Context No. 2564 of 4322 · 2 Kings

2 Kings 25:18-24: in context

18The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold; 19and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in the city; and the scribe, the captain of the army, who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. 20Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. 21The king of Babylon attacked them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away captive out of his land. 22As for the people who were left in the land of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, even over them he made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, governor. 23Now when all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. 24Gedaliah swore to them and to their men, and said to them, “Don’t be afraid because of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”

Jerusalem has fallen. The leading priests and officials are taken to Babylon and executed, and Judah is carried into exile. Over the poor remnant left in the land, Nebuchadnezzar sets a governor, Gedaliah, and Gedaliah gives them counsel for their broken situation: do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians. Settle in the land, serve the king, and it will go well with you.

The advice is not glorious, and it is wise. The dream of independence is over; the temple is rubble, the king is gone. Gedaliah does not tell the survivors to fight a hopeless resistance or to despair, but to settle down, serve, and make a life in the diminished circumstance God has allowed. There is a hard grace in accepting a humbled situation and living faithfully within it rather than raging against what cannot be changed. Sometimes the call is not to reclaim the life we lost but to plant, and serve, and find that it can still be well with us, right where we have been brought low.

In a diminished situation that is not what I hoped for, can I settle, serve, and live faithfully, rather than rage against what cannot be changed?

Sources

2 Kings 25:24: Gedaliah... said to them, Don't be afraid because of the servants of the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.
2 Kings 25:21: The king of Babylon attacked them and put them to death at Riblah... So Judah was carried away captive out of his land.
Jeremiah 29:7: Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it.