Through the Bible – Day 311

₁₃One day, Johanan got together with some of the other men who had been army officers, and they came to Mizpah and met with Gedaliah. ₁₄They said, “Gedaliah, we came to warn you that King Baalis of Ammon hired Ishmael to murder you!”

Gedaliah refused to believe them, ₁₅so Johanan went to Gedaliah privately and said, “Let me kill Ishmael. No one will find out who did it. There are only a few people left in Judah, but they are depending on you. And if you are murdered, they will be scattered or killed.”

₁₆Gedaliah answered, “Don't kill Ishmael! What you've said about him can't be true.”

₁But in the seventh month, Ishmael came to Mizpah with ten of his soldiers. He had been one of the king's officials and was a member of the royal family. Ishmael and his men were invited to eat with Gedaliah. ₂During the meal, Ishmael and his soldiers killed Gedaliah, the man chosen as ruler of Judah by the king of Babylonia. ₃Then they killed the Jews who were with Gedaliah, and they also killed the Babylonian soldiers who were there.

₄The next day, the murders had still not been discovered, ₅when eighty men came down the road towards Mizpah from the towns of Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They were on their way to the temple to offer gifts of grain and incense to the LORD. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves, because they were mourning.

₆Ishmael went out of the town gate to meet them. He pretended to be weeping, and he asked them to come into Mizpah to meet with Gedaliah, the ruler of Judah. ₇But after they were inside the town, Ishmael ordered his soldiers to kill them and throw their bodies into a well. ₈He let ten of the men live, because they offered to give him supplies of wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey they had hidden in a field. ₉The well that he filled with bodies had been dug by King Asa of Judah to store rainwater, because he was afraid that King Baasha of Israel might surround Mizpah and keep the people from getting to their water supply.

₁₀Nebuzaradan, King Nebuchadnezzar's officer in charge of the guard, had left King Zedekiah's daughters and many other people at Mizpah, and he had put Gedaliah in charge of them. But now Ishmael took them all prisoner and led them towards Ammon, on the other side of the River Jordan.

₁₁Johanan and the other army officers heard what Ishmael had done. ₁₂So they and their troops chased Ishmael and caught up with him at the large pit at Gibeon. ₁₃When Ishmael's prisoners saw Johanan and the officers, they were happy ₁₄and turned round and ran towards Johanan. ₁₅But Ishmael and eight of his men escaped and went to Ammon.

₁₆Johanan and the officers had rescued the women, children, and royal officials whom Ishmael had taken prisoner after killing Gedaliah. Johanan led the people from Gibeon _17-18towards Egypt. They wanted to go there, because they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do when they found out that Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, the ruler appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar.

On the way to Egypt, we stopped at the town of Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem.

₁Johanan, Jezaniah, the other army officers, and everyone else in the group, came to me ₂and said, “Please pray to the LORD your God for us. Judah used to have many people, but as you can see, only a few of us are left. ₃Ask the LORD to tell us where he wants us to go and what he wants us to do.”

₄“All right,” I answered, “I will pray to the LORD your God, and I will tell you everything he says.”

₅They answered, “The LORD himself will be our witness that we promise to do whatever he says, ₆even if it isn't what we want to do. We will obey the LORD so that all will go well for us.”

₇Ten days later, the LORD gave me an answer for ₈Johanan, the officers, and the other people. So I called them together ₉and told them that the LORD God of Israel had said:

₁₉I told the people:

₁I told the people everything the LORD had told me. ₂But Azariah, Johanan and some other arrogant men said to me, “You're lying! The LORD didn't tell you to say that we shouldn't go to Egypt. ₃Baruch son of Neriah must have told you to say that. He wants the Babylonians to capture us, so they can take us away to Babylonia or even kill us.”

₄Johanan, the other army officers, and everyone else refused to stay in Judah in spite of the LORD's command. ₅So Johanan and the officers led us away towards Egypt. The group that left Judah included those who had been scattered in other countries and who had then come back to live in Judah. ₆Baruch and I and others in the group had been staying with Gedaliah, because Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian officer in charge of the guard, had ordered him to take care of the king's daughters and quite a few men, women, and children.

₇The people disobeyed the LORD and went to Egypt. The group had settled in Tahpanhes, ₈when the LORD told me:

₁The LORD told me to speak with the Jews who were living in the towns of Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis in northern Egypt, and also to those living in southern Egypt. He told me to tell them:

₁The first promise that was made included rules for worship and a tent for worship here on earth. ₂The first part of the tent was called the holy place, and a lampstand, a table, and the sacred loaves of bread were kept there.

₃Behind the curtain was the most holy place. ₄The gold altar that was used for burning incense was in this holy place. The gold-covered sacred chest was also there, and inside it were three things. First, there was a gold jar filled with manna. Then there was Aaron's walking stick that sprouted. Finally, there were the flat stones with the Ten Commandments written on them. ₅On top of the chest were the glorious creatures with wings opened out above the place of mercy.

Now isn't the time to go into detail about these things. ₆But this is how everything was when the priests went each day into the first part of the tent to do their duties. ₇However, only the high priest could go into the second part of the tent, and he went in only once a year. Each time he carried blood to offer for his sins and for any sins that the people had committed without meaning to.

₈All this is the Holy Spirit's way of saying that no one could enter the most holy place while the tent was still the place of worship. ₉This also has a meaning for today. It shows that we cannot make our consciences clear by offering gifts and sacrifices. ₁₀These rules are merely about such things as eating and drinking and ceremonies for washing ourselves. And rules about physical things will last only until the time comes to change them for something better.

₁₁Christ came as the high priest of the good things that are now here. He also went into a much better tent that wasn't made by humans and that doesn't belong to this world. ₁₂Then Christ went once for all into the most holy place and freed us from sin for ever. He did this by offering his own blood instead of the blood of goats and bulls.

₁₃According to the Law of Moses, those people who become unclean are not fit to worship God. Yet they will be considered clean, if they are sprinkled with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a sacrificed calf. ₁₄But Christ was sinless, and he offered himself as an eternal and spiritual sacrifice to God. That's why his blood is much more powerful and makes our consciences clear. Now we can serve the living God and no longer do things that lead to death.

₁₅Christ died to rescue those who had sinned and broken the old agreement. Now he brings his chosen ones a new agreement with its guarantee of God's eternal blessings! ₁₆In fact, making an agreement of this kind is like writing a will. This is because the one who makes the will must die before it is of any use. ₁₇In other words, a will doesn't go into effect as long as the one who made it is still alive.

₁₈Blood was also used to put the first agreement into effect. ₁₉Moses told the people all that the Law said they must do. Then he used red wool and a hyssop plant to sprinkle the people and the book of the Law with the blood of bulls and goats and with water. ₂₀He told the people, “With this blood God makes his agreement with you.” ₂₁Moses also sprinkled blood on the tent and on everything else that was used in worship. ₂₂The Law says that almost everything must be sprinkled with blood, and no sins can be forgiven unless blood is offered.