Jeremiah 34:14-18 NET.
14 “Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you shall set them free.” But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention to me. 15 Recently, however, you yourselves showed a change of heart and did what is pleasing to me. You granted your fellow countrymen their freedom and you made a covenant to that effect in my presence in the house that I have claimed for my own. 16 But then you turned right around and showed that you did not honor me. Each of you took back your male and female slaves whom you had freed as they desired, and you forced them to be your slaves again. 17 So I, the LORD, say: “You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman. Therefore, I will grant you freedom, the freedom to die in war, or by starvation or disease. I, the LORD, affirm it! I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you. 18 I will punish those people who have violated their covenant with me. I will make them like the calf they cut in two and passed between its pieces. I will do so because they did not keep the terms of the covenant they made in my presence.
Whenever we read the Old Testament, we need to keep in mind that God had a message to his people then, in the context of their place in salvation history. We also need to keep in mind that everything that happened to God’s people then has a special relevance to God’s people now. Some themes recur throughout the Old Testament and apply to us now. One of those themes is the kingdom of God.
Initially, the kingdom was defined by a divine theocratic government, and the arrangement Yahveh made with Israel through the law given to Moses at Mount Sinai, meant to be visible in the Promised Land. However, the Hebrews rebelled against this kingdom. Their rebellion led them to desire a monarchy like other nations, rather than God’s direct rule. They asked for a king to lead them, as neighboring countries did. The elders of Israel approached Samuel, requesting a king because his sons did not follow his ways. Saul was eventually appointed as king in God’s anger, but he was later rejected in wrath.
God raised David, whose reign pleased Yahveh and led to success in defeating Israel’s enemies, symbolizing the ultimate victory over all enemies of Christ. Due to David’s faithfulness, Yahveh promised him an everlasting throne after he expressed a wish to build a house for Yahveh. Prophet Nathan delivered Yahveh’s message: Yahveh chose David from humble beginnings, was with him, and helped him defeat his enemies, making his name great. Yahveh also vowed to establish a lasting dwelling for Israel where they would live securely, free from enemies or wickedness.
This divine promise to David guarantees Israel’s permanent presence in Canaan and a future peaceful reign, unlike their current suffering and persecution. It also speaks of making David a house, meaning a dynasty of kings, not just the temple, with an everlasting throne.[1] The ‘house’ symbolizes a kingdom, as mentioned to Hezekiah.[2]
Another theme that began in the Old Testament and was reflected in the New is that of the temple. All temple details—materials, sizes, patterns—were given to David by the Spirit, as Moses received the tabernacle’s pattern. The design was written by Yahveh, granting wisdom for its creation. During construction, stones were prepared beforehand, and no iron tools were heard, symbolizing the spiritual house of “living stones.[3] The temple of Solomon thus represented a spiritual temple, with the sanctuary as Yahveh’s dwelling.
These scriptural facts demonstrate that the foundation of David’s throne was not physical, but symbolic of discipline and unmet expectations. Concerning Solomon, God stated, “I will be his father, and he shall be my son,” promising mercy and an eternal throne, as Nathan told David (2 Samuel 7:14-17). This shows the kingdom’s growth started with David, not Saul, because David followed God’s directives to defeat Israel’s enemies, unlike Saul.
The kings of Israel were governed by the conditional law covenant from Mount Sinai, leading to fluctuations in their history. All blessings depended on obedience, while disobedience brought curses, making Israel’s royal stability hinge on this covenant. If they had obeyed, they would have stayed in Canaan, and Jerusalem would have remained glorious like in Solomon’s reign, with the kingly line intact. David recognized this, as shown in his prayer in 2 Samuel 7:18-19, where he acknowledged God’s promises and the vital role of obeying His law.
The king ruling Judah in the time reflected in Jeremiah 34 is Zedekiah. The chapter begins with Jeremiah approaching King Zedekiah and promising him that he will not die in battle or be executed. Jeremiah promises this while the city of Jerusalem is surrounded by Babylonian armies and under siege.
God had made known his will through his covenant.
Zedekiah knew this. As king, he knew the covenant God had made with the Hebrews who had escaped Egypt under Moses. Zedekiah knew that the kingdom he had inherited and ruled had broken that covenant drastically and comprehensively. They were not living according to the rules that God had given them. The king knew that God would be fair to them if he allowed the Babylonians to conquer them and destroy them all. He had probably lost a few nights’ sleep wondering when the walls would come down, and the soldiers would go in and kill him and all his family.
But the prophet Jeremiah comes and tells him, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that he was not going to die in battle or be executed. I imagine King Zedekiah responded to that prophecy by thinking he could turn the event to his advantage, making it seem as if he were a true spiritual leader. He was not, but he might have thought that he could fake it. What Zedekiah decided to do was lead his nation in what he called repentance.
The people repented of breaking that covenant.
Well, at least it would look like repentance. It is possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason, and that is what Zedekiah cooked up for the city of Jerusalem to do. Remember, they are under siege. Enemy armies are surrounding the city, making it impossible for anyone or anything to come into the city or out of it. When a city was under siege, it faced the real danger of dying of starvation or disease, or of being weakened to the point where the invading armies could break through the defenses and annihilate it.
But Zedekiah thinks that won’t happen. Because of Jeremiah’s promise that he would not die in battle or be executed, he believes God is going to intervene. Now, Zedekiah begins to think deviously. He imagines that if he puts on his spiritual leader hat and gets the city to do something obedient to the covenant, then when God delivers them from the siege, the people will think it was because of Zedekiah. So he goes into his archives and searches for the stipulations of the covenant. He is looking for something the citizens are supposed to be doing under the Mosaic Law, but are not. There were many things, but he is not concerned with changing everything. All he wants is one thing that he can get the people to do. That’s when he finds this verse in Deuteronomy:
“If your fellow Hebrew — whether male or female — is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant go free.”[4]
Now, remember, the inhabitants of Jerusalem are under siege. The wealthy landowners had accumulated lots of slaves over the generations because they had not been keeping this command to free their slaves every seventh year. But now they are stuck in the city. They have a bunch of slaves who cannot go out into the countryside and work their farms because of the blockade. That means that the slaves are now a liability, not an asset. Extra slaves mean extra mouths to feed. So, the “repentance” that Zedekiah leads the city to do is something they are ready and willing to do.
Zedekiah initiated a formal covenant with the people. He made them promise to set their slaves free. The slaughter of a calf sealed the promise. They split the animal in half, and all the landowners had to walk between the two halves. It symbolized a curse upon themselves if they broke the covenant. If they didn’t free their slaves, they were asking to be cut into like the calf.
But then they withdrew their repentance.
The passage does not tell us why the people changed their minds. History explains why they repented and then reversed their repentance. All the slaves that had been held onto and not granted their freedom suddenly found themselves without a home and without a means of support. But at least they now had their freedom. So, why did the slave owners take their slaves back?
The armies that had surrounded Jerusalem and had laid siege to it were eventually recalled. They heard that Egypt was going to come and fight them, so they headed South to battle against the Pharaoh. All of a sudden, Jerusalem was no longer under threat. Then the landowners remembered why they had held on to their slaves instead of obeying God’s Law. The Bible does not tell us how, but they somehow managed to round up all those former slave families and reinslave them.
God withdrew their protection under the covenant.
Now all the important people were happy. The king was delighted because he came off as being spiritual when he was not. The landowners were glad because they had retrieved their workforce. But God was not happy, and neither was the prophet Jeremiah. God said through Jeremiah, “You turned around and showed you did not honor me. Each of you took back your slaves, whom you had freed as they wished, forcing them to become slaves again. The LORD says: “You have not truly obeyed me or given freedom to your neighbor and fellow citizen. As a result, I will give you freedom—freedom to die in war, from starvation, or disease. I, the LORD, declare it! I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified by what happens to you. I will punish those who broke their covenant with me, making them like the calf cut in two and passed between its pieces. I will do this because they did not uphold the covenant they made in my presence.
Because the people withdrew their token repentance, God withdrew his hand of protection from them and their land. The Babylonian armies came back, and this time they completed the siege. Jerusalem was destroyed, and multitudes died. But King Zedekiah did not die in the siege, and he was not executed. God was true to his promise. They did capture him, and they killed his sons in front of him, making him watch. Then they gouged his eyes out so that the last thing he saw was the slaughter of his own sons. He was taken prisoner as a blind, useless king with no throne and no people.
Jesus also covenanted with us.
This terrible story in the Old Testament is a reminder to all of us that a covenant with God is not something to be taken lightly. It is serious business. We are not under the Mosaic covenant, but we are under a covenant. Jesus is our King, and he has made a covenant with everyone who puts their faith in him. His blood is the blood of the new covenant.[5]
The New Covenant is not based on the letter but on the Spirit.[6] We agree to let God’s Holy Spirit rule our lives and change our behaviour so that we live Christlike lives. When we repented of our sins, we decided to live according to this promise.
Have we reversed our repentance?
Seeing how horribly God’s wrath was visited on the Israelites who withdrew their promise, we should be careful make good our promise. Jesus did not set us free from our sins for us to turn around and reenslave ourselves. When our Savior returns, it will be to set up a new eternal universe. Nothing impure will be allowed into that new universe. Paul wrote that “no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God”.[7] When we came to Christ, we made a promise to live in his kingdom today. Let us all learn to be faithful to that promise.
[1] 2 Samuel 7:8-14
[2] 2 Kings 20:1
[3]1 Peter 2:5; Ephesians 2:21
[4] Deuteronomy 15:12.
[5] Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25
[6] 2 Corinthians 3:6.
[7] Ephesians 5:5.
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