Jeremiah 41:2: “Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, arose and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.”

November 9th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

In the last chapter a murderous plot was hatched against Gedaliah, who had been appointed governor of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon. Johanan warned Gedaliah that Ishmael was planning to kill him, but Gedaliah wouldn’t believe him. Sadly, the plot was true, and Gedaliah was assassinated. In much the same way, Jeremiah had warned God’s people to surrender to the Babylonians because it was God’s discipline, but no one listened, and as a result many died during the Babylonian siege on Jerusalem. The only solution to finding peace in this sin-filled, war-torn world is to listen to God and surrender to Him, following Him every day. Had all the individuals in this incident simply repented of their idol worship and self-sufficiency, and turned to God, all their striving in the flesh would have been avoided.

We all struggle against the temptation to trust in ourselves and our own efforts. Why do we avoid simply praying and placing our hope fully in God? Instead we look to some other human effort or person, which can’t help us. Jeremiah had already shared with them God’s desire to give them a hope: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” (29:11, NIV). But their own stubbornness pushed their hearts away from trusting God. How much better it would be if we just followed the promise of Psalm 146:5: “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, / Whose hope is in the Lord his God.”

“LORD, we put our hope in You this day because You and only You have the words of eternal life.”