Sunday: Political Anarchy
One would think that with the destruction of the city and the total defeat by the Babylonians, all the people would have learned their lesson. Unfortunately, not all did, and the drama wasn’t over yet.
Read Jeremiah 40:7-16. What message was given (again) to the people? What is the significance of the word remnantused in Jeremiah 40:11?
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
Despite the message of peace, and even the ensuing prosperity (see Jer. 40:12), not everyone was content with the status quo.
Read Jeremiah 41:1-18. What new problems would the remnant
now face?
Though the reasons for the assassination weren’t given, the fact that it had been done by someone of the royal family and of the officers of the king
(Jer. 41:1, NKJV) suggests that these elitists still had not accepted the idea that the chosen nation needed to submit to Babylonian rule. Because Gedaliah had been put on the throne by the king of Babylon (see Jer. 40:5), these people might have seen him as a treasonous puppet who was disloyal to the nation and who therefore had to be eliminated along with his court.
As the chapter continues, we can see that this remnant now faced a new threat: fear of the Babylonians, who-perhaps not knowing the details of what happened-would seek revenge for the death of Gedaliah and the Babylonian soldiers (see Jer. 41:3).
The sins of Ishmael and his men caused fear among those who had nothing to do with those sins. What should this tell us about how, by our disobedience, we can bring pain and suffering to others, even those who had nothing to do with our sins?
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Its true that my sin can make my family to suffer even though they are not connected to the sin , God forgive me and other who are like me
Rival factions generally unite their forces when they are faced with a common threat. But when the immediate danger passes, internal treachery appears almost immediately. So it seems to have happened here. I'd like to share an extra thought regarding context if I may.
This man, Ishmael is "of the seed royal" Jer 41:1. All the royal family of any note have already been taken into captivity. But Ishmael has royal blood in him. When Gedaliah is appointed governor, Ishmael, seeing that the remnants of the royal family are now totally spurned/ignored, seems to harbour a strong resentment, and this makes him a ready instrument in the hands of an even greater schemer.
The king of Ammon instigates a plot to kill Gedaliah (Jer 40:14), and the man he chooses for the job is Ishmael. Just why (in human terms,) the instigator of the plot is the king of Ammon, I do not know. But it seems clear at least, that the Ammonites were former allies of Zedekiah.
William Shakespeare is credited with the phrase, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” This is generally understood to point out that a king of leader, who bears much responsibility or of whom much is expected will likely be often anxious trying to satisfy the demands of office or others.
There is another cause of worry among those who wield power or occupy high office. Almost always there are others of lower or similar rank who envy the power and desire the office and some may attempt to unseat the office holder by nefarious means. This effort may be subtle and deceptive or it may be blatant and violent. Governor Gedaliah underestimated the threat he faced and was brutally removed from office (Jeremiah 40:13-16; 41:1-3).
Notwithstanding knowledge of this common reality people still strive earnestly to hold office and grasp power by both legitimate and illicit means. To many the prize is worth the risk. Lucifer, the usurper, was the first to campaign for higher office and the result is a miserable history (Isaiah 14:13-14). It may not have occurred to him that others might do the same, or it did not matter.
Eve was induced by the Serpent to be desire a higher sphere, to be wise as God, and was thereby led into sin (Genesis 3:4-6).The norm in the world, which is nearly matched in the church is to pursue power and claim credit, and complain when denied. Many may justify self-promotion and reason that there is nothing wrong with ambition, but the faithful may find a pattern in Christ.
The Christian’s model, Jesus, rather than strive for greater made Himself lower (Philippians 2:5-8) to demonstrate the godly attitude. A hard lesson it may be for some, but it becomes the saints to learn how to decrease that Christ may increase in every area of life (John 3:30).
When we sin we should know that it has a price. See how costly it was for God to rescue us from it. Sin causes pain and suffering to the innocents just because it is unreasonable. There is absolutely no good reason for for us to sin.
There is no good reason for us to sin, as stated in Samual's comment, except that we are humon & we do it every day, that's why Jesus came to earth, as he knew we were going to. Thanx Jesus for coming to save me.
I am thankful for this promise "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. -1 John 1:9" I have made many mistakes in my life, but the Lord in his wonderful mercy still loves me. I have seemed the pain and damage that my past sins have roughed to my love ones, and it has made me realized that sins is our worse enemy and it only purpose is to hurt and destroy our relationship with God, with love ones and everyone around us and the scarfs are permanent. May the Lord keep me from falling every second of my life. Amen!
Behold the lamb of that taketh away the sins of the world. Your sin and mine as well. It is our only hope to behold Christ earnestly, humbly in deep soul searching that we shall have peace that our sins are forgivn(romans 8:1)
My sins does not effect me but those who are around me and that's in my life..Sin has a way of effecting many people with out their knowledge and when it does the only thing we can do is repent and move on.