Governor Gedaliah

Jeremiah 40

The Prophets Choice

  • 40:1 “found him bound in chains” - the command from the top was to protect Jeremiah, but there was a mix up. But Nebuzaradan found and released Jeremiah from the chain gang. In the conquest of Athens, the Roman soldiers were under orders to protect Archimedes - but he ended up getting killed anyway. These things happen in war.
  • 40:2 “The Lord your God decreed this” - the elite of Judah refused to listen for 40 years, but this Chaldean commander was listening, and likely more were listening as well.
  • 40:4 “If it pleases you” - Jeremiah had a remarkable choice, join the exiles in Babylon, or stay in Judah.
  • 40:5 “before Jeremiah turned to go” - Jeremiah was apparently hesitating a bit, and the astute commander read his hesitation correctly. It was tempting to go and be respected for once, but clearly he was called to serve the people in the land. The elite are judged. Will the deplorables listen?
  • 40:6 “Gedaliah son of Ahikam” - unrelated to the royal families of Judah in any way. Nebuchadnezzar was done with the backstabbing royalty in Judah.

Gedaliah

  • 40:7 “armies in the field” - the guerilla fighters return.
  • 40:11 “all the Jews in .. other lands” - the refugees return.
  • 40:12 “gathered an abundance” - the land was blessed to pay the taxes.
  • 40:13 “armies in the field came to Gedaliah” - the guerilla fighters have some intelligence.
  • 40:14 “Ishmael ben Nethaniah to take your life” - Nethaniah was part of the royal family. Maybe Ishmael was jealous that Nebuchadnezzar made a commoner governor instead of him. (He should have been thankful he didn’t get whacked.)
  • “Gedaliah did not believe them” - as a commoner, Gedaliah had little experience with assassinations.
  • 40:15 “Let me go and kill Ishmael” - a preemptive assassination.
  • 40:16 “what you are saying about Ishmael is a lie” - as we’ll see, Gedaliah was too naive.