Fear No Fear

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

Gedaliah had been warned that Ishmael was planning to kill him, having been sent by the king of the Ammonites on an assassination mission. Ishmael was part of the royal line and was perhaps motivated by the possibility of sitting on the throne of Judah should the governor appointed by Nebuchadnezzar (Gedaliah) be removed. Gedaliah had been warned byJohanan, but he would not listen.

Ishmael and ten men came to Mizpah and ate a meal with Gedaliah. They struck and killed him. Then they killed all the people who were at the meal (servants, guests, people in the house, everyone). All the staff and all the friends. He did it so that would wouldn’t get out. On the second day after Ishmael had murdered Gedaliah, eighty men arrived at Mizpah from Shechem, Samaria, and Shiloh. They had heard of the destruction/conquering and had come to mourn it in person. They had shaved their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves (forbidden in Leviticus 19:27-28 and Deuteronomy 14:1). Ishmael went out to meet them, crying tears like they were, and gathered them into the middle of the city. Ishmael and his men killed them there and threw them into a pit – all but ten men who proclaimed they had treasures buried in the fields (wheat, barley, oil, and honey). Then Ishmael and his men carried away as captives everyone else in the city (including Jeremiah). They departed back to the king of the Ammonites who had sent them.

Johanan and all the other captains of the guerrilla forces heard about it, they gathered with their men and pursued. They caught up to them in Gibeon (north of Jerusalem and about eighty kilometres from Mizpah). The people ran over to Johanan and his forces (Ishmael only had ten men with him, so they couldn’t control the crowd they had kidnapped except through fear). There was some clashing, and Ishmael and eight of his men survived to escape to the Ammorites. Now the question is what Nebuchadnezzar would do when he heard that his governor was murdered. So Johanan and the captains with him turned around and went to Chimham, near Bethlehem, on their way to Egypt. They were scared of the Chaldeans and figured the Egyptians would be a safe place to hide. But fear is a killer of trust. When you are fearful, you are NOT trusting in the Lord.

So they came to Jeremiah (all of them) and asked him to seek God for an answer: where should they go? Jeremiah ASSUMED they were sincere. He asked them if they would listen, and they SWORE to obey WHATEVER the Lord said to Jeremiah COMPLETELY and TOTALLY. Jeremiah sought the Lord for ten days before he got an answer. [It seems as though he was seeking assuming the people were sincere and that was colouring his praying. After days of no response, he would have shifted his prayer to seeking the will of God. Our motivation in praying/asking can massively shift things. Did Jesus WANT Peter to walk on the water? We don’t know. Peter didn’t ask that. He said ‘if you ARE JESUS bid me come to you’. Jesus WAS Jesus, so He had to say ‘come’. Peter didn’t ask ‘should I walk to you?’ He might have got a TOTALLY different answer. Motivations matter in prayer (James 4:3).] Jeremiah gathered all the people together and gave them the word. If they stayed in Judah, they would be fine. They would be delivered from the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, they would be safe, and they would live successful lives.

“Yahweh has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘You must not go to Egypt.’ You must certainly know that I have warned you today that you have made a fatal mistake, for you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Yahweh our God, and all that Yahweh our God says, so tell us and we will do it.’ So I have told you today, and you have not listened to the voice of Yahweh your God, or of anything that he sent me for you.” (Jeremiah 42:19-21)

Jeremiah ALSO revealed God KNEW they were not intending to listen. That they had ONLY asked hoping to hear what they wanted to hear – remember they were ON THEIR WAY to Egypt when they asked Him. Jeremiah told them the Lord was promising that if they went to Egypt, they would die by the sword (Egypt would be TOTALLY conquered like Israel and Judah had been), die by famine (the Nile would NOT make Egypt drought-proof), and by pestilence. They would ALL die in Egypt. But if they listened to the Lord and stayed in Judah (being the remnant God had said He wanted to preserve), He would show them mercy and would preserve their lives.

The people told Jeremiah he was lying. That God would never say that. That they were going to Egypt and so was he. So Johanan and the captains took all the people, and Jeremiah, and Baruch and went to Egypt, heading in as far as Tahpanhes (Ezekiel 30:18). The Lord spoke to Jeremiah and told him to take two stones and while everyone was watching to bury them in the clay in the brick courtyard at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes. Then he was to proclaim the word of the Lord: Nebuchadnezzar would conquer Egypt and set up his throne right over these stones. He would strike the land and put people to death with the sword and take others into captivity. Total conquest. He would take the nation and wear it like a cloak. The gods of Egypt would not prevent it. He would burn their houses with fire.

Summary

Key Players: God, Jeremiah, Gedaliah, Ebed-Melech, Gedaliah, Nebuchadnezzar, Johanan, Ishmael

Key Verse(s): Jeremiah 41:1-3, 7-8, 10-15; 42:4-6, 11-18; 43:1-7, 10-13