Jeremiah 40:1 - Meaning and Application

The heading at the start of this section seems misplaced, because this chapter contains no actual prophecy. It belongs with Jeremiah 42:7, where God later gives Jeremiah a message for the captains and the people who remained. The story here is only meant to lead up to that message and show the situation that produced it. Since Jeremiah was personally involved, he was well placed to tell the account clearly.

In these verses, we see Jeremiah staying with Gedaliah on Nebuzaradan’s advice. Jeremiah seems to have been brought out of the prison courtyard with honor by the Babylonian princes (Jeremiah 39:13, 39:14), but then he was found among the people in the city. When orders went out to bind all who were of any rank and carry them to Babylon, he was caught in the sweep by mistake and taken away with the rest. Poor Jeremiah, as if hardship and mistreatment followed him everywhere. He was truly a man of sorrows.

When the captives were brought in chains to Ramah, not far away, a military council was held to decide what to do with them. There Jeremiah was quickly singled out, and the court ordered his release. The captain of the guard openly recognized Jeremiah as a true prophet (Jeremiah 40:2, 40:3). He said that the Lord, Jeremiah’s God, had spoken this disaster against the land through Jeremiah, and now the Lord had carried it out by Babylon’s hand. In effect, he was saying, “You warned them, and they would not listen. Now what you said has happened.”

He also told the chained people plainly, “It is because you have sinned against the Lord that this has come on you.” The rulers of Israel had refused to admit this, although it was as clear as daylight. But this foreign officer saw it at once, that a people so favored by God would never have been left like this unless they had greatly provoked him. The prophets had said this many times, and the people ignored them. Now a conqueror told them the same thing, and they had to hear it. Sooner or later, people must see that their sin is the cause of their misery.

Then the captain freed Jeremiah again (Jeremiah 40:4). He invited him to go with him to Babylon, not as a prisoner, but as a friend and companion. “I will set my eye upon you” means, “I will watch over you, honor you, and make sure you are safe and provided for.” If Jeremiah did not want to go to Babylon, he could live wherever he pleased in his own land, because the country was now under the conquerors’ control. He could even go back to Anathoth and enjoy the field he had bought there. What a sudden change for this faithful man, who had recently been moved from one prison to another. Now he could walk freely from one place of property to another.

Nebuzaradan also urged Jeremiah to go to Gedaliah and settle there. Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land, was an honest Jew who likely had sided early with the Chaldeans and proved trustworthy enough to receive this office (Jeremiah 40:5). Jeremiah had not yet chosen where to go, and Nebuzaradan saw that he was still undecided. So he advised him strongly to go to Gedaliah. Sometimes a quick thought is the wisest one. But he did not mean to force Jeremiah, or to be offended if he chose differently. “Go wherever it seems right to you,” was his meaning. It is kind to give advice in such a case, but it is not kind to turn advice into a command and then resent it if it is not followed.

Nebuzaradan not only gave Jeremiah freedom and approval, but also provided for his needs. He gave him food and a gift, either clothing or money, and then sent him away. This shows how thoughtful he was in his kindness. He set Jeremiah free in a land that had been ruined, where even a free man might have suffered unless he had been supplied with necessities. Jeremiah accepted the kindness and followed the advice. He went to Gedaliah at Mizpah and stayed with him (Jeremiah 40:6).

Whether this was wise in practical terms, the outcome does not make it look so, because it did not end well for him. Still, we may honor his devotion to the land of Israel. Unless he was forced out, as Ezekiel, Daniel, and other good men were, he would not leave it. He preferred to live with the poor in the holy land rather than with princes in a land that was not holy.