Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Do not kill us, for we have treasures"
Text: Jeremiah 41:8
THE PLEA MADE TO GEDALIAH
There were 80 men who came from three cities of Israel. Many of the people were slain by Ishmael. The remaining few pleaded with Gedaliah to spare their lives!
“But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael,
‘Do not kill us, for we have treasures of wheat, barley, oil, and honey in the field.’
So he desisted and did not kill them among their brethren.
Now the pit into which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men
whom he had slain, because of Gedaliah,
was the same one Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel.
Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.
Then Ishmael carried away captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah,
the king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah,
whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard
had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.
And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive
and departed to go over to the Ammonites.”
Jeremiah 41:8-10
1. “But ten men were found among them who said to Ishmael,
‘Do not kill us, for we have treasures of wheat, barley, oil, and honey in the field.’
So he desisted and did not kill them among their brethren”
a) 70 men had been killed.
b) The remaining 10 men pleaded for their lives to be spared.
c) They offered to give to Ishmael their “treasures”.
i) Wheat and barley
ii) Oil and honey
iii) These were treasures in post-war Judah
d) Ishmael spared their lives.
2. “Now the pit into which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men
whom he had slain, because of Gedaliah, was the same one Asa the king had made
for fear of Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain”
a) The pit of Asa (1 Kings 15:9-24).
i) There was war between King Asa of Judah and King Baasha of Israel.
ii) Mizpah was one of the cities that Asa fortified.
iii) In the text of Jeremiah 41, the prophet described it as “a pit”.
iv) Understanding it contextually, this pit was possibly an important pool of water.
v) Ishmael used this pit as a mass grave for the people he had slain.
b) Ishmael had no reason to make Mizpah become an infamous place.
3. “Then Ishmael carried away captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah,
the king’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan
the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And Ishmael
the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive and departed to go over to the Ammonites”
a) Ishmael decided on what he would do with those he had not killed.
b) He made captives of the survivors.
i) The king’s daughters.
ii) All the people in Mizpah that Nebuzaradan had entrusted to Gedaliah.
c) Destination of Ishmael:
i) He took all his captives to Ammon.
ii) He may have wanted to sell them as slaves.