Call to Commitment

 

Ancient cistern at ruins of Mizpah

Chapter 41

 

Ishmael’s nonsensical massacres            

  1.      Now it came to pass in the seventh month that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family and of the officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. And there they ate bread together in Mizpah. 

 2.  Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.

 3.      Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is, with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war. 

 4.      And it happened, on the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, when as yet no one knew it, 

 5.      that certain men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD. 

 6.      Now Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went along; and it happened as he met them that he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!" 

 7.      So it was, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah killed them and cast them into the midst of a pit, he and the men who were with him. 

 8.      But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael, "Do not kill us, for we have treasures of wheat, barley, oil, and honey in the field." So he desisted and did not kill them among their brethren. 

 9.      Now the pit into which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain, because of Gedaliah, was the same one Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. 

 10.  Then Ishmael carried away captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king's daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive and departed to go over to the Ammonites.

The story of Israel´s army captains continues in this chapter in the seventh month of the 11^th year of King Zedekiah. They began to maneuver after Nebuchadnezzar penetrated Jerusalem on the ninth day of the fourth month. This chapter begins over two months after the city was conquered and burnt. At the end of the last chapter, we had just learned, through one of the captains, Johanan, that another captain, Ishmael, is plotting against the new governor, Gedaliah. Gedaliah refused to believe Johanan and was in denial of the evil intended by Ishmael. It is the only fault that we have learned about the governor, but this chapter will expose the seriousness of refusing to face an unpleasant reality. May the people of God take warning, because this trait in Gedaliah led to his death. We do ourselves and the church no favor, by ignoring or tolerating the potential of evil in the human heart.  

Jeremiah taught us that the heart is perverse and deceptive (17:9), something the Lord showed to him and also something that He taught him, providentially, as he observed the fate of his friend, the governor. See how Ishmael took advantage of the naivety in this good man and subtly carried out his conspiracy. He was emboldened, because he possessed royal blood and was held by his conceit, because of his past position in Judah. He comes to Mizpah with ten men to dine with Gedaliah (1).

The governor learned too late that you cannot surmise that everyone has good intentions and will act for the good of his country and people. Unfortunately, many are possessed by an egotistical yearning for power. Please understand that some people with this attitude are inside the church in our day. The apostle John knew of one: “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us” (3 Jn.9). In his second epistle, he warned of dangers that come to believers and the action that must be taken concerning them: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house or greet him” (2 Jn.10). John was not only a great advocate of brotherly love, but a lover of divine truth: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 Jn. 4). Paul wrote that love “rejoices in the truth” (1 Co.13:6).

 

Feigning friendliness and companionship, Ishmael played on Gedaliah’s credulity. The next moment, he and his men rose with swords in their hands and killed him. The lamp of a good man was snuffed out, the stability of the new government was thrown into turmoil and the hopes of the population were dashed (2). Solomon said, “One sinner destroys much good” (Ecc.9:18).

Ishmael continued his murderous rampage, killing Gedaliah’s allies in the city. He defied the emperor, by not only destroying his governor, but also by killing Chaldean soldiers. This was bound to have repercussions in Babylon (3).

The evil deed was not published (4), until worshipers came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, key points in Israel’s history, places in which sin had done significant damage. These men came with remorse over the recent conquest of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple. They were on their way to the house of the Lord, bringing offerings and incense, but no sacrifice to burn on the altar, which would be unlawful in the absence of the temple (5).

Mizpah lies on the highway, a few miles north of Jerusalem. These men were ignorant of what has just transpired in Mizpah, but I would like to propose, that their cities´ past was providentially testifying against the present, dastardly act in this city, which equaled, if not surpassed, the sins in the history of Shechem (Gen. ch.34), Shiloh (1 S.2:12-17) and Samaria (1 K.16:30-32).

In order to deceive these 80 mourners, Ishmael wept as he met them and invited them into Mizpah to “Come to Gedaliah!” (6).  When they are in the city, Ishmael killed them. What was his motivation, in destroying these men, who were no offense to him or any danger to his intentions? Was he simply anti-God, rising in demonic rage against His worshipers? Or was he doing it on the strength of their acceptance of his invitation to meet with Gedaliah? Having killed them, he threw their bodies into a cistern (7). “Whom he had slain, because of Gedaliah” (9) favors the speculation that these men were sympathetic to the new governor.

 Ten of them begged for their lives and told Ishmael of their knowledge of a storage place of wheat, barley, oil and honey. This was of interest to a rebel and his men, who had scanty sustenance, living in a field (40:7) and, for a time, in a foreign country without friends or acquaintances (40:14). If there were supplies that surpassed their own needs, defeated Jews would be happy to pay generously to buy from them. He spared their lives (8).

 Providential history enters again into the account, showing that there are no isolated events in the designs of the Holy Spirit, but Scriptures show a connection among the things that God has allowed, according to His purposes. The reference to the cistern in Mizpah in verse 9, is to remind us of good King Asa´s building this cistern many years previously as a water reservoir near the border between Israel and Judah. Baasha, the idolatrous king of Israel, attempted to boycott Judah from commerce that would enter from the north, by constructing a city, Ramah, on the border.

 Baasha was threatened by the king of Syria and abandoned the building of Ramah. Asa took his building materials from Ramah and rebuilt Mizpah, including a cistern for water. The story served to teach us that, as Baasha was not successful in opposing Asa, in the justice of God, Ishmael will not go unpunished for killing Gedaliah. Evil people´s intentions against the people of the Lord, will eventually be thwarted and God´s people will profit from their loss.

  The entire Old Testament taught that no permanent good would come, until the Prince of Peace would reign. The entire Israelite race had one hope and aspiration… the coming Messiah. Gedeliah’s death was a tragedy, but men, at their best, are imperfect. We are not to trust in rulers; One is to come, who will rule His people, Israel, in peace, security and righteousness.

 There were people left in Mizpah under Gedaliah’s special care. Ishmael killed many of them, but let the most prominent among them live, including the king’s daughters. He would sell them as slaves to the Ammonites, or perhaps offer them as prizes of war to the man, King Baalis, who sent him on his mission (40:14). I imagen that the nobility, captured in Mizpah, were educated in Israelite history. The reminder of King Asa’s victory over King Baasha was especially heartening to them, and their deliverance is just ahead.

 

Johanan intervenes

 11.  But when Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, 

 12.  they took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah; and they found him by the great pool that is in Gibeon. 

 13.  So it was, when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, that they were glad. 

 14.  Then all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. 

 15.  But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the Ammonites. 

 16.  Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah after he had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—the mighty men of war and the women and the children and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon. 

 17.  And they departed and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, as they went on their way to Egypt, 

 18.  because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land. 

 Gedeliah’s distrust of Johanan’s word and the rejection of his offer, must have been a blow to the captain, and the assassination of the governor, was certainly a vindication of his warning. The combination of rejection and vindication surely had an unfavorable effect on the man. The news of his death spread over the land, and now that Gedeliah was dead, there were no more restraints on Johanan. He swung into action, along with the other captains of Israel (11). 

They gathered their army, set out to overtake Ishmael and reached him at the great pool in Gibeon (12). The text says that the people that Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah, recognizing Johanan and understanding his mission “were glad”. It seems to me that the translators chose the most unfeeling synonym possible for the Hebrew word. Here are a few others: gleeful, blithe, to rejoice, make joyful. Can you imagine? Ishmael killed their governor, his court and other citizens. They were on their way out of their homeland to Ammon, to be sold as slaves or given as a gift to King Baalis. They saw liberators on the way to rescue them from this horrible fate. I expect that they were expressing extreme emotion (13).

  The Lord has given us parables to contemplate in the book of Jeremiah. We have done a little study in genealogies. Lately, we have run into mini-history lessons, first of Ramah, as the headquarters of Samuel. Years ago, John 10:40-42 caught my attention: “And (Jesus) went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. Then many came to Him and said, ‘John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.’ And many believed in Him there.” Resorting to the place, where John baptized, brought the ministry and words of the Baptist to the minds of the people. The memory there, helped bring them to faith in Christ. I am convinced that the Holy Spirit is using historic places and events in this chapter and the previous one, to jar the Jewish memory, so that they would relate them to the present circumstances.

 Permit me to refer to a few of these historic places and events. We considered Mizpah, as a gathering point for the Israelites in their history in Judges and 1 Samuel, and how King Asa rebuilt the city and its cistern. I believe that 80 men came out of Shechem, Shiloh and Samariah to remind us of the sin of those cities and compare it to the awful damage caused by Ishmael’s hateful sin in Mizpah. In verse 12, we ran into another history lesson: It involved the great pool of Gibeon.

 Early in its history, Israel was deceived by the Gibeonites and was forced to become their protector. The Biblical account unveiled a great mistake: “The men of Israel… did not ask counsel of the Lord” (Josh.9:14). It was a decision made according to the flesh, which later proved to be an irritation to Israel. Then, Gibeon became a priestly city of refuge. But another significant event happened precisely at this pool during the early kingdom of David, while he still reigned from Hebron. After Saul was killed, Abner, commander of his army, promoted Saul’s son, Ishbosheth, to take his throne. Joab led David’s army and for a period, there were battles between the two.

 One day, the two armies met at the pool of Gibeon and Abner proposed a sporting event to the death. Twelve combatants from each army annihilated each other and a general battle ensued, in which Abner and his army were defeated and retreated to save their lives. We will take this senseless skirmish that led to the death of 24 soldiers and apply it to Ishmael’s senseless destruction of Gedaliah and his followers. Add to this, the meaningless death of 70 people from northern cities, who had nothing to do with the affairs of Mizpah.

 Peter spoke of those “who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority… (who) will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime” (2 P.2:10, 13). This seems to describe the senseless attack against the governor, as well as the proposal of Abner, who tried to make a sporting event out of a battle of life and death. There were no winners in either case. Also, Johanan failed miserably in bringing justice to Ishmael, who escaped and was not heard from again.

  The captives that Johanan freed, became his followers (16). In verse 17, we have another place that figures in Israelite history. These people went to live temporarily in Chimham, near Bethlehem. We might rightly assume that this place was somehow related to David. The story begins, when David fled across the Jordan, to escape from Absalom. He was met and aided by an old man, Barzillai. He also accompanied David, on his return to Jerusalem, before he crossed the Jordan. David invited Barzillai to come with him to live in Jerusalem and he would care for him. Barzillai wished to die in his own country, but requested that his son, Chimham, would go with David. David gladly consented and gave him some of his own land near Bethlehem, which was then called after Barzillai’s son’s name, Chimham.

 But that is not the end of the story. A son of a priest, married a daughter of Barzillai, and preferred to be connected to this noble family, rather than with his native tribe of Levi. I cannot prove that he ever lived in Chimham with his in-laws, but he took on the name of Barzillai. By giving him preference, he forfeited the honor of being a priest of God. The consequences for this choice fell upon his descendants, when the Jews returned from captivity, in Ezra 2:61-62: “The sons of the priests… the sons of Koz... who took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name. These sought their listing among those who were registered by genealogy, but they were not found; therefore they were excluded from the priesthood as defiled.”

 Matthew Henry comments: “But they had sold their birthright for the honor of being gentlemen, and therefore were justly degraded, and forbidden to eat of the most holy things. Note, Christ will be ashamed of those that are ashamed of him and his service.” Johanan and his followers are about to make a similar mistake, abandoning Judah to return to Egypt. Judah is the Promised Land and Egypt is a type of sin. Whoever resorted to Egypt in the Old Testament, symbolically returned to a life of sin. This, I think, is the lesson we learn from Chimham. It was a place that reminds us of a priest, who forfeited the service of God and, for Johanan’s crew, it was a step out of Judah, on their way to Egypt.

 Johanan had actively opposed the actions of Ishmael, but still feared the repercussions from the Chaldeans, because of the death of Gedaliah, Nebuchadnezzar’s appointed governor (18). We will learn more of Johanan’s motivations as we advance in Jeremiah, but in order to climax the story of this chapter, we will simply comment that Johanan’s band perished in Egypt. They are a type of those, who walk according to the flesh and not after the Spirit. As in the case of Ishmael, there are no victors here... only losers