Today's Reading:

Jeremiah 41
Jeremiah 42
Jeremiah 43
Jeremiah 44

God spoke to the remnant and reminded them that they had been burning incense and worshipping other gods they never really knew. Why now were they doing the same thing down in Egypt? They would leave no remnant, and so God said there would be disaster from the least to the greatest, just like He had judged Jerusalem. Anyone who had decided to settle in Egypt would be punished. Only a few fugitives from the Egyptian remnant would survive. They would become the living proof that God’s words are true. This way, when they had a chance to tell their story, they could say, “Listen, God was right that human plans fail without Him, and His plans and His Word stands forever.” Yet still the people chose to not listen to Jeremiah, and they burned incense to the “Queen of Heaven” (the Ashtoreth, like the Canaanite Asherah, a Mesopotamian goddess). They had it all wrong. They thought that since they stopped worshiping her, that was why the disaster came. They did not think it was due to idolatry itself that brought the disaster. They had made their vows, and so they kept them, but they could not call on God anymore. The Jewish Israelites in Egypt would perish. Pharaoh Hophra would be given into the hands of his enemy. (Hophra/Apries reigned from 589-570 BC and was overthrown).

When God’s Word has already proven true, why do we still sometimes choose to listen to our own reasoning instead of His?

Ishmael was from David’s lineage, and he had come with ten men to see Gedaliah at Mizpah. The king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah (son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan) governor over the remnant of Judah to keep peace and allow the people to rebuild. Gedaliah’s family had helped protect Jeremiah: Shaphan was the scribe who read the Book of the Law under Josiah; Shaphan’s son Ahikam had protected Jeremiah from death under Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 26:24); and Jeremiah himself was placed into Gedaliah’s care after Jerusalem’s fall. 

While they ate together, Ishmael and his men assassinated Gedaliah, the men from Judah with him, and the Babylonian soldiers who were at the dinner. Ishmael was jealous and an entitled cousin who thought the throne should be his. He had allied with the Ammonite king Baalis, and took the remaining people captive, including the king’s daughters.

The next day, before the news of the murders spread, 80 pilgrims in mourning came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. Despite the ruins, they still wanted to worship at the site of the Temple and brought offerings with them for the Temple. Ishmael went out fake crying in grief, and invited them to see Gedaliah, and then assassinated most of them. He threw their bodies into a deep cistern that was built hundreds of years earlier by the good southern King Asa. Ten of the 80 pilgrims begged for their lives by offering Ishmael food that they had hidden.

Ishmael then fled to Ammon with his prisoners. When Johanan and the other officers learned of the killings, they chased him to the great pool in Gibeon. The prisoners rejoiced and returned with Johanan, but Ishmael and eight of his men escaped to the Ammonites. Judah had been defeated by Babylon, and now Ishmael had come and murdered more men at the dinner party. The pilgrims were only trying to spiritually connect and honor God, yet they too were killed. Fearing retaliation from Babylon because Ishmael had killed Governor Gedaliah, the entire remnant, from least to greatest, asked Jeremiah to pray for them. They promised that whether good or bad, they would obey.

The answer from God came 10 days later. Were they patient enough to wait? They needed to check their obedience. God warned that disobeying by fleeing to Egypt and trusting other nations only allowed the sword of His wrath to follow. They would be cursed, and then not a single person would survive. Jeremiah reiterated this, as God already knew what was in their hearts. They had asked for advice but would not listen to it. The people blamed the scribe Baruch like a scapegoat, feeling that the prophet was controlled by his aide. The people disobeyed and kidnapped Baruch and Jeremiah to go to Egypt, to Tahpanhes, a frontier fortress city in the eastern Nile delta.

Israel’s story began when they were leaving Egypt with Moses, and now the remnant were ending their story back in Egypt. God had Jeremiah bury stones in front of the Egyptian pharaoh’s palace as a warning. He would bring Babylon against Egypt and set up His new throne on those stones. Nebuchadnezzar, God’s servant, would smash the sacred pillars of Heliopolis (the city of the sun god). The temple of the sun was a major Egyptian cult center. Now even the place where Ishmael had fled was next on God’s list for destruction.

Today's Discussion question:

When God’s Word has already proven true, why do we still sometimes choose to listen to our own reasoning instead of His?Who has been sitting in a hard or low place that you could lift up and treat with unexpected kindness?

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