Seal Impressions of Jeremiah’s enemies, Gedaliah (left), and Jehukal (right).
Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehukal a son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said, “…This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.” Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death…” So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah … it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud. (Jeremiah 38:1–6)
The names of Jeremiah’s enemies who refused to accept God’s warning through the prophet are hardly familiar biblical names, but this makes it all the more remarkable that evidence of two of these otherwise unknown men, mentioned in the same biblical verse, was found in archaeological excavations in Israel.
In 2008, during work conducted just south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, excavators discovered a seal impression inscribed with the name Gedaliah son of Pashur. The late Dr. Eilat Mazar, who headed the excavation, noted that the newly-discovered seal was found just yards from the spot where, three years earlier, another seal had been found with the name of another of Jeremiah’s enemies – Jehukal son of Shelemiah.
Both Gedaliah and Jehukal were high-ranking officials of King Zedekiah, the last ruler of the Kingdom of Judah before Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. Jehukal was the man that King Zedekiah sent to the prophet Jeremiah with the message: “Please pray to the Lord our God for us” (Jeremiah 37:3) – which doubtless secretly angered Jehukal as we then read that this individual was one of Jeremiah’s enemies intent on killing him (Jeremiah 38:1–6).
The seals were both found in a controlled archaeological excavation only a few meters from each other and both were securely dated to the time of Jeremiah. The names are unusual enough that in the specific combination of the two names together – and both said to be sons of the same fathers – they are undoubtedly the same individuals mentioned in the biblical account who opposed Jeremiah and who brought about his imprisonment. As such, the seal impressions rank among some of the best documented evidence of biblical characters and are immensely important. As Dr. Mazar herself wrote:
“The exceptionality of the discovery is fully appreciated only when holding the two bullae in hand: two small seal impressions inscribed on clay objects only 1 cm across, now laying before our eyes unblemished after having been buried in rubble of the Babylonian destruction for precisely 2,595 years, the names they bear still clearly legible. Only on precious, rare occasions do archaeologists experience discoveries such as this one, where figures from the annals of history materialize themselves so tangibly” (Eilat Mazar, Biblical Archaeology Review, 2012).
Thanks to Dr. Mazar’s patient and careful work, Gedaliah and Jehukal – named specifically in the biblical account as two of Jeremiah’s leading enemies – are now substantiated as real people who participated in events of the time just as the book of Jeremiah tells us.
As for the prophet Jeremiah himself, he was probably lowered into a cistern full of mud so that the clinging mud, like quicksand, might compress his chest and lungs and suffocate him without his blood being directly on the hands of those who wanted him silenced. But Jeremiah’s life did not end there. Fortunately, one of the few God-fearing officials in Zedekiah’s court, the Ethiopian Ebedmelech, learned of Jeremiah’s plight and went to the king to plead on Jeremiah’s behalf. With Zedekiah’s approval, Ebedmelech organized a rescue operation to extricate the prophet from the cistern and certain death. Jeremiah was then returned to a prison in the palace, where he continued to preach God’s warning message in the final months before Jerusalem’s destruction (Jeremiah 38:7–27). In this, as in many other cases, the Bible tells us far more than archaeological artifacts possibly can, but the artifacts help substantiate the biblical account in a way nothing else might.
Each of the four gospels contains information on the life of Jesus that the others do not. But almost half of what we read in the Gospel of Luke is not found in any of the other three gospels. If it were not for Luke, we would not have much that we know about the life of Jesus, or many of his most famous teachings – such as the parables of the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son, and many others. Luke contains so much unique material that it is worth especially careful study – and this e-book opens up the third gospel in unique ways to show you just how much you have been missing! Download your free copy here.
Sadly, ours is an age in which restraint is becoming increasingly rare and anger is increasingly common. Each day brings news stories of uncontrolled and unleashed anger in the home, in the workplace, and in incidents of “road rage” and other forms of violent anger. The verbal and physical expression of anger has become so common that it is almost an accepted fact of life. Perhaps this is to be expected in societies where far greater stress is placed on not bottling up emotions and freely expressing them rather than on learning to control them – and this is especially true when it comes to restraint in what we say.
The result is unbridled speech that regularly leads to broken families and relationships – and even to assaults and homicides. When the Bible tells us that “the tongue has the power of life and death” (Proverbs 18:21), it is not exaggeration – which is why Jesus firmly instructed his followers “I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment … anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:22). Here, Jesus was not speaking of simply experiencing the emotion of anger – which is not wrong in itself as the apostle Paul showed when he wrote “Be angry and do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26 CSB; etc.) or, as the NLT renders this verse, “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Rather, Jesus was speaking of unrestrained anger that leads to exactly the kind of verbal abuse – or worse – that we see so often today.
Even if, as Christians, we do not exhibit unrestrained anger to the degree Jesus spoke of, we all need to restrain our speech and the Bible emphasizes this continually. For example, the book of Proverbs tells us “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent” (Proverbs 10:19 ESV). And in the New Testament, James tells us “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry … Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless” (James 1:19–20, 26).
So how do we restrain our speech? Because most of us speak with others daily, we can and should pray for help with this on a regular basis. As David wrote “Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3), and that is a prayer we can all pray. But we also have the responsibility to do what we can in this regard, and there are a number of strategies – habits of restraint– that we can develop. For instance, sometimes we need to simply ignore things that would almost certainly arouse anger. Thinking of insults or other verbal provocations as pits or traps to be avoided can often help us to defuse anger before it has a chance to flare. This may not be easy for some of us, but it is always possible.
If we do get involved in a verbal disagreement and feel anger rising, the old advice of counting to ten before answering can often give us time to remember the need for restraint. And we need to continually remind ourselves that when we do answer, we should do everything we can not to escalate the situation because “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). This takes work. A “gentle answer” involves multiple words, whereas an answer that makes matters worse need only be a single word!
Sometimes the best strategy is simply hat of silence. As David tells us in the Psalms: “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of the wicked.” (Psalm 39:1). David realized that there were times when he needed to be particularly careful (“while in the presence of the wicked”), and his caution at these times sometimes went as far as “I remained utterly silent, not even saying anything good” (vs. 2). In most of the circumstances we may not need to remain totally silent, but David’s example is a powerful one of a person going to whatever lengths are necessary in order not to be drawn into unrestrained speech.
These examples of things we can do are all basic strategies, but in reality that is all it takes to utilize restraint. The problem is not that the solutions are basic, but that we do not utilize them often enough. Yet when we do, they are almost always effective – the smallest strategy can change the course of our conversations and steer us away from angry speech. As James wrote: “When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go” (James 3:3–4). James uses these analogies to describe the tongue, of course, because left alone our tongues will steer us; but if we consciously begin to utilize strategies of restraint, we will find that we can and do steer our tongues and words in the right direction and can begin to use their power for good.
Restraint in our speech then becomes like the line in the center of the highway – holding us back from potentially hurting ourselves and others. Sometimes it is the blanket we throw on the flames of anger, saving us or others from certain hurt. But we all need to utilize restraint by developing, remembering, and using strategies that suppress and control the anger that can so quickly get out of control in the human mind.
Excerpted from our free e-book The Power of Speech: The Potent Force that Every Christian Is Called to Use Wisely! Download a free copy here.
We all live by chance to a certain extent. How a given day in our lives goes often depends on whether we got up in time to have breakfast, what the traffic was like, or because of any number of variables. As the book of Ecclesiastes confirms “Time and chance happen to all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). But the same biblical book tells us that it is equally true that we should make thoughtful plans and be diligently active toward making them happen (Ecclesiastes 11:2,4; etc.).
Why Plan?
Our brains are wired to make plans and to follow them. As far back as 1949, the Canadian neuropsychologist Donald Hebb coined the phrase “Neurons that fire together, wire together.” Hebb’s axiom is simply a neurological way of saying that when we direct ourselves to an action and consistently repeat it, our brains reinforce the behavior. In the same way, when we plan for growth and consistently implement our plans, the directed energy and repetition builds on itself, and we grow far more than if we just wait for growth to happen.
The truth is, we rarely grow through chance alone. As is often said, “Change doesn’t happen by chance but by choice.” Just as we can’t build a home without a blueprint, we can’t grow without a plan. Even the biological growth of plants and animals is planned –the plans for growth are built into every cell.
Spiritually, this is especially important. We know we are called to grow (Hebrews 6:1; 1 Peter 2:2–3; 2 Peter 3:18; etc.), but do we grow only occasionally – by chance – when we happen to hear a sermon or read an article that we can see applies to us, or do we actively look for such information?
Do we promise ourselves we will spend more time studying the Bible or doing something productive or valuable “when we have more time” – or do we plan to make the time?
Do we help others when they happen to cross our paths and we see they need help – or do we plan to help those who need help?
God Wants Us to Plan
The word “plan” appears hundreds of times in the Bible, and we need only read the Bible’s first chapter to see that God plans everything: that he already had a plan as he began the work of creation. Later, God provided detailed plans for the construction of the Tabernacle along with plans for all the many offerings, as we find documented in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. Acts 2:23 even tells us that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” God is, indeed, the planner par-excellence – as Isaiah wrote “the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent” (Isaiah 28:29).
So it is clear that if we want to grow, and we want to grow to be more like God, we need to learn to plan our growth. We cannot refuse to plan and use the excuse that we are “letting the Holy Spirit guide our lives” because the Bible (inspired by the Holy Spirit) frequently urges us to plan. Jesus himself said “suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace” (Luke 14:31–32 emphasis added). What Jesus describes here, is simply the importance of planning.
Naturally, our spiritual planning should be done in a prayerful spirit, asking God’s guidance. Proverbs tells us “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans” (Proverbs 16:3) and “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps” (Proverbs 16:9). If we desire to grow spiritually, God is more than willing to help us achieve that goal, but we must show God we want to change and we must plan for change. That is why the psalmist could confidently pray “May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed” (Psalm 20:4).
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6)
It would be hard to exaggerate the importance of kingship in the ancient biblical world. Kings ruled their people with total power – the king was viewed as either a god himself (as in ancient Egypt) or as the representative of God or the gods (as in ancient Israel and many other Near Eastern cultures). As a result, the birth of an heir to the throne was a symbolically important occasion which was often celebrated in stories of mythic and legendary proportions.
The picture of human rulership painted by these royal birth stories is in stark contrast to Isaiah’s prophecy of the great king who would come. While the “birth oracles” of human kings promised that they would be mighty conquerors destroying their enemies, Isaiah pictures a divine King who would strive for peace. The contrasting nature of the human rulers and the promised King is also seen in their titles. It was common in the biblical world for rulers to take a throne name along with various titles that emphasized their greatness. In Egypt, for example, each pharaoh took five such descriptive titles as part of the coronation ceremony.
The coronation of the King promised by Isaiah is reflected in the statement that “the government will be upon His shoulder” and the four double titles Isaiah gives for the royal child who would be born are kingship titles similar to those used by human rulers, though the second and third stress the true divinity of Israel’s promised King:
Wonderful Counselor: Like the others that follow it, this is a title consisting of two words that convey a single idea. The expression could mean “A wonderful Counselor” or “One who gives wonderful counsel.” The second idea is found elsewhere in Isaiah (see Isaiah 28:29) and is probably what the prophet intended.
Mighty God: In the Hebrew, this title (el-gibbor) is literally “Mighty God” – an expression Isaiah also uses in Isaiah 10:21. While the title “Wonderful Counselor” connects wisdom to the Messiah, “Mighty God” connects strength to him – the two fundamental aspects of good kingship. In Isaiah 11:2 the prophet speaks of exactly these characteristics in “the Spirit of counsel and of might” with which the Messianic child would be born.
Everlasting Father: This title is literally “Father of Eternity,” but it does not mean the promised One would be the Creator of time, or describe the coming King as being eternal. Rather, it means One who continually – eternally – acts as a Father to his people.
Prince of Peace: This last title is particularly interesting as it is almost unique among the titles of ancient Near Eastern kings. Although Egyptian kings often said their reigns would bring about a “repeating of days” or a return to the perfection of original creation, their empty boasts meant little to the people they ruled. Isaiah’s promise of peace in the reign of the coming King is unequivocal, however, and is repeated in the verses following his title, in Isaiah 9:7.
Skeptics have sometimes claimed that the king promised by Isaiah was simply Hezekiah, the son of Ahab – in both of whose rules Isaiah prophesied. However, the titles to be given the promised King could hardly apply to Hezekiah (see also Isaiah 7:14), and he died at a time of great problems and impending national downfall (Isaiah 39:5–7) rather than the greatness foretold by Isaiah.
Nevertheless, many of the people of ancient Judah who heard Isaiah’s prophecy of a coming great King may have believed it applied to Hezekiah. Their country was threatened, and because the ancient Jews doubtless saw the similarities between the names and description of the promised King and those of the physical kings of their time, they looked for a leader in their own time who would be an immediate answer to their physical and political problems. It was doubtless incomprehensible to them that the promised King would not come for centuries after Isaiah spoke, and that when he did arrive he would be born into very humble surroundings rather than a palace, and – perhaps most of all – that he would be very different from the kind of kings with which they were accustomed. But God’s promise to his people held true, nonetheless – and although the promise would not be fulfilled for a number of centuries, it would be fulfilled forever.
* * * You may like the latest blog post on our Living With Faith website here.
Recent Comments