And it came to pass the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, and no man knew it,
One day had passed since Gedaliah was killed at Mizpah, and no one outside the murderer's circle knew it. That secret gave the killer cover for his next crime, and it raises a question: where was God while the last leaders of His people turned to treachery?
What happened at Mizpah was not one man's private crime. It came out of a general collapse of order.
In Jeremiah 40 to Jeremiah 44, we see the anarchy and moral disorder among the Jews who stayed in the land, or near it, after Babylon had carried most of their fellow countrymen away captive. Jeremiah becomes their helper and brings them the word of the Lord, but he finds among them the greatest unbelief… Even the little remnant, the poor left in the land, among whom Jeremiah stayed, were full of jealousy, full of their own plans. They were full of treason, full of deceit and violence. God was not really in their thoughts.
Scripture tells us Ishmael came from the royal line. That one detail shows how far the nation had fallen.
The Holy Spirit does not add "of the royal family" to Ishmael's name and kin for nothing. Normally and rightly this would have been a guarantee of help to a governor, and a support and shelter to the people. But they forgot God, and slighted His judgments and His will. Human corruption takes its course where it is least fitting. The ruin of Israel was complete. Its royal line had sunk into the lowest kind of cunning, treachery, and murder — and against the best of their own people.
The hidden murder gave Ishmael a free hand. No one raised an alarm, so he could keep killing — and by now his motive was more than politics.
It was not only jealousy of the good man who fell at his own table, suspecting nothing, after welcoming these agents of evil as guests. It was not simple rebellion either against the conquering king of Babylon, which then broke out against the native governor and the foreign soldiers at Mizpah. This royal killer had tasted blood. He would carry on his reckless course, not caring whom he killed or why.
The men who arrived on that second day were on their way to worship at the ruined temple site. Their devotion was mixed, but real, and it cost them their lives.
It even seems that people honoured the worship of the Lord again, at a time when the temple lay in complete ruin. At least there was a "house of the Lord" to which those who mourned over Israel's condition could go up… On the second day he killed men who had come to seek the Lord. Perhaps they were ignorant and not free from pagan practices, but their hearts were broken.
The horror had another side. God was taking the godly out of reach of worse evil, and their loss fell on the nation as punishment.
Who can doubt that God chose to take Gedaliah away from the evil to come, along with those who grieved over the ruins of Israel? It was mercy to them. It was also a further chastening on the guilty people, high and low, that the ones who acted and felt best of all should be swept away — and by their own brothers' hands.
For generations Israel kept a fast in the seventh month because of this murder. The reason they kept it is worth asking about.
The fast of the seventh month was kept on the anniversary of the murder of Gedaliah at Mizpah (Jeremiah 41). But why did they keep these fast days?… It was not for the honour and glory of God. Their own selfish interests were at the bottom of it. Indeed God had never asked them to fast.
These survivors were in the right place — the land itself. It did them no good.
Chapters 40-41 show up a mistaken idea. Being a remnant in the land — in the right place — does not by itself give anyone superior qualifications. To be in the right place without being right with the right Person is no help. It only leaves us open to bad behaviour and to ungodly hypocrisy, as we see here. Even with the prophet of God among them, whose word they pretended to value, they acted deceitfully.
- Secret — One hidden day was all the cover Ishmael needed. No one knew, so the killing went on.
- Seed — The murderer came from the royal line, the family that should have sheltered the people. Israel's ruin was complete.
- Sincere — The men who walked in were mourners on their way to seek the Lord, and they were the ones cut down.
- Spared — God took the godly away from evil still to come. That was mercy to them, and a further chastening on the nation.
- Situated — Being in the right place saved no one. Only being right with the right Person does.
that there came men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men, having their beards shaven and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves; with oblations and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Jehovah.
Ishmael had just murdered Gedaliah, the governor, and no one knew it yet. The next day eighty mourners came down from the northern towns with offerings for the temple — so why did God let them walk into a killer's hands?
These travellers knew nothing of the murder at Mizpah the day before. One commentator looks for Ishmael's motive and finds none left.
It was not only jealousy of the good man who fell at his own table, with no suspicion. There he had welcomed these wicked messengers as guests. Nor was it simple rebellion against the conquering king of Babylon that broke out at Mizpah against the native governor and the foreign soldiers. This royal outlaw had tasted blood. He would keep on his desperate course, not caring whom he killed or why.
The temple in Jerusalem lay in ruins. Even so, these men carried offerings "to present at the temple of the LORD."
People 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.
Their appearance was not random. Israel guarded the beard with care, so cutting it was a loud sign of grief.
The Israelites always cultivated the beard and prized it. The law forbade them to "mar the edges" of their beards (Leviticus 19:27). A priest was not to shave off the corner of his beard as a sign of mourning (Leviticus 21:5)… Ezra was in great grief at the sin of the people. He pulled out the hair of his head and of his beard (Ezra 9:3; compare Jeremiah 41:5).
The third sign is not like the other two. It came from outside Israel.
The law forbade this practice, and it forbade making any mark in the flesh. The nations around them did it. They cut themselves for the dead and tattooed their bodies in honour of their gods. The Israelites belonged to Jehovah (Leviticus 19:28; Leviticus 21:5).
Yet one commentator refuses to write these men off. He weighs their mistake against their hearts.
On the second day he killed these men. They may have been ignorant and not free from pagan practices, but they had broken hearts, and they had come to seek the Lord.
Ishmael killed them before they ever reached the temple. One commentator reads this not as an accident of history but as God's purpose.
Who can doubt that it pleased God to take away Gedaliah, and those who sorrowed over the ruins of Israel, before worse evil came? It was mercy to themselves. It was also a further chastening on the guilty people, high and low. Those who acted and felt best of all were swept away, and by the hands of their own countrymen.
These mourners were heading for the right place. The rest of the story shows that this on its own guaranteed nothing.
Chapters 40 and 41 expose a mistaken idea. Some think that a remnant in the land—in the right place—must have some superior standing. But being in the right place is not enough. If we are not right with the right Person, it will only expose us to bad behaviour and godless hypocrisy, as we see here.
- Mourning. Eighty men came grieving the ruin of Israel, in the accepted signs of the time: shaved beards and torn clothes.
- Mixture. One of their signs, cutting the flesh, was a pagan custom the law had banned — real sorrow carried in a wrong form.
- Motive. One writer still judges them gently: ignorant, maybe, but broken-hearted men who had come to seek the Lord.
- Mercy. God took the best away before worse evil came. That was mercy to them, and a further chastening on the nation left behind.
- Marker. Being in the right place is no safeguard; only being right with the right Person is.
And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went; and it came to pass when he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
Ishmael had murdered Gedaliah at Mizpah two days before, and no one knew. Then eighty pilgrims came down the road toward the ruined temple. The killer walked out to meet them in tears, and invited them to a governor who was already dead. What do tears prove, and what can they hide?
One writer weighs the motives behind that weeping. They had run past jealousy and politics.
It was not only jealousy of the good man who fell without suspecting anything at his own table, where he had generously welcomed these agents of evil. Nor was it simply rebellion against the conquering king of Babylon, which broke out at Mizpah against the local governor and the foreign soldiers. This royal criminal had tasted blood and would keep on with his reckless course, not caring whom he killed or why.
Ten of the eighty later bought their lives with hidden stores of wheat, barley, oil and honey. He killed the rest. The same writer names the trait behind that.
It adds to the horrors of the picture too, that Ishmael was as greedy as he was violent and deceitful.
His tears matched what these travellers already felt. They had shaved their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves. They carried grain offerings and incense. One writer describes the worship that had revived in the land, and who these mourners were.
The worship of the Lord even seems to have returned to honour, 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… On the second day Ishmael killed the men who had come to seek the Lord. They were perhaps ignorant, and not free from pagan practices, but their hearts were broken.
Scripture notes that Ishmael belonged to the royal family. One writer treats that detail as deliberate.
The Holy Spirit adds the words "of the royal family" to Ishmael's name and family, and that means something. Normally, and rightly, this would have been a guarantee of support to a governor, and a protection and shelter for the people. But God was forgotten, His judgments and His will alike ignored, and human corruption runs its course where it was least fitting. The ruin of Israel was truly complete when the royal line sank to the lowest form of cunning, treachery, and murder. And its victims were the best of their own people.
Why were the most sincere people in the land the ones cut down? Ishmael threw their bodies into a trench that king Asa had dug long before, when he feared attack. One writer reads two things at once in the loss.
Who can doubt that God was pleased to take Gedaliah, and those who grieved over the desolations of Israel, away from the evil that was coming? It was mercy to themselves. It was also a further chastening on the guilty people, high and low. Those who acted and felt most rightly were swept away — and by the hands of their own countrymen. What a disgrace! A trench dug for self-defence became the common grave of the best of the remnant, shamefully put to death like this.
These chapters describe the people left in the land, in what looked like the right place. One writer draws the lesson from this scene.
Chapters 40-41 expose the mistaken idea 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 godless hypocrisy, as we see here. The prophet of God was among them, and they pretended to value his word, but they acted deceitfully.
- False tears. Ishmael's weeping was not grief but bait. He had tasted blood, and no longer cared whom he killed or why.
- True tears. The eighty came with offerings and torn clothes. They truly mourned Israel's ruin, even if their practices were mixed — and their sincerity made them easy to trap.
- Royal shame. The murderer came from the royal family, which marks the ruin as complete. The line meant to shelter the people became its cruellest enemy.
- God's mercy in loss. God took the best of the remnant away from worse evil coming. Their deaths were also a further chastening on a guilty people.
- Place versus Person. Staying in the land, with God's prophet among them, gave no protection. Safety lies in being right with God, not in holding the right position.
And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, he and the men that were with him, slew them, [and cast them] into the midst of the pit.
Jerusalem has fallen, and Babylon has left a small group of Jews in the land under a governor named Gedaliah. Ishmael has already murdered him, and here he turns on eighty men who were on their way to worship.
This chapter sits in a part of Jeremiah that records the collapse of order among the Jews left in the land.
In Jeremiah 40 to Jeremiah 44 we see the anarchy and moral disorder among the Jews left behind in the land and around it, after Babylon carried most of their brothers away as captives. Jeremiah becomes their helper and brings them the word of Jehovah, but he finds among them the greatest unbelief… Now even the little remnant, the poor people left in the land among whom 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.
The killer was no outsider. He belonged to the royal family, and one writer shows what that should have meant.
The Holy Spirit adds to the name and family of Ishmael the words "of the royal family," and that description means something. By rights it should have guaranteed help to a governor, and support and shelter to the people. But God was forgotten, His judgments and His will ignored, and human corruption ran its course where it least belonged. The ruin of Israel was complete. The royal family had sunk to the lowest kind of cunning, treachery and murder, and against the best of their own people.
Ishmael met these men in tears and invited them to a governor he had already killed. We cannot explain this killing away as politics, or even as revenge.
This was not only jealousy of the good man who fell without suspicion at his own table, where he had welcomed these agents of evil as guests. Nor was it simply rebellion against the conquering king of Babylon, which then broke out against the native governor and the foreign soldiers at Mizpah. This royal outlaw had tasted blood and would carry on his reckless course, careless whom he killed or why.
Ishmael was not acting alone. One writer names who sent him, and what kind of people his victims were.
He came with evil purposes, sent by Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, and pushed, no doubt, by his own ambition… On the second day he killed the men who had come to seek the Lord. They were perhaps ignorant, and not free from pagan practices, but their hearts were broken.
The pit was not dug as a grave. Men had cut it for defence, and one writer finds in it both mercy and disgrace.
Who can doubt that God was pleased to take away Gedaliah, and those who sorrowed over the desolations of Israel, from evil to come? It was mercy to them. It was also an added chastening on the guilty people, high and low, that those who acted and felt most rightly should be swept away — and swept away by the hands of their own brothers. What a disgrace! A trench dug for self-defence became the common grave of the best of the remnant, put to death in shame.
Ten of the men bought their lives with hidden stores of food. One writer names the trait in Ishmael that saved them.
It adds to the horror of the picture too, that Ishmael was as greedy as he was violent and deceitful.
These men died in the land, with the prophet Jeremiah living among the remnant. That is what makes the chapter a warning.
Chapters 40-41 expose a false idea: that a remnant in the land — in the right place — must therefore have better qualities. To be in the right place without being right with the right Person only exposes us to bad behaviour and godless hypocrisy, as we see here. Even with the prophet of God among them, whose word they pretended to value, they acted with deceit. To call on the Lord Himself out of a pure heart is our safety.
- Cause — God forgotten. The remnant left in the land was full of jealousy, private plans, treason, deceit and violence. God was not really in their thoughts.
- Rank — no safeguard. Ishmael's royal blood should have made him a shelter for the people. Instead the royal line sank to cunning, treachery and murder.
- Tears — no proof. He wept as he went to meet the eighty men, and named a dead governor as their host. He had tasted blood and no longer cared whom he killed or why.
- Victims — the best of them. They came with broken hearts to seek the Lord. God was pleased to take those who grieved over Israel's ruin away from worse evil ahead.
- Result — a trench for a grave. A trench dug for defence became the grave of the best of the remnant, killed by their own brothers. Being in the right place is no safety without being right with the right Person.
But ten men were found among them that said unto Ishmael, Do not kill us, for we have hidden stores in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbore, and did not kill them among their brethren.
Ishmael son of Nethaniah had murdered Gedaliah at Mizpah. Two days later he killed eighty men who came there hoping to meet Gedaliah, and verse 8 is the one crack in that slaughter: ten of them keep their lives by handing over food they had hidden in the fields.
The verse gives us no names, only a transaction. One summary of the chapter sets the moment in sequence:
The next day Ishmael met eighty men who came from the north; he invited them to come to Gedaliah, who was dead in his house. When they came to the place he killed them, except ten men, who offered to reveal to him hidden stores of food.
So the ten belonged to a group on pilgrimage, and they alone walked out of Mizpah alive.
The ten men lived because they had something Ishmael wanted:
It adds to the horrors of the picture too, that Ishmael was as greedy as he was violent and deceitful.
Wheat, barley, oil and honey were enough to stop his sword. The hand that would not spare eighty men for pity spared ten for profit.
One writer traces Ishmael's deceit from the meal table to the road:
Ishmael came with ten men and killed Gedaliah and those who were with him, at Mizpah. This murder took place immediately after Ishmael had deceitfully eaten with Gedaliah. On the second day after this, 80 men came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria wanting to meet with Gedaliah. 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.
The weeping came first. The man who cried on the road took payment to spare ten of them.
What makes the greed worse is who is doing the bargaining. Scripture takes care to tell us Ishmael was of the royal line, and that detail is not filler:
The Holy Spirit adds "of the seed royal" to Ishmael's name and family, and that description means something. Ordinarily, and rightly, that royal descent would have been a guarantee of help to a governor, and a support and shelter to the people. But God was forgotten. His judgments and His will alike were slighted. Human corruption takes its course where it was least fitting. The ruin of Israel was complete. The royal line had sunk to the lowest form of cunning, treachery, and murder — and this against the best of their own people, God's own people in the good land, now a wasteland morally as well as physically.
A prince who should have sheltered the people sold them their own lives back instead. One reference work draws the plain conclusion about him: his "craft and ferocity show that he was unworthy of a throne."
Being alive was not the same as being safe. One writer looks at the whole group left in the land and asks what went wrong:
But how quickly evil developed in this remnant! If they had feared the Lord and thought on His name; if they had submitted to the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, who was the rod in the Lord's hand to punish Judah for her sins; if they had remembered that they were part of the guilty nation, and that all were caught up in the common ruin — all might have been well. ... But false ones got among them. In Jeremiah 41 the flesh runs wild. Conflict and confusion reign everywhere. Many fall. Some fall into bondage to the power of evil. Others, driven by the fear of man, run to Egypt for safety — the very world God had delivered them from by His own favour and mighty power. "In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence, but the fear of man brings a snare."
The survivors were in the land and the prophet Jeremiah was among them. It did them no good:
Chapters 40–41 expose a false idea. Being a remnant in the land — in the right place — does not by itself give anyone a higher standing. We can be in the right place and still not be right with the right Person. That only exposes us to bad behaviour and to godless hypocrisy, such as we see here. The prophet of God was among them. They pretended to value his word, and still they acted deceitfully. To call on the Lord Himself out of a pure heart is our safety, and for this the Holy Spirit of God is here: to lift Him high before the eyes of our faith.
- Greed — Ishmael's sword stopped for wheat, barley, oil and honey. Commentators see in verse 8 that he was as greedy as he was violent and deceitful.
- Bargain — the ten did not receive mercy; they bribed a murderer. They bought their lives with the food they had hidden in the field.
- Royalty — the killer was of the royal line, the very family meant to shelter the people. When that line sank to cunning and murder, the ruin of Israel was complete.
- Bondage — living through the massacre was not the same as being safe. In this chapter the flesh runs wild, many fall, and some end up in bondage to the power of evil.
- Safety — the right place is not enough. They were in the land, with the prophet among them, and still acted deceitfully. Only calling on the Lord out of a pure heart keeps anyone safe.
And the pit into which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain by the side of Gedaliah was the one which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.
Ishmael murdered Gedaliah and threw the bodies into a cistern. Scripture then pauses to say who dug that cistern: King Asa, long before, to defend himself against Baasha. Why does that detail matter?
One writer describes the Jews left in the land after Babylon carried the nation away.
In Jeremiah 40 to Jeremiah 44, we have the anarchy and moral disorder among the Jews left behind in the land or nearby. Babylon had carried most of their fellow countrymen away captive. Jeremiah becomes their helper, ministering the word of the Lord to them, but he finds among them the greatest unbelief. Their earlier unbelief had brought the crisis of destruction upon Jerusalem. But now even the little remnant, the poor left in the land, were full of jealousy, full of their own plans, full of treason, full of deceit and violence. God was not really in their thoughts.
Those killed had mourned the ruin of the nation. One commentator reads their removal as mercy to them, and as a further blow to the guilty who survived.
Who can doubt that God was pleased to take Gedaliah away, and those who grieved over the desolation of Israel, from the evil that was coming? It was mercy to themselves. It was an extra chastening on the guilty people, high and low. Those who acted and felt best were swept away — and swept away by the hands of their own countrymen. What a disgrace, that a trench dug for self-defence should become the common burial place of the best of the remnant, killed in this shameful way!
That reading rests on a pattern seen elsewhere in Scripture.
The righteous remnant among God's people may perish, but "no man lays it to heart." Yet if the godly are taken away, it is a solemn sign. Judgment is about to fall, for "the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." It has always been so in the history of the world. As someone has said: "When the Lots are taken out of Sodom, it foreshadows a shower of wrath. Methuselah was taken away a year before the flood. We may conclude that when the Noahs are brought into their arks, it signals a deluge, and that God gathers His harvest before the world's storm, and calls His labourers home before the dark night comes on."
The words are from Isaiah 57:1. The ESV reads: "the righteous man is taken away from calamity."
Asa was a king who gave way to fear of Baasha, king of Israel.
Jeremiah 41:9 refers to a pit (or cistern) made by Asa "for fear of Baasha king of Israel." This is the last historical note about king Asa. In this passing way God would remind us where his decline began — "the fear of man, which brings a snare."
The ESV says Asa made the cistern "for defense against Baasha king of Israel." Older translations read "for fear of Baasha," the wording these writers follow. Another writer suggests what the pit was for.
In Jeremiah 41:9, we read of a pit which he made for fear of Baasha — probably to hide there. How this shows the weakness of man! After all the evidence of the Lord's mercy and power, Asa could forsake Him like this and enter an unholy alliance with a heathen king. He got what he wanted, and Baasha had to abandon his plan. But God had been a witness of it all.
One more trait completes the picture of the man who filled the pit.
It adds to the horror of the picture that Ishmael was as greedy as he was violent and deceitful.
These people had stayed in the land. It saved no one.
Chapters 40-41 expose a mistaken idea: that a remnant in the land — in the right place — must somehow be better qualified. To be in the right place without being right with the right Person only leaves us open to bad behaviour and ungodly hypocrisy. We see it here. The prophet of God was among them, and they pretended to value his word. Yet they acted deceitfully.
- Fear digs. Asa dug the pit because he was afraid of a rival king instead of trusting God — fear of man was where his decline started.
- Fear outlives. Generations later the pit was still there. Scripture's last word about Asa is this monument to his panic.
- Fear fills. What a king dug to save his own life became the mass grave of the best of the remnant, filled by a greedy and violent man.
- Mercy lifts. Those killed had mourned Israel's ruin. God took them away in mercy to themselves, and their loss chastened the guilty who remained.
- Place is no shelter. The right place protects nobody who is not right with God — not even with a prophet living among them.
And Ishmael carried away captive all the remnant of the people that were in Mizpah, the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan the captain of the body-guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the children of Ammon.
Mizpah was where the survivors left in Judah had gathered around Gedaliah. In one stroke Ishmael empties the place, taking even the king's daughters, and the rest of the chapter answers whether the crime will stand.
Nebuzaradan had placed these people in Gedaliah's care. Ishmael takes them anyway and heads for Ammon. One writer ties the move to a plan already agreed with the Ammonite king, and then marks what God does with it:
Carrying on, it seems, the plans made with the king of the Ammonites, Ishmael next carries away those whom he did not kill… Yet even when God permits the severest measures of shame and suffering, He disappoints the guilty at the moment of their greatest success.
Ishmael was not acting alone, and he was not acting only for himself. One account traces the whole sequence — the warning Gedaliah refused, the murders, the captives driven toward Ammon:
The captains of the forces that remained gathered around Gedaliah, with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, of the royal family, at their head. But Ishmael came with evil intentions. Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, had sent him, and no doubt his own ambition pushed him on… He led captive all the rest of the people who were at Mizpah, along with the king's daughters, and took them to the Ammonites.
Another writer names the grievance behind it:
Jealousy, however, will spoil everything. A man of royal blood named Ishmael seems to have thought that he should have been appointed governor.
Scripture records Ishmael's royal descent for a reason. The detail measures how far Israel had fallen:
It is not a meaningless description that the Holy Spirit adds to the name and family of Ishmael, "of the royal family." Normally, and rightly, this would have promised help to a governor, and support and shelter to the people. But God was forgotten. His judgments and His will were ignored, and human corruption takes its course where it least belongs. The ruin of Israel was complete when the royal family sank into the lowest form of cunning, treachery, and murder — and this against the best of their own people…
Ishmael never reaches Ammon. One writer follows the story to its end:
However, Johanan and the captains of the forces with him free the captives from Ishmael, who flees to Baalis the king of the children of Ammon. Johanan and those he has delivered take refuge for a time at the inn of Chimham at Bethlehem, waiting for a chance to slip away into Egypt, because they fear the Chaldeans.
The rescue was real, but the rescuer was no safer a guide than the man he defeated:
The man who freed the captives and drove off their enemy was no true friend of Israel, because he paid little attention to the word of the Lord… Fear is just as much evidence of unbelief as bold or treacherous rebellion, even if it is less blatant. The prophet had warned them to submit to the king of Babylon, not to flee into Egypt.
One writer sets what could have been beside what actually happened:
But how soon evil developed in this remnant! They could have feared the Lord and thought on His name. They could have submitted to the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, who was the rod in the Lord's hand to punish Judah for her sins. Then all might have been well… In Jeremiah 41 the flesh is rampant. Conflict and confusion reign supreme. Many fall. Some end up in bondage to the power of evil. Others, driven by the fear of man, seek refuge in Egypt — that world from which God had delivered them by His sovereign favour and mighty power.
The lesson drawn is that rescue is not the same as recovery:
Where there is much restlessness, though a measure of deliverance is experienced, as in the case of this remnant, yet, unless time is taken to learn and act on the present mind of God, worse trouble will follow than was known before.
- Trust betrayed. Nebuzaradan placed these people in Gedaliah's care. Ishmael seizes them and heads for Ammon.
- Trust exploited. The Ammonite king backed the plot, and Ishmael's own ambition drove it. Jealousy over the governorship played its part.
- Trust disgraced. The royal line should have sheltered the people. Instead it produced cunning, treachery, and murder.
- Trust restored. God disappoints the guilty at the height of their success. Johanan frees the captives, and Ishmael flees to the Ammonite king.
- Trust refused. Freed but fearful, the remnant heads for Egypt against the prophet's word. Fear is unbelief too.
And Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done;
Jeremiah 41 has just described a massacre: Ishmael killed the governor Gedaliah and eighty men on their way to the temple, then took the rest of Mizpah captive. Verse 11 is the turn — news of it reaches Johanan and his captains, and the chapter moves from crime to rescue.
The phrase "all the evil" gathers a whole trail of bloodshed and betrayal into one summary. Here is the record Johanan was hearing about:
Son of Nethaniah, of royal descent, though we do not know which family. His craft and ferocity show that he was unworthy of a throne. He treacherously killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the cities of Judah. He also killed all the Jews who were with him in Mizpah. He followed this crime with the cruel and treacherous murder of eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They were bringing gifts to the temple. He spared only ten. He then carried off everyone left in Mizpah as captives, and set out to go over to the Ammonites.
The rescue begins just as Ishmael's plan is working. He has the captives, and he is on his way to the Ammonites. The timing is the point:
Yet even when God permits the severest measures of shame and suffering, He disappoints the guilty in the moment of their greatest success.
Ishmael himself got away, which can look like a failure of justice. But there is more than one way to punish a man:
It is true that Ishmael was not killed. Perhaps, for the moment, a more bitter cup for the conspirators was to return empty-handed and cheated of their prey. They had to face the king who had sent him out to destroy his own people and to plunder for the Ammonites.
Johanan carries the rescue in this verse. His record, read to the end, runs both ways:
Son of Kareah and captain among the Jews left in the land after the destruction of Jerusalem. He warned Gedaliah of the plot against his life. When Ishmael killed Gedaliah and carried the people away, Johanan was the means of rescuing them. He would not, however, listen to Jeremiah and stay in the land. Instead he led the remnant into Egypt, where they practised idolatry.
So the man God used here was not himself a man of faith. A few verses later he leads the rescued people toward Egypt. Fear drives him now, not malice:
Sadly, the one who delivered the captives and drove their enemy off was no true friend of Israel. He paid little attention to the word of the Lord… Fear is evidence of unbelief just as surely as bold or treacherous rebellion, even if it is not as blatant. The prophet had warned them to submit to the king of Babylon, not to flee into Egypt… What a blessing for the believer! He has every right to trample on his fears and to trust the word of the Lord without anxiety.
The people were freed. But rescue is not the same as guidance:
This remnant did know a measure of deliverance. But where there is much restlessness, worse calamity will follow than before, unless people take the time to learn the present mind of God and to act on it. These things are recorded for our learning. The active leaders caused all the mischief with this remnant of God's people and it is the same today. How important, then, that we fix our eyes and hearts on the one unfailing Leader — the Lord Himself!
All of this happened to people who were in the land — the right place:
Chapters 40–41 expose the mistaken 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 the kind of hypocrisy we see here.
- Evil peaks. Ishmael's crimes climbed from one murder, to eighty, to mass kidnapping. News of "all the evil" is what sets the rescue in motion.
- God interrupts. God lets shame and suffering run their course. Then He disappoints the guilty at the height of their success.
- Escape isn't acquittal. Ishmael slipped away, but going back empty-handed to the king who sent him may have been the more bitter cup.
- Rescuers need rescuing. Johanan freed the captives, yet he paid little attention to God's word. Fear is unbelief as surely as rebellion is.
- Deliverance needs direction. Being in the right place is not enough without being right with the right Person. Keep your eyes on the one unfailing Leader.
and they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are at Gibeon.
Ishmael son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah, the governor Babylon appointed, and marched the survivors of Mizpah off as prisoners. Johanan's men catch him at Gibeon — yet a successful rescue does not prove the rescuer is a godly man.
The chase happens in a land where all order has broken down.
In Jeremiah 40 to Jeremiah 44, we have the anarchy and moral disorder that prevailed among the Jews left behind in the land or nearby. Babylon had carried most of their fellow countrymen away captive. Jeremiah becomes their helper, ministering to them the word of Jehovah, but finds among them the greatest unbelief... now 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.
Older translations call the great pool of this verse the "great waters." The place is real, and it can still be traced.
Gibeon is identified with a village of scattered houses on a hill. On one side of the hill is a plentiful spring, and lower down the remains of a large reservoir, which is thought to be the "pool" of Gibeon and its "great waters." 2 Samuel 2:13; Jeremiah 41:12, 16.
Ishmael already had a record of bloodshed behind him.
Son of Nethaniah, of the royal line, but of what family is not known. His craft and ferocity show that he was unworthy of a throne. He treacherously killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the cities of Judah. He killed all the Jews who were with him in Mizpah too. He followed up this crime by the cruel and treacherous murder of eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, who were bringing gifts to the temple. Only ten were spared.
Ishmael had won. The governor was dead and the captives were his. That is the moment the pursuit caught up with him.
Yet even when God permits the severest measures of shame and suffering, He disappoints the guilty in the moment of their greatest success.
Ishmael himself got away. No execution closed the account, but losing his prize may have hurt him more.
It is true that Ishmael was not killed. The king had sent him to destroy his own people and to plunder for the Ammonites. To go back to that king empty-handed, cheated of his prize, may have been for the moment a more bitter cup to the conspirators.
Johanan looks like the hero of the chapter. Earlier he had offered to kill Ishmael for Gedaliah, and Gedaliah turned him down.
It is not that Johanan was much better than Ishmael. As later events show, he had no real faith in God's word, and he hardened himself in pride and rebellion of heart. Perhaps Gedaliah knew there was little to choose between them. So he rejected Johanan's good warning just as much as his bad offer to get rid of Ishmael.
The same writer weighs the rescuer rather than the rescue:
Sadly, the man who delivered the captives and put their enemy to flight was no true friend of Israel. The reason was that he paid little attention to the word of Jehovah.
These survivors were still in the land while the rest sat in exile. That did not make them better people.
Chapters 40-41 expose a mistaken idea. It is not true 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 ungodly hypocrisy such as we see here. The prophet of God was among them, and they pretended to value his word. Even so, they acted deceitfully.
Deliverance came to them, but it did not settle them.
Where there is much restlessness, some deliverance may still come, as it did for this remnant. But unless we take time to learn and act on the present mind of God, worse trouble will follow than before... The active leaders caused all the mischief with this remnant of God's people and it is the same today. How important, then, that our eyes and hearts should look to the one unfailing Leader — to the Lord Himself!
- The people. Those left in the land lived in anarchy and moral disorder: jealousy, treason, deceit, violence, and God absent from their thoughts.
- The place. The great pool of Gibeon is a real spring and reservoir. There Johanan's men caught up with the prisoners.
- The turn. God disappointed Ishmael at the height of his success. He escaped, but going back empty-handed to the king who sent him may have been the bitterer cup.
- The rescuer. Johanan freed the captives, yet he had no real faith in God's word. So he was no true friend to the people he saved.
- The test. Being in the right place counts for nothing without being right with the right Person. Look instead to the one unfailing Leader — the Lord Himself.
And it came to pass when all the people that were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad.
Ishmael had murdered Gedaliah and was driving the survivors east toward the Ammonites as spoil. Verse 13 is where that march breaks: the captives see Johanan's troops and their hearts lift — but who they follow next will matter as much as who took them.
Johanan caught up with Ishmael at Gibeon. Its "great waters" were a real water source, and traces of them remain:
On one side of the hill is a plentiful spring. Lower down are the remains of a large reservoir. Many think this was the "pool" of Gibeon and its "great waters." 2 Samuel 2:13; Jeremiah 41:12, 16.
Ishmael had won every round so far. He had killed the governor, slaughtered pilgrims, and taken the rest as prisoners — and at that exact point the tables turned.
Yet even when God permits the severest measures of shame and suffering, He disappoints the guilty in the moment of their greatest success.
Ishmael himself got away. But escaping with nothing is its own punishment:
It is true that Ishmael was not killed. But going back empty-handed, robbed of the prey, may have been a more bitter cup for the conspirators at that moment. It meant facing the king who had sent him to destroy his own people and to plunder for the Ammonites.
These people had watched Ishmael kill their governor and their neighbours, and they were prisoners on the road to a foreign people. One writer traces how the rescue came about:
Ishmael's presence meant the overthrow of Gedaliah. Johanan warned him of this, but Gedaliah treated it as a false suspicion. It was true all the same. Ishmael killed Gedaliah and those with him, and fled with the rest, after adding to his guilt by killing a company of worshippers on their way to the house of the Lord. Johanan heard what Ishmael had done, chased him, and recovered the glad and grateful remnant.
There is a sting in this rescue:
Sadly, the man who rescued the captives and drove off their enemy was no true friend of Israel. He paid little attention to the word of the Lord.
A short account of his life shows the pattern — brave first, then disobedient:
He warned Gedaliah about the plot against his life. After Ishmael killed Gedaliah and carried the people away, Johanan was the one who rescued them. But he would not listen to Jeremiah and stay in the land. Instead he led the remnant into Egypt, where they worshipped idols.
So the rescued people set out for Egypt. Kelly names what drove them there:
Fear shows unbelief just as certainly as bold or treacherous rebellion does, even if it is less blatant. The prophet had warned them to submit to the king of Babylon, not to flee into Egypt. … How good it is that the believer has the right to trample on his fears, and to trust the word of the Lord without anxiety!
A rescue can leave people restless instead of settled. That is the danger Vine warns about here:
Restless people may still know some deliverance, as this remnant did. But unless they take time to learn God's present mind and act on it, worse trouble will follow than they knew before. … The active leaders caused all the mischief with this remnant of God's people, and it is the same today. So how important it is that our eyes and hearts should turn to the one unfailing Leader — to the Lord Himself!
- Cause. Ishmael won every round until his hour of triumph. Then God disappointed the guilty and left him fleeing empty-handed.
- Gift. The gladness at Gibeon was honest. A real rescue reached a glad and grateful remnant.
- Limit. Their rescuer was no true friend. He paid little attention to the word of the Lord. Brave is not the same as obedient.
- Result. Fear, not faith, chose their next step. Timid unbelief ends where bold rebellion ends.
- Remedy. After a rescue, take time to learn God's mind. Fix your eyes on the one unfailing Leader, not on the man who saved you.
And all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned about and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.
Jeremiah 41 has just described a massacre. Ishmael killed Gedaliah, the governor Babylon had appointed, and then marched the survivors of Mizpah off toward the Ammonites. Verse 14 is the moment that march breaks, and it raises a hard question: what is a rescue worth when the rescuer himself is not following God?
Up to this point, Ishmael's scheme has worked. One writer sets the rescue against the plans behind the kidnapping.
It seems that Ishmael is carrying forward the plans made with the king of the Ammonites. He goes on next to carry away those whom he did not kill… Yet even when God permits the severest measures of shame and suffering, He disappoints the guilty at the very moment of their greatest success.
Another writer sums up the rescue, and how the freed people felt about it.
Johanan, hearing what Ishmael had done, pursued him, and recovered the glad and grateful remnant.
Verse 15 records that Ishmael slipped away. The murderer never faces trial. Yet one writer finds a judgement of another kind in that escape.
It is true that Ishmael was not killed. But he had to go back with nothing, cheated of the prey, to the king who had sent him to destroy his own people and to plunder for the Ammonites. For the moment that may have been a more bitter cup to the conspirators.
One reference work notes his family background, and what his behaviour showed about him:
Son of Nethaniah, of the 'royal seed,' though from which family is not known. His cunning and ferocity show that he was unworthy of a throne.
Johanan then led the freed people toward Egypt. That was the one direction the prophet had told them not to go. Escaping Ishmael did not put them in safe hands.
The man who rescued the captives and put their enemy to flight was no true friend of Israel, because he paid little attention to the word of the Lord… Fear is evidence of unbelief just as certainly as bold or treacherous rebellion is, though not as openly. The prophet had warned them to submit to the king of Babylon, not to flee into Egypt… How blessed for the believer that he may trample on his fears, and trust the word of the Lord without anxiety!
The same writer looks at where that fear took them.
If they had stayed quietly in the land, under the authority of the Babylonian king whom God had placed over them, they would have been kept safe. But choosing human policy, they thought it was safer to go down into Egypt, whereas it proved to be the opposite.
Verse 14 brings real relief. Relief on its own changes nothing if no one stops to ask God what to do next.
Where there is much restlessness, some deliverance may still come, as it did for this remnant. Yet unless we take time to learn God's present mind and act on it, worse trouble will follow than before. These things are written for our instruction. The active leaders caused all the mischief with this remnant of God's people, and it is the same today. How important, then, that we turn our eyes and hearts to the one unfailing Leader — to the Lord Himself!
They had stayed in the land itself. One writer warns against reading too much into that.
Chapters 40-41 expose the mistaken idea that a remnant left in the land — in the right place — necessarily has some superior standing. 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 God's prophet among them, whose word they pretended to value, they acted deceitfully.
- Turn — The captives turned back and walked free; God disappoints the guilty at the very moment of their greatest success.
- Escape — Ishmael got away, but returned with nothing, which may have been the bitterer cup for those who sent him.
- Rescuer — Johanan freed them, yet ignored the word of the Lord. He was no true friend to the people he had just saved.
- Fear — Their flight to Egypt came from fear, and fear is evidence of unbelief just as surely as open rebellion is.
- Leader — Some deliverance is not enough. Without stopping to learn God's present mind, worse trouble follows. So keep your eyes on the one unfailing Leader.
But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the children of Ammon.
Jeremiah 41 ends in confusion. Ishmael has murdered Gedaliah the governor and carried off the people, and Johanan has just won the captives back at Gibeon. Verse 15 tells us the ringleader himself got away. Why does God let such a man slip free, and what will the rescued people do now?
Ishmael did not run just anywhere. He ran back to the king who had sent him:
The captains of the forces who were left gathered around Gedaliah, with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, of the royal family, at their head. But this man came with evil purposes. Baalis, the king of the Ammonites, had sent him, and no doubt his own ambition drove him on... Johanan and the captains of the forces followed him. They found him near the waters of Gibeon, defeated him, and took the captives back from him. Ishmael himself escaped with eight men and went to Baalis.
Ammon was no neutral refuge. God's law had long since shut that nation out:
"No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the LORD forever"... Such is God's ordinance concerning them. Israel ought never to seek their peace nor their prosperity.
Ishmael kept his life. He kept nothing else:
It is true that Ishmael was not killed. But he had to go back with nothing, cheated of his prey, to the king who had sent him as a destroyer of his own people and a plunderer for the Ammonites. For the moment that may have been a more bitter cup for the conspirators.
The same writer sees a rule in it:
God sometimes permits the severest measures of shame and suffering. Yet even then He disappoints the guilty in the moment of their greatest success.
With Ishmael gone, Johanan looks like the hero. But he set out for Egypt, and one writer weighs him by another measure:
The man who rescued the captives and drove their enemy off was no true friend of Israel. He paid little attention to the word of Jehovah... Fear proves unbelief just as surely as bold or treacherous rebellion does, even if it is not as shocking. The prophet had warned them to submit to the king of Babylon, not to flee into Egypt.
This group had stayed in the land while the rest went to Babylon. Being there did them no good:
Chapters 40-41 show how false it is to think 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 ungodly hypocrisy, as we see here. The prophet of God was among them, and they pretended to value his word. Even so, they acted deceitfully.
Ishmael runs to Ammon; Johanan sets out for Egypt. Neither side waits on God:
This remnant did know a measure of deliverance. Yet where people are restless, and will not take time to learn God's present mind and act on it, worse disaster follows than before. These things are recorded for our learning. The active leaders caused all the mischief with this remnant of God's people, and it is the same today. So how important it is that we turn our eyes and hearts to the one Leader who never fails — to the Lord Himself!
- Escape plotted. Baalis, king of the Ammonites, sent Ishmael, and his own ambition drove him — a man of royal blood used to destroy his own people.
- Escape emptied. He kept his life but lost his prey; God disappoints the guilty at the very moment of their greatest success.
- Escape granted. Johanan won the captives back at Gibeon. But he had little regard for the word of the Lord, so the rescue settled nothing.
- Escape attempted. Johanan ran for Egypt out of fear — and fear is as real a mark of unbelief as open treachery.
- Escape refused. Being in the right place is not the same as being right with the right Person. Where no one waits to learn God's present mind, worse trouble follows than before.
Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon;
Jeremiah 41 ends with a rescue. Johanan and his captains have caught up with the murderer Ishmael. The whole column of prisoners he had dragged out of Mizpah is now in his hands: fighting men, women, children, and the eunuchs who served at court. The question the chapter leaves open is what a rescued people will do next.
These chapters record what happened to the Jews who were not deported to Babylon.
In Jeremiah 40 to Jeremiah 44, we have the anarchy and moral disorder that took hold among the Jews who stayed behind in the land or near it. Most of their countrymen had gone as captives to Babylon. Jeremiah becomes their helper, ministering to them the word of the Lord, but finds among them the greatest unbelief. Even the little remnant was full of jealousy. These were the poor left in the land, and Jeremiah stayed among them. They were full of their own plans, full of treason, full of deceit and violence. God was not really in their thoughts.
The people Johanan brought back from Gibeon had just lived through the murder of their governor and his followers. Ishmael was driving them off to the Ammonites.
Johanan, one of the captains, warned Gedaliah that treachery was being planned. Gedaliah refused to believe it, and refused to take part in killing Ishmael. Ishmael struck him down in a cowardly way, rebelling for the last time against the king of Babylon's authority. He massacred the governor's followers and the Chaldean soldiers who were found there. On the second day he killed men who had come to seek the Lord. They may have been ignorant, and not free from pagan practices, but their hearts were broken. He led captive all the rest of the people who were at Mizpah, along with the king's daughters, to the Ammonites. Johanan and the captains of the forces followed him, found him near the waters of Gibeon, defeated him, and recovered the captives from him. Ishmael escaped with eight men and went to Baalis, the king of the Ammonites.
Ishmael was at the height of his success when Johanan overtook him.
Even when God permits the severest measures of shame and suffering, He disappoints the guilty at the moment of their greatest success.
Verse 16 hands the people to Johanan. He beat Ishmael, but he was not a safe man to follow.
The one who delivered the captives and put their enemy to flight was no true friend of Israel, because he paid little attention to the word of the Lord... Fear proves unbelief just as surely as bold or treacherous rebellion does, even if less obviously. The prophet had warned them to submit to the king of Babylon, not to flee into Egypt. What came of this disobedience, flowing from distrust, we have yet to learn. How blessed for the believer that he is entitled to trample on fears, and to trust the word of the Lord without anxiety!
A real deliverance had just happened. What did not happen was any pause to ask God what came next.
God had set up the power and protection of Babylon. They did not settle quietly and confidently under it. Instead they moved toward Egypt, while still staying in the land. Fear filled their hearts, not quiet confidence in God and in His will. The conflicts they had seen only increased this. There was no waiting on God... This remnant did taste some deliverance. But where there is much restlessness, worse trouble follows than before — unless people take time to learn the present mind of God and act on it.
They still had the land, and the prophet still lived among them.
Chapters 40-41 expose the mistaken idea that a remnant in the land — in the right place — necessarily has some superior standing. To be in the right place without being right with the right Person will only expose us to bad behaviour and to godless hypocrisy, as it does here. Even with the prophet of God among them, whose word they pretended to value, they acted deceitfully.
The same writer takes the failure of these captains into our own day.
The active leaders caused all the mischief with this remnant of God's people, and it is the same today. How important, then, that our eyes and hearts should be turned to the one unfailing Leader — to the Lord Himself!
- Rescued. At the exact moment of Ishmael's success, God disappointed him — the captives turned around at Gibeon and walked free.
- Rescued by whom. The captains who recovered them paid little attention to the word of the Lord. The people passed from a murderer's hands into unbelieving ones. Only one Leader never fails — the Lord Himself.
- Rescued, then restless. Real deliverance came, but no waiting on God followed it. Fear, not confidence, set the direction of the march.
- Rescued, but not right. They kept the land and kept the prophet. But the right place without being right with God only exposed their deceit.
- Rescued and warned. Jeremiah had told them to stay and submit, not to run to Egypt. Fear is as much unbelief as open rebellion. The believer may trample on fear and trust the word of the Lord.
and they departed, and dwelt at Geruth-Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
Jeremiah 41 ends with a group of survivors on the move. Johanan has just rescued them from a murderer. Now he leads them to a lodging place near Bethlehem, with Egypt in view. The chapter names their reason: they feared the Chaldeans, that is, the Babylonians. That fear is what the commentators weigh.
One writer traces the sequence from Ishmael's murder of Gedaliah — the governor Babylon had appointed — to this halt on the road.
Johanan and the captains of the forces with him free the captives from Ishmael, who escapes to Baalis, the king of the Ammonites. Johanan and the people he has rescued take shelter for a time in the inn of Chimham at Bethlehem. They are waiting for a chance to slip away into Egypt, because they fear the Chaldeans.
They never actually left the land. One writer notes that the move stayed inside the borders, yet aimed outward:
But they did not settle quietly and confidently under the rule and protection of Babylon, which God had set up. Instead they moved toward Egypt, while still staying in the land. Fear filled their hearts, not quiet confidence in God and in His will.
One commentator refuses to treat their fear as a small thing.
Fear is proof of unbelief just as surely as bold or treacherous rebellion is, even if it is not as shocking. The prophet had warned them to submit to the king of Babylon and not to flee into Egypt. What came out of this disobedience, which flowed from distrust, we have yet to learn. How blessed the believer is, who may trample on his fears and trust the word of the Lord without anxiety!
The lodging place in this verse belongs to a man named Chimham. He came from Gilead and was likely a son of Barzillai. Barzillai entrusted him to David when David returned to Jerusalem after his son Absalom's revolt (Morrish Bible Dictionary). One writer follows that thread and suggests a striking possibility, while admitting no one can prove it.
We do not know for sure, but could it be that David shared his own family estate at Bethlehem with him? We know that our King shares His kingly home with those who share His rejection. ... Some think this place should be called the "Inn of Chimham". They think that later, perhaps, it was this very inn that had "no room" for the King of Kings. So in its stable, at Bethlehem, the Son greater than David came into our world, rejected — as David had been rejected, in a smaller way, before Him. We cannot know for sure about this.
Only one of the two empires offered a way back. One writer contrasts the group heading for Egypt with the captives already in Babylon.
This group goes down into Egypt against the word of the Lord, and there they are destroyed by sword, famine, and disease. Those at Babylon have peace and prosperity and plenty promised to them for the time being. This group takes Jeremiah with them into Egypt, even though he announces their doom. The others have Ezekiel and Daniel with them at Babylon... At the beginning God redeemed the people out of Egypt. Babylon became the place of their captivity when they had turned away from the Lord. So going back to Egypt was fatal, but from Babylon there was deliverance.
Their calculation was that Egypt would be safer. It was not.
If they had stayed quietly in the land, under the authority of the Chaldean king whom God had placed over them, they would have been kept safe. But they chose human strategy instead. They thought it was safer to go down into Egypt, and the opposite proved true. Nebuchadnezzar chased the Egyptians and punished these unbelieving Jews in that land.
What is missing at Chimham is any pause to ask God. That absence, one writer argues, is what turns a rescue into a disaster.
There was no waiting on God. They had no sense of what God's mind for them was at that moment, even though His prophet was right there. Where there is much restlessness, people may still see some deliverance, as this remnant did. But unless they take time to learn God's present mind and act on it, a worse disaster will follow than the one they knew before.
- Rescued. Johanan won the captives back from Ishmael. The rescue was real, but it settled nothing about their next step.
- Afraid. They moved because they feared the Chaldeans. Fear like this is unbelief in a quieter form than Ishmael's open treachery.
- Halted. They stop at Chimham's lodging near Bethlehem, named after Barzillai's son. Some think — though no one can prove it — it was the inn with no room for the Son greater than David.
- Aimed wrong. God promised deliverance from Babylon. Egypt was the one road that could only end in sword, famine, and disease.
- Unasked. God's prophet stood right among them, and no one asked him. That silence, not the Babylonians, carried them into a worse disaster than the one they fled.
because of the Chaldeans; for they feared them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had smitten Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.
The chapter ends with Johanan and the survivors camped at Chimham near Bethlehem, with Egypt already in view. They were afraid of the Chaldeans — the Babylonians — because Ishmael had murdered Gedaliah, the governor Babylon had appointed. Their fear was real, but they made their plans without once turning to the Lord.
Johanan had just rescued the captives and driven off a murderer. One writer still puts his fear on the same level as Ishmael's treachery:
The man who rescued the captives and put their enemy to flight was no true friend of Israel, because he paid little attention to the word of the Lord... Fear is evidence of unbelief just as surely, if not as blatantly, as bold or treacherous rebellion. The prophet had warned them to submit to the king of Babylon, not to flee into Egypt. What came of this disobedience, flowing from distrust, we have yet to learn. How blessed the believer is! He has the right to trample on fears, and to trust the word of the Lord without anxiety!
Chimham's lodging near Bethlehem was still inside the land. But they stopped there with another country in mind:
Johanan and those he has delivered take refuge for a time at the inn of Chimham at Bethlehem. They are waiting for a chance to slip away into Egypt, because they fear the Chaldeans.
Another writer names what was missing in their hearts:
They did not quietly and confidently settle under the power and protection of Babylon, which God had established. Instead they moved toward Egypt, though they were still in the land. Fear filled their hearts, and not quiet confidence in God and in His will.
Babylon's yoke looked like the danger. One writer shows what submitting to it would have secured:
If at this last hour this remnant had submitted to the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, peace would have reigned in the land. These few who were left would have kept the land as their own. But some revolt, and the others fear the consequences of their folly. There is no idea of trusting in the Lord. They consult Jeremiah, but refuse to obey the word of the Lord from his mouth. They take refuge in Egypt to escape Nebuchadnezzar. But there they fall under the sword that would have spared them in Judea, if they had stayed there in subjection to the king.
One writer sets the two groups of survivors side by side — those heading for Egypt, and those already in Babylon:
These go down into Egypt, against the word of the Lord, and sword and famine and plague will destroy them. Those at Babylon have peace and prosperity and plenty promised to them for the present... 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.
One writer sums up the whole chapter, then sets two kinds of fear side by side:
In Jeremiah 41 the flesh runs wild. Conflict and confusion reign. Many fall. Evil takes some into bondage. Others, driven by the fear of man, seek refuge in Egypt — the very world God had delivered them from by His sovereign favour and mighty power. "In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence" (Proverbs 14:26), but "the fear of man lays a snare" (Proverbs 29:25).
These survivors were the ones left in the land — and one writer refuses to treat that as an advantage:
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 is not enough. Without being right with the right Person, we are open only to bad behaviour and to ungodly hypocrisy like the kind shown here.
- Fear — Their dread of Babylon after Gedaliah's death was real, but one writer calls fear like this evidence of unbelief.
- Flight — Fear never stands still. It left them camped at Chimham, with Egypt already their secret plan.
- Forfeit — If they had stayed under the yoke God appointed, they would have had peace and kept the land.
- Fatal refuge — Egypt was the house they had been redeemed out of; Babylon had a way home, Egypt did not.
- Faith — Standing in the right place saved no one. Only being right with God could do that.