Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

Shephatiah, Pashur, and Gedaliah were NOT happy. Jeremiah was prophesying that whoever remained in Jerusalem and didn’t give themselves up to the Chaldeans would be killed by the sword, by pestilence, and by famine. Jeremiah had already been imprisoned for this. Nebuchadnezzar had indeed offered the people their lives if they would defect to him. Zedekiah didn’t want that – desperate as he was to hold things together. These three wanted Jeremiah executed to put a stop to his words permanently. Zedekiah was weak and could hardly stand up to them, so Jeremiah got tossed into the dungeon again. Not a regular one, but a kind of pit. He was lowered by ropes into the bottom, which was just mire. He sank into it. Some translations call it a cistern, not a dungeon. Either way, it was a miserable situation. The princes were hoping this would kill him.

Ebed-Melech, who was an Ethiopian and one of the king’s eunuchs, heard Jeremiah had been put into the dungeon. He went to the king and spoke to him. He told him what they had done to Jeremiah and pointed out he would starve if he was left in there. The king told Ebed-Melech to take thirty men and take Jeremiah out before he died. So they did. Jeremiah wasn’t freed, but was again allowed to stay in the court of the prison.

The king called for a private audience with Jeremiah in the third entrance to the Temple. The king told Jeremiah that he was going to ask the prophet something and not hold anything back. Jeremiah said, if he told the king the truth the king would kill him. And if the king asked advice, he wouldn’t follow what Jeremiah said. But the king swore that he would neither put Jeremiah to death nor give him into the hands of people who wanted him dead. So Jeremiah spoke to him the Words of the Lord: if you give up, you will live and the city will not be burnt and your house would survive; but if you do not surrender the city will be burnt and the king would not escape. The king told Jeremiah that he was scared of the Jews who had already defected. That they would hate him for surrendering and he would be abused. Jeremiah told him that would not happen. It would be as the Lord was declaring. He would be safe if he surrendered and not if he didn’t. If he refused to surrender, all his wives and children would go to the Chaldeans and the city would be burnt and the king would be a prisoner too. The king made Jeremiah swore to tell no one what he had said and promised Jeremiah he would live. He even gave Jeremiah an excuse to use when questioned. Which he was by the princes. Jeremiah said he has asked to be moved to a new place so he would not die in the house of the prison. Which satisfied them and they left him alone. Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison and was there when Jerusalem fell.

In the ninth year of Zedekiah Nebuchadnezzar returned and besieged the city (2 Chronicles 36:11-21). In the eleventh year, the city was penetrated. That night, Zedekiah and all his private guard fled the city through the king’s garden. But he was pursued by the army and was taken in the plains of Jericho. He was taken before Nebuchadnezzar. Kedekiah’s sons were killed before his eyes and so were all the nobles of Judah. Then Zedekiah’s eyes were put out and he was bound in bronze fetters and carried off to Babylon. He had NOT obeyed the Lord’s instructions. The Chaldeans burnt the king’s house, the houses of the city, and broke down Jerusalem’s walls. Everything that had been prophesied. The remnant of the people who survived were taken to Babylon. So too were those who had defected (although in better conditions). Only the poor people were left in the land. They were left to keep the vineyards and fields for Nebuchadnezzar. The king of Babylon put Jeremiah in the charge of the captain of his guard saying “Take him and set your eyes on him. And you must not do something bad to him, but only that which he speaks to you, so do with him” (Jeremiah 39:12). Which is the kind of protection and favour that God had promised Jeremiah in the beginning. But Jeremiah chose not to go to Babylon, but to remain with his people in Judah. So he was given into the charge of Gedaliah.

Also, the Lord had given Jeremiah a word for Ebed-Melech before Jerusalem fell. The Lord said that since Ebed-Melech had done good and not evil, Ebed-Melech would be delivered from the fall of the city. He would not be given in to the hands of the men who he was afraid of. He will not fall by the sword, but will live life like it was a prize because he had trusted in God.

“And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “Yahweh your God threatened this disaster to this place” (Jeremiah 40:2)

What was the exact offer Jeremiah was given? That he could go to Babylon with the captain of the guard who honoured the God of the Israelites. He would look after Jeremiah and it would be good for him. But if Jeremiah preferred to stay, then he could pick anywhere in the land to stay. Whatever he felt was good and right. The captain of the guard recommended going to Gedaliah who Nebuchadnezzar was making governor of Judah, but he didn’t have to. The captain gave him rations and money and let him go free. Jeremiah did go to Gedaliah and lived with him in Mizpah.

Now the guerilla forces in the hills heard of everything that was done and that Gedaliah was made governor over everyone who hadn’t been taken off to Babylon. They came to him at Mizpah to see what was what. Gedaliah told them NOT to be afraid of Nebuchadnezzar. He told them to be good citizens, not to make trouble, keep their fields and vineyards. To dwell in the land and serve their new king, even though he was foreign, and it would go well with them. Gedaliah told them of his intention to remain at Mizpah and serve Nebuchadnezzar and making sure all envoys from Babylon were treated well. But the Judeans could go to their lands and keep them and gather produce and enjoy the fruits of the land in peace. The Jews that had previously fled to Moab, in Edom, and all those places also heard that a remnant remained in Mizpah and Gedaliah was the governor there, they came as well. And they all gathered wine and summer fruit in abundance.

Now Johanan and all the captains of the guerrillas heard news and came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They told him that the king of the Ammonites had sent Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, to murder Gedaliah. But Gedaliah didn’t believe them. Then Johanan spoke secretly to Gedaliah and said that he, Johanan, would kill Ishmael himself. Why should they let Gedaliah be killed and rouse the anger of Babylon and have all the remnant scattered? But Gedaliah told him NOT to do this. Gedaliah believed they were speaking falsely of Ishmael. He did not want Ishmael harmed.

Summary

Key Players: God, Jesus, Jeremiah, Zedekiah, Shephatiah, Pashur, Gedaliah, Ebed-Melech, Gedaliah, Nebuchadnezzar, Johanan, Ishmael

Key Verse(s): Jeremiah 38:1-6, 11-13, 17-18, 20-23; 39:1-10, 15-18; 40:1-6, 13-16