God Has Not Left

Well, good morning, good morning, welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we are at Jeremiah chapter 41. We're gonna keep finding out what's going on here with this Gedoliah fellow. Jeremiah 41? Jeremiah 41, yep. We had talked about Gedoliah. He had been this governor appointed by Nebuchadnezzar. And somebody's come to him and they said, somebody's gonna kill you. He said, nah. We're going to find out what happens.
So, let's have a cup of coffee, we'll pray, and we'll give the God's word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for time we get to spend together in your Word. We pray as we read your Word that we would be instructed. It's a historical section. It's an interesting section to read because it's dealing with your people and what happened after the Babylonians conquered them. And so, Father, we pray that your Spirit would please help us to understand the history of it, but also how it applies to our lives. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, here we go. Jeremiah chapter 41. We'll just read paragraph by paragraph. You can start, Bob.
Now it came to pass in the seventh month that ishmael the son of nathaniah nathaniah the son of eloshima Of the royal family of the officers of king of the king came with them in to get It's a liar the son of a heikin a heikin a heikin. Sorry a heikin at this at Mizpah and there they ate bread together in Mizpah then Ishmael the son of Nathanael and the ten men who with him arose and struck Gedaliah, the son of Achim, the son of Zephan, minus the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor of the land.
Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is, with Gedaliah at Mizpah. And the children's who were found there men of war. Okay, so uh, this ishmael guy is uh of noble birth to the ammonites Right and so it was uh, johannan who had come and told get a liar the new governor Uh that hey, he's gonna kill you ishmael's gonna come he can't kill you and get a liar didn't Believe him and said now what happens? Bye with them Well he has Ishmael and 10 of his guys come. The new capital is at Mizpah because Jerusalem is being burned down. And what does Ishmael do?
He kills him and all the other Jews that he finds at Mizpah. And it happened on the second day after he had killed Gedoliah. when as yet no one knew it, 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.
Now Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went along. And it happened as he met them that he said to them, Come to get Eliah, the son of Ahikam. So it was when they came into the midst of the city that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, killed them and cast them into the midst of a pit. he and the men who were with him. 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 detested and did not kill, sorry, 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 Bashan 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 Nebuchadnezzar, the captain of the guard, had committed to get Eliah, the son of Ahikam. Then Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, carried them away captive and departed to go over to the Ammonites. All right, so what's this Ishmael guy keep doing? What's he doing here?
Well, I don't think they're mourning for Get Alive. I think these people are giving over to all kind of half pagan, half Jewish worship. Yeah, that's why it's got this weird like they're offering incense. They're cutting themselves They're great, but it's clear. They've got some type of mourning like what you're pointing out, but I don't think it is what they're Like I this is not What you would normally think of with is it like worship?
But it's interesting they go and It's first greeting them and then killing them but that some of them are like hey look we got Yeah, and so he leaves some of them alive, but then it's time of his pit that he said, because of Asian, it's like all sorts of interesting historical notes here, right? Which is one of the things that makes me think like, I think this is actually history. We did have it. Surprise, surprise, right? Yeah. OK. And the point is, he's killing a whole bunch and then he takes a bunch captive, takes them back to the Ammonites. You want to do the next burger? But when Johanan, the son of Terri, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, part of all the evil that Ishmael, the son of Nathanael, had done, They took all the men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Mithaniah.
And when they found him by the great pool that is in Gideon. So it was when all the people who were with Ishmael saw, drove, Hanan, the son of Akira, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, that they were glad. And all the people from Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah, turned away and came back, and went to Jor-Hanan, the son of Akira. But Ishmael, the son of Esenachai, the ruler of Nihah, escaped from Jor-Hanan with eight men and went to Danaan. So, there's Johanan, there's the guy who tried to warn Gedoliah that Ishmael was going to kill them.
He shows up with some men, and what happens? Ishmael flees, and everybody's... lots of people are happy. Yeah, so he goes to war, right? And people desert. They get their freedom. They go join Johanna. All right. Then Johanna and the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were with him took from Nisbeth all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, after he had murdered Gedaliah, the son of Hykem, the mighty men of war and the women and the children and the eunuchs whom he had brought back from Gibeon. and they departed and dwelt in the habitation of Trahim, which is near Bethlehem, as they went on their way to Egypt, because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had murdered Galiliah, the son of Ahicham, whom the king of Babylon had made governor in the land." Alright, so Johanan comes, he saves the people, and what do they decide to do?
Are they going to stay in Mizpah, the new capital? No. No, where are they going to go? They're going to go to... where is it? Well, they're making a pit stop down by Bethlehem, but where are they really going, as their head south? Egypt. Yeah, they're going to go to Egypt. I remember they had tried to get Egyptians to come up and help them fight against the Babylonians, but that didn't work. But now they're going to try to find refuge down there. Egypt. Yeah. So, all right, so that's kind of where we're just left off, right? So, they're afraid of Ishmael. They're afraid of the Chaldeans. Things are going wrong. Gedaliah's dead. People are murdered? Let's go to Egypt.
Is that a good summary? Basically. Okay. So what do you think would be the best verse to summarize this section? Let's see. That's kind of a hard one. I really don't have much underlined. I think it may be verse 18 for me. Yeah. Yeah, probably. They're afraid of the Chaldeans Gibbons that are get alive dead Afraid of Ishmael. They're going to update Egypt.
It's more helpful when it's like this They're like give this one boss. It's like kind of like the other way It's a song this conflict one like he makes us like statement. That's like a point of what he should get here It's like a big start and you can't just like pick it up. Yeah, they can't yeah, it can be tough kind of tough, but okay, so Man, what is this?
How does this give us a call to action or point us to the covenant of grace? How does this give us any hope of Jesus Christ? Why even read verse 41? Why does it matter to Christians or chapter 41? Yeah, I mean, Why read a story about how people are being treated after the Destruction of jerusalem Do you think people might think that like god had utterly forsaken them? Yeah good Yeah, I think there's an actual connection here between the covenant faithfulness of God, right? Like, remember why all this is going on. It's going on because Israel sinned.
And instead of one of them chasing away a thousand like when they entered into the promised land, now they're hightailing it and they're afraid of one guy. They're afraid of this nation, they're afraid of that nation, they can't get... Yeah. They're all super poor. This is the point. They may feel like God has utterly abandoned them, and now they're even looking to go other places. God is actually dispersing the Jews here. This is part of what's called the diaspora. They're having to get dispersed. But it's also a reality that this is what they brought on themselves, too, by their own actions. But God hasn't utterly forsaken them. He had promised Jeremiah that even this was part of his plan. So, I think that's what this is. I think even in the hard times, we might think, man, I don't know how God can be in this story. Just need to wait a few pages. Even in our lives. We don't understand it now. That's okay. Just wait a few pages. Good to go? I think so. All right.
Lord, we thank you for giving us your word and giving us a historical account. Lord, what a blessing it is to us to know that this is not a make-believe story, but there's real things that are just difficult and some peculiar things, but it's helpful to us to know that your word is true and not some type of fable. And God, we pray that even as we may be strangers and sojourners in this life, that we would also struggle what's going on. Lord, I pray that even in the midst of not knowing what's going on in our lives, in the history of our life, that we would trust you. Please, God, be with us and care for us, we pray in Jesus's name. Amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace that comes from being in jesus christ, and we'll see you next time. Bye. Bye