20151006 Tuesday, October 6 2015
Jeremiah 40: Chains And Puppets

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place ... if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go"

Jeremiah had been ignored and abused by the corrupt regime in Judah for forty years (see Truth versus Politics). As it progressed, the more that truly-patriotic Jeremiah tried to warn them, to save the nation, the more that they falsely accused him of being disloyal to it (see The Burning Of The Book Of Jeremiah). When Judah fell, exactly as the LORD (see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour), through Jeremiah, said that it would, it was, ironically the Babylonian invaders who released Jeremiah from the chains that his own nation had put upon him.

The barbaric, idol-worshiping Babylonians let Jeremiah go, not because they regarded him as someone who had been disloyal to his own nation, but because they recognized him as a prophet of God - they feared, not the mere man Jeremiah, but what the LORD would do if they abused His prophet too. They saw what the kings of Judah refused to see: "The captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place."

"40:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.

40:2 And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. 40:3 Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.

40:4 And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go. 40:5 Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go.

So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.

40:6 Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land." (Jeremiah 40:1-6 KJV)

As is common still today, the Babylonian invaders then made a "regime change" in Judah. They installed an obedient-to-them puppet, Gedaliah, as their governor of "liberated" Judah. When he did something, it was from their "pulling his strings." When his lips moved, it was their voice that was heard.

"40:7 Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon; 40:8 Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men. 40:9 And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. 40:10 As for me, behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, which will come unto us: but ye, gather ye wine, and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that ye have taken.

40:11 Likewise when all the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan; 40:12 Even all the Jews returned out of all places whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruits very much.

40:13 Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 40:14 And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.

40:15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?

40:16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael." (Jeremiah 40:7-16 KJV)

Fact Finder: What did both Israel and Judah do that brought about their self-destruction?
See How Did Israel Separate Itself From The Messianic King? and Why Did Judah Fall To Babylon?