Jeremiah Chapter 41

The warning in Chapter 40 comes true in today’s chapter. Johanan had warned Gedeliah that Ishmael was plotting to murder him but Gedeliah did not believe him.

Why did Ishmael want to kill Gedeliah, the appointed governer of Jerusalem by Babylon? Perhaps it was because he wanted to take his place. Or because he was working with/for the Ammonites but whatever it was, a massacre happened hand Gedeliah and his followers were all killed.

What can I learn from today’s chapter?

The first was from the evil actions of Ishmael. In order to get what he wanted, he was devious and deceptive. He plotted and acted with hypocrisy.

While we may not resort to murder to get our way in the world today, do we do things in openly and transparently in our working lives? Do we back-stab our colleagues to get ahead? Do we act in a certain way to bring others down so that we can get ahead in life? This happens a lot in the corporate life and if we are not careful, we can be easily drawn into it as well.

Secondly, Gedeliah was warned about the plot but chose to ignore it. It mirrored what we saw in previous chapters where Jeremiah had warned God’s people to surrender to the Babylonians because this was God’s discipline upon them. But instead of doing so, they resisted and many died in the siege of Jerusalem.

The only way in this chaos filled world is to listen to God and obey Him. We need to follow His word everyday. And if the people during the time of Jeremiah had done this, they would have avoided all the calamity that came upon them.

In our lives, there would be many occasions where we would be tempted to trust in ourselves and our own efforts. Instead of turning to God, we think we know better. Instead of praying and placing our hope in God, we prey on others and place our hope in others.

Have we forgotten what we had read before in Jeremiah 29:11?

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

God is there to give us hope. But many a times, we may miss this because of our own stubbornness and pride.

Let us learn to listen to God and act in His ways.

•