We have
previously seen that the fasts such as the Fast of Av and Gedaliah
are unwarranted and not commanded by God through His Prophets.
However,
the events surrounding Gedaliah's death show several important things
about the popular conception that his murder lead to the exile from
Jerusalem, and an end to autonomy in Judea. In fact, what occurred
before and after his death was a series of bad choices by the various
Jewish leaders, including Gedaliah himself.
In
Jeremiah 40, we see that Jochanan, a military leader, and others
warned Gedaliah of the intent Ishmael to kill him:
13 Moreover
Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that
were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, 14 and said
unto him: 'Dost thou know that Baalis the king of the children of
Ammon hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take thy life?' But
Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not. 15 Then Johanan
the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying: 'Let
me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and
no man shall know it; wherefore should he take thy life, that all the
Jews that are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant
of Judah perish?' 16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto
Johanan the son of Kareah: 'Thou shalt not do this thing; for thou
speakest falsely of Ishmael.'
Gedaliah
did not listen to his military advisers, and was in denial about the
plot to murder him. This resulted in the murder of Gedaliah and many
others by Ishmael ben Netanya. (Jeremiah 41, 2
Kings Chapter 25)
What
is more remarkable are the events following the assassination of
Gedaliah.
After
Jochanan fought back and saved the Jews that Ishmael had abducted,
(Jer 42), they asked the Prophet Jeremiah whether to stay in Israel
or flee to Egypt. Jeremiah heard the answer form God and tells them
that if they stay in Israel, they will be secure, and God will show
mercy on them, and keep them there permanently. However, Jochanan
reneged on his promise to listen to Jeremiah, and instead says the
following:
Jer
44:
16
'As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the
LORD, we will not hearken unto thee. 17
But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of
our mouth, to offer unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out
drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our
kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of
Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no
evil.
This is
quite astonishing, they are relying on the tradition of their
fathers! This is precisely how the Pharisees started, when they
claimed they had an alternative system based on on tradition of the
fathers. Furthermore, the Rabbis invented a new Testament which they
held to overrule the old testament.
http://tanakhemet.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-rabbis-epistle-to-hebrews.html
In fact,
Maimondes, in his introduction to his commentary to the Mishnah,
writes that a prophet cannot rule against a majority of rabbis, or
even decide Law through prophecy, but he claims in his own murderous
way, that a Prophet who receives a prophecy that goes against the
Oral Tradition (ie the tradition of the fathers) is subject to the
death penalty!
It is thus
quite ironic that the idolaters who followed Jochanan, claimed their
own tradition was something that overruled the Prophets. Moreover,
the entire basis for the fast of Gedaliah is false. The people had
the best offer possible, told to them by Jeremiah, and they rejected
it, choosing the ways of their fathers instead. This is a persistent
problem, but has also been used by the Rabbis, who radically changed
and rejected Biblical law, for their own alleged traditions.
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