©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 41:1-10 (ESV) - In the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.
On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it, eighty men arrived from Shechem and Shiloh and Samaria, with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the LORD. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” When they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and cast them into a cistern. But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not put them to death with their companions.
Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down along with Gedaliah was the large cistern that King Asa had made for defense against Baasha king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king's daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
Question to consider: What feast day came in the seventh month?
I don’t believe it was a coincidence that the events of today's passage happened in the seventh month. The seventh month on the Jewish calendar is full of holy days and feasts. The month began with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. A week later was Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, when people confessed their sins and fasted. I believe that because the city had fallen, the eighty men as an act of contrition for the sins of Israel and Judah shaved their beards, tore their clothes, and began a journey to Jerusalem from Shechem and Samaria. They brought a grain offering and incense because the temple had been made desolate, and the altar, lampstand, table of showbread, and ark of the covenant had already been carted off to Babylon.
The first night of Sukkot— the Feast of Booths— began a few days later. I believe that on the day in which all of Israel used to gather in Jerusalem to break bread and build tabernacles, Ishmael rose up against his Hebrew brother, Gedaliah, and slaughtered him, the Judeans, and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. By the time the eighty men had traveled from Shechem to Mizpah, Ishmael's men had dumped the bodies into an empty well similar to the one Jeremiah endured when he was sinking into the mud.
The men who were bringing their offerings to Jerusalem were then duped into thinking that Ishmael and his men stumbled upon the murder, and then they too were slaughtered save for a few who had something to trade for their lives. Ishmael and his men then took captive the survivors— including the daughters of king Zedekiah and all who had just been set free by Nebuzaradan.
It is hard to imagine a more treacherous act upon a people who had already experienced their share of injustice. The feast was in celebration of the LORD’s provision and the deliverance of Israel from bondage. These men used it to steal from their brothers and enslave them.
Dear heavenly Father, we pray for Christ to return quickly and put an end to sin and death. Amen.