Tuesday July 21, 2015

Read Jeremiah 40:7- 41:18

Things don’t always go from tragedy to triumph in the real Christian world. The situation that arose in Jerusalem after the exile is illustrative.

Gedaliah, appointed by the Babylonians as governor of the land, Johanan,  military captain who came to Gedaliah and Ishmael, a rightful heir to the throne formed an intricate and enmeshed triangle. Ishmael wanted to kill Gedaliah. Johanan wanted to kill Ishmael before he succeeded. What follows is deceit and murder. Even worse, the victors, through Johanan, forget the Word of the Lord and travel to Egypt expecting to find safety there.

Things weren’t getting better. They were getting worse.

Gedaliah, appointed by the Babylonians as governor of the land, was a good man even though he proved to be a little naïve. When Gedaliah was placed in charge of affairs in Judah by the Babylonians, the people who had fled and hidden because of the siege began to come back to the land (Jer 40:7, 11–12).

Gedaliah repeated Jeremiah’s oft preached word; serve the Babylonians and you will live safely in the land. Seek the Lord with all your heart and you will find Him.

Johanan was a military captain who came to Gedaliah. Having heard of the plot to kill Gedaliah, Johanan sought to strike first but as the narrative proceeds his courage gives way to cowardice. Rather than leading the people to greater heights of obedience, he led them into disobedience.

Ishmael for his part, had plans to kill Gedaliah. While we are not told why, we do know that the king of the Ammonites hired him (40:14) and perhaps money  was a motivation. The Ammonites and many other nations had allied with Judah to break the Babylonian yoke (27:1–3). As a friend of Zedekiah and the King of Ammon, Ishmael didn’t want to see the Jewish people submit to Nebuchadnezzar even after the war had ended. In fact Ishmael was of royal blood and should have been on the throne. (Jer 41:1; 2 Sam. 5:16).

And so an intricate triangle evolved. Ishmael wanted to kill Gedaliah and Johanan wanted to kill Ishmael. What follows is deceit and murder. Even worse, the victors, through Johanan, are encouraged to forget the Word of the Lord and to travel to Egypt in direct disobedience to the Word of God, expecting to find safety there.

Things weren’t getting any better. They were getting worse.

As Christians we need to resist the temptation to comfort people with the well worn adage that God will make things better, or that He’s preparing something better. Even in tough times, even in times when there is no light at the end of the tunnel we can comfort people with Scriptural truths. We need not promise things that are scripturally unsound. As an example, no matter what we are enduring God still loves us. God is working all things for the good of those who love Him. Nothing can remove God’s love from us. We are still children of God. God is still sovereign and has a purpose in all of this.  Comfort need not come from pious unbiblical platitudes. God has enough genuine comfort for all our needs.

Prayer:

Using today’s Bible passage and notes write down points for

Adoration:

Confession

Thanks

Supplication:

· Pray for the MOPS and Playpals ministries that run at ChristLife. Pray that these will reach more families for the sake of the gospel and that the Lord Himself would provide for all of our needs. Pray that God would bring blessing through these programs to many families.

· Pray for a spirit of obedience to come  upon each person in your congregation and for the congregation to be obedient to the Word and Will of God.

  

 Discussion Questions

1. How could you comfort Jerome who has just lost his job and his family because of a messy divorce?

2. What’s biblically inaccurate with saying that God is preparing you for something better?

3. Someone asks you, ’If God loves me then  doesn’t that mean He’s preparing me for something better?’ Give an answer.