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.