They saw it. Sometimes the enemies of your nations see your delusion and call it for what it is. Internally people can lose common sense, but your enemies will see it. That’s what happened here.
Why were the Babylonians victorious? The Babylonians answered and look at what they said:
“The Lord your God decreed this disaster for this place. 3 And now the Lord has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey him. (Jer 40:2-3).
The enemies of God knew it was because of their disobedience and rebellion against God that all this happened. Unbelievable.
And then of course there was Gedaliah who stood up for someone’s character. Gedalia was the one appointed over the people in Jerusalem who remained. People tried to warn him but in the game of war that a man named Ishmael was after his life. It’s always about who to trust and Gedaliah chose to trust Ishmael and defend what he thought was his integrity. We will see in the next chapter what happened.
When I read this again I think I’m reading today’s newspapers. Evil is so evil all over the Western world that in many remote places it is unthinkable what is happening. Like every nation thinks, “well, at least my nation is better than THAT one,” we soon will all face terrible times I believe. When we rebel against God so blatantly, he must do something. But I also hope and believe that through this and in this God will pour out his Spirit in revival.
Also I think of Gedaliah. It’s a hard thing to stand up for someone and then discover they are a betrayer. Truly we have to make sure to consult the LORD over these things. We are all vulnerable. Gedaliah could have consulted Jeremiah, the prophet at the time. We can consult God directly in our day. But we’ve got to be careful with presumption.
And tribalism. I’m seeing so much tribalism in every sphere. Their own tribe members get forgiveness and the other tribe gets harsh treatment. It’s ugly what people will defend and ugly how others are treated. This isn’t justice and righteousness and it’s in every country.
I think there is so much to glean from Jeremiah for our times. We must stay the course, not compromise the things of God, and seek Him in all things. God, help us all.
