What Can We Learn From GEDALIAH & ISHMAEL in Jeremiah 40-41?
The very purpose of Old Testament accounts is to teach believers in the New Covenant era, as observed in Romans 15:4 and 1 Corinthians 10:11. So, what can we learn from the story of Gedaliah and Ishmael from Jeremiah 40:7-41:15?
The setting of this passage is just after the Babylonian conquest of Judah and the corresponding fall of Jerusalem. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, appointed Gedaliah as governor over the land in 587 BC and thus he was in charge of the Hebrews who were not taken into exile for 70 years (Jeremiah 40:7). Gedaliah was a Hebrew and his father, Ahikam, was an ally of Jeremiah (26:24) and thus Gedaliah supported the prophet & his God-given prophecies (39:14), which encouraged the Jews to concede to Nebuchadnezzar and his troops (as Divine payment for their stubborn sins). This explains why the king appointed Gedaliah as governor.
Ishmael was an officer of King Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, the latter of whom was actually appointed by Nebuchadnezzar after besieging Jerusalem in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:17). But Zedekiah rebelled eight years later and so the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem, captured the king, blinded him, and hauled him off to Babylon.
Ishmael was one of the leaders of Judah’s surviving military men living in the open country after the fall of Jerusalem and capture of Zedekiah; he was “of royal blood,” the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama (Jeremiah 40:7-8 & 41:1). These facts suggest that he was of Hebrew stock and loyal to Zedekiah, as well as resentful of the Babylonian conquest. Responding with contempt to Gedaliah’s urging to “settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 40:9), Ishmael was desperate as an outcast and open to being enlisted by Baalis, king of the Ammonites (40:14), a county about 60 miles to the east of Jerusalem by road (aka modern-day Jordan). This brings us to our key text:
13Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14and said to him, “Don’t you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.
15Then Johanan son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?”
16But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true.”
Jeremiah 40:13-16
Why didn’t Gedaliah believe Johanan? Why was he so naive? Gedaliah was obviously a decent, trusting person who assumed Ishmael shared his godly perspective and standards of behavior, based on the Law of Moses. Such naivete made him an easy mark for the deceived militarist, who was also a political opportunist:
1In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king’s officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there, 2Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. 3Ishmael also killed all the men of Judah who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian a soldiers who were there.
Jeremiah 41:1-3
Ishmael & his ten men took advantage of Gedaliah’s trusting nature with this surprise attack, which was facilitated by the social nature of the gathering, a banquet, in which the soldiers present would’ve but their weapons aside to indulge in food, drink, fellowship, song and laughter.
The bottom line is that Gedaliah considered Ishmael a fellow Hebrew and so flat out rejected the report of Ishmael working for the Ammonite king, as well as his malevolent intentions to murder him. But he was dead wrong.
The lesson? Just because someone calls themself a Christian, it doesn’t mean you should wholly trust them, especially if there’s good reason to doubt the individual. In the modern day, it’s unlikely that such a person would literally murder you, but they can murder your character through gossip/slander by the sword of their tongue (Proverbs 12:18, Psalm 57:4 & Proverbs 25:18).
So, don’t foolishly let your guard down in social situations, particularly in cases where the person in question has a history of carnality. As the Lord said:
15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Matthew 7:15-23
Let me close with a minor example of which Carol, my wife, reminded me when I shared this article with her:
Back in 1994, I was in a Christian band and we were scheduled to play at a festival, which took place at a relatively large church facility in early December. The various bands & their crews stored their extra items in a side room, which would be akin to the backstage. That’s where we put our jackets and Carol put her purse. A few hours later we went back to pick up our stuff whereupon Carol discovered that the $20 in her purse was missing (which would be equivalent to $45 today). Although there were several people & crewmembers from other bands in the side room when we left our items there, Carol naively thought to herself, “We’re all brothers & sisters in the Lord” and so had no worries about theft. But she was wrong.
Just because it wouldn’t occur to her, me or you to steal something from someone else at a church facility (or anywhere else, for that matter), it doesn’t mean that there aren’t wolves in sheep’s clothing who would jump at the opportunity due to their love of Mammon.
- Carol lost what would be equivalent to $45.
- Gedaliah lost his life.
The moral is: Don’t be naive in social settings. Remember what the Lord instructed:
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”
Related Topics:
Does Walking in AGAPE LOVE Mean You Should Be a DOORMAT to Abuse?
What Happened to the Hebrews in the Old Testament Are WARNINGS FOR BELIEVERS
How to Keep Yourself BLAMELESS (While Not Being SINLESS)
The Origin of the MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT
It helps to understand what’s happening in the Middle East by examining where this ongoing conflict started, as revealed in Scripture.
Abram, who was soon renamed Abraham, found favor with the LORD and God viewed him as a friend (Genesis 12:1-7 & James 2:23). He was promised that his descendants would be “a great nation” “as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore” (Genesis 22:17).
Abraham’s wife was Sarai, renamed Sarah, and she began to doubt Gods promise of a son because she was getting on in years, about 75 years-old. So, she suggested that Abraham sleep with her much younger Egyptian maidservant, Hagar. The lass must’ve been attractive because Abraham didn’t put up much of a fight and so Hagar became pregnant with Abraham’s first born, Ishmael (Genesis 16). Fourteen years later, Sarah birthed Abraham’s second son, Isaac, at the age of 90 when Abraham was 100 (Genesis 21:5). People lived longer back then, for anyone who’s wondering.
The Fruit of Ishmael and Isaac
So, Ishmael sprang from Hagar and Isaac came from Sarah. Ishmael was born against the will of God and so, from the beginning, Ishmael’s descendants have been hostile toward Issac’s descendants. Notice what the Angel of the LORD prophesied to Hagar about her son:
11The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
Genesis 16:11-12
- From Ishmael came the Arab Nations and Mohammed, who wrote the Islamic Quran 2200 years after the time of Ishmael. The Quran instructs followers of Islam that Jews & Christians and those of any other faith are infidels and, if they refuse to convert to the Muslim faith, must be eradicated.
- From Isaac came the physical nation of Israel, as well as Judaism, and — eventually — Jesus Christ as a blood sacrifice for humanity’s sins (1 Peter 2:24), which gave birth to Christianity and the spiritual nation of the Church, whose genuine members are all “children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7).
You can probably see how the Middle East has been labeled “the cradle of civilization” or “the fertile crescent.” Abraham originated from the southeastern end of this crescent, in Ur of the Chaldeans, which is roughly 150 miles northwest of the Persian Gulf.
Ishmael’s descendants don’t believe that Jews and Christians have a right to live if they reject embracing Islam. That’s why Iran — like the head of an octopus — directs the tentacles of Hamas, Hezbola, ISIS and other Islamic terrorist organizations to chant “Death to Israel” or “Death to America” and murder innocent people, such as the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Their religious war, which they call jihad, has been going on since the time of Ishmael and will still be happening when Christ’s Second Coming takes place and ends the violence for His peaceful Millennial Reign on Earth, which is the precursor to the eternal age of the New Heavens and New Earth (2 Peter 3:13).
LIEberals Side With the Terrorists While Conservatives Side With Israel
I live in America and this country has been greatly blessed as it has been a defender of Israel and the Hebrews. Remember what the LORD prophesied to Abraham:
2“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:2-3
You may have noticed lately that the youth of America & other Western Nations have been supporting the Islamic terrorists and protesting on behalf of them. Leftist academics have taken advantage of their naïveté and indoctrinated them so that they don’t even understand the blind folly of their position. With satanic Leftists in positions of authority and influence in politics, the lamestream media, academia and entertainment, America is only a generation away from turning its back on Israel, unless we repent.
Thankfully, with the 2024 election, the political situation in America is currently being purged of the entrenched LIEberals, along with the collapse of the mainstream media — which is an auxiliary of the Demonic-rat Party, satan’s favorite political party in light of their glaringly bad fruit (Matthew 7:15-23). America has obviously been granted a reprieve by the Sovereign LORD. Pray for the American Church to be wise and not allow satan’s children to take over our political system again. Also pray for our academia to be purged of LIEberal idiotology to save our youth from the corresponding satanic brainwashing. This will of course have a positive impact globally.
Please understand that this article is speaking in generalities about Israel and the Hebrews. They are obviously not good in the absolute sense; nor are all Arabic peoples savage murderers. Only the LORD is good in the absolute sense (Mark 10:18).
Related Topics:
HEBREWS / ISRAELITES / JEWS — Why Did God Choose Them?
Are Gentile Believers SPIRITUAL JEWS?
Was Jesus White, Black or Yellow When He Was on Earth?
Islam and Christianity: A Side-by-Side Comparison
Islamic Terrorists — Why Do They Do It?
Religion and Christianity — What’s the Difference?
Understanding the Religion of LIEberalism