Sermon notes
Scripture: Jeremiah 41:1-18
The Kingdom of Judah was reduced to a very fragile condition by the ending of the siege of Jerusalem. The city/kingdom fell to the Baylonians in the 4th month of the 11th year of Zedekiah. As part of the deliberate policy to subdue the people, Babylon had implemented a puppet regime under Gedaliah. Yet even in this sadly diminished condition there was a regrouping and some sense of normality restored and an enjoyment of the goodness of God to the land, 40:11-12.
This fragile state of affairs was threatened by a secret plot to assassinate Gedaliah. The assassination plot was discovered and a private warning given. Sadly, the warning was neglected. Gedaliah’s hold on his office was very short—literally only weeks, 2Kings 25:8. He failed to heed the warning of n undercover agent having infiltrated the camp and he paid a heavy price.
I GEDALIAH IS ASSASSINATED.
- He died while entertaining his assassin, v1. He is seen here on terms of friendly intimacy with the one he had been warned was plotting his death. How often it has been that the cause of God has more to fear from those like Ishmael than from those outside! Cp Ps 41:9, Jn 13:18. There are some that God’s people should not even eat with! Cp 1Cor 5:11.
- A large conspiracy, v1. The conspiracy against Gedaliah was strong. The royal house was implicated! Perhaps Gedaliah felt that such men as these were immune to contamination by the principle of treachery. He may even have argued that safety lay in numbers. Yet many were sold out to the idea of his assassination. Here is a warning against neglecting the alarm against infiltrators—the conspiracy will increase and strengthen. Cp 1Cor 15:33-34.
- Many perished with him, v3. The lives of others hung on his actions. The feeble remnant is further weakened numerically and militarily. It appears that the administration is specially targeted.
II THE MURDEROUS CAMPAIGN CONTINUES.
Cp v4-10
- Secrecy, v4. More died on the day following because the event was secret. The safety and welfare of many in God’s cause rests upon the exposure of the evil, underhand tactics of the undercover agents of the enemy.
- The targets, v5. The men targeted by Ishmael and his co-conspirators are described here. Obviously they belong to the remnant of Jews left in the land. They belong to the visible cause of God. They are described as worshippers who are coming to Jerusalem to the house of the Lord, v5. Yet, the Temple at this point has been burned. The worship of God is an empty shell, gutted by the consequences of apostasy! Note the heavy influences of pagan practice on the planned worship of these men! How vulnerable are the souls of men in such a day to the murderous assault of the infiltrator! The end of such men is to fall into the clutches of the murderer and go down into the pit. This pit has an interesting history. It was built as a place of refuge by a godly king in former days of battle and conflict. It was no such refuge now. Often, with the passage of time, the edifices connected with godly men have become places for the massacre of souls.
- The assassin’s approach, v6. Ishmael is a black hearted villain. With blood on his hands he comes to meet these unsuspecting men with the intention of slaughtering them too. He does so with tears! He presents a face of deep sympathy and concern with their distressed condition. Such ostentatious shows are to be treated with suspicion. Your spiritual life and welfare may depend on not being taken in by such display!
- Some were spared, v8. They bought their lives by offering a ransom. It cost them dearly to do so. Yet in this there is an exposure of the base covetousness that animated Ishmael. Cp 2Pet 2:1-3.
- Captivity, v10. Under his malign influence those who were spared death faced an experience of captivity. Even the limited blessings that had been left to them in the conquered kingdom were now to be lost as they are faced with the prospect of exile in Ammon.