A Choice Was Made

Nebuzaradan, captain of the armies of Babylon, found Jeremiah bound in chains with all the captives from Jerusalem who were being carried into exile to Babylon. When he found him,. he said to him, "The LORD your God decreed this disaster for this place. And now the LORD has brought it about; He has done just as He said He would. All this happened by you people sinned against the LORD and did not obey Him. But today I am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you like and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don't come. Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please."

Before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan could tell he did not want to go to Babylon. So Nebuzaradan told him to go back to Gedaliah, whom the king had appointed governor over the towns of Judah. "Live with him among the people," he said. "Or go anywhere else you please." The commander gave him provisions and a present and let him go. Jeremiah went to Gedaliah at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left behind in the land. So Judah went into captivity, with only the poorest remnant let in the land to keep it.

When all the army officers and their men heard that Nebuchadnezzar had appointed Gedaliah as governor, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. He took an oath to reassure them and their men. "Do not be afraid of the Babylonian officials. Settle down in this land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you," he told them. The summer harvest was coming and these men were encouraged to harvest everything they could and store the goods and live in the towns they took over. Then all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and all the other countries they had fled to heard there was a remnant left in Judah and that Gedaliah had been appointed as governor. They all came back to hm at Mizpah, and harvested the wine and summer fruit.

Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah to warn him that Ishmael son of Nethaniah was sent by the king of Ammon to assassinate Gedaliah. He did not believe their word, though Johanan insisted its truth and even offered to take Ishmael out silently before he could make his move. Gedaliah said, "Don't do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true."

In the seventh month, Ishmael came with ten men and assassinated Gedaliah, the men of Judah, and the Babylonians who were with him at Mizpah. The day after it happens, before anyone ese knew, eighty men who had shaved their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves were coming from Shechem. Shiloh, and Samaria to bring grain offerings and incense with them to the House of the LORD. Ishmael went out to meet them, weeping as he went. He approached them and invited them to see Gedaliah. When these men came into the city, Ishmael and the men with him slaughtered them all and threw their bodies into a cistern. Ten of them begged to be spared, promising a treasure of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey hidden in a field. They were spared. Ishmael took captives from the people, including the king's daughters who were left, and brought them to Ammon.

Johanan and all the army officers led away the survivors that he was able to rescue from Ishmael. They all fled from Mizpah - soldiers, women, children, and court officials - to go to Egypt. They were afraid of the reprisal that would surely come from Babylon over what Ishmael did. They stopped near Bethlehem.  The remnant which remained was even smaller than before, for the enemies of Israel had caused them much harm.

All of these things could have been avoided had the people simply listened to Moses and the Prophets. They could have loved God with their heart, soul, mind and strength. They could have loved their neighbors as themselves. They could have followed the 10 commandments to the best of their abilities and repented when they failed. They could have obeyed the LORD - but they refused. They sinned and turned to idols. They walked away from the LORD their God who had saved them out of Egypt. So God brought down on them the calamities He had promised and sent them into exile, just as Nebuzaradan recognized, though he was a Babylonian. All the nations recognized why God had allowed this to happen. Some of them took it too far - and God would bring down judgment on them for that.