What we believe shapes what we will do. Decisions are based on what we think is best. In Winston Churchill’s series on ‘The Second World War’ in Six Volumes, Volume One entitled The Gathering Storm relates the tragedy of the Munich Accord that deceived the Western allies and allowed greater time for Nazi Germany’s rearmament. Keith Feiling who wrote on the life of Neville Chamberlain wrote of a private meeting between Hitler and Chamberlain after the Munich accord in which Chamberlain shared this insight,
In spite of the hardness and ruthlessness I thought I saw in his face, I got the impression that here was a man who could be relied upon when he had given his word.[i]
From this impression, Chamberlain had an agreement drafted that neither country would go to war against the other to which Hitler signed. When Chamberlain returned to England to cheering crowds, he stated, “I believe it is peace for our time.” How tragically wrong Chamberlain was, and it allowed a deception to open the door to an even greater evil. After the war during the Nuremberg trials,
Colonel Eger, representing Czechoslovakia, asked Marshall Keitel: ‘Would the Reich have attacked Czechoslovakiain 1938 if the Western Powers had stood by Prague?’ Marshal Keitel answered: ‘Certainly not. We were not strong enough militarily. The object of Munich [i.e., reaching an agreement at Munich] was to get Russia out of Europe, to gain time, and to complete the German armaments.’[ii]
What the world eventually discovered was that many of the German generals were looking at deposing Hitler just prior to the Munich Accord, but with his success at deceiving the allies, they fell in line with his leadership and vision and World War II was not to be averted.
Why is it that we are so open to deception? Why is it that we are hindered from the truth that would bring us not only political freedoms in life, but the ultimate spiritual and eternal freedom? Part of the answer to why we are deceived is that we want to believe the lie that is being stated. Chamberlain wanted peace so badly that he couldn’t face the truth. Sometimes the truth is painful but needed in our lives if we are going to experience real freedom.
“False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel.”[iii] For there to be ‘good news,’ there is this underlying reality of overcoming something wrong or bad. Many people who say they believe in God deny the existence of the devil. Jesus, certainly, was not one of them. In teaching His disciples how to pray, Jesus concludes the prayer with this expression. “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.”[iv]
The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that evil is revealed in a person called Satan or the devil. Peter warns us in his first letter that the devil is seeking to destroy our lives. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).” One of the devil’s greatest tools in doing this is to use deception as a means to bring people into bondage. Paul in warning the Corinthians about the nature of being deceived by Satan writes:
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.[v]
Notice that Paul describes the battleground in the Christian as being deceived in our minds. That is why we need to entrust the entirety of our lives to God, to trust God wholeheartedly and not to lean to our own understanding. Paul explains the nature of spiritual warfare as a battle of our thought life.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.[vi]
So, where are those strongholds, and what are the weapons that we are to fight with?
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.[vii]
The ability to control our thoughts or to have self-control is an expression of spiritual maturity. The principle that helps with this is the displacement principle where we focus on what is true, pure, and right rather than the sinful thoughts which are the ‘fiery arrows of the evil one (Eph. 616).’
In Jeremiah 41, we find an illustration of these spiritual realities in the story of Ishmael, a member of the Judean nobility serving under King Zedekiah. We will see how evil embodied in a person can deceive and then bring about great destruction and disaster that has terrible and tragic consequences for an unsuspecting people. So, what can we do, or as Peter states, how can we be alert and sober-minded so that we are not caught unaware and thereby duped and experience tremendous losses in our lives? In the Jeremiah 41 narrative we learn three things to help us from being deceived and experiencing evil as a result.
THE FIRST THING WE CAN LEARN TO BE DELIVERED FROM DECEPTION AND EVIL IS TO HEED WARNINGS AND TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS
The bible is filled with warnings for us to pay attention to in order to help us escape the snares of the devil. No one is beyond being entrapped if we fail to heed the warnings. We must learn to trust God to escape them. In the previous chapter, Gedaliah the Babylonian, the appointed Judean governor, is certainly not operating on high alert nor taking any precautions regarding the warnings he has received with the intentions of Ishmael.
In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king’s officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there, 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. Ishmael also killed all the men of Judah who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were there.[viii]
A. Unheeded warnings lead to deception.
Frederick Huey explains the nature of this action and its consequences. It was of such a magnitude that seventy years and beyond, the Jewish people still considered the great tragedy and remembered this event as part of a solemn fast day.
It is argued that the 582 deportation was Nebuchadnezzar’s retribution for Gedaliah’s murder. Gedaliah’s death was so devastating to Judah that postexilic Judaism observed the third of Tishri (the seventh month) as a solemn fast day to mark the occasion (Zech 7:5; 8:19).[ix]
Philip Ryken shares the cultural taboos that were violated in the honor and shame society of the ancient near east.
Gedaliah was betrayed by one of his own. His godly rule ended just months after it began because he listened too little and trusted too much. His unhappy fate paralleled that of Jerusalem: All of God’s warnings were to no avail. Gedaliah’s death was also an act of terrorism. The murder took place during high-level talks, while the host and the guest ‘were eating together’ (41:1–2), thus violating all conventions of hospitality. Like Judas Iscariot (Matthew 26:23), Ishmael betrayed his master while they were breaking bread.[x]
B. Evil is not rational behavior.
Not only did Ishmael kill the Babylonian appointed governor, but also some of the Babylonian soldiers who were at Mizpah with Gedaliah. Nebuchadnezzar had devastated the land, and these handful of men are retaliating. What do they think will happen? When we take vengeance into our own hands, the only result will be to further evil. Evil only leads to more evil. Retaliation is a vicious cycle that draws more and more people into its destructive web, many of whom are innocent of the original offenses.
THE SECOND THING WE CAN LEARN TO DELIVER US FROM DECEPTION AND EVIL IS THAT THE EVIL ONE MAKES A PRETENSE IN ORDER TO DECEIVE OTHERS OF THE REAL INTENTION
As the story unfolds, we discover other people are being drawn into the event, unknowingly. It seems that they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Men from the northern tribes of Israel hearing of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple are journeying there mourning the lost and are passing through Mizpah on their way to make sacrifices.
A. The need to be on our guard and be vigilant.
Here we find that Ishmael invited these men into the city to meet the governor, with the intent to destroy them. We need to be on guard against the lies of the enemy as it is designed to destroy us.
The day after Gedaliah’s assassination, before anyone knew about it, eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, bringing grain offerings and incense with them to the house of the Lord. Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he met them, he said, ‘Come to Gedaliah son of Ahikam.’ When they went into the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.[xi]
Walter Brueggemann gives a possible reason for the writer to give us this inhumane behavior.
The good intentions of the northern pilgrims contrast sharply with Ishmael’s violence. He has no reason to fear these visitors, no cause to despise them or injure them. Perhaps they took him by surprise. Perhaps they disrupted his plans or inconvenienced him. Perhaps they were potential informers against him. In any case, their innocent, good intentions contrast with his vile, negative intention. Ishmael deceives them by word as he invites them to meet Gedaliah, whom he has already killed. He deceives them by deed, for he presents himself sharing their grief which they grieve. His deception is only a device to seduce them into the city. Then he kills them. …Perhaps the narrative offers this report to exemplify the deep disorder present in a society that will not listen.[xii]
It is interesting to notice that when we fail to listen to God’s voice, His words, we end up believing the lies of the enemy. The result of listening to lies is our own destruction.
B. One possible motivation for Ishmael’s actions is greed.
To be spared death, ten of the men pay a bribe for their safety.
But ten of them said to Ishmael, ‘Don’t kill us! We have wheat and barley, olive oil and honey, hidden in a field.’ So he let them alone and did not kill them with the others. Now the cistern where he threw all the bodies of the men he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one King Asa had made as part of his defense against Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with the dead.[xiii]
However, most of their number died at Ishmael’s fury. It brings us to our own time. Why are so many ‘innocent victims’ of political turmoil, greed, and other sinful motivations destroyed? The nature of human sin brings indiscriminate destruction. In my devotional reading this morning regarding the story of Job and the spiritual attack that came against him, his family, and his servants, Nicky Gumbel points out that when “Satan appeared before God, having been roaming the earth, it is clear that Satan’s objective is to cause as much suffering as he can.”[xiv]
C. Another motivation is to enslave the people.
We need to understand that Satan is trying to enslave the hearts and minds of people today.
Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—the king’s daughters along with all the others who were left there, over whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.[xv]
What was his plan? To sell these captives into slavery? How many today are kidnapped and taken as slaves in the sex trafficking industry? May we be aware that we have an enemy whose time is short and is seeking to devour humanity. Let’s review Ishmael’s behavior and see if there is a parallel with someone else. Ishmael steals, kills, and destroys. In describing the work of Satan, Jesus says of him that he is a thief that only comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Ishmael then is an antichrist and a type of Satan using deception and creating death and destruction.
THE FINAL THING WE CAN LEARN TO DELIVER US FROM DECEPTION AND EVIL IS THAT EVIL CAN BE DEFEATED
We know from our text that Ishmael is defeated and flees while the captives are set free. If the story ends with the captives being sold into slavery it would be a great tragedy, but that is not what happens.
When Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael son of Nethaniah had committed, they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael son of Nethaniah. They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon. When all the people Ishmael had with him saw Johanan son of Kareah and the army officers who were with him, they were glad. All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan son of Kareah. But Ishmael son of Nethaniah and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and fled to the Ammonites.[xvi]
Just like these captives, we were also captured by sin and Satan, but someone greater and more powerful came and rescued us. Jesus came to earth to “seek and to save that which is lost.” While in this O.T. passage it is seen as a military action, Jesus’ death and resurrection are the means for us to be set free from our sin with its corresponding outcome of death and judgment. We have been set free by one greater than Johanan. Jesus is our Savior.
Walter Brueggemann summarizes the narrative as follows.
Ishmael’s motives are never probed, and we do not learn either what he wanted or what he accomplished. The pursuers catch up with the pursed at the great pool of Gibeon.[xvii]
In Judah’s history, another civil conflict was fought between David’s men and those who were fighting under Abner who were loyal to the house of Saul. Johanan defeats Ishmael, and the captives turn to Johanan, their rescuer from their plight of being held captives in Ammon. Jesus came to rescue us from eternal bondage in hell.
In the perspective of the narrator, Ishmael is thoroughly discredited both by his violence and by his appeal to the Ammonites. …Johanan is perceived as their savior and rescuer (v. 13). He does not eliminate Ishmael, but he does end his moment of terror. The land, however, is in shambles. The political situation is one of chaos. …Public life is in total disarray. None of the available options is very attractive. Johanan opts for the extreme alternative to Babylon, namely Egypt. Notice that this chapter is presented as reportage. There is no reference to the prophet or to the God of the prophet. The action of the chapter is an interplay of principle and prudence. It is time for the prophet to intervene yet one more time, reminding us that the public life of Judah cannot be reduced to mere political calculation.[xviii]
What is Brueggemann saying? The answer is that what we need to hear in our times of crisis is a word from God, rather than simply looking to safety from our earthly political leaders. What happens when they fail? What happens when they are pursuing the wrong course? How can we be delivered from deception and evil?
We need to heed the warnings from God’s word, by being alert, watching, and praying. We need to see past pretenses that are designed to deceive us. We are often entrapped by our own desires and ignore the warnings. But we should never give way to fear and despair in the face of evil because the cross reminds us that God is able to use the weak and foolish things or our world to defeat the evil in it.
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[i] Winston S. Churchill, The Second World War, Volume 1, The Gathering Storm, (Boston, Ma: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976), 270 as quoted from Keith Feiling, Life of Neville Chamberlain, 367.
[ii] Ibid, 286 as quoted from Paul Reynaud, La France A Sauve l’Europe, Vol. 1, 561.
[iii] J. Gresham Machen, “Christianity and Culture,” Princeton Theological Review 13, no. 3 (July 1913), as quoted by Charles Colson, How Now Shall We Live? (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale Publishing House, 1999), 27.
[iv] Matthew 6:13, The New International Version of the Bible, Zondervan, 2011.
[v] 2 Corinthians 11:3-4.
[vi] 2 Corinthians 10:3-4.
[vii] 2 Corinthians 10:5.
[viii] Jeremiah 41:1-3.
[ix] F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations, The New American Commentary, Vol. 16, (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 353.
[x] Philip Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope, (Wheaton, Il: Crossway Books, 2016), 608-09.
[xi] Jeremiah 41:4-7.
[xii] Walter Brueggemann, A Commentary on Jeremiah: Exile and Homecoming, (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 383.
[xiii] Jeremiah 41:8-9.
[xiv] Nicky Gumbel, The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel Classic Version 2025, January 26, 2025.
[xv] Jeremiah 41:10.
[xvi] Jeremiah 41:11-15.
[xvii] Walter Brueggemann, A Commentary on Jeremiah: Exile and Homecoming, 384.
[xviii] Ibid, 384-85.
