We continue the saga…

Jerusalem has fallen…

We last left our friend Jeremiah in Judah in the home of Governor Gedaliah. King Nebuchadnezzar himself gave instructions to Captain Nabuzaradan to find Jeremiah, keep him safe, and give him whatever he needed.

The Captain found Jeremiah chained up among the others who had been captured and were about to be forced-marched all the way to Babylon. They were about 8 miles north of Jerusalem in Ramah – the old home town of the prophet Samuel.

It blows my mind that pagan Nebuzaradan seemed to have more respect for the Word of God than the people of Judah:

“The captain of the guard called for Jeremiah and said, “The Lord your God has brought this disaster on this land, just as he said he would. For these people have sinned against the Lord and disobeyed him. That is why it happened.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭40‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

He not only released Jeremiah, he gave him food and money. That is the favor of God at work. And it’s why we shouldn’t think like the world and leave God out of the equation in difficult times.

So word gets out that Nebuchadnezzar has appointed Gedaliah as Governor at Mizpah. They needed a new location for a capital because Jerusalem was destroyed.

Scholars say there are 6 towns in Israel called Mizpah or Mizpeh. The word means “watchtower.” The Mizpah where Gedaliah would govern on behalf of Babylon was most likely the Mizpah between Ramah and Jerusalem. You may recall the time when Samuel had called the people together to repent at Mizpah and the Philistines attacked but God “thundered from heaven” and threw them into confusion. That’s back in 1 Samuel 7. That’s where Gedliah is.

The few people who had been hiding out in the country or who had fled to neighboring lands east of the Jordan start to trickle back into the land once the Babylonians have left.

And that’s when the plot thickens…

“So they went to see Gedaliah at Mizpah. These included: Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, Jezaniah son of the Maacathite, and all their men.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭40‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

These men are leaders of small groups of refugees. But all is not as it seems. Johanan and the others warn Gedaliah that Ishmael has been hired to assassinate him, but Gedaliah doesn’t believe them.

He should have believed them.

Not only do Ishmael and his men assassinate the Babylonian-appointed governor, they kidnap the princesses…

😲 Wow! This sounds like an awesome movie! Ragged refugees in a war-torn country. A secret assassination plot. And now… kidnapped princesses?!

I know! It’s great, isn’t it?

😯 Ooo… is there a daring rescue of the princesses?

Of course.

😃 Eeee! Let me get my popcorn! 🍿

“But when Johanan son of Kareah and the other military leaders heard about Ishmael’s crimes, they took all their men and set out to stop him. 🗡️🏇🏇🏇🏇🏇🏇🏇🏇

They caught up with him at the large pool near Gibeon.

The people Ishmael had captured shouted for joy 🤩 🥳 when they saw Johanan and the other military leaders. And all the captives from Mizpah escaped and began to help Johanan. (POW! 😵‍💫💥🥊😠)

Meanwhile, Ishmael and eight of his men escaped from Johanan into the land of Ammon.

Then Johanan son of Kareah and the other military leaders took all the people they had rescued in Gibeon— 💂🏽‍♀️the soldiers, 👱🏻‍♀️ women, 👧🏻 children, and 🤵🏻‍♂️ court officials whom Ishmael had captured after he killed Gedaliah. They took them all to the village of Geruth-kimham near Bethlehem, where they prepared to leave for Egypt.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭41‬:‭11‬-‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

😄 That’s such a great story! I can just see the captive princesses and children grabbing anything they can to use as weapons…

It won’t take long for the Babylonians to hear that their governor has been killed and their authority challenged. They will not be kind. So the men and the rescued people pack up their few belongings to move to Egypt.

To be continued…