SCRIPTURE; JEREMIAH 41
Ishmael, one of the king’s officers came with 10 men to Gedaliah at Mizpah. While they were eating together there, Ishmael and the 10 men got up and struck down Gedaliah with the sword and killed him. Ishmael also killed all the Jews and Babylonian soldiers who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah.
The day after Gedaliah’s assassination, 80 men brought grain offerings and incense to the house of the Lord. Ishmael went out to meet them and invited them to meet Gedaliah. When they went into the city, Ishmael and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern. But ten of them asked Ismael not to kill them and offer wheat, barley, oil and honey hidden in a field. So he let them alone and did not kill them.
Ishmael made captives of all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah and set out to cross over to the Ammonites. When Johanan and all the army officers heard all the crimes Ishmael had committed, they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael. They caught up with him near the great pool in Gibeon. All the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and went over to Johanan. But Ishmael and eight of his men escaped form Johanan and fled to the Ammonites.
FLIGHT TO EGYPT (vs. 16-18)
Then Johanan and all the army officers with him led away all the survivors whom he had recovered from Ishmael after he had assassinated Gedaliah, the soldiers, women, children and court official he had brought from Gibeon. They went on, stopping at Geruth Kimham near Bethlehem on their way to Egypt to escape the Babylonians. They were afraid of them because Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land.
THOUGHTS:
Gedaliah foolishly ignored the warnings of assassination. As a result, he was killed by Ishmael. Sometimes, we should listen to warnings and take the necessary precautionary measures.