Day 752: Behind the news reports - Jeremiah 41 vs 1 - 8
1 In the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. 2-3 As they ate bread together there at Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.
4-7 On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, eighty men arrived from Shechem and Shiloh and Samaria, with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” When they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and cast them into a cistern. 8 But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not put them to death with their companions. Jeremiah 41:1-8 English Standard Version
In trying to understand the Bible we must always take note of what sort of part of it we are reading. Some parts of the Bible are prophecies where the writers may use symbolic pictures. We must then be careful to not take those symbols in a literal way. There's quite a bit of that in books like Ezekiel and Revelation. Other parts of the Bible, like Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus, were instructions for how the Church should conduct itself in the world. They should be read in a more literal way. Still other parts of the Bible are what we call 'narrative'. They are like news reports describing events that took place. Some of the events were ugly. These parts of the Bible are not meant to teach us to go out and do the same things - but there are often lessons we can take from them.
Today's reading is narrative. It tells us of a terrible assassination that took place, which was then followed by a treacherous slaughter of some pilgrims. After destroying Jerusalem the Babylonians (Chaldeans) had put Gedaliah in charge of the region. He was warned by Johanan that a man named Ishmael was planning to assassinate him. Is there a clue in vs 1 why Ishmael would want to do that?
He was 'of the royal family'. Throughout history there have been powerful struggles over who should sit on the thrones of Kingdoms. Gedaliah wrote the assassination warning off as a conspiracy theory but, sadly, it proved to be true. Though Ishmael only had ten men with him, the element of surprise probably helped them to overcome Gedaliah and the few Chaldean guards. If that was terrible, what happened next can only be described as despicable.
The 80 men who arrived at Mizpah (where Gedaliah had set up office) were like pilgrims. They had set off on a holy mission to offer gifts to God and to pray for Jerusalem's future. But see, in vs 4-7, how deceivingly Ishmael behaved, and how it led to a massacre. Only a few were spared by claiming to have a secret stash of provisions. Remember, these were days following war when everything was in scarce supply. Are there any lessons we can take from this tragedy?
I would suggest that, firstly, to realize that not all 'conspiracy theories' are false. We live in days when there is lots of fake news flooding the market. But midst all the nonsense there are things that are true, and which should make us prayerful. Secondly, don't expect those who are building the kingdom of Satan to 'play by the rules'. Jeremiah had spoken God's word to the nation. But many opposed what he had said and were intent on forcing their views upon the nation. They would do whatever it took to throw out God's word - even massacres. That's still the real story behind the news reports we see and hear today. The real battle raging is the one against all that God has said.