Jeremiah 40:13-16
Ignoring credible warnings can expose leaders and communities to devastating consequences.
13 Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
14 and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis the king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam didn’t believe them.
15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, “Please let me go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man will know it. Why should he take your life, that all the Jews who are gathered to you should be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish?”
16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “You shall not do this thing; for you speak falsely of Ishmael.”
Ignoring credible warnings can expose leaders and communities to devastating consequences.
To warn Gedaliah of a conspiracy by Ishmael son of Nethaniah to assassinate him, revealing the growing instability among the remaining leaders of Judah.
This passage introduces the conspiracy that will later destroy the fragile stability of the remnant community. It prepares the narrative for the assassination of Gedaliah described in the following chapter.
A conspiracy emerges against Gedaliah, the Babylonian-appointed governor over the remnant in Judah.
Jeremiah Released, Gedaliah Appointed, and the Fragile Remnant in the Land
After Jerusalem's fall, the LORD preserves Jeremiah and leaves a fragile remnant in the land under Gedaliah, yet the remnant's future is immediately threatened by internal treachery and ignored warning.