Jeremiah 41:1-10 Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal… 1. If ever there was such a one, this Ishmael was of whom these verses tell. His atrocities remind us of the Indian Mutiny, its leader, and the well at Cawnpore (cf. ver. 9). Treachery, ingratitude, murder, massacre, greed, cowardice, — all are gathered in this detestable character (cf. Mr. Grove's article "Ishmael," Smith's Dictionary of the Bible) 2. And such men are permitted to be. So clearly seen is this, that every drama has its villain; they are recognised as having definite place and function in this poor life of ours. 3. Can we explain this permission? Wherefore are such men created and preserved? It is s part of the great question of moral evil, for the full solution of which we must wait. But the existence of such men as this Ishmael is but one out of the many terrible facts in God's providence, such as plague, famine, earthquake, &c.In regard to such men, we can see some purposes that they subserve. 1. They make evident the hideous capacities of evil which are in our nature, and the need, therefore, for God's restraining grace. 2. They are warnings to increased watchfulness on the part of those in whom the tendencies to like evil exist. 3. They are God's scourges for men's sin (cf. Attila, the Scourge of God). 4. They weld together the people they oppress in one common league against them, and thus out of scattered tribes a nation is formed. 5. They clear out much that is evil (cf. French Revolution; Napoleon). But, sometimes as here, we cannot see what good they do; and then we can only wait. (W. Clarkson, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah. |
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