Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Certain men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria"
Text: Jeremiah 41:5
THE WICKED DEED OF ISHMAEL
The murder of Gedaliah was not yet known to the public. The assassination was hidden for the time being.
“And it happened, on the second day after he had killed Gedaliah,
when as yet no one knew it, that certain men came from Shechem, from Shiloh,
and from Samaria, Aeighty men with their beards shaved and their clothes torn,
having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand,
to bring them to the house of the LORD.”
Jeremiah 41:4-5
1. “And it happened, on the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, when as yet no one knew it”
a) It was the second day after Gedaliah was slain.
b) Ishmael and his men had managed to withhold the news.
2. “That certain men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria,
eighty men with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, having cut themselves,
with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD”
a) A group of 80 men had banded themselves.
b) The make-up of the group of men:
i) From Shechem
ii) From Shiloh
iii) From Samaria
c) Their appearance:
i) They had shaved their beards.
ii) Their clothes were torn.
iii) They had also cut themselves.
d) What were they trying to do?
i) They were trying to make their way to the house of the LORD.
ii) They had brought offerings and incense.
3. An evaluation of these men and their activities
a) Their understanding of worship was mixed up with idolatrous practices.
b) If they knew the Scriptures at all, they would have realised how wrong
their practices were.
c) What was forbidden in the original Temple worship?
i) The cutting of themselves (mutilation).
ii) They cannot provide their own incense.
iii) The shaving of their beards in this context may suggest an idolatrous practice.