rv. What leads to this ebbob. Cf. the history. 1. Perhaps Geclaliah's conscious integrity ; his freedom from all intent of evil. 2. Or over-elation at the loyalty and trust that were being'displayed on all sides. 3. The accused man had himself (ver. 8) come to Gudaliah. 4. Or dislike to Johanan and liis pioposals. 5. Or reliance on his own capacity of taking all due care. And when we are wrongly charitable to what is evil, our motives are akin to these. We intend no evil; that which is said to be evil has wrought no harm in others. We intend to be on our guard, and deem ourselves to be quite able to take care of ourselves. We dislike the safeguards proposed. We do not believe in the peril against which we are warned. Wo are disposed to think well of and to like the evil.
Y. OuB SAFEonABDS. 1. Seek the knowledge of man. 2. Seek the Spirit of Christ.— C.
Vers. 2 — 6. — Jeremiah a free agent. We have here an expansion of Tew. 13 and
14 of the previous chapter.
I. One op the best thinqs a man can have is full individual libeett. The royal master of the captain of the guard was anxious to do the best he could for the prophet ; and he seems to have understood fully that only the prophet could decide on this best. The captain of the guard, in all he says, is but the mouthpiece of the king. Very likely the captain, if he had beeu left to decide, would have said, " What better thing can happen to this man thau go to Babylon with me ? " and so, meaning well enough, he might have done ill. Good intentions are not enough in providing foi others. We go rather by our notion of what they want than by what they really want ; and thus we are disappointed in our efforts. There never can be anything wrong in giving a man the largest scope to settle his path for himself. We may easily become cramped as a result of the ignorant kindness of others.
II. Theee was an inceeased eesponsibilitt fob Jebemiah. For a long time he had been in pri.scn, and all he had to do was to endure captivity in a patient, trustful way. But now comes liberty, and in his case a peculiar responsibility. Few men, perhaps not even a single one, had the liberty enjoyed by him at this moment. Others had not been asked whether they would go to Babylon or stay. The conquerors settled all that. But Jeremiah has free choice, and he has to decide in very altered conditions of the land. Freedom brings human judgment into full strength and exercise.
III. Jeremiah was sube to decide rightly. Why? Because the first thing he would look tu was the will of Jehovah. What lesson had he been learning all througii his prophetic life but this, that negligence of the will of Jehovah brought incalculable mischief ? Here is the necessity for us to keep in a state of discernment with respect to the wi i 1 of God. As a general rule, we do not need special intimations of the Divine will ; right is seen to be right and wrong to be wrong. But there are also times when, as we need such special intimations, they are sure to be given. — Y.
Vers. 7 — 12. — Tlie difficulties of a governor. To govern a country is never an easy task; but how difficult it must be when the work is that of reconstruction I Gedaliah has to begin, as it were, at the be;;inning. One of his first difSculties is to know exactly what he has to deal with. There are turbulent as well as peaceful elements, bands of free-lance.s, who, now that the Chaldean has gone, make their appearance before the i;overnor to see what the prospect may be. Another difficulty is that of inspiring confidence. Those who have just been plundered may be excused for apprehensions lest they should soon be plundered again. On the other hand, Gedaliah was better off than the king who had just been dethroned. The latter vainly held on to a tottnring building, whose very foundations were going, while the former was free from the pernicious elements which so long had made all government in the land an abomination. With all his difficulties, Gedaliah had some encouragements. There appears to have beeu a general gathering to him as a centre. Most men generally tend to the point where there are the greatest prospects of social order, security, and stability. — f
164
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, [oh. Hi 1—18
Yer. 16. — Trusting a traitor. I. In st-ttb of cautions. Gedaliah was told that Ishmael meditated his death. Told, not by one man, but by all wlio had opportunity of knowing the traitor's designs. Was it, then, blameworthy in him to i ejjlect tht information? We cannot tell. It may have been that he knew of jealousies which made him think that the rest of the captains were slandering Ishmael. Slanderers, be it remembered, are quite as numerous as traitors. The fault of Gedaliah, if fault it was, was that of a generous heart. It is one of the weapons of a traitor to put on the semblance of a true man. Then probably Gedaliah was further influenced by the proposition to kill Ishmael. If the informers had merely urged him to guard himself, they might have been better attended to. But those were days when, if people wanted to get rid of a troublesome man, they had little scruple in taking the most effectual way.
IL Ah lnstancb of babh jusaMENT. Gedaliah in one breath judged the traitor to be a true man and the speaker of truth to be a slanderer. In this world of uncer- tainties there is no need to refuse any accusation. Only let the accusation be accom- panied with evidence. Trumped-up evidence soon shows its faults and contradictions. If Gedaliah had bid Ishmael meet the accusation, he might have prevented the serious migration spoken of at the end of the next chapter. He had to take care of himseU not only for his own sake, but as the representative of Babylon. — Y.
EXPOSITION.
OHAFTEB XliL
Vers. 1 — 10. — Assassination of Ctedaliah and other Jews.