Jeremiah 40:16
“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.”
When the King of Babylon invaded Israel and Judah, he left a remnant of poor people in the land to care for it so that the wilderness would not overtake it. He also knew that he needed to leave someone in charge, so he set Gedaliah as the governor of the land. We don’t know what qualities Gedaliah had that caused the king to set him up as governor, but one thing we do know is that he certainly was not the best of leaders or else he would have been taken to Babylon.
Gedaliah made a mistake that many prideful or over confident leaders make. After being set up as governor, there were armies of other nations who heard that Gedaliah was set up to be governor, and they plotted to take his life and the lives of people. However, Johanan came to Gedaliah to warn him of these armies that were intent on killing him, namely Ishmael the son of Nethaniah.
Unfortunately, Gedaliah wouldn’t listen to Johanan and thought that he knew better. When you continue reading into the next chapter, you find that Ishmael did come and invade the land and killed hundreds of people and threw their dead bodies into a pit until it was filled. All of this happened because a leader was too proud to listen to a follower. The leader could have saved his own life and the lives of those who put their trust under his leadership had he listened to a follower who wanted to help. Gedaliah thought he knew everything because he was the leader, but his overconfidence led to his own destruction.
Leaders must be careful not to become so confident in what they do know that they think they know everything. Leaders need to understand that there is no way they can know everything. They must understand that followers will hear things that will never be said to the leader. A leader who is not willing to listen to followers is a leader who is endangering their own future and the future of those they lead.
Moreover, leaders must be careful about insulting the intelligence of their followers. When a follower comes and gives you information, you would be wise to listen. Don’t belittle the follower’s desire to help. You must understand that they want the best just as much as you do. Many leaders have faced unneeded battles because they wouldn’t listen to the warnings of a follower. If a follower comes to you as a leader and tells you something, don’t belittle them or blow up when they give you this information because you may discourage them from ever coming to you again with needed information. Instead, thank them for their concern and honestly look into what they have told you.
Furthermore, a follower must be sure to tell the leader information that could help them to keep harm from happening. You may think someone else has told the leader what you know, or you may think what you know is not that important, but you must still let the leader know information that could be harmful to what you are trying to accomplish. God may have allowed you to come across this information so that you could keep harm from happening. It is not that you are a tattletale, but irreparable harm could be avoided if you will simply relay what you know to the leader. Irreparable harm could be avoided if the leaders will listen and followers will inform when needed.