Text: Jeremiah 40:7-41:3
Proposition: Why do people pretend friendship?
Introduction
Gedaliah was a good man. He thought most people were like him. He wasn’t suspicious of everyone. Many rulers are suspicious of everybody. When they think someone is a threat to their power they will kill them. They will kill wives, brothers, sisters and mothers. The Roman emperor Nero killed his mother, his stepbrother, and his wife. He thought they were a threat to his power.
Herod the Great killed his wife, his mother-in-law, and two of his sons.
Gedaliah wasn’t afraid of someone who could be a threat to his authority. He didn’t want to believe evil about someone.
He wasn’t going to have a man murdered. He wasn’t going to do a preemptive strike on someone to save his life.
Gedaliah was probably one of the men who went over to Nebuchadnezzar. His father saved the life of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 26:24. Gedaliah believed Jeremiah. He had no intentions of going to Egypt. He encouraged the people to stay in Jerusalem and serve the Chaldeans.
I. They want to gain an advantage
II. They are jealous
III. They want something you have
I. They want to gain an advantage (What do they do to gain advantage?)
A. They flatter
1. Jude 16
2. This is talking about false teachers, but it fits Ishmael also. I am sure he said many good things about Gedaliah, and he told Gedaliah how good of a job he was doing. He probably said, “God bless you,” but secretly he was planning how he could kill Gedaliah.
3. Proverbs 26:24-28
4. Proverbs 23:1-7, sometimes men say eat and drink, but they wish you would not eat their food. They would rather keep it for themselves. They don’t like you and they are not who their mouth says they are.
B. They eat bread with you
1. Jeremiah 41:1-3
2. Ishmael ate bread with Gedaliah. Gedaliah didn’t suspect that Ishmael was going to kill him.
3. Psalm 41:9
4. Psalm 55:12-21, David’s own son, Absolom, was his enemy. He took the throne from his father. David’s close adviser Ahithophel was in on the conspiracy also. Those that David never suspected would be against him were trying to kill him. It wasn’t a Philistine or an Amalekite trying to kill him, but his son and his close friend. He had shared many meals with them, but they were against him.
II. They are jealous (Why do jealous men pretend friendship?)
A. We are not told Ishmael was jealous, but we do know he was of the royal line.
1. I Kings 25:23-25
2. Ishmael may have thought he deserved to be the governor instead of Gedaliah, who was not of the royal line.
B. They want to destroy the one they are jealous of
1. Joab didn’t want Abner to be the commander of the army he wanted it for himself. David had made peace with Abner and made him commander of the army. Joab was the commander in David’s army before. Joab killed Abner.
2. II Samuel 3:24-27
3. Joab also pretended to be Amasa’s friend. Absolom made Amasa commander of the army. When Absolom was defeated and killed. David made Amasa commander of the army in place of Joab.
4. II Samuel 20:8-10
5. Joab was a jealous man. He murdered two men. Neither of them suspected that he was going to kill them.
III. They want something you have (What do they want?)
A. Ishmael wanted the supplies these men had
1. Jeremiah 41:4-8
2. Ishmael didn’t kill them because they had something he wanted. If they were dead they couldn’t show him where their stuff was. These men were smart they knew how to use what they had to save their lives.
3. Maybe this is how Johanan found out what Ishmael had done.
B. Your money
1. Proverbs 19:4 and 6 and 7
2. It is easy to be friends with someone if they have something you want. Many times people are your friend because you have money. You can get them the things they need or want. When your money is gone they are gone.
3. The prodigal son had a good time while he had money. When his money was gone there was no one there with him except a bunch of pigs. The only reason they were around was because he was feeding them. Otherwise they wouldn’t have been there either.
C. Your power
1. I Samuel 22:6-8
2. Saul was the king. Here he is feeling sorry for himself. He thinks his men are conspiring against him to help David. This was not true. David was not trying to conspire against Saul and neither were Saul’s men trying to conspire against him. In Saul’s complaint he says, “Will David give you fields and vineyards? Will David make you captains of thousands and hundreds?
3. Saul knew why some of these men were his friend. They wanted land and power. Saul had the power to give them power. If they pleased him they could be officers in his army. Saul is reminding his men that he is the king. He can grant favors that David can’t. David has nothing to offer you so why would you want to follow him?
4. I have thought many times, why do men follow men like Hitler, Stalin, Al Capone, and Chapo Guzman? (Mark can you find a picture of them if you have time?) The answer is in what Saul said, “Will he make you captains of thousands? Those men had power and they could give power to men who pleased them. They were ruthless evil men, but men followed them because they wanted a portion of there power.
Conclusion
Gedaliah should have paid attention to what Johanan said. It was not okay to kill Ishmael in a preemptive strike, but Gedaliah should have been cautious when Ishmael was around. He should have guarded himself against his flatteries. We can learn from Gedaliah not to be suspicious of everyone, but we need to remember that not everyone who pretends to be our friend is our friend.
If someone is full of good things to say about you, and they tell everyone in your hearing how wonderful you are be careful. What their mouth says may not be what is in their heart. Sooner or later what is in their heart will come out of their mouth and you will know what they really think of you.
They may eat meals with you. They may feed you well, but secretly they hate you and want to kill you.
They may be jealous of you and want something that you have. They may want your money. They may want your power.
Jesus knew how it felt to have someone pretend to be your friend. Judas ate the last supper with him. While he was eating he already had the 30 pieces of silver in his pocket. Later he betrayed Jesus with a kiss. If it can happen to Jesus it can happen to any of us. Some time in our life we are going to say, “I thought we were friends.”
There is a friend we can always count on and that is Jesus.
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