Jeremiah 43: Johanan fears Babylon and flees to Egypt with all Jews that remained in the land

 In Jeremiah 43 we read how Johanan opposed Jeremiah words:

1-3 When Jeremiah finished telling all the people the whole Message that their God had sent him to give them—all these words—Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah, backed by all the self-important men, said to Jeremiah, “Liar! Our God never sent you with this message telling us not to go to Egypt and live there. Baruch son of Neriah is behind this. He has turned you against us. He’s playing into the hands of the Babylonians so we’ll either end up being killed or taken off to exile in Babylon.”

Johanan believes in what he wants to believe. For instance: he believed that Gedaliah would be killed, but now, he doesn't believe that the Lord told to stay and not go to Egypt because he had already decided to go to a country that seemed safe. However, the Lord says that this plan will fail. They will meet death, exile and slaughter in Egypt.

10-13 “Then address them: ‘This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: Be on the lookout! I’m sending for and bringing Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon—my servant, mind you!—and he’ll set up his throne on these very stones that I’ve had buried here and he’ll spread out his canopy over them. He’ll come and absolutely smash Egypt, sending each to his assigned fate: death, exile, slaughter. He’ll burn down the temples of Egypt’s gods. He’ll either burn up the gods or haul them off as booty. Like a shepherd who picks lice from his robes, he’ll pick Egypt clean. And then he’ll walk away without a hand being laid on him. He’ll shatter the sacred obelisks at Egypt’s House of the Sun and make a huge bonfire of the temples of Egypt’s gods.’”

Jeremian 42: a case of over precaution

The wise man makes decisions so as not to have bad days, but in some cases, it is foolish to take decisions based on possible dangers that will not come true.
In Jeremiah 42, the few Jews that remained in the land fears the reaction of Babylon when they discover that Gedaliah was killed. So:

1-3 All the army officers, led by Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, accompanied by all the people, small and great, came to Jeremiah the prophet and said, “We have a request. Please listen. Pray to your God for us, what’s left of us. You can see for yourself how few we are! Pray that your God will tell us the way we should go and what we should do.”

4 Jeremiah the prophet said, “I hear your request. And I will pray to your God as you have asked. Whatever God says, I’ll pass on to you. I’ll tell you everything, holding nothing back.”

5-6 They said to Jeremiah, “Let God be our witness, a true and faithful witness against us, if we don’t do everything that your God directs you to tell us. Whether we like it or not, we’ll do it. We’ll obey whatever our God tells us. Yes, count on us. We’ll do it.”

Johanan took a very good decision that everybody should copy: He wanted to listen to the Lord's will.
After 10 days, Jeremiah came with an answer:

9-12 He then spoke: “This is the Message from God, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your prayer. He says, ‘If you are ready to stick it out in this land, I will build you up and not drag you down, I will plant you and not pull you up like a weed. I feel deep compassion on account of the doom I have visited on you. You don’t have to fear the king of Babylon. Your fears are for nothing. I’m on your side, ready to save and deliver you from anything he might do. I’ll pour mercy on you. What’s more, he will show you mercy! He’ll let you come back to your very own land.’

However Jeremiah knew that they would not listen to the message:

13-17 “But do not say, ‘We’re not staying around this place,’ refusing to obey the command of your God and saying instead, ‘No! We’re off to Egypt, where things are peaceful—no wars, no attacking armies, plenty of food. We’re going to live there.’ If what’s left of Judah is headed down that road, then listen to God’s Message. This is what God-of-the-Angel-Armies says: ‘If you have determined to go to Egypt and make that your home, then the very wars you fear will catch up with you in Egypt and the starvation you dread will track you down in Egypt. You’ll die there! Every last one of you who is determined to go to Egypt and make it your home will either be killed, starve, or get sick and die. No survivors, not one! No one will escape the doom that I’ll bring upon you.’

Jeremiah knows that they are determined to go to Egypt, so why did they ask for the Lord's will? Anyway, who do they fear more? The Lord or Babylon? As they fear more Babylon they will make the wrong decision; so we see a case of over precaution. We all fear death, but the fear of the Lord must be greater.

Jeremiah 41: Ishmael was not any Messiah but he wanted the power.

 In Jeremiah 41 we read:

1-3 But in the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, came. He had royal blood in his veins and had been one of the king’s high-ranking officers. He paid a visit to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah with ten of his men. As they were eating together, Ishmael and his ten men jumped to their feet and knocked Gedaliah down and killed him, killed the man the king of Babylon had appointed governor of the land. Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah in Mizpah, as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were stationed there.

Ishmael had royal blood and had been one of the Zedekiah's (I suppose) officers beside his connection with Amon (this is a little odd, but perhaps due to some marriage among royal families).  So, Ishmael must have considered very inappropriate that Gedaliah was in power. He and ten other men went to Mizpah and met Gedaliah who offered them a meal, but he was killed there.
Ishmael intercepted a group of 80 men heading to the temple of Jerusalem, carrying grain offerings and incense. They didn't know about the murder and Ishmael invited them to meet Gedaliah. 70 men were murdered in Mizpah, but 10 other men negotiated their lives saying that they had hidden grains to give for their lives. Ishmael had thrown the body of Gedaliah in a cistern, and used the other 70 bodies to hid Gedaliah's body. Besides, Ishmael took Zedekiah's daughters that were entrusted to the care of Gedaliah.

Johanan (who wanted to kill Ishmael in order to save Gedaliah) went with an army to Mizpah. He released Ishmael prisoners, but Ishamael flew to Amon with 8 other men (2 must have been killed). However, Johanan decided to flee to Egypt in order to avoid a retaliation from Babylon. Although he was innocent, he must found difficult to explain in details the situation to Babylon.
This narrative is the reason why Jeremiah went to Egypt as we are reading in next chapters.

Did Jeremiah go to Egypt by his own initiative? Did Jeremiah have free will to choose?

Jeremiah 40: Jeremiah is set free and decided to stay in Jerusalem

 In Jeremiah 40, Jeremiah is set free from Nebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard of Babylon.


2 The captain of the guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, “Yahweh your Elohim threatened to bring this disaster on this place. 3 He has carried out his threat. Yahweh did as he promised because you Israelites have sinned against him and refused to obey him. That is why this has happened to you. 4 Today I’m removing the chains from your hands. If you would like to come with me to Babylon, come, and I’ll look after you. But if you don’t want to come with me to Babylon, don’t come. The whole land is yours. Go wherever you want.

If a Babylonian captain knows about Jeremiah and the prophecies, we conclude that Jeremiah was very famous in his days. After some 20 years preaching, Jeremiah certainly delivered the Lord's message to whomever wanted to listen.


5 “If you wish to remain, then go back to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed to govern the cities of Judah. Live among the people with him, or go anywhere you want.” The captain of the guard gave Jeremiah some food and a present and let him go. 6 Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, at Mizpah and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.

The captain told Jeremiah to go to Gedaliah who was apointed by Babylon to govern the cities of Judah. It seems that Gedaliah is Jew but not from David line.

Gedaliah wanted a peaceful govern:

9 Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men. He said, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Babylonians. Live in this country, serve the king of Babylon, and you will prosper. 10 I’m going to live in Mizpah and represent you when the Babylonians come to us. Gather grapes, summer fruit, and olive oil, and put them in storage jars. Live in the cities you have taken over.”

A peaceful environment is basic to production:

11 Now, all the Jews who were in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and in all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a few survivors in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, to govern them. 12 So all the Jews returned from all the places where they had been scattered. They came to Judah and to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They gathered a large harvest of grapes and summer fruit.

The Jews accepted Gedaliah as governor, however, the Ammonites has sent Ishmael to kill Gedaliah. Johanan knew about that and wanted to defend Gedaliah:

15 Then Johanan, Kareah’s son, secretly asked Gedaliah at Mizpah, “Let me kill Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son. No one will know about it. Why should he kill you? All the Jews who have gathered around you would scatter. What is left of Judah would disappear.”

But Gedaliah didn't believe in him,

16 Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, told Johanan, Kareah’s son, “Don’t do that! What you are saying about Ishmael is a lie.”

Jeremiah 39: end of the Davidic dinasty

 Jeremiah 39: end of the Davidic dinasty

The first year of Zedekiay was 597B (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zedekiah) , so the 9 years (v39) is 597-9 = 588 BC or 587 BC, due to 10 months. The Babylonian army broke through the walls of Jerusalem:

8-10 Meanwhile, the Babylonians burned down the royal palace, the Temple, and all the homes of the people. They leveled the walls of Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan, commander of the king’s bodyguard, rounded up everyone left in the city, along with those who had surrendered to him, and herded them off to exile in Babylon. He didn’t bother taking the few poor people who had nothing. He left them in the land of Judah to eke out a living as best they could in the vineyards and fields.

Zedekiah was the last king of Davidic dinasty. He didn't trust in Jeremiah's words, but he listened to him. He saved him but kept in prison. So, he seemed like a lot of people says things like: “No creo en brujas, pero que las hay, las hay”. It is very difficult to obey the Lord with this kind of thought.

4-7 When Zedekiah king of Judah and his remaining soldiers saw this, they ran for their lives. They slipped out at night on a path in the king’s garden through the gate between two walls and headed for the wilderness, toward the Jordan Valley. The Babylonian army chased them and caught Zedekiah in the wilderness of Jericho. They seized him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the country of Hamath. Nebuchadnezzar decided his fate. The king of Babylon killed all the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah right before his eyes and then killed all the nobles of Judah. After Zedekiah had seen the slaughter, Nebuchadnezzar blinded him, chained him up, and then took him off to Babylon.

Jeremiah is released from prison and put under the care of Gedaliah - the new assigned governor for the region but with no royal (David) blood.

11-12 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave Nebuzaradan captain of the king’s bodyguard special orders regarding Jeremiah: “Look out for him. Make sure nothing bad happens to him. Give him anything he wants.”

13-14 So Nebuzaradan, chief of the king’s bodyguard, along with Nebushazban the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon, sent for Jeremiah, taking him from the courtyard of the royal guards and putting him under the care of Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to be taken home. And so he was able to live with the people.

Ebed-melek, the Ethiopian, is rewarded:

15-18 Earlier, while Jeremiah was still in custody in the courtyard of the royal guards, God’s Message came to him: “Go and speak with Ebed-melek the Ethiopian. Tell him, ‘God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, Listen carefully: I will do exactly what I said I would do to this city—bad news, not good news. When it happens, you will be there to see it. But I’ll deliver you on that doomsday. You won’t be handed over to those men whom you have good reason to fear. Yes, I’ll most certainly save you. You won’t be killed. You’ll walk out of there safe and sound because you trusted me.’” God’s Decree.

Jeremiah 38: can a gentile be more reliable than an Jew official?

In Jeremiah 38:

1 Shaphatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashur son of Malkijah (...)
8 ... took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malkijah the king’s son that was in the courtyard of the palace guard. They lowered him down with ropes. There wasn’t any water in the cistern, only mud. Jeremiah sank into the mud.

These Jews were afraid that Jeremiah would weak the soldiers morale, so they threw him in a cistern to let him die there. However:

7-9 Ebed-melek the Ethiopian, a court official assigned to the royal palace, heard that they had thrown Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was holding court in the Benjamin Gate, Ebed-melek went immediately from the palace to the king and said, “My master, O king—these men are committing a great crime in what they’re doing, throwing Jeremiah the prophet into the cistern and leaving him there to starve. He’s as good as dead. There isn’t a scrap of bread left in the city.”

Ebed-melek, the Ethiopian, decided to save Jeremiah; so he asked the king to intercede for him.

10 So the king ordered Ebed-melek the Ethiopian, “Get three men and pull Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

11-12 Ebed-melek got three men and went to the palace wardrobe and got some scraps of old clothing, which they tied together and lowered down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern. Ebed-melek the Ethiopian called down to Jeremiah, “Put these scraps of old clothing under your armpits and around the ropes.” Jeremiah did what he said.

13 And so they pulled Jeremiah up out of the cistern by the ropes. But he was still confined in the courtyard of the palace guard.
Ebed-melek saved Jeremiah's life. The king had some interest in Jeremiah's prophecies. He went to Jeremiah

The king was interested in Jeremiah's prophecies and meet him in secret. Jeremiah told the king to surrender, but the king replied:

19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “But I’m afraid of the Judeans who have already deserted to the Chaldeans. If they get hold of me, they’ll rough me up good.”

It seems that Zedekiah had enemies that were pro Babylon, but he was also afraid of the Jews who put Jeremiah in the cistern (and were against Babylon):

24-26 Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know of this conversation, if you know what’s good for you. If the government officials get wind that I’ve been talking with you, they may come and say, ‘Tell us what went on between you and the king, what you said and what he said. Hold nothing back and we won’t kill you.’ If this happens, tell them, ‘I presented my case to the king so that he wouldn’t send me back to the dungeon of Jonathan to die there.’”

27 And sure enough, all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him. He responded as the king had instructed. So they quit asking. No one had overheard the conversation.

28 Jeremiah lived in the courtyard of the palace guards until the day that Jerusalem was captured.

Jeremiah 37: Jeremiah is arrested for treason

 Jeremiah 37: Jeremiah is arrested for treason

The Lord speaks through Jeremiah, but, did it make Jeremiah more rich or powerful? In this chapter, Jeremiah is arrested for treason. King Zedekiah ( a puppet king set on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ) is the last king before the Babylonian captivity and Jeremiah has been preaching for two decades to repent and even to surrender to the Babylonian army while false prophets (more nationalistic) were preaching that the Lord would protect his temple, Jerusalem, his people, etc. In this chapter, it was very clear that Jeremiah was right because the Babylonian army is surrounding  Jerusalem. However:

4-5 ... Pharaoh’s army was marching up from Egypt. The Chaldeans fighting against Jerusalem heard that the Egyptians were coming and pulled back.

Although Zedekiah was set by Nebuchadnezzar, he must made some agreement with pharaoh, so pharaoh's army is now marching to Jerusalem. King Zedekiah asks to Jeremiah to pray:

3 However, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Pray for us—pray hard!—to the Master, our God.”

Zedekiah wants to stay in throne, free from the Babylonians; and he wants the blessing of the Lord. Jeremiah replies:

6-10 Then Jeremiah the prophet received this Message from God: “I, the God of Israel, want you to give this Message to the king of Judah, who has just sent you to me to find out what he should do. Tell him, ‘Get this: Pharaoh’s army, which is on its way to help you, isn’t going to stick it out. No sooner will they get here than they’ll leave and go home to Egypt. And then the Babylonians will come back and resume their attack, capture this city and burn it to the ground. I, God, am telling you: Don’t kid yourselves, reassuring one another, “The Babylonians will leave in a few days.” I tell you, they aren’t leaving. Why, even if you defeated the entire attacking Chaldean army and all that was left were a few wounded soldiers in their tents, the wounded would still do the job and burn this city to the ground.’”

During this absence of the Babylonian army surrounding Jerusalem, Jeremiah decided to leave the city:

11-13 When the Chaldean army pulled back from Jerusalem, Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go over to the territory of Benjamin to take care of some personal business. When he got to the Benjamin Gate, the officer on guard there, Irijah son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, grabbed Jeremiah the prophet, accusing him, “You’re deserting to the Chaldeans!”

In fact, Jeremiah's preaching seems in favor of the Babylonians. So, he was arrested when leaving Jerusalem.

14-16 “That’s a lie,” protested Jeremiah. “I wouldn’t think of deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah wouldn’t listen to him. He arrested him and took him to the police. The police were furious with Jeremiah. They beat him up and threw him into jail in the house of Jonathan the secretary of state. (They were using the house for a prison cell.) So Jeremiah entered an underground cell in a cistern turned into a dungeon. He stayed there a long time.

When I was very little and mommy was not converted yet, she told me that good things happens to good people and bad things happens to bad people. The Bible is full of stories that goes against it; in fact, Jesus told in Matthew 5:

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.