Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them"
Text: Jeremiah 40:14
A WORD OF WARNING
The captains of the forces in the fields had seen war. They were thus veterans. Gedaliah however was not a warrior. He was chosen by the Babylonians to be a governor over the remnant of Judah that was allowed to remain in the land. These captains gave Gedaliah the benefit of their war experience. They warned him about the Ammonites who had come to live in Judah.
“Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces
that were in the fields came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, 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.”
Jeremiah 40:13-14
1. “Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces
that were in the fields came to Gedaliah at Mizpah”
a) Johanan and all the captains saw the people who gathered at Mizpah.
b) The people who had come to stay with Gedaliah seemed to be Jews.
c) But these were Jews who had lived among the people who had been
traditional enemies of Israel and Judah.
i) Moab
ii) Ammon
iii) Edom
2. “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?'”
a) These captains had been involved in warfare.
b) They had managed to survive the war with the Babylonians.
c) They were suspicious of the motives of the Ammonites.
d) They sought to warn Gedaliah that the Ammonite king had sent someone to assassinate him.
3. “But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them”
a) Gedaliah was not a war veteran.
b) He was not a warrior.
c) He did not believe the words of Johanan the leader of the Jewish captains.