Jeremiah 41
COMMENTARY:
: 8 But ten men were among them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their brethren. (2308 “forbare” [chadal] means to stop, cease, desist, forego, cease to be, or leave undone.)
DEVOTION: In the last chapter Gedaliah was warned that Ishmael was going to kill him. He didn’t believe the warning. This chapter informs us that the warning was real. Ishmael killed him and the people with him. Next he killed those who came to Mizpah to worship the LORD. Of the eighty men who came to worship he killed seventy. What happened to the other ten?
They told Ishmael they would pay a ransom for their lives. His greed got the best of him and he agreed to take the ransom. A true leader would not look at money before honor. The honest thing to do was not to kill the designed leader but to work with the system in place to honor the LORD. We are told to pray for our governmental leaders. Our first prayer should be for their salvation.
Here we find fellow Judeans killing other Judeans in a power struggle. There are power struggles all around us even in the church of Jesus Christ. We need to stay out of the power struggles as best we can.
Money has power over people. Ishmael never did collect any of the money. The ten rich people were rescued. However, they still had to leave the area because of the rebellion that they didn’t want but were a part of anyway.
Can we say that money doesn’t influence the way we handle some situations in our lives? Are we friends to people who can finance us to help us get what we want and then forget that friendship? Can people buy our friendship? These are questions that come to mind when we read this chapter.
Are we a friend of God for all we can get from HIM financially? OR are we ones who love HIM and want to give to HIM and HIS work while we are here on this earth? Our checkbook and our treatment of friends tell our motives.
Finances should not influence our relationships with people. Finances should not influence our beliefs regarding what the church should do. Finances should not be the only basis for our stepping out in faith regarding reaching others for the LORD.
Biblical Christians want to be motivated by the love of God and not the love of money. Ishmael was motivated by the love of money and had nothing to do with God. What motivates our actions???
CHALLENGE: Examine your life in relationship to the LOVE of MONEY. We are to be givers and not takers. Be a giver to the work of the LORD.
: 11–12 – 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, 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. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
DEVOTION: In times of crisis and confusion leaders rise up and act to correct or stop wrongs. This is what occurs here in the case of Johanan, a man who reacts to the inhuman acts of Ishmael. Punishment for crimes is expected in society but during times of confusion and anarchy terrible things can happen. Today we see this in the case of chaos and confusion in places such as Syria and in some African countries. Individuals that in peaceful times would not act savagely suddenly commit horrendous acts of violence. It takes individuals of courage and moral strength to stand and bring order and morality back to society.
CHALLENGE: We are living in dangerous times as the world continues to move from principles that have been accepted and standards that have held the fabric of society together. As those principles are rejected and the search for new standards is made disorder is the norm. Pray that the Bible might be read and God’s standards might become the norm for individuals to live by again. Unless a revival breaks out the result could be similar to what happened in Israel after Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. We need men and women who will stand in the gap and uphold godly moral standards! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
: 13 Now it came to pass, that when all the people which were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad. (8055 “glad” [samach] means rejoice, joyful, merry, cheerful, delight in, or be elated.)
DEVOTION: These were troubling times for those who remained in Judah after the invasion of Babylon. The governor that was set over the territory was slain by a man who was from the royal family. The governor had been warned that Ishmael was going to kill him but he didn’t believe Johanan.
However, Ishmael did kill him and others who were with him that had escaped the sword of the soldiers of Babylon to be killed by their fellow Judeans.
Now these who were not killed had been taken captive by Ishmael and his fellow soldiers to be taken from the homes to go to live with the Ammonites. Remember that the Ammonites were the descendants of Lot by one of his daughters. They were a group that had continually given the Israelites a hard time.
While they were being taken to live with the Ammonites, Johanan caught up with them and fought with Ishmael. He won the battle but they had to flee to Chimham which was near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt. So these residents had escaped the Babylonians and the forces of Ishmael only to be headed toward Egypt because now they were afraid of the Babylonians wanting to kill them because of the rebellion of Ishmael.
Life can get confusing. The reaction of those who had been taken by Ishmael was joy. They didn’t want to be with him. They were elated to be rescued.
Many today are followers of men rather than followers of God. Some follow one teacher over another until they find out that they were being led astray by that teacher. We need to watch who we dedicate ourselves to while we are in this world.
The only one we should be dedicated to is the LORD. There are good Bible teachers all around us but we need to always check what they teach by the Word of God.
We are in the LORD’S army to reach those in our world with the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ. It is the only means to salvation for eternity. Any other message is false.
CHALLENGE: Watch who we are willing to follow. We can be captured by a false leader. It will lead us in the wrong direction.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Offeringverse 5
Incenseverse 5
House of the LORDverse 5
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORDverse 5
House of the LORDverse 5
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
King of Babylonverses 2, 18
Chaldeansverses 3, 18
Gedaliah – son of Ahikamverses 6, 18
Baash a king of Ammonverses 9, 14
Nebuzar-adan – captain of the guardverse 10
Ammonitesverses 10, 15
Egyptverse 17
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Killing of Gedaliahverse 2
Killing of seventy menverse 7
Evilverse 11
Speak falselyverse 16
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Glad for deliveranceverse 13
Believe the truth regarding othersverse 14
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Ishmael – son of Nethaniahverses 1-3, 6-10, 14, 11-13, 15, 16, 18
slew a group of men
didn’t kill those who had treasures
carried people away from Mizpah
escaped from Johanan with eight men
and went to Ammonites
Gedaliah (governor) – son of Ahikamverses 1-4, 6, 7, 10, 14, 15, 16, 18
killed
Mizpahverses 1, 3, 6, 10, 14, 16
Jewsverses 3, 15
Shechemverse 5
Shilohverse 5
Samariaverse 5
Asa the kingverse 9
Baasha – king of Israelverse 9
Johanan – son of Kareahverses 11, 13-16
fought against Ishmael
great group joined him
Gibeonverses 12, 16
Judahverse 15
Bethlehemverse 17
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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