I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 39-41.

    After the fall of Jerusalem, King Nebuchadnezzar gave specific instructions to find and look after Jeremiah. We do not know how King Nebuchadnezzar became aware of Jeremiah, but his actions instructions regarding Jeremiah lent support to those who had thought that Jeremiah was a traitor. Of course, based on what we know, it seems unlikely that Jeremiah had any impact on the outcome of Babylon’s war against Jerusalem. I do not believe that Jeremiah was a Babylonian agent, but I can understand why some would argue that he was. When people today accuse others of being traitors to our country, we need to bear in mind those who did the same about Jeremiah. Of course, as Christians we also need to remember that our first loyalty is in the Kingdom of God, not whatever earthly nation we live in. Which means that we may need to take actions which will get us accused of treason.

    After destroying Jerusalem, King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah governor over the province. The various leaders of guerilla war bands which had been harassing the Babylonian army met with him to see how they would be treated. Gedeliah assured them that the Babylonians would allow them to live in peace as long as they served the king of Babylon going forward. Many of the Jewish refugees who had fled the war returned and began settling back into the land. The key thing we learn in this lesson is that Gedeliah was naive. When he was warned that one of the former guerilla leaders was planning to kill him, he refused to believe it. The man who killed Gedaliah was a member of the royal family of Judah (I assume this means that he was a descendant of David). While I will not fault Gedaliah for not forbidding Johanan from killing Ishmael, he should have taken precautions against the information he was given being true.