Old western movies employed the hat-color device: good guys wore white hats and bad guys wore black hats. There is even a Wikipedia page discussing the trope.[1] But the reality is not always so simple, particularly in the Bible. These are real people, not fictional characters, and the heroes seem to let us down at least as often as the villains surprise us by doing something good.
Let’s dig into this story from Jeremiah and see where it takes us.
When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered the land of Israel, he installed Zedekiah as a puppet king to run things in his absence. Later Zedekiah was blinded and thrown in a Babylonian dungeon, and Nebuchadnezzar made Gedaliah his new vassal, giving him the title of ‘governor.’ Soon someone discovered the existence of a secret plot, and brought the intel to Governor Gedaliah.
“‘Dost thou know … the Ammonites have sent Ishmael … to slay thee? But Gedaliah … believed them not” Jeremiah 40:14.
Gedaliah felt safe. It’ll never happen to me, he thought. Then Johanon (we’ll call him Joe) offered to quietly assassinate Ishmael before he could hurt the governor. But the governor said no.
Several months later, Ishmael, encouraged by the Ammonites and possibly motivated by his royal blood (he was from the line of David), “arose and smote Gedaliah … with the sword, and slew him” Jeremiah 41:2.
Ishmael also killed everyone with Gedaliah. The next day, the black-hat wearing Ishmael took his bloodlust even further, killing 70 men traveling to Jerusalem for worship. The Bible does not record why Ishmael killed them. He seems to have committed another seventy murders for no reason other than to steal the money and food the men were carrying. Israel under Babylon was the Wild West—complete lawlessness. Total anarchy. Exactly what happens when a society lacks an executive to enforce its laws.
At this point, Joe returns to the narrative. He wants to kill Ishmael even more than he did before. He rounds up a posse (probably wearing white hats) and they pursue Ishmael. But Ishmael escaped to the Ammonites.
Joe failed to prevent the murder of Gedaliah, and then he failed to avenge it. Now Joe and those with him are afraid they will be punished by Nebuchadnezzar, “because Ishmael had slain Gedaliah … whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land” Jeremiah 41:18.
Fearing for their lives, Joe and those with him seek out the prophet Jeremiah, begging him to pray and ask God what they should do:
“We beseech thee … pray for us unto the Lord thy God, even for all this remnant … that the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do” Jeremiah 42:2-3.
Jeremiah says he will pray for them and he will tell the people exactly what God says. In response, they assure Jeremiah they will obey God.
“Whether it be good or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee” Jeremiah 42:6.
For ten days God was silent. Finally, he spoke to Jeremiah, and the prophet returned to Joe and all the people with God’s answer:
“Thus sayeth the Lord, ‘If you will abide in this land, then I will build you up, and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up … Be not afraid of the king of Babylon … be not afraid of him … for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand. And I will shew mercies unto you” Jeremiah 42:9-12.
(Sounds good so far, right? Stay in Israel, don’t be afraid of the Babylonians, and God will protect you.) There’s more:
God says if the people do not obey, and if they insist on running off to Egypt to escape the Babylonians, they will be punished. “So shall it be with the men who set their faces to go into Egypt and sojourn there. They shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them” Jeremiah 42:17.
This seems simple enough. Joe and the others asked Jeremiah to pray and give them an honest answer from God, which they promised to obey. But God has revealed the hidden things to his prophet. Jeremiah knows that Joe and all the rest of the people never had any intention of obeying God. They came to Jeremiah hoping God would approve plans they had already made. Their minds were made up. We are going to Egypt, and we are taking Jeremiah with us. (Surely God won’t kill us if we hold his prophet hostage!)
Knowing their hearts, Jeremiah continues:
“Go ye not into Egypt! Know that I have admonished you this day. For you dissembled [lied] in your hearts when ye sent me to the Lord saying ‘pray for us’ … Now therefore, know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by famine, and by the pestilence’” Jeremiah 42:19-22.
When Jeremiah finished, Joe and others responded, accusing the prophet of lying! “Thou speakest falsely. The Lord our God hath not sent thee to say ‘Do not go to Egypt’” And they rounded up every Israelite they could find, including Jeremiah, and took them forcibly to Egypt, Jeremiah 43:2-7.
None would ever return.
But what happened to this Joe character? He tried to protect the governor from an assassin, but the governor would not listen to him. Then he tried to execute justice on the governor’s behalf, but the assassin got away. Then he led a group to beseech the prophet, asking him to pray for guidance and promising to obey whatever God said.
Then when Jeremiah provided God’s answer, Joe turns on him and accuses him of lying, takes him captive, and marches down to Egypt—the place where God promised they would all die by the sword, famine, and pestilence.
I thought Johanan was one of the good guys! I thought he was wearing a white hat.
But people will let you down, won’t they? The truth is, Joe was not about following God. When Gedaliah was threatened, Joe was ready to go to war. But when God said stay in Israel, Joe refused. Joe was doing whatever was best for Joe. This man was not following God at all—but he sure knew how to talk the talk, didn’t he?
Don’t we all know people like that, people who sound so deeply devout, like they absolutely love God with all their hearts … until something happens that reveals how selfish and godless they really are?
Look again at the convincing religious words of Johanan: “Whether it be good or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord” Jeremiah 42:6.
This man is not wearing a white hat. Not even a grey hat. His hat is black, as is his heart.
“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” Matthew 24:24.
“For such men are … disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds” 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.
Sadly, in the real world bad guys do not warn you by wearing black hats. Sometimes they disguise themselves by wearing white hats. What can you do? Whom can you trust?
Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruits” Matthew 7:16.
Dear God, teach us to discern the fruit. Protect us from the con-men and liars and hypocrites. Help us discern among the spirits and to know whom to trust and of whom to be skeptical. Guide us by your Holy Spirit and protect us from wolves in sheep’s clothing.
AΩ.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_and_white_hat_symbolism_in_film
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