The faithful shepherd and a deceitful traitor (Jeremiah 40)

I. Release of Jeremiah (40:1–6)

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all who were carried away captive from Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon. 2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him: “The LORD your God has pronounced this doom on this place. 3 Now the LORD has brought it, and has done just as He said. Because you people have sinned against the LORD, and not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come upon you. 4 And now look, I free you this day from the chains that were on your hand. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you. But if it seems wrong for you to come with me to Babylon, remain here. See, all the land is before you; wherever it seems good and convenient for you to go, go there.” 5 Now while Jeremiah had not yet gone back, Nebuzaradan said, “Go back to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever it seems convenient for you to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him rations and a gift and let him go. 6 Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land.

A. Jeremiah is no longer a prisoner.

Ironically, his own people had held him hostage, but a foreign, pagan government had released him to freedom.

Jeremiah was given his freedom after the Babylonians captured Jerusalem (39:11–14), but somehow he got mixed in with the captives who were being readied at Ramah for their long march to Babylon. He was released and given the choice of going to Babylon and being cared for by the king or remaining in the land to care for the people. Being a man with a shepherd’s heart, Jeremiah chose to dwell among the people

B. The Babylonian captain of the guard preached a sermon that sounded a great deal like what Jeremiah had been saying for forty years!

It must have been embarrassing for the Jews to hear a pagan Babylonian tell them they were sinners, but he was right in what he said. As God’s people, we have to bow in shame when the world publicly announces the sins of the saints.

Jeremiah has a choice of where to live: a good life in Babylon or remaining in Judah, with the newly appointed governor Gedaliah.

Jeremiah chose to join Gedaliah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed governor of the land. Had the people followed the prophet and the governor, the Jewish remnant could have led safe and fairly comfortable lives even in the midst of ruin, but they chose not to obey. Even a severe chastening like the one Babylon brought to Judah didn’t change their hearts, for the human heart can be changed only by the grace of God.

C. Was Jeremiah violating his own message when he remained with the people in the land?

Why stay with the “bad figs” when the future lay with the “good figs” who had been taken off to Babylon? Certainly Jeremiah knew how to discern the will of God, and the Lord knew how much the prophet loved the land and its people.

There were prophets to minister to the exiles, and Jeremiah was right to remain with the people in the land.Jeremiah made difficult choices at the beginning and the end of his ministry. It would have been much easier to serve as a priest, but he obeyed God’s call to be a prophet, and it would have been much more comfortable in Babylon, but he opted to remain in the land of his fathers. Jeremiah was a true shepherd and not a hireling.

II. The People’s Response to Gedaliah’s Appointment (40:7–12)

7 And when all the captains of the armies who were in the fields, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, women, children, and the poorest of the land who had not been carried away captive to Babylon, 8 then they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. 9 And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath before them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. 10 As for me, I will indeed dwell at Mizpah and serve the Chaldeans who come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruit and oil, put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken.” 11 Likewise, when all the Jews who were in Moab, among the Ammonites, in Edom, and who were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, 12 then all the Jews returned out of all places where they had been driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in abundance.

A. The governorship of Gedaliah brings a brief revival in the fortunes of Judah.

There is now a period of relative peace when things are settling down in Judah under the new leadership of Gedaliah, who was, as is repeatedly stated, appointed by the king of Babylon. The issue for those who remain is clear: gathering to Gedaliah implies submission to Babylon, in accordance with the word of the Lord through Jeremiah.

Many of the army officers and their men had escaped the Babylonian mop-up operation after Jerusalem’s fall and were hiding in the “open country,” probably in the Judean hills. Some may have been continuing to fight as guerrillas, not willing to surrender to the enemy. However, when they heard that Nebuchadnezzar had appointed Gedaliah, one of their own, as governor, they joined him at Mizpah. Gedaliah had been put in charge of the poorest in the land and those not carried away as exiles.

B. Gedaliah essentially repeated Jeremiah’s political line: “Serve the king of Babylon, and all will go well”.

The people couldn’t reap any harvest of grain because the fields hadn’t been sown during the siege, but they could gather the produce that had not been destroyed in the war. The remnant in Judah had to follow the same instructions that Jeremiah gave to the exiles in Babylon: Live normal lives, turn to the Lord with all your hearts, and wait for the Lord to deliver you. God had promised a future for the nation because the nation had important work to do.

Even the Judeans who fled to the surrounding nations of Moab, Ammon and Edom return to Judah and share in the harvest. They too begin to return to the homeland, in strange anticipation of the final restoration of the people, foretold by Jeremiah. And the land bears its fruit, a sign of covenant blessing again.

III. A Warning to Gedaliah of an Assassination Plot (40:13–16)

13 Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, 14 and said to him, “Do you certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to murder you?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. 15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go, please, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he murder you, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?”16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing, for you speak falsely concerning Ishmael.”

A. The concerned captain.

Johanan, son of Kareah, and all the army officers who had remained in the open country came to Gedaliah with the news of a plot against his life. They had learned that the Ammonite king, Baalis, was sending Ishmael to assassinate Gedaliah. Baalis is otherwise unknown. His reasons for wanting Gedaliah out of the way are not known.

Baalis’s Jewish agent, Ishmael, himself of royal blood (41:1), may have wished to foment further rebellion against Babylon. While certain of Gedaliah’s fighting men are convinced of the plot against him, the governor himself rather naively chooses not to believe it (14). Johanan the son of Kareah, who has apparently established himself as a leading figure among the fighting men, wants to take more decisive action to preserve the community.

B. Gedaliah refused to believe the plot against his life.

Why he felt no concern cannot be fathomed, but his refusal cost him his life. Perhaps he had a trusting nature and was unwilling to believe the worst about a man whom he already knew and considered to be a friend

In a private conversation Johanan asked Gedaliah to let him kill Ishmael and no one would know about it. His concern was that if Gedaliah was killed, those Israelites who had rallied around him would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish

Johanan wanted to kill Ishmael, but Gedaliah refused the offer. In this, the governor was right, but he was wrong in not assembling a group of loyal men who could guard him day and night. Not only would that have told Ishmael that the governor knew what was going on, but also it would have protected Gedaliah’s life from those who wanted to destroy him. The governor should have listened to Johanan and not been so naive about Ishmael. “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure” (Prov. 11:14, NIV).