Jeremiah 40 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin
 
               After the city of Jerusalem is destroyed and most of the remaining Jews who survived the siege, sword, famine and plague are now bound in chains and on their way to Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian captain of the guard, releases Jeremiah from his manacles and gives him his freedom.  Very unexpectedly, we hear this pagan guard give credit to the Lord for pronouncing the destruction of Jerusalem in advance and bringing it about just as He said because of Israel’s sin.  Notice that the guard doesn’t give credit to Nebuchadnezzar nor to Nebuchadnezzar’s god but says that the Lord has done this.  This revelation should shock us especially since most of the Israelites themselves did not believe it, even though Jeremiah had foretold it on many occasions.   
  
            Nebuzaradan then gives Jeremiah the option of returning with him to Babylon to be well provided for by him personally or to return to Gedaliah the appointed governor of the remnant of Judah or to live on his own wherever he wishes.  Jeremiah chooses to stay with God’s people under the leadership of Gedaliah, for most of the Jews who had fled the city and those who had switched their allegiance to the king of Babylon now rallied to Gedaliah in the city of Mizpah the new temporary capital, since Jerusalem had been destroyed.  Even though the city had been destroyed, Jeremiah was still called to be a prophet and a shepherd to God’s people in their distress.
 
            At first it seems that all will go well with the remnant who have gathered together under Gedaliah’s leadership, for they all willingly submit to the Babylonians as Jeremiah had ordered them to do, and they all enjoyed an abundance of wine and summer fruit as a result.  But the forces of darkness never seem to rest.  Realizing that the people of God are most vulnerable now with very little protection, the king of Ammon is plotting to overthrow Gedaliah and sends an assassin named Ishmael to take his life.  One of the Israelite leaders in the open country, Johanan, learns of this plot and tries to warn Gedaliah against Ishmael, but the governor refuses to listen. Johanan then begs the governor for permission to go and strike him down in the open field before he comes to Mizpah so that the Jews would not be scattered again and the remnant of Judah might not perish, but Gedaliah refuses to believe him and denies his request.  (You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what happens next!)

            What impresses me most about this text is how the Lord confirms His word even through the mouth of pagans at times.  Truly, our God is king of the nations and eventually every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Chris is Lord, to the glory of the father.  But even as we see evidence of the Lord’s mercy at work amongst the wicked Babylonians, we also see the wickedness of the Ammonites plotting against the Lord and his anointed.  We must never forget that there is a continual battle being waged both on earth and in heaven and that the seed of the serpent will continue to strike at the heel of the seed of the woman.  His goal is to strike the shepherd so that sheep of the flock might be scattered rather than gathered together in the name and strength of the Lord.  But the devil and his evil spawn are too foolish to understand that God’s plan from before the foundation of the world was to strike the good shepherd of the sheep so that his people would be saved and gather together in his name wiser and stronger than ever before.  So let us praise the Lord for the greatness of his wisdom and for the glory of his might in overcoming the evil one and thwarting his wicked schemes.  But let us also remember to pray that the Lord would continue to allow us to gather together in his name and in the power of the resurrected Christ, for there are always powers at work to hinder us from such gatherings.