Seder 39: Jeremiah 40-44----Going Back to Egypt

 For Abraham and his descendants Egypt could be both a place of refuge and a place of bondage.  Abram and Sarai sojourned there during a time of famine (Ge 12:10-20).  Isaac was instructed not to go there in a similar situation (Ge 26:2).  Jacob and his family were honored guests there during the time when Joseph was viceroy of Egypt, then later were enslaved by the Egyptians before God rescued them in the days of Moses.    

The question of whether to seek refuge in Egypt arose again hundreds of years later.  

When the Babylonians conquered the kingdom of Judah in 586 BC, they took King Zedekiah captive and installed Gedaliah as governor at Mizpah (2 Ki 25; Jer 40).  Although Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed, those remaining in Judea would have an opportunity to live in peace under Gedaliah's governorship.

That peaceful existence was over almost before it started.  Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, a member of the royal line of Judah acting on behalf of the king of Ammon, assembled a group of ten men that assassinated Gedaliah and killed those around him (Jer 40-41).  Taking some capitives from Mizpah, they started toward Ammon (41:10). 

Ishmael was stopped by a Judean military man, Johanon son of Kareah.  Johanon forced Ishmael to flee, to the gratitude of the captives (vv 11-15).  But Johanon and these people from Mizpah then began to worry about how the Babylonians might respmd to the assassination of Gedaliah.  Would the safest thing to do be to seek refuge in Egypt?  They headed in that direction.  

Hoping to confirm their decision, they asked Jeremiah to pray for them and find out God's will.  They promised to do whatever God indicated (42:1-6).  The group had apparently picked up Jeremiah at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem (41:17).   

Jeremiah received an answer from God ten days later, but it was not what Johanon and his followers wanted to hear.  God made clear that the group should stay in Judea, where he promised to protect them.  But if they went on to Egypt, they would die there (vv 7-22).  

Sadly, they refused to heed Jeremiah and accused the prophet of lying (43:1-7), and they went on to Egypt. Even worse, many Jews in Egypt turned to other gods.  Jeremiah called them to repentance, warning that few of them would survive (Jer 44).

The book of Jeremiah does not tell us what eventually happened to Jeremiah.  Commentator Michael Brown (REBC commentary on Jeremiah) explains that according to some traditions (see e.g., Seder Olam Rabbah 26), Jeremiah and Baruch later were taken from Egypt to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.  On the other hand, there is another tradition that Jeremiah was stoned to death in Egypt.

Seder 39: Gen 43-44---Another Test for Joseph's Brothers

 Joseph's brothers were apprehensive when they arrived in Egypt the second time.  Would the official who was holding Simeon in custody accuse them of being thieves as well as spies?  What further things would they suffer for their treatment of Joseph 22 years before?

The Egyptian official treated them kindly, hosting a special dinner for them.  At the dinner, he seated them according to their birth order.  How did he know so much about them?  (One midrash proposes that Joseph pretended to use his special divining cup to determine the seating arrangement, as a way to explain his knowledge of their ages and heighten their awe of the powerful official.)

Things went surprisingly well for the brothers, and they headed home with more grain.  Then disaster struck.  The Egyptian official's steward stopped them and accused them of stealing the official's silver divining cup.  

This situation may have reminded the brothers of a traumatic episode from their childhood.  When their family was escaping from their great uncle Laban, Laban had pursued them, accusing them of stealing his household gods (Gen 31:25-30).  An ugly argument ensued, with their father asserting his innocence and promising death for the thief.  (Jacob had not realized at the time that Rachel had stolen the items---vv 31-32).  

This time it was the brothers who insisted on their innocence and said that whoever had the cup should die (Gen 44:9).  Then the cup was found in the sack of Benjamin (v 12).  When the brothers saw this, they tore their clothes as their father had when he had seen Joseph's bloody coat (v 13; Gen 37:34).

The Egyptian official did not suggest the death penalty for Benjamin.  He proposed that Benjamin become his slave and the others go free.  Here was a final test for the brothers.  Would they abandon Benjamin as they had Joseph?  

Judah, the one who had proposed years earlier that Joseph be sold (Gen 37:25-28), took the lead in negotiating with the Egyptian official.  The stage was set for the climax of the Joseph narrative.

Seder 39: Psalm 94---Counting on Divine Vindication

 Psalm 94 does not have a superscription in the Masoretic text.  In the Septuagint it is labeled a psalm of David for the fourth day of the week.  In the temple there was a psalm designated to be sung by the Levites for each day of the week, and Psalm 94 was the one for Wednesday.  This custom may have originated during the Babylonian exile.  In Babylon a different god was honored on each day of the week, and the Jews decided to honor the true God on every day of the week.  

The Talmud (b Rosh Hashanah 31a) notes that the fourth day of creation is associated with the sun and moon, and Levites sang Psalm 94 on the fourth day of the week to call for God's punishment of those who worshiped the sun and moon.  

Psalm 94 begins by referring to the God of Israel as the "God of vengeances."  The congregation prays that God would execute justice on the wicked who have been exploiting the defenseless and boasting about what they have done (vv 1-7).  The wicked are rebuked in vv 8-11 for imagining that God will not hold them accountable for their actions.

On the other hand, there are blessings for those who submit to God's authority and allow themselves to be corrected by God's word.  A midrash on Ps 94:12 lists 3 blessings that result from divine discipline:

• the Torah (Ps 94:12).
• the promised land (Deut 8:5-7).
• the world to come (Prov 6:23).

Verses 16-23 note the consolation that comes from trusting in God's vindication.  

Two verses in Psalm 94 are referenced in the New Testament.  Verse 14 declares, "For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage."  Paul repeats this affirmation in Rom 11:1-2.

Psalm 94:11 states that God "knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath."  Paul quotes this verse in 1 Cor 3:20 when he admonishes his readers not to trust too much in human wisdom.