Sunday Morning, March 8, 2020 AM

The Resurrection, Prayer, and the Call to Open Jeremiah

It is good to see brothers and sisters in Christ here. It is good to come together to worship You, to glorify You, to rejoice in the light of the resurrection of our King and Savior Jesus Christ on this first day of the week.

Lord, as You have set all the course of history in accordance with the resurrection of Your Son Jesus Christ and His exaltation, I pray that You would set the course of our week in our lives in that very same glorious truth.

I pray that You would give us guidance today, nourishment today from Your Word, that You would shape us, conforming us to the image of Your Son, that we would truly know more of the blessings of our salvation, more of the depths of Your grace, and acquire more of the anticipation and hope of all the coming victories of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I pray these things in His name. Amen. I invite you to open your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 40. Jeremiah chapter 40. There are a few mnemonic devices to help you trace the history of Jeremiah. When you come to Jeremiah chapter 40, it is good to remember that he's been preaching for about 40 years.

Jeremiah After Forty Years of Warning

And it is good to remember that it is at this point in time, as you read about the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem, that Jeremiah has been at this for four decades. He has been laboring. He has been diligent.

He's been frustrated. He has been sorrowful. He has known the range of human emotion as he has lived out his calling. He has known great joys under the kingship of Josiah and great frustrations under the kingships of Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah.

He has seen good times in the life of Judah, and he has seen very difficult times. 40 years of preaching. The critical point for which God raised up Jeremiah has come, and it has passed. From chapter 1 in Jeremiah, and if you ever need to know what the book of Jeremiah is about, it's all helpfully encapsulated in chapter 1.

You get the scope of the entire book, and everything you need to know is just in the first chapter. But from the very first chapter, we hear that a destruction upon Jerusalem is coming. A destruction upon Jerusalem is coming.

I think it is very fitting that about the same timeframe transpired between Jesus' own prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem until its demise in A .D. 70, as in Jeremiah's situation. About 40 years between the first preaching of the prophet Jeremiah of the destruction of Jerusalem until the time that it finally came.

The city of Jerusalem has fallen, but the city of Jeremiah still stands. The city of Jerusalem has fallen, but the city of Jeremiah still stands. At the end of Jeremiah chapter 1, after God has told Jeremiah the basic truth he's going to be proclaiming, not just to Judah, but to all the nations, including the destruction of Jerusalem, he has this to say to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 17. Now gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. Verse 18. Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city, and as a pillar of iron, and as walls of bronze against the whole land.

To the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests, and to the people of the land, they will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord. It is a stunning image that when we find at the very last moment the armies of Babylon surrounding the city of Jerusalem laying siege to Jerusalem, Jeremiah is in the heart of the city, imprisoned in the royal house, under guard.

For Judah had laid siege to God's prophet, while the Babylonians laid siege to them. The city of Jerusalem fell, but the city of Jeremiah still stood. Now what? Now what? We're talking about the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem.

Is there a future? Is there a purpose? Is there a hope? Let me read for us from Jeremiah chapter 40, verses one through six. I invite you to stand with me. I'll just read the first six verses of this story.

This is the word of the Lord. The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Nebuchadnezzar Radon, the captain of the bodyguard, had released him from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.

Now the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, The Lord your God promised this calamity upon this place. The Lord your God promised this calamity against this place, and the Lord has brought it on and done just as he promised, because you people sinned against the Lord and did not listen to his voice.

Therefore this thing has happened to you. But now, Behold, I am freeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If you would prefer to come with me to Babylon, come along and I will look after you.

But if you would prefer not to come with me to Babylon, never mind. Look, the whole land is open before you. Go wherever it seems good and right for you to go. As Jeremiah was still not going back, he said, Go on back then to Getaliah the son of Ahicham, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people, or else go anywhere it seems right for you to go.

So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ration and a gift and let him go. Then Jeremiah went to Mitzpah to Getaliah the son of Ahicham and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. On August 6th, 1945, about 8 .15 in the morning, at an altitude of about 2 ,000 feet, a little boy exploded over Hiroshima and the official death toll would rise to about 141 ,000 people.

Dr. Miki Hiko, Hachia, recalled that Hiroshima was no longer a city, but a burnt over prairie. Sudeiko Kurihara wrote a poem called Ruins. He writes this, Hiroshima, nothing, nothing. Old and young burned to death.

City blown away. Socket without eyeball. White bones scattered over reddish rubble. Above, sun burning down. The city of ruins still has death. In the days after the bombing, families in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were advised to leave the cities and some left with whatever provisions that they had.

They had really nowhere to go. Some of them made primitive huts. Some of them slept in train stations and burned out train cars and the symptoms of radiation began to set in. Hair loss, bleeding gums, loss of energy, purple spots, pain, high fevers, often resulting in fatalities.

But you know, it wasn't the end. It wasn't the end. Hiroshima is now a flourishing city of 1 .2 million people. They have an A-bomb dome that stands as a reminder of the event, though many of the aging survivors are continuing to dwindle, as are a lot of people who lived during that era.

But I bring that event to our remembrance as we think of the destruction of Jerusalem. Three-quarters of Hiroshima survived and most of them stayed to rebuild. Uncalculated numbers of Jews died in Jerusalem and so many that there were not enough left to bury the dead.

Most of the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile and only a few remained in the general area. The city itself was given over to the jackals and it was so possessed for many years. So, aftermath. What's next after the judgment?

The judgment of God clearly falls. What now? What's left to do? Is there anything that remains after the judgment of God? Is there a future? Is there a purpose? Is there a hope? And of course there is because God is still God and His words are still true.

And we have a need in our church. We have a need in our culture. We have a need in our land to consider our proper response to judgment. The choices which appear in the aftermath of God's judgment are still the dichotomy of cursing and blessing.

That's still there. There's either cursing or there's blessing. Will we submit to Christ in the aftermath of judgment or will we sabotage our hope through a suicidal opposition to God's will? This is what Jeremiah 40 and 41 are all about.

The aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem. What now? What might happen? There could be submission to God's will and blessing or all hope of blessing could be sabotaged through a suicidal opposition to the express will of God.

What we need to remember this morning is that blessing and cursing remain in the aftermath of God's judgment. Blessing and cursing remain in the aftermath of God's judgment. Let's consider the submission that is obvious in the text.

Submission to the Word of God After Jerusalem's Fall

Verses 1 through 6 we've read. And we have the prospect of freedom. Freedom for Jeremiah. Freedom for those who remain of a sort. But we see that Jeremiah had been taken along with the other citizens of Jerusalem who had survived the onslaught of the Chaldeans.

He was taken in chains to Ramah, five miles to the north of the city. He was taken there, the base camp of the Chaldeans. He was taken in chains, just like all the rest of those who had been arrested.

Just like all the other slaves. But when he gets there, by the authority of King Nebuchadnezzar, the chief of the guard, Nebuchadnezzar, releases him and says, you're free to go. What you said came true.

The God you worship and preach has accomplished this and he has justly judged your people for the sins that they committed against him. You said it would happen, thus it has happened, and we're not going to include you in the judgment.

So we're going to let you go. You can do whatever you want. I can take you back to Babylon and make sure that you're well cared for there. You can go back to the leader that we've left in charge, Gedaliah, or you can just go wherever you want.

It's up to you. Freedom. This must be a little disorienting for Jeremiah. He's been given instructions from the Lord. Day after day, week after week, month after month, he's been instructed by the Lord to preach, to go here to this gate and preach this message and shatter this pot or go talk to this false prophet or address the king.

He's been laboring in this ministry in Jerusalem, traveling back and forth across the city, preaching the word of God, but now the city is destroyed. Now what is he supposed to do? He doesn't seem to have an answer.

The silence of Jeremiah arrests my attention. He doesn't say anything. He's being offered whatever you want, Jeremiah, and he's just being silent. He doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know where to go.

It's a genuine question. Is there anything left after disaster? When the consequences of sin finally culminate and overflow and disaster strikes in our lives, when the correction or even the judgment of God lashes out against us and we stand in the rubble of what was once our hopes and dreams, is there anything left?

What now? What freedom do we have? The way in which Nebuchadnezzar Radon puts it, to me, is a bit haunting. He says at the end of verse 4, wherever it seems good and right for you to go. Go wherever it seems good and right for you to go.

He repeats it in verse 5. I can't get the days of the judges out of my head. Every man doing whatever was right in his own eyes. A sense of freedom. Freedom. Well, the tribes are in shambles. It's a mess out there.

We're just going to cut loose and do whatever we can, whatever seems right to us. That's what we're going to do. In the aftermath of the judgment of God, in the days of the judges, there was no unity, no coherence, no going to shechem, to worship God.

Every man was just doing whatever was right in his own eyes in the aftermath of God's judgment. The same opportunity is being offered to Jeremiah. Just do whatever is right in your own eyes. I mean, it's just disaster out here.

Do whatever you think is good. Whatever strikes your fancy. But as Jeremiah is silent, Nebuchadnezzar encourages him to go back to Gedaliah. Gedaliah is the son of Ahiakim, the son of Shaphan. Shaphan is the scribe who read the scroll, recovered from the rubble of the temple, and read it to Josiah.

The son of Shaphan was Ahiakim, the only elder on the council of Jerusalem who stood up to rescue Jeremiah from the murderous intentions of the people. When they were demanding that Jeremiah be killed, Ahiakim, the son of Shaphan, stood up and said, no, we must not do this evil.

His son is Gedaliah, and Gedaliah is now serving as a focal point for the people of Israel. Gedaliah is an obvious choice for a leader. He represents a return to hearing the word of God and following in obedience.

And we find that he is cooperating with the Chaldeans. Verses 7 through 12. Now all the commanders of the forces that were in the field, they and their men heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahiakim, over the land, and that he had put him in charge of the men, women and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon.

So they came to Gedaliah at Mitzpah, along with Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan, the sons of Chariah, and Sariah, the son of Tanchumeth, and the sons of Aphai, the Netaphathite, and Jezaniah, the son of the Maakathite, both they and their men.

Then Gedaliah, the son of Ahiakim, the son of Shiphon, swore to them and to their men, saying, Do not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you.

Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay at Mitzpah to stand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us. But as for you, gather in the wine and summer fruit and oil and put them in your storage vessels and live in your cities that you have taken over.

Likewise, also all the Jews who were in Moab and among the sons of Ammon and in Edom and all who were in the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he appointed over them Gedaliah, the son of Ahiakim, the son of Shiphon.

Then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been driven away and came to the land of Judah to Gedaliah at Mitzpah and gathered in wine and summer fruit in great abundance. Why is Gedaliah saying cooperate with the Chaldeans?

Why is he saying go along with those who have just destroyed our city, those who have laid siege to Jerusalem and destroyed and burnt down the temple, who have looted and plundered us, who have taken away our kings, who have done such atrocities to us?

Why is Gedaliah saying let's get along? Because the word of God said so. The word of God said so. The word of God came to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah had preached to the people and said, this is the word of the Lord.

I have given these lands and these cities to the king of Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar, and you are to submit yourself to him, and anybody who opposes him will be opposing me, and I will destroy him with the sword, with the disease, and with famine.

And so it was, and so it happened. And so Gedaliah is saying do not fear serving the Chaldeans. This is what we're supposed to do. And the smoking ruins of Jerusalem proves it. So here's what we're going to do.

And he sends word to all of the commanders who were in the field. In other words, he sends word to all of the leaders of the various insurgencies that had risen up in response to the Babylonian armies.

The commanders who were still in the field, the guerrilla bands of warriors who were still out there trying to run a resistance against the Babylonians, and he says to them, call it in, guys. We're done.

We're not going to be cutting off supply lines. We're not going to be sneaking around trying to strike the Chaldeans. We're going to stop the insurgency. We're done. Put away your swords. Put away your daggers.

Put your animals back in the field where they belong. Let's get back to growing. Let's get back to planting and harvesting. Let's submit ourselves to the results of the judgment of God and be submissive to the word of God.

That's what Gedaliah is saying. So you have Gedaliah and those with him who are collaborating with the Chaldeans. And you have a group of the poorest people of the land to whom was given all sorts of vineyards and fields.

And then you have all of these insurgents and their commanders all gathering together in one little place. What could go wrong? What could possibly go wrong? Insurgent fighters and collaborators coming together.

What could possibly go wrong? If they submit to the word of God, all sorts of things go right. They're already gathering. Notice, they're already gathering in wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

There's already blessing to be had. By submitting to the peace that God had prescribed. It's a good reminder that in the aftermath of the judgment upon Jerusalem, something remained. Something remained worth living for.

Something remained worth striving for. Something remained. Obedience remained even after the judgment of God. In the aftermath of the judgment of God, all was not lost. It wasn't a time to throw everything away and every man do what was right in his own eyes.

It was a time to once again adhere to the word of God, submit to the principles of the word of God and its instructions, and know the blessings of obedience. That's what is left in the aftermath of judgment.

What remained after the fall? After Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden of Eden? Was it time for them to do whatever was right in their own eyes? To go wherever they liked, to do whatever they wanted with no respect at all to God?

No. There was still a call to obedience. There were still promises of blessing, weren't there? What remained after the flood? Was it all over? Was it all done? No point in living anymore? No. In the great disaster of the global flood, what remained?

Blessing for obedience. That still remained. Promises of hope still remained. What happened after the destruction of the first generation of Israel out of the land of Egypt when the first generation had all died off?

Was it all over? No. There was still opportunity. There was still hope. There were still promises. There was still a way to live. So also after the days of the judges, so also after the destruction of Jerusalem.

It is important for us to remember that the mercy and the kindness of God are still there after judgment. After judgment, there's still opportunity for obedience. I'm not talking about the final judgment.

I'm not talking about everlasting condemnation in hell. I'm talking about the fact, as we've been talking about for the last two weeks, that God is a holy, active, sovereign God, and He is still working His judgments in our world today.

He is not a deist God who has wound things up and let it go and doesn't get involved with the daily affairs of mankind. No, He is thoroughly involved. And that judgments come and blessings come, and He is totally involved.

And our question is, what remains in the aftermath of God's judgment? It is not a time for compromise. It is not a time for giving up on the Word of God. It is a time to look all the more to the Word of God, to be ever more vigilant, to pay all the closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

It isn't a time to give up. We remember the poetry, the theological poetry of Hosea 2, as God describes Israel as His unfaithful wife who has abandoned her faithful husband, and how she has gone after many lovers, and she has wasted herself and profaned herself in adultery.

And yet God brings judgment upon judgment and hedges her way up with thorns and teaches her the lessons that He was the one who gave her all her blessings and drives the point home again and again till finally in the wilderness He allures her until she finally comes to know who He is and repents and rejoices in Him, her husband.

This is the language we have not just in Hosea 2 but also in Romans 9 and elsewhere in descriptions of what remains after the judgment of God. Well, there remains the opportunity to be blessed in living a grace-dependent life of obedience.

That still remains. That still remains. What might sabotage the blessings? Let's take a look. Jeremiah 40, verse 13. Now Johanan the son of Kariah and all the commanders of the forces that were in the field came to get Eli at Mitzpah and said to him, Are you well aware that Belis, the king of the sons of Ammon, has sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to take your life?

But Gedaliah, the son of Ahiakim, did not believe them. Then Johanan the son of Kariah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mitzpah saying, Let me go and kill Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know.

Why should he take your life? So that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the remnant of Judah would perish. But Gedaliah, the son of Ahiakim, said to Johanan the son of Kariah, Do not do this thing.

You are telling a lie about Ishmael. Telling a lie about Ishmael. There's an accusation that comes. The accusation is not what sabotages the blessing. The accusation is not what sabotages the submission to the word of God.

Now, the proposed plan by Johanan circumvented the justice that was clearly prescribed in the word of God. There would have needed to be two or three witnesses. There would have needed to be justice dealt with at the gates of Mitzpah.

Secret assassination would not have been what God would have commended in this situation. But the accusation itself was no problem. It should have been taken up and considered. It should have been taken to the Lord in prayer.

It should have been considered alongside the word of God. Jeremiah was present. Why not speak to Jeremiah about the matter? All sorts of things could have been done, but Gedaliah rejects it out of hand.

He doesn't listen to it at first. Makes no effort to verify it one way or another. And so, Johanan steps up the game and says, just let me take him out. And Gedaliah accuses Johanan of lying about Ishmael and his intentions.

Interesting situation. Well, what happens after the accusation is the assassination. Verses 1 through 3, Gedaliah is murdered. In the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elisha, of the royal family, and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mitzpah to Gedaliah, the son of Hyakim, while they were eating bread together there in Mitzpah.

Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and struck down Gedaliah, the son of Hyakim, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and put to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is, with Gedaliah at Mitzpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war. The emphasis here in this text is on the full titles of those who were involved.

You notice how many names are listed, the full weight of who these people are. Gedaliah is the son of Hyakim, the son of Shaphan. He was the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as the leader of the Jews after this destruction of Jerusalem.

He was there with the other Jews who were also considered collaborators with the Chaldeans, and there were Chaldeans there, men of war, who were there to keep tabs on what was happening and foster good communication with the empire back home.

Ishmael comes, and notice who he is. He is of the royal family. He gets three names. And, oh, he's of the royal family, one of the chief officials of the king. He had a high position in the reign of Zedekiah.

He was a somebody. And he came to break bread and covenant with Gedaliah. The full weight of the action committed is listed. We are not to miss the point that what Ishmael is doing is starting up the war again with the Chaldeans.

He did not listen to the word of God to submit to the Chaldeans. He did not listen to the counsel of Gedaliah to come and not fear the service to the king of Babylon, but he came to restart the war, and he kills the chief collaborator, Gedaliah.

Who is Gedaliah anyway? He's the son of a city official, the son of a scribe, and Ishmael himself is of the royal family and a very important person. Who really ought to be ruling here? And so Ishmael kills Gedaliah.

This is what will sabotage. It was right in the eyes of Ishmael to kill Gedaliah. It was right in his eyes to take him out. He thought this was the best thing to do. Lamentations 3, verses 64 -66 says this.

You will recompense them, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. You will give them hardness of heart. Your curse will be on them. You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord.

That's judgment. That's judgment. When God, according to the works of their hands, would give someone hardness of heart and then pursue them to their own destruction. You have your Bibles open. Go ahead and flip over to Romans 1, verse 18.

The Murder of Gedaliah and the Judgment of a Hardened Heart

After the atom bomb detonated over Hiroshima, almost all of the firefighters were dead. Almost all of the doctors were dead. Almost all of the nurses were dead because it was centralized in their location.

The water wasn't running. The power wasn't running. All sorts of things stopped working. And that's the aftermath of an atom bomb. In the aftermath of God's judgment, you begin to notice that certain things don't work anymore because it's judgment.

The blessings that we took for granted are not functioning. The resources that used to be there aren't there anymore. Why is it that certain things just don't work anymore in our culture? Why are the resources for morality, truth, righteousness, justice, stuff's just not working anymore?

Where did it go? What happened? You see, we need to study passages about judgment because we need to wake up and realize we are living in the aftermath of the judgment of God. We are living in the aftermath of the judgment of God.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness. Because what is known about God is evident within them, for God had made it evident to them.

For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and of four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

The wrath of God is revealed against idolaters who stop worshiping the one true God, the creator of the universe, and begin to worship matter, stuff, Mother Earth, matter, money, idolatry. Therefore, here comes the wrath, here comes the judgment.

Verse 24,. Therefore God gave them over in the loss of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. You know what the sexual revolution was? It's the judgment of God.

For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions. For their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way, also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another.

Men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. Drag Queen Story Hour is the judgment of God. That is the judgment of God. The flying of the rainbow flags is the judgment of God.

We're living in the aftermath of the judgment of God. Why aren't things working the way they're supposed to be? Because we're living in the aftermath of the judgment of God. Why is there so much brokenness?

Why is there so much disaster? And we have to have the greatest sympathy and compassion and kindness to people who live in the shattered world of broken families and perverse sexuality. But they are living in the aftermath of the judgment of God.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice.

They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but give hearty approval to those who practice them.

There is a judgment upon our land. We are living in the aftermath of judgment. That's why it can be disorienting. How are we to respond? Listen, obedience and blessings are still available to us. After the destruction of Jerusalem, blessing was still there.

There was still the opportunity to obey, still the opportunity to submit to the word of God. Boy, it was difficult. It was sure different than it was before, but it was still there. God's word hadn't changed.

God hadn't packed his bags and left. There was still the opportunity. We are living in the aftermath of judgment, and further judgment will be forthcoming in the absence of repentance. How do we respond?

How do we respond to judgment? There can often be a confusion in the dysphoria of sin, wherein rebellion to God is expressed by rebellion to whatever authority seems most handy. Whatever structure is in place will rage against that.

Whatever authority is driving around in black and white cars will just rage against that. Whatever's there. We're just going to rage on whatever authority is there. Now, how are we to respond? Are we to respond to the aftermath of the judgment of God by doing whatever is right in our own eyes?

Well, the structures aren't there anymore. The Judeo-Christian ethic is barely left. It's hardly even there anymore. We live in a post-Christian society. What are we supposed to do? Are we to respond to judgment by honoring sin, hallowing wickedness, giving shade to profanity, allowing false teaching in the church?

Because, well, the culture has changed, and so we have to refresh ourselves and change along with it. Otherwise, we won't be relevant, and we can't reach this changing culture. Culture's always changing.

We just got to move with it. We are not to do what is ever right in our own eyes in the aftermath of God's judgment. God's Word remains the same. On a personal level, what consequences of sin do you live with?

What aftermath of judgment? Even the severe chastening of our heavenly Father. What do we live with? Well, what threatens to sabotage our opportunity of obedience and blessing? There is still promise.

There is still hope upon hope, and there is still grace. But what's going to keep us from tasting the goodness of God through simple obedience and trusting in Him? A prideful insistence will sabotage our blessings.

A prideful insistence that we don't deserve limitations, that somehow we're a victim of some over-aggressive punishment. Perhaps a chosen forgetfulness of sin's consequences. That will sabotage our opportunity for blessing.

A posture of self-preservation or self-promotion, that will sabotage our opportunities for obedience and blessing in the aftermath of God's judgment and consequences of sin. Romans 8 says, verse 12,.

So then, brethren, we are under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

We are to put to death the deeds of the body. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba, Father.

The Slaughter of the Pilgrims and the Choice Between Fear and Obedience

Well, let's note the suicide that happens in the text. Verse 4, chapter 41, verse 4,. Now it happened on the next day after the killing of Gedoliah when no one knew about it. The 80 men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and their bodies gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the house of the Lord.

They're not supposed to do this. Tearing the clothes is one thing, but they're not allowed to cut off their beards, and they're not allowed to cut themselves. Leviticus 19, 27 -28 says, You shall not round off the side growth of your beards, nor harm the edges of your beard.

You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or make any tattoo marks on yourself. I am the Lord. God says, when you grieve, you're not going to grieve as the pagans do, and you're not going to cut off your beards and make cuts on yourself for the dead when you grieve.

That's what he was telling them. But we are reminded here of the paganization of the Jews as these 80 men come to mourn the slaughter of Jerusalem, and they come in this pagan way. And they are coming to the house of the Lord.

They are coming to worship. Whatever they're using as the tabernacle, they're coming to worship. So they're trying to do something right. But this makes them a threat to Ishmael. Verse 6,. Then Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went out from Mitzpah to meet them, weeping as he went.

And as he met them, he said to them, Come to Gedoliah, the son of Ahiakim. It had turned out as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the men that were with him, slaughtered them and cast them into the cistern.

But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, Do not put us to death, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field. So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.

Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down because of Gedoliah, it was the one that King Asa had made on account of Baasha, the king of Israel. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled it with a slain.

Then Ishmael took captive all the remnant of the people who were in Mitzpah, the king's daughters, and all the people who were left in Mitzpah, whom nevers the raid on the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedoliah, the son of Ahiakim.

Thus Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of Ammon. Well, it was the fact that Ishmael was conspiring with the sons of Ammon to kill Gedoliah and do the dastardly deed.

Turns out it was the case after all. Why was he collaborating? Why was he so willing to kill so many people? Perhaps he thought this was the only hope of self-preservation. Why stay in this land conquered by the Chaldeans?