“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Jeremiah 41

When I was in the Middle East I often heard this expression; “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”  That is not a great relationship builder it has no legs, for it is not founded in trust, respect, or love, but on fear and hate for another person or people.  As we explore Jeremiah 41, you are going to see how this backfires on Gedaliah the Governor of Mizpah who was given the office by King Nebuchadnezzar to be over the land of Judah and the people who were left.

Do you recall how Johanan and all the leaders of bands of men who were not taken captive came to Gedaliah and told him that Ishmael was on a mission by the King of the Ammonites to kill him?  And do you recall how Johanan offered to kill Ishmael, and was given orders to do so by Gedaliah, and in fact Gedaliah went so far as to call Johanan a liar?

Gedaliah mistrusted Johanan and yet trusted Ishmael, and once you have more information it makes more sense as to why this happened, and there is a lesson for each of us in coming to this understanding.  Johanan was more than likely a captain in the army of Judah and escaped before the Babylonian army took Jerusalem.  When he returned he was probably the leader of a guerrilla band who allied with Gedaliah.  Now who was Ishmael?  He was the son of Nethaniah of the royal family and a member of the Davidic line and one of King Zedekiah’s chief officers.  Ishmael was in total disagreement with Jeremiah’s message to surrender to the Babylonians and was still doing all he could to oppose that message from God.

It is clear that Gedaliah had misplaced faith and it cost him his life and the lives of all who were with him plus the Chaldean soldiers who were there.  It was the custom in that time to believe that GOD sent a guest. Thus their hospitality becomes a sacred duty and when Gedaliah invited Ishmael and the other ten men into his home for a meal what they did was not expected. 

Ishmael also killed 70 men who were coming to Jerusalem carrying grain and incense offering to the temple area, for though the temple was destroyed the ground was regarded as sacred.  It is clear that they, like many in our Christian faith were not based on what God required and had mixed in pagan worship of not bringing meat and had gashed themselves in a cultic practice adopted from Baal worship but forbidden in the law of God.

When ten of the 80 pilgrims said that if Ishmael and his men would not kill them they would give them the location of hidden treasure in the field, Ishmael’s greed came forth, and it was clear what his true character was. 

So we have Johanan hearing what has happened and because Ishmael cannot move fast, Johanan and his men overtake them and the people run to Johanan and that is good but Ishmael and eight of his men escape.  The moral is trust God and not a title, and be very careful who comes into your inter circle.

From The Back Porch,

Bob Rice