremiah 42:1.
These men stayed in the land while others went to Babylon. Staying did not make them better.
Chapters 40-41 expose a mistaken idea. A remnant in the land — in the right place — does not therefore have some superior standing. To be in the right place, without being right with the right Person, only exposes us to bad behaviour. It exposes us to the godless hypocrisy shown here. They had God's prophet among them, and they pretended to value his word. Even so, they acted deceitfully. To call on the Lord Himself out of a pure heart is our safety. To that end the Holy Spirit of God is here to lift Him high before the eyes of our faith.
- Place. They gathered at Mizpah, the "watch-tower" — the right spot on the map, with no one watching.
- People. Soldiers came in from the fields. A gathering counts for nothing when the Lord is not in their thoughts.
- Poison. Ishmael's name heads the list; ambition and scheming work in a flattened Judea as surely as in victorious Babylon.
- Pretence. The right place counts for nothing without being right with the right Person.
- Point. Among God's people there is no place of ease — security comes only where faith looks straight to the Lord.
And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan swore unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
Jerusalem has fallen. Most of the people have been carried off to Babylon. The conqueror has appointed a governor, Gedaliah, who now gathers the scattered army captains at Mizpah and puts them under oath. His words sound like surrender. Yet commentators treat them as the safe path God had left open. Why could life under a foreign king ever be called "well"?
Notice which way the oath runs. The man in power binds himself to the men who came to him:
A strange inversion is seen in the governor swearing to them, not they to him... Nothing could be more conciliatory than the governor's words nor more sincere than his ways. For he was content to do his duty to the conqueror in the difficult condition of the land, but to serve the people as far as he was able.
The verse names one rule two ways: serve the Chaldeans, serve the king of Babylon. The order not to fear that service only makes sense if the rule came from God. On that reading the offer was real, and refusing it cost the people the land:
If at this last hour this remnant had submitted to the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, 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 idea of trusting in Jehovah.
Behind this lies a simple rule:
As has been said: "In a day of ruin faith always recognises the chastening of God and bows to it. Unbelief always resists."
The oath gave the land a moment of real mercy. It did not last:
So there might have been a state of things, far from bright certainly, but by no means without mercy from the Lord for the poor in the land. But sin ruins everything everywhere. Ambition and intrigue, treachery and violence can work in fallen Judea as surely as in victorious Babylon — and they hurt more there.
One man's jealousy brought the whole arrangement down:
Jealousy, however, will spoil everything. A certain man of royal blood named Ishmael evidently thought that he should have been appointed governor. And so he kills Gedaliah along with all the Jews with him and the Chaldean men of war that had been left there by the king of Babylon.
Gedaliah was told what was coming, and he brushed it aside:
God did not fail to give timely and full warning of the danger hanging over Gedaliah. He was unwise and careless to ignore it. But a good man does not like to hear evil. Feeling nothing but kindness toward others, he is slow to believe the malice of those he had only tried to serve.
Those who took the oath stayed in the land, which was the right place to be. That did not make them right people:
Chapters 40-41 expose for us the false idea that a remnant in the land — in the right place — necessarily has some superior qualifications. To be in the right place without being right with the right Person will only expose us to bad behaviour and to hypocrisy such as we see illustrated here. Even with the prophet of God among them, whose word they pretended to value, they acted deceitfully.
One writer carries Gedaliah's choice over to the church today:
Gedaliah decided 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. The same is true in Christendom. Because of the sad failure in testimony, God has allowed confusion (the meaning of Babylon) to take hold of the church in public view. It is only right that we bow to the shame of our confusion.
- The yoke — Gedaliah's oath told the captains to accept Babylon's rule. Commentators read that yoke as God's own chastening. Refusing it would have been rebellion against God, not just against Nebuchadnezzar.
- The promise — "it shall be well with you" was a real offer. Had the people submitted, peace would have reigned and the few left would have kept the land.
- The governor — Gedaliah bound himself by oath to the men who came to him. He did his duty to the conqueror and served his own people as far as he could.
- The failure — being in the right place proved nothing. The prophet lived among them, and they still acted deceitfully. Gedaliah ignored the warning, and jealousy spoiled everything.
- The lesson — where testimony has failed and confusion has taken hold, the path is the same. Bow to the shame instead of resisting the hand that brought it.
And as for me, behold, I dwell at Mizpah, to stand before the Chaldeans, who will come unto us; and ye, gather wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put [them] in your vessels, and dwell in your cities which ye have taken.
Jerusalem has fallen, and the king of Babylon has put Gedaliah in charge of the few people left in Judah. His orders — gather the harvest, store it, stay in your towns — raise a hard question: can a broken people find peace inside the judgment that broke them?
Gedaliah's arrangement splits the work. He will live at Mizpah and face the Chaldeans — the Babylonians now ruling the land — on their behalf. Their part is to gather the harvest, store it, and live in the towns they hold. One writer weighs the governor's character and the pledge he gave.
There is a strange reversal here: the governor swears to them, not they to him. … Nothing could be more reassuring than the governor's words, nor more sincere than his ways. The land was in a distressing condition. He was content to do his duty to the conqueror, but also to serve the people as far as he could.
Jeremiah had urged surrender to Babylon all through his ministry. It cost him his reputation. Verse 10 turns that same counsel into daily routine.
God meant their exile to be for their eventual good. This is a very important point. In a day of ruin faith always recognises the chastening of God and bows to it. Unbelief always resists, and thinks of its resistance as patriotism or perhaps religion. That is why the men of Judah thought Jeremiah was a very 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 the king of Babylon.
What was at stake shows up later. The people abandoned this settled life and ran to Egypt.
God had placed the Chaldean king over them. If they had stayed quietly in the land under his authority, they would have survived. But they chose human policy, and thought it safer to go down into Egypt, when in fact it proved to be the opposite.
The command was not empty. The verses that follow report that the fruit came in, and in quantity.
For this poor remnant there was a break of several months. They gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance (Jer. 40:12). They even seem to have honoured the worship of the Lord again, at a time when the temple lay completely destroyed and ruined. At least there was a "house of Jehovah" where those who mourned over Israel's condition could go up.
The fruit was not all that came in. People came too.
Despite everything that had happened, this feeble remnant were in their right place in Jehovah's land. Many others were drawn to them. They sought out the remnant, joined them, and received much blessing.
Here the writers differ in emphasis. Where one sees blessing in the remnant's position, another warns that the position on its own guarantees nothing.
Chapters 40-41 expose the mistaken idea that a remnant in the land — in the right place — must therefore have some superior qualification. Suppose we are in the right place but not right with the right Person. That will only expose us to bad behaviour and hypocrisy, as this passage shows. Even with the prophet of God among them, whose word they pretended to value, they acted deceitfully. … Ishmael killed Gedaliah and those who were with him, and fled with the rest. He added to his guilt by killing a company of worshippers on their way to the house of the Lord.
Babylon offered the prophet a comfortable life, and he turned it down. He stayed with the people told to pick fruit in a ruined country.
Jeremiah had no heart for Chaldea, whatever attractions might seem to be there. He preferred to suffer in the land with the lowest of those whom man had left behind. … It was love that made him stay in the scene of their humiliation; it was a pledge of restoration.
That choice is read as a pattern for anyone tempted to leave a small and unimpressive gathering for somewhere more rewarding.
He prefers to stay with the poor of the people of God in their destitution rather than enjoy the favours of the king of Babylon. Perhaps there is not much to attract you in your own meeting — not many spiritual gifts, not an abundance of warm fellowship. But the Lord promises to be in the midst of two or three gathered to His name. If He fulfils that promise by His presence, is that not the place where you should stay and, depending on Him, try to contribute some spiritual blessing?
- Bow. Faith recognises God's chastening and bows to it. Unbelief resists, and calls its resistance loyalty.
- Stay. Those who stayed under the authority God had placed over them would have been safe. Those who made their own plan and fled to Egypt were not.
- Gather. Submission was not idleness. Wine, summer fruits and oil came in richly, and worship revived among a people with no temple left.
- Attract. Scattered Jews heard where the remnant was and came back to join them, and received much blessing.
- Beware. The right place is not enough. Without being right with the right Person, this same remnant turned to treachery and murder.
Likewise all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon and in Edom, and that were in all the lands, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah, and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan;
When Jerusalem fell, some Jews escaped over the borders into Moab, Ammon, Edom and other lands. Now they hear that Babylon has left a remnant in Judah, with a governor from their own people over them.
What drew these scattered Jews back was not a royal decree but the character of the man Babylon had put in charge. One writer describes the governor's manner:
Nothing could be more conciliatory than the governor's words, nor more sincere than his ways. He was content to do his duty to the conqueror in the distressing condition of the land, but to serve the people to the utmost of his power. And this had its effect.
The verse names Gedaliah's father and grandfather. That family history mattered:
Nebuchadnezzar establishes Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the people left in the land to be vinedressers and labourers. This Ahikam had saved Jeremiah in the days of Jehoiakim, when, like Urijah the prophet, he had prophesied against Jerusalem (Jer. 26:24). No doubt this action had influenced 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 all those from the surrounding regions who had escaped, along with the poor people left in the land. They came to seek the protection of Gedaliah, this noble lieutenant of the king of Babylon. He reassured the people. He swore to them that they had nothing to fear in accepting their servitude to the Chaldeans.
They were coming back to a wrecked country under a foreign power. One writer measures the mercy still in that scene, and what ruined it:
So there might have been a state of things, far from bright certainly, but by no means without mercy from the Lord for the poor in the land. But sin ruins everything, everywhere. Ambition and intrigue, treachery and violence can work in a flattened Judea as surely as in victorious Babylon — and more painfully. Evil men find nothing so unbearable as the good. Their own deep debts to a good man can sometimes make their purpose even worse.
The next verse records what the homecoming produced:
For this poor remnant there was a respite of several months. They gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance (Jer. 40:12). People even seem to have honoured the worship of the Lord again. And that was at a time when the temple lay in complete ruins. At least there was a "house of Jehovah" to which those who mourned over Israel's condition could go up.
It is easy to read this gathering as a hopeful revival. The chapters that follow show otherwise:
Jeremiah 40 to 44 shows the anarchy and moral disorder among the Jews left behind in the land or near it. By then Babylon had carried most of their brothers away captive. Jeremiah becomes their helper, bringing them the word of Jehovah. But he finds among them the greatest unbelief… Even the little remnant — the poor left in the land, among whom Jeremiah remained — were full of jealousy, full of their own plans, full of treason, full of deceit and violence. God was not really in their thoughts.
These men came back to the right country, with the right governor, and with a prophet of God living among them. That was still not enough:
Chapters 40-41 expose a mistaken idea: that a remnant in the land — in the right place — must have some superior qualification. To be in the right place without being right with the right Person only exposes us to bad behaviour and hypocrisy, as we see here. Even with the prophet of God among them, they acted deceitfully — though they pretended to value his word. To call on the Lord Himself out of a pure heart is our safety. For that purpose the Holy Spirit of God is here, to exalt Him before the eyes of our faith.
- News gathers them. Word that Babylon had left a remnant, and set Gedaliah over it, travelled as far as Moab, Ammon and Edom. It brought scattered Jews home.
- Kindness gathers them. Gedaliah served the people sincerely and gently. That, not force, "had its effect."
- Mercy meets them. The scene was far from bright, yet it was "by no means without mercy from the Lord for the poor in the land."
- Harvest crowns it — briefly. A few months of wine and summer fruits in abundance, with worship honoured again. Then jealousy and murder ended it.
- The heart undoes it. They were in the right place, with the prophet among them. But "God was not really in their thoughts." The right place is no safety without the right Person.