Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. – Jeremiah 41:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 28, 2014): Jeremiah 41

After the close of the Second World War, the first war of the Cold War era was fought between the Soviet Union and the United States. The ground that was fought over was found in Greece. Nazi Germany and Italy had gained control of the Greece throughout the middle portion of the Second World War. As a result of this change in control, the Greek government became a government in exile. But when the nations allied with the United Kingdom and the United States began to take control of the war in Europe, a power vacuum was created in Greece. And as a result of that power vacuum, by the time of the close of the Second World War, there was no clear government in control of Greece. So from 1946 until 1949, the Greek government which had been in exile, backed by the United Kingdom and the United States, waged a civil war against the Greek Communist Party backed by the Soviet Union. But it was a Civil war that had essentially been set up by the events of the Second World War.

The Babylonian conflict in Judah was over. The Babylonian army had been, for the most part, withdrawn. Jerusalem laid in ruins. The Babylonians had left Gedaliah and his supporters, all of whom had defected to the Babylonian army at some point during the war, in charge of the country. But much like happened in Greece after the Second World War during the 20^th Century, during the 6^th Century B.C.E. a power vacuum in Judah had been created by the Babylonian-Judean war, and that left conditions favorable for the beginning of a civil war.

Jeremiah writes that in this case, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah (to differentiate him from Ishmael the son of Zedekiah – both of these Ishmaels were part of the Royal family, but Ishmael the son of Nethaniah was from a much more remote part of the family) disagreed with who the Babylonians had left in control of the nation. Ishmael strongly believed that he was the one that should have been left in control of Judah. And so he decides to take matters into his own hand and he assassinated Gedaliah.

Gedaliah, on the other hand, seems to have taken no precautions with regard to a possible uprising. Rabbinic writings indicate that Gedaliah was known for eating and drinking well, and the understanding is that Gedaliah invited Ishmael to share food and drink with him – but when Gedaliah and his men were drunk enough, Ishmael and his men killed them.

But Jeremiah also wants to make sure that the reader understands the enormity of Ishmael’s crime. All the way through his prophecies, Jeremiah is clear that Nebuchadnezzar (and Babylon) wins the conflict with Judah because God had decreed it. And here, Jeremiah says that Ishmael takes his sword and kills “the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.” Ishmael, in killing Gedaliah, was not only guilty of killing his own countryman, but he killed the man that Nebuchadnezzar had placed on throne, and therefore he opposed the will of his God who had placed Nebuchadnezzar in control of the nation.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 42