Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah Behold, I give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt certainly be taken, and given into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with thy mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Only, hear the word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah. Thus saith Jehovah as to thee Thou shalt not die by the sword;
The Babylonian army is at the walls of Jerusalem, and God sends Jeremiah to king Zedekiah with a message of ruin. Then comes one word of favour for the king himself — so why does a man this guilty get any softening at all?
The chapter first announces disaster in plain terms. Only afterwards does it add this one exemption for the king:
Jeremiah 34. Because the people have sinned again, the prophet announces their certain ruin. Still, Zedekiah, though carried captive to Babylon, will die there in peace.
One writer ties this word of favour to how Zedekiah had treated Jeremiah. He says it carefully — "I think", not "I know":
There were worse kings than he, and he showed some willingness to listen to the prophet. Still, Zedekiah brought on the crisis of judgment for Jerusalem and his people. It is not the most daring man who does the worst deed. Weakness can be guilty where a man does not look to God for strength. But the Lord showed him mercy, because, I think, of what he had done to His servant Jeremiah. "You shall not die by the sword, but you shall die in peace." How gracious is Jehovah! He softened the judgment that fell on Zedekiah because of a certain relenting in the king's heart towards His prophet. The kind act is not forgotten by God.
The promise is smaller than it first sounds. Zedekiah is not spared captivity. He is promised a king's death and a king's funeral, unlike an earlier king of Judah:
That is to say, he would have a funeral fit for a king. It would follow the usual custom of the Jews: a bed of spices prepared to burn the king's body, and mourning over him. The reason for this is that God, even in His judgment, carefully remembers whatever good there may have been. The Lord says, as it were, I will repay; and He never fails. Zedekiah had acted wickedly. Still, his heart was towards the prophet, and he would have been glad to spare him. But others more wicked than himself pushed him on. So when the final moment came, God showed mercy to him. He stands in full contrast with Jehoiakim, who had only the burial of a donkey, as Jeremiah had announced in an earlier chapter.
Zedekiah's problem was not that he could not tell right from wrong. This description of him fits many people:
He was an evil ruler, but he was not without kindly feeling. Many a bad man whose conscience towards God is not completely silenced has a great deal of natural feeling. He has the sense that a thing is wrong, but he has no strength to do the right. He sees what is right, and he values the man who says what is right. But he has no spiritual power to walk in it himself.
Commentators differ on how much credit that kindness deserves. Another writer reads the same behaviour far more harshly, and sets the verdict of the historian Josephus against God's:
Zedekiah has been rightly described as "weak, wavering, and treacherous"… He was hypocritical too. He pretended to want the prophet's prayers: "Please pray to the LORD our God for us." At times he also pretended to trust Jeremiah's prophecies: "Please ask the LORD for us." Yet when those prophecies came, he refused to heed them or believe them… He was perhaps not so openly wicked as the three kings before him, and not eager to persecute. This is probably why Josephus, judging by human standards, speaks of "his gentle and righteous disposition." But the Lord does not see as man sees.
History bears the promise out. The record outside the Bible matches what Jeremiah said:
Josephus says Nebuchadnezzar "kept Zedekiah in prison until he died; and then buried him magnificently." This agrees with Jeremiah 34:5: "You shall die in peace, and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you."
- The word stands. God announced the city's ruin as certain. The favour to Zedekiah came alongside that judgment; it never cancelled it.
- The word repays. God softened the king's judgment because the king's heart relented towards His prophet. A kind act is not forgotten.
- The word measures. Zedekiah still went to Babylon as a prisoner. What he received was a king's death and a king's funeral, not escape.
- The word exposes. He could see what was right and value the man who said it, but he had no power to walk in it. Commentators differ on whether to call that weakness or treachery.
- The word is fulfilled. He died a prisoner in Babylon, and his captor buried him with honour — just as God said.
thou shalt die in peace, and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they burn for thee; and they will lament for thee, Ah, lord! for I have spoken the word, saith Jehovah.
Babylon's army is closing in on Jerusalem, and Jeremiah's word to King Zedekiah is mostly bad news: the city will burn and the king will be caught. Then the tone softens into a peaceful death and a royal funeral — so why would God say that to a man He is judging?
Zedekiah treated Jeremiah kindly, and writers link that kindness to the tone of this message.
In Jeremiah 34, Zedekiah receives a comforting word, and the reason seems to be his kindness towards the prophet. He was an evil ruler, but he was not without kindly feeling. Many a bad man has a great deal of natural feeling, as long as his conscience towards God is not completely silenced. He has the sense that a thing is wrong, but he has no force to do the right. He sees what is right, and he values the man who says what is right. But he has no spiritual power to walk in that path himself.
That mixture — real feeling with no strength behind it — is the reason his reign ends in disaster anyway.
There were worse kings than he, and he showed some disposition to listen to the prophet. Still, Zedekiah brought on the crisis of judgment for Jerusalem and his people. It is not the most daring man who does the worst deed. Weakness may be guilty where there is no looking to God for strength.
The promise describes his funeral, done in the custom of the day.
In other words, he would have a funeral fitting his dignity as a king, in the usual custom of the Jews. A bed of spices would be prepared and burned for the king's body, and there would be mourning over him. The reason for this is that God, even in His judgment, carefully remembers whatever good there may have been. The Lord says, as it were, I will repay; and He never fails. Zedekiah had acted wickedly. Still, his heart was towards the prophet, and he would have been glad to spare him. But men more wicked than himself pushed him on. So when the decisive moment came, God extends mercy towards him. In this he stands in full contrast with Jehoiakim, who had only the burial of a donkey. Jeremiah had announced that in an earlier chapter.
The contrast with Jehoiakim is the measure of the mercy. Two kings of the same doomed house: one gets a donkey's burial, the other a king's funeral.
Writers tie this verse directly back to the moments when Zedekiah protected Jeremiah instead of joining his enemies.
In general there is more conscience in Zedekiah personally than in some others of the last kings of Judah. For this reason, perhaps, those few words of favour and mercy were addressed to him in Jeremiah 34:5. But he was too weak to let his conscience lead him in the path of obedience.
The mercy is narrow. One thing only is lifted from him: a violent death.
Only, as the prophet had said, he does not die a violent death. The Lord paid heed to the least bit of evidence of turning in this poor king. He had shown a moment of pity for the servant of the Lord, and had listened to his word. Yet he lacked the courage to follow it, and the faith to humble himself before God.
His captors killed his sons in front of him, put out his eyes, and took him to Babylon in chains. He stayed in prison until he died. A peaceful death came at the end of all that, not instead of it.
The historian Josephus records how Zedekiah's life ended, and it matches what Jeremiah said.
Josephus says Nebuchadnezzar "kept Zedekiah in prison until he died, and then buried him magnificently." This agrees with Jeremiah 34:5.
Commentators differ on how far God's kindness to him went. Some read the words "until I visit him" (Jeremiah 32:5) as hinting at something deeper than a fine funeral:
It is more agreeable to take the expression to mean that God in mercy would visit him with repentance and a true knowledge of Himself, as He did with Manasseh before him. How often God has used the stern hand of His rule to break down the pride and rebellion of the heart! Through such a "visitation" He secures for the repentant soul the truest freedom of all — deliverance from the bondage of sin. So his soul would be set free, though his body remained in bondage.
- Kindness noticed. Zedekiah sheltered Jeremiah when others wanted him dead. Commentators read this verse as God's answer to that one act.
- Kindness repaid. God "carefully remembers whatever good there may have been" — the promise of spices, mourning and a royal funeral is the repayment.
- Kindness measured. Next to Jehoiakim's "burial of a donkey," this mercy is real. Next to blinded eyes and a Babylonian prison, its limits are just as real.
- Kindness is not strength. He valued the man who told him the truth, but he never obeyed it. "Weakness may be guilty where there is no looking to God for strength."
- Kindness fulfilled exactly. He died in prison, and Nebuchadnezzar buried him magnificently. Every word landed — the gentle part as surely as the severe.
And the prophet Jeremiah spoke all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was under siege by Nebuchadnezzar's armies. God sent Jeremiah to the king with a word he would not want to hear. This verse says the prophet delivered it in full, face to face, inside the doomed city. Two questions follow. What were "all these words"? And what kind of man carries them to a king who holds his life in his hands?
The words Jeremiah carried were not a military forecast but a verdict.
The Lord then told him to speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, from Himself. He assured the king that He would "give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire." To fight it out was even to resist the Lord. It was not merely Nebuchadnezzar who was taking Jerusalem; Jehovah was giving up the city and their king of the house of David — a most solemn sign of His displeasure.
Part of that message concerned the king's own eyes, and it seems to clash with what another prophet said. Both words came true.
This is all the more striking, because God gave another prophet the word that Zedekiah's eyes would be put out, and that he would not see Babylon. "I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there." (Ezek. 12:13.) Both are true. His eyes did not see the king of Babylon in Babylon. But he was taken prisoner in "the plains of Jericho," and brought to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath.
Zedekiah is a familiar figure. He respected Jeremiah, yet respect never became obedience.
He was an evil ruler, but he was not without kindly feeling. Many a bad man whose conscience towards God is not utterly silenced has a great deal of natural feeling. He has the sense that a thing is wrong, but he has no force to do the right. He sees what is right. He values the man who says what is right. But he has no spiritual power to walk in the path of what is right.
That weakness proved fatal, and not only for him. A man need not be the boldest sinner to do the greatest damage.
There were worse kings than he, and he showed some willingness to listen to the prophet. Still, Zedekiah brought on the crisis of judgment for Jerusalem and his people. It is not the most daring man that does the worst deed. Weakness may be guilty where there is no looking to God for strength.
"All these words" held a threat and a promise together: Zedekiah would still receive a king's funeral. Commentators tie that mercy to the kindness Zedekiah had shown the prophet.
He would have a funeral fitting his dignity as a king, done in the usual Jewish way: a bed of spices prepared to burn the king's body, and mourning over him. The reason for this is that God, even in His judgment, carefully remembers whatever good there may have been. The Lord says, as it were, I will recompense; and He never fails. Zedekiah had acted wickedly. Still, his heart was towards the prophet, and he would gladly have spared him. But others more wicked than himself pushed him on.
Jeremiah was not speaking from a position of safety. He had been in a pit he feared would be his grave, and the man he was addressing controlled whether he stayed there. A softer speech was the obvious way out.
He was first thrown as a prisoner into the house of Jonathan the scribe. It was a dungeon, perhaps some underground place... It was a horrible place, for Jeremiah was afraid he might die there (37:20). Zedekiah seems to have had some goodwill towards him... Here, in our chapter, is the full text of his faithful message; had it been less faithful, the king might have released him.
The verse records the delivery; the following chapters record the reception. The city that would not hear the messenger soon heard the army instead.
King Zedekiah did not listen to the words of the Lord which He spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, and neither did his servants or the people of the land (Jer. 37:2). On the contrary, they put him in prison. Only when the city fell did he get his freedom. The king of Babylon treated him better than the king of his own people, whom he served so faithfully. This is often the case with true servants of the Lord.
- All — Jeremiah spoke all these words: the fall of the city, the capture of the king, and the promise of a king's burial. He trimmed nothing to fit the hearer.
- All from God — the city was not simply losing a war; God was giving it up, so resisting Babylon meant resisting Him.
- All remembered — even as He passes sentence, God remembers whatever good there was. Zedekiah's kindness to the prophet shaped the mercy in his sentence.
- All refused — Zedekiah saw what was right, valued the man who said it, and still had no strength to do it. Weakness, not daring, destroyed Jerusalem.
- All costly — A softer message might have won Jeremiah his release. His freedom came from the enemy, not from his own people.
And the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these were amongst the cities of Judah, the fenced cities that were left.
Jerusalem is under siege, and Jeremiah has just told King Zedekiah that the city will fall. Verse 7 measures how far the collapse had gone: only two fortified towns were left standing outside the capital.
Lachish and Azekah were not random towns. Judah had counted on them.
Lachish and Azekah were the cities that were meant to form a bulwark and a support if an enemy came up against Jerusalem.
Lachish had a long history as a fortress. It also had a history of falling.
A city of the Amorites in the lowlands of Judah… It was a fortified city on the route running from north to south. When the kingdom divided, Rehoboam put a garrison in it. Sennacherib took it. Among the carved slabs found at Nineveh is one that shows the king seated on his throne. Captives from Lachish kneel before him, while his troops pass in review displaying the spoils they have taken.
The verse reads like a battlefield report about Nebuchadnezzar. The message Jeremiah had just delivered says otherwise.
The Lord then told him to speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, from Himself. He assured him that He would "give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire." To fight it out was even to resist the Lord. It was not Nebuchadnezzar alone who was taking Jerusalem. Jehovah was giving up the city and their king of the house of David. This was a most solemn sign of His displeasure.
Verse 6 says Jeremiah spoke the words. Verse 7 shows the conditions he spoke them in.
The besieging army was before the walls of Jerusalem. At that moment the prophet is commanded to go to the king and tell him that the city will soon be burned. He announced also Zedekiah's fate. He could not escape. He would fall into the hands of the king of Babylon… And Jeremiah faithfully discharged his message.
Zedekiah stands at the centre of this shrinking map. His character helps explain the collapse.
There were worse kings than he, and he showed some willingness to listen to the prophet. Even so, Zedekiah brought on the crisis of judgment for Jerusalem and his people. It is not the most daring man who does the worst deed. Weakness may be guilty where there is no looking to God for strength.
Judgment fell on the city and its king. But that is not the whole account of how God treated Zedekiah.
God, even in His judgment, carefully remembers whatever good there may have been. The Lord says, as it were, I will repay; and He never fails. Zedekiah had acted wickedly. Still, his heart was towards the prophet. He would gladly have spared him, but others more wicked than himself pushed him on. So when the decisive moment came, God extends mercy towards him.
The chapter also shows what was happening inside the walls. The people made a solemn agreement before God, then broke it.
Jeremiah 34 illustrates the unfaithfulness of the people. They made a covenant to set free their Hebrew servants. They did it, but afterwards they went back on their covenant and brought the servants back. On this the Lord reminds them of His covenant, which they had broken right up to that day. So He proclaims "liberty" for them — liberty to destruction, desolation, famine and dispersion!
The release they promised was not a new idea. It came from a law given long before.
An old law from the days in the desert was laid on the children of Israel: no Hebrew could serve his brother for longer than seven years, unless he chose to stay. As a rule, a manservant or maidservant could serve only six years, and in the seventh year they went out free. The sabbatical year declared that they could no longer rightly be kept in bondage. But it seems this had been neglected for a very long period — probably for several hundred years.
- Bulwark. Lachish and Azekah were meant to be Judah's bulwark against an invader. Verse 7 shows the bulwark itself under attack.
- Covenant. The people set their Hebrew servants free as they had promised, then took them back. So the Lord proclaimed a "liberty" of His own — to destruction, famine and dispersion.
- Hand. The real power behind the siege was not Babylon. God was giving up the city, so fighting on was resisting Him.
- Weakness. Zedekiah was not the worst of Judah's kings; he listened, then yielded to others. Weakness that never looks to God for strength is still guilt.
- Remembered. Even as the last defences fell, God remembered the kindness Zedekiah had shown His prophet, and He softened the sentence. God overlooks no good thing.
The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
that every man should let his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, the Hebrew and the Hebrewess, go free, that none should exact service of them, [that is,] of a Jew his brother.
Babylon's army has Jerusalem under siege. Under that pressure the king, the officials and the people make a formal covenant to set every Hebrew servant free — and the rest of the chapter tests whether a promise made in fear will last once the danger lifts.
The covenant was not a new idea. It revived a law given in the wilderness. One writer states that law, and the single exception to it:
There was an old law from the days of the desert, given to the children of Israel. No Hebrew could ever be a servant to his brother longer than seven years. The one exception was his own free choice. Then his ear was pierced, and he, with his wife and children, if he had any, remained servants to their master for ever. But as a rule, a manservant or maidservant could serve only six years, and in the seventh they went out free. The sabbatical year declared that no master could righteously keep them in bondage any longer. But this law seems to have been neglected for a very long time, probably for several hundred years. The prophecy of the seventy years' captivity notes this, and seems to point to four hundred and ninety years in which they paid no heed to the sabbatical year.
Another writer points to the two places in the law of Moses where the rule is written, and shows how far the covenant reached:
The king had made a covenant that all Hebrew slaves should be released (Exodus 21:1-6; Deut. 15:12-18). The princes and people agreed, but afterwards broke the covenant.
The verse does not ban service itself. It bans holding a fellow Israelite as a slave. The reason lies in what God had done for the whole nation:
"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." How disgraceful then! God had brought them out of bondage, yet they forgot the will of the Lord about their own brothers in bondage. They might own a stranger without limit. But they might not keep one of their own brothers more than six years.
Behind the rule lay God's care for a man whose poverty had put him in another man's power:
Sin brought disorder, and misery came with it. Whatever the damage, the Lord set merciful limits, above all for the people of His choice. An Israelite might be sold to one of his brothers through sheer distress, but never for life. As a rule it was only for six years of service, and on the seventh he went out free, without paying anything.
The people did set their servants free. What they did next brought God's judgment on them:
They made a covenant to free their servants who were Hebrews. This they did, but afterwards they turned from their covenant and brought back their servants. On this the Lord reminds them of His covenant, which they had broken to that very day. So He proclaims "liberty" for them — to destruction, ruin, famine and scattering!
One writer explains why breaking the promise was worse than never making it:
So they had quite forgotten their duties at home until the time of their affliction. Then they read the law and obeyed it, and let their Hebrew servants go. Their guilt was much greater for that, because they had felt their sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen what the will of God was. They resolved to do it under pressure of danger, and as soon as the danger was gone they returned to their evil ways.
This was not the first solemn agreement the nation had entered into and abandoned. One writer looks back at an earlier king's covenant and reaches the same verdict:
On the young king's part this was all real, no doubt. But you only have to read the earlier part of Jeremiah's prophecy to see how hypocritical it was with most of the people. They had eagerly entered into covenants with the Lord before, and the outcome was always the same — breakdown, and a wider departure from God than ever before.
- Law — No Israelite could hold a fellow Israelite longer than six years. The seventh year set him free. Only the servant's own choice made the service lifelong.
- Reason — God had brought the whole nation out of slavery in Egypt. To hold a brother in bondage denied the very mercy they lived on.
- Promise — Under siege, the king, the officials and the people made a covenant to obey that law and free every Hebrew servant.
- Reversal — Once the danger lifted, they took the freed servants back. They knew the right and had done it for a moment, and that made their guilt greater, not smaller.
- Return — They would not proclaim liberty to their brothers. So God proclaimed a liberty of His own: to destruction, famine and scattering.
And all the princes and all the people that had entered into the covenant obeyed, every man letting his bondman and every man his bondmaid go free, that none should exact service of them any more they obeyed, and let [them] go.
The king and the people had bound themselves by a covenant to set their Hebrew servants free. This verse is the moment they did it. The obedience was real. Yet the chapter ends in judgment. So what did God see behind an act that looked like repentance?
The covenant was not an invention. It revived a rule given to Israel long before, and long ignored.
There was an old law from the days of the desert laid on the children of Israel. No Hebrew could ever be a servant to his brother longer than seven years. The one exception was his own choice: then his ear was pierced, and he, with his wife and children if he had any, stayed servants to their master for ever. But as a rule, a manservant or maidservant could only serve six years, and in the seventh they went out free. The sabbatical year declared that they could no longer rightly be kept in bondage. But it seems they had neglected it for a very long period, probably for several hundred years. The prophecy of the seventy years' captivity notices this. It seems to imply a period of four hundred and ninety years during which they had paid no heed to the sabbatical year.
Another writer names the laws behind it, and what became of the covenant:
The king had made a covenant that all Hebrew slaves should be released (Exodus 21:1-6; Deuteronomy 15:12-18). The princes and people agreed, but afterwards broke the covenant.
Why obey now, after generations of neglect? Calamity was pressing them. Their reform had the shape of the law but not its root.
This chapter begins a new series, which brings out the proof of the wickedness of the people. We see their on-and-off efforts at repentance. Sadly, it was no true work of God in their conscience. It was simply the pressure of calamity for a time. That pressure led them to form resolutions, in a measure according to the law of the Lord. But those resolutions proved completely powerless as soon as the affliction eased even a little.
The verse names both the officials and the ordinary people. They moved as one body, and they failed as one body.
And now we shall see that the people become like their princes. Like master, like servant... Jeremiah 34 illustrates their state. The princes and the people make a covenant and break it soon after. So Jerusalem, the princes, and the people shall become "a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse." And He carried out His word with startling exactness.
The servants walked free. Then they broke the covenant. Kelly's point: because they had seen God's will and done it, going back was worse, not better.
So they had quite forgotten their obligations at home until the time of their affliction. Then they read and obeyed, letting their Hebrew servants go. Their guilt was therefore much greater. They had felt their sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen what the will of God was. They resolved to do it under pressure of danger; then, as soon as the occasion was gone, they returned to their evil ways. "Therefore, thus says the Lord, You have not listened to Me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every man to his neighbour. Behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, says the Lord — to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. And I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth."
There is a further sting. God Himself had brought them out of slavery:
How disgraceful, then! God had brought them out of bondage, and yet they forgot the will of the Lord about their brothers in bondage. They might own a foreigner without limit; but they might not keep one of their own brothers more than six years.
- Liberty owed. The release was no new idea. It was an old command from the desert years: six years of service, freedom in the seventh — and Israel seems to have ignored it for centuries.
- Liberty forced. The obedience came from the pressure of calamity, not from a work of God in the conscience. Such resolutions collapse the moment the pressure eases.
- Liberty granted. Officials and people together set the servants free. They acted as one body, and the sentence falls on the whole city as one.
- Liberty revoked. They broke the covenant and took the servants back. Having seen God's will and done it, they were now far more guilty.
- Liberty reversed. They would not proclaim liberty to their brothers. So God proclaims a liberty for them — to the sword, to pestilence, to famine, and to scattering.
But afterwards they turned, and caused the bondmen and the bondmaids whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for bondmen and for bondmaids.
Jerusalem was under siege, and the king, the officials and the people promised God to free every Hebrew slave. Then the Babylonian army pulled back, and they took the freed people back — so what was that promise worth?
The promise they made was nothing new. It brought back a command from the law, and one writer shows how long the people had left it unused.
There was an old law from the days of the desert, laid on the children of Israel. No Hebrew could ever be a servant to his brother longer than seven years. The one exception was his own choice. Then his ear was pierced, and he, with his wife and children if he had any, stayed their master's servants for ever. But as a rule, a manservant or maidservant could only serve six years, and in the seventh they went out free. The sabbatical year proclaimed that they could no longer righteously be kept in bondage. But it had been neglected, it seems, for a very long period, probably for several hundreds of years.
The turning point was military, not moral. When the threat lifted, the reform went with it. One writer shows what that reversal did to their guilt.
But afterwards the danger was out of sight for a moment, because Nebuchadnezzar lifted the siege for a while. Then they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free… God had brought them out of bondage in Egypt. How disgraceful, then, to forget the will of the Lord about their own brothers in bondage! They could keep a foreigner as a slave without limit, but not one of their own brothers beyond six years. So they had quite forgotten their duty at home until the time of their trouble, when they read the law and obeyed it, and let their Hebrew servants go. So their guilt was much greater. They had felt their own sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen the will of God. They resolved to do it while danger pressed them, and as soon as the danger passed they went back to their evil ways.
Zedekiah led the nation at this time. One writer describes his conscience as awake but powerless.
He was an evil ruler, but he was not without kindly feeling. Many a bad man whose conscience towards God is not utterly silenced has a great deal of natural feeling. He has the sense that a thing is wrong, but he has no force to do the right. He sees what is right, and he values the man who says what is right. But he has no spiritual power to walk in that path himself.
This was no casual agreement. They cut a calf in two and walked between the halves. One writer ties that ceremony to God's covenant with Abram, and marks the difference.
These men seem to have copied this covenant with Abram in a way. But in them there was no faith counted for righteousness. They did admit, with great seriousness, that they were bound to do the will of God, and they passed between the parts of the calf. That act was a sacrificial sign to confirm the covenant before the Lord. It was also a way of calling down death on themselves if they broke it.
God answers their broken promise by pointing to a covenant of His own.
They made a covenant to free their servants who were Hebrews. They did it, but afterwards they turned back from the covenant and brought their servants back. So the Lord reminds them of His own covenant, which they had been breaking right up to that day. Therefore He proclaims "liberty" for them — to destruction, desolation, famine and dispersion!
This failure is not only ancient. One writer shows why such reforms collapse when temptation returns.
It may look as if he has succeeded, and he can keep up that look as long as no temptation comes at him. But when the chance comes, the power of evil breaks down every barrier of good resolves and intentions… Some reforms have no deeper root than the chance events of a man's life, or what man calls gratitude. Such a reform cannot last when the tempter and a good opportunity come together.
- Liberty owed — Every Hebrew servant was to go free in the seventh year. Israel had ignored that command for hundreds of years.
- Liberty granted — During the siege the people read the law, felt their guilt, and freed their servants.
- Liberty sworn — They walked between the halves of a slain calf. The act called down death on themselves if they broke the agreement, yet they had none of the faith counted for righteousness in Abram.
- Liberty revoked — The army withdrew, and they took their servants back. They knew God's will and then reversed it, and that made their guilt far greater.
- Liberty proclaimed — Since they would not release their brothers, God set them loose to destruction, desolation, famine and scattering.
And the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
In Jeremiah 34 the people pledged to free their Hebrew slaves, then took them back. This verse is the turning point: God's word reaches the prophet a second time, to answer people who obey only while they are afraid.
They kept the pledge, then reversed it. God answers with the same word they had used — liberty.
Jeremiah 34 illustrates the unfaithfulness of the people. They made a covenant to free their servants who were Hebrews. They did this, but afterwards they turned from their covenant and brought their servants back. On this the Lord reminds them of His covenant, which they had broken to that very day; therefore He proclaims "liberty" for them — to destruction, desolation, famine and dispersion!
Timing explains the reversal. Nebuchadnezzar lifted the siege, and the pledge went with the danger.
Afterwards the danger seemed past for the moment, because Nebuchadnezzar lifted the siege for a while. "They turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves." Then the word of the Lord comes through Jeremiah again: "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." How disgraceful, then! God had brought them out of slavery, yet they forgot the will of the Lord about their brothers in slavery… They had quite forgotten their duties at home until the time of their trouble. Then they read and obeyed, and let their Hebrew slaves go. So their guilt was much greater. They had felt their sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen what the will of God was. They decided to do God's will under the pressure of danger, and went straight back to their evil ways the moment the danger passed.
What they pledged was nothing new. It was an old command, ignored for centuries.
An old law from the days in the desert bound the children of Israel. No Hebrew could ever be a servant to his brother longer than seven years. The one exception was his own free choice, when his master pierced his ear… As a rule, a manservant or maidservant could only serve six years, and in the seventh they went out free. The sabbatical year declared that no master could rightly keep them in slavery any longer. But Israel seems to have ignored it for a very long time, probably for several hundred years. The prophecy of the seventy years' captivity notices this.
They did more than agree. They walked between the halves of a cut calf, copying God's covenant with Abram. The act carried its own penalty.
These men seem to have copied this covenant with Abram in a way. But in them there was no faith counted for righteousness. They did acknowledge their duty to the will of God as they passed between the parts of the calf. That act was a sacrificial sign of confirmation before the Lord. It was also like a curse of death they called down on themselves if they proved unfaithful to the covenant.
The message came to a ruler who had already shown the prophet some kindness, and whose failure was not defiance but weakness.
He was an evil ruler, but he was not without kindly feeling. Many a bad man still has a great deal of natural feeling, because his conscience towards God is not completely silent. He senses that a thing is wrong, but he has no strength to do the right. He sees what is right, and he values the man who says what is right. But no spiritual power carries him along the path of what is right.
Follow one word through the chapter — liberty:
- Liberty given. God brought Israel out of the house of slavery in Egypt. That made holding a brother as a slave disgraceful.
- Liberty commanded. Six years of service, then freedom — an old desert law they seem to have ignored for centuries.
- Liberty pledged. They cut a calf in two and walked between the parts, calling down death on themselves if they broke their word.
- Liberty withdrawn. The siege lifted, the fear passed, and they dragged the servants back. Knowing better made their guilt greater, not smaller.
- Liberty proclaimed against them. God answers with their own word: liberty — to destruction, desolation, famine and scattering.
Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother, a Hebrew, who hath sold himself unto thee; when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee. But your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
God recalls an old law here: no Israelite was to keep a fellow Israelite in service past the seventh year. He looks past the people listening to their fathers, and asks why a command so old had gone unheard for so long.
The verse names seven years and then six. One writer explains the limit, its one exception, and how long Israel ignored the whole rule:
An old law from the days of the desert bound the children of Israel. No Hebrew could ever be a servant to his brother longer than seven years. The one exception was his own free choice. Then his ear was pierced, and he, with his wife and children, if he had any, remained servants to their master for ever. But as a rule, a manservant or maidservant could only serve six years, and in the seventh they went out free. The seventh year declared that no master could rightly hold them in bondage any longer. But it seems this law was neglected for a very long time, perhaps for several hundred years.
Israel had been slaves in Egypt, and God had rescued them. That memory was meant to be what moved them toward a poor brother:
They were to remember the Lord's grace in redeeming them out of Egypt. That memory was to be the ever-present and all-powerful drive behind everything they did for the poor brother. This principle never fails, and nothing lower than it will ever stand. If we look for our motives anywhere but in God Himself and in His dealings with us, we will soon break down in daily life.
The seventh year was not just a duty to discharge. It gave them a share in God's own work of release:
We see a lovely pledge and foreshadowing of all this in the seventh year. It was "the Lord's release," so every poor debtor in the land, from Dan to Beersheba, would feel its blessed influence. The Lord would give His people a high and holy privilege: to share with Him in making a debtor's heart sing for joy. He would teach them, if they would only learn, the deep blessedness of freely forgiving everything.
The verse ends by naming the fathers. One reference work counts the years Israel owed the land and never paid:
No record survives of Israel ever keeping the Sabbatical year or the year of Jubilee. Leviticus 26:34-35 warns what would follow if they did not let the land keep its sabbaths. It reads almost like a prophecy: the land would lie desolate because it had not rested during their sabbaths. Jeremiah 25:11-12, Jeremiah 29:10 and Daniel 9:2 put that desolation at seventy years. The land was to rest one year in every seven, so those 70 years answer to 70 × 7 = 490 years.
The people of Jeremiah's day did for a time what their fathers refused. Then the danger passed, they took the freed servants back, and that made their case worse:
God had brought them out of slavery. How disgraceful, then, that they should forget the will of the Lord about their own brothers in bondage! They could keep a foreigner as a servant without limit. But they could not keep one of their own brothers more than six years. So they had quite forgotten their obligations at home. Then trouble came, and in their affliction they read the law and obeyed it, letting their Hebrew servants go free. Their guilt was therefore much greater. They had felt their own sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen what the will of God was. They resolved to do it under the pressure of danger, and then went back to their evil ways the moment the danger passed.
They broke their promise of freedom, and God answered in kind:
Jeremiah 34 illustrates the unfaithfulness of the people. They made a covenant to set free their servants who were Hebrews. They did this, but afterwards they turned from their covenant and took their servants back. The Lord then reminds them of His covenant, which they had broken to that very day. So He proclaims a "liberty" of His own for them — a liberty to destruction, desolation, famine and scattering!
- Freed — God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt, and that rescue stands behind this command.
- Therefore free — no Israelite could keep a fellow Israelite in service past six years. The seventh year ended the claim.
- Release — keeping it meant sharing with God in making a debtor's heart sing, not just clearing a legal duty.
- Refused — the fathers would not listen. The land's seventy years of desolation appear to count up the sabbaths they skipped.
- Reversed — the next generation obeyed while the danger lasted, then took their servants back. So God proclaimed to them a liberty to destruction, famine and scattering.
And you, ye had this day turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name
Jerusalem was under siege when the king and people agreed in the temple to set every Hebrew slave free. God calls that act right in His eyes, and it sets the scene for the collapse that follows.
The freedom they proclaimed was not their own idea. One commentator traces it to a law from Israel's desert days, and shows how long it was ignored.
An old law from the days of the desert bound the children of Israel. No Hebrew could be a servant to his brother longer than seven years. The one exception was his own free choice. In that case his ear was pierced, and he, with his wife and children, if he had any, stayed servants to their master for ever. But as a rule, a manservant or maidservant served only six years, and in the seventh they went out free. The sabbatical year declared that no one could rightly hold them in bondage any longer. Yet it seems this law was ignored for a very long time, probably for several hundred years.
God does not brush aside a late obedience. He calls it right. He acts the same way with King Zedekiah, who showed some kindness to Jeremiah.
But the Lord showed him mercy, I think, because of what he had done for His servant Jeremiah. "You shall not die by the sword. You shall die in peace." How gracious is the Lord! He softened the judgment that fell on Zedekiah, because the king's heart had relented towards His prophet. God does not forget the kind act.
They obeyed only when trouble closed in. The same writer shows what made the command binding, and why going back made their guilt worse.
Since God had brought them out of bondage, how shameful that they forgot the will of the Lord about their own brothers in bondage. They had completely forgotten their duties at home until trouble came. Then they read the law and obeyed it, letting their Hebrew slaves go. That made their guilt far greater. They had felt their own sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen what the will of God was, and they resolved to do it under the pressure of danger. As soon as the danger passed, they went back to their evil ways. "Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine."
This was no casual agreement. They made it in God's own house. They sealed it by walking between the parts of a calf. That sign was copied from God's covenant with Abram (Abraham), whose faith they did not share.
These men appear to have copied, in a way, this covenant with Abram. But in them there was no faith counted for righteousness. They did admit in a solemn way that they were bound to do the will of God, and they passed between the parts of the calf. That act was a sacrificial sign to confirm the agreement before the Lord. It was also a way of calling down death on themselves if they were unfaithful to the covenant.
We should not assume they were lying when they signed. One writer explains why a sincere vow still collapses.
But it is one thing, as everyone knows, to make a vow, and another to keep it. Some mighty influence moves us and cuts us off from everything except the one thing set before our souls. At such a moment it is easy to bind ourselves to pursue that one object for ever. Then the influence passes away. The object still seems as desirable as ever, but we no longer feel the drive to reach it. With this loss of power, the flesh takes over again. In the end the "covenant" that seemed so easy to keep when we made it becomes impossible, and it adds another burden to a conscience that is already bad.
- Remembered. The liberty they proclaimed was an old command about the seventh year, ignored for hundreds of years.
- Credited. God calls their act right. He forgets no kindness, not even a weak king's kindness to His prophet.
- Sealed. They confirmed it in His own house, and by walking between the parts of a calf. That called down death on themselves if they broke faith.
- Aggravated. They saw God's will and obeyed under threat. Going back once the danger eased made their guilt heavier, not lighter.
- Answered. They took back their brothers' liberty, so God proclaimed another liberty over them — sword, pestilence, famine.
but ye have turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his bondman, and every man his bondmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and ye have brought them into subjection, to be unto you for bondmen and for bondmaids.
The scene is Jerusalem under siege, with Babylon's army camped outside the walls. Under that pressure the king, the officials and the people swore to free their Hebrew servants. When the danger eased, they took them back. This verse is God's verdict on that reversal.
What changed between their promise and this verse? The siege lifted. One commentator sets that moment beside the guilt it left them with.
But afterward, when the sight of danger was past for the moment — for Nebuchadnezzar raised the siege for a while — they turned around and took back the slaves they had set free. (v. 11.) Then the word of the Lord comes by Jeremiah again: "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." How disgraceful, then, if God had brought them out of bondage, that they should forget the will of the Lord about their brothers in bondage... Their guilt was much greater, because they had felt their sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen what the will of God was, and had resolved to do it under pressure of danger. But as soon as the danger was gone, they went straight back to their evil ways.
The release was not a new idea of Zedekiah's. The same writer traces it back to a law given in the desert, and notes how long it had lain unused.
There was an old law from the days of the desert imposed on the children of Israel, that no Hebrew could ever be a servant to his brother longer than seven years. The one exception was a man who chose it himself; then he, with his wife and children, remained servants to their master for ever. But as a rule, a manservant or maidservant could only serve six years, and in the seventh they went out free. The sabbatical year proclaimed that they could no longer righteously be kept in bondage. But people had neglected it, it seems, for a very long period, probably for several hundred years.
Another commentator names the written laws behind the king's order, and what came of it:
The king had made a covenant that all Hebrew slaves should be released (Exodus 21:1-6; Deuteronomy 15:12-18). The officials and people agreed, but afterwards broke the covenant.
Taking the servants back is called a profaning of God's name. One commentator explains why, from the law where God seals each command with the words "I am the Lord."
How solemn, too, the repeated seal stamped on keeping and doing His commands: "I am the Lord." Obedience is demanded, and profaning His holy name is completely forbidden, so that He might be hallowed in His people. For indeed it was the Lord who set them apart, He who brought them out of the land of Egypt to be their God: I am the Lord... Can anything be more empty, by the very nature of the case, than professing God's name without constant reference to His word and obedience to His will?
Later in the chapter we learn how they sealed this covenant. They cut a calf in two and walked between the halves. One commentator explains what that act meant.
In these men there was no faith counted for righteousness, though they solemnly acknowledged their obligation to the will of God, passing between the calf. That was not only a sacrificial sign of confirmation before the Lord, but a way of calling death down upon themselves if they were unfaithful to the covenant... And so the Lord says to those who had passed between the parts of the calf: "I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth."
The punishment uses the same word as the crime. They withheld release, so God released them — to something else.
They made a covenant to free their servants who were Hebrews. This they did, but afterwards they turned from their covenant and brought their servants back. On this the Lord reminds them of His covenant, which they had broken to that very day. Therefore He proclaims "liberty" for them — to destruction, desolation, famine and dispersion!
- Liberty given. God brought them out of the house of slavery. That is why no Hebrew could serve a brother beyond six years.
- Liberty sworn. Under siege they obeyed the law and swore to keep it. They walked between the halves of a calf — an oath that called death down on them if they broke it.
- Liberty withdrawn. When the army pulled back, they took the freed servants again. Guilt was greater because they had already admitted the sin and seen God's will.
- Name profaned. Claiming God's name while ignoring His word is empty. He brought them out of Egypt so that He would be hallowed in His people.
- Liberty repaid. They refused freedom to their brothers. So God proclaimed a liberty of His own — to destruction, desolation, famine and dispersion.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbour behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will give you over to be driven hither and thither among all the kingdoms of the earth.
Judah had just done the right thing: under siege from Babylon, they set their Hebrew slaves free, as the law required. Then the pressure eased, they took the slaves back, and God gave them a "liberty" of His own — to the sword, to pestilence and to famine.
The release was not a new idea. It was an old law with a fixed limit built into it.
The children of Israel had an old law from their days in the desert. No Hebrew could be a servant to his brother longer than seven years. The one exception was a man's own free choice, when his master pierced his ear. Then he, with his wife and children, if he had any, stayed servants of their master for ever. But as a rule, a manservant or maidservant could only serve six years, and in the seventh they went out free. The sabbatical year declared that they could no longer rightly be kept in slavery. But this had been neglected, it seems, for a very long time, probably for several hundred years. The prophecy of the seventy years' captivity points to this. It seems to imply a period of four hundred and ninety years in which they paid no attention to the sabbatical year.
When the danger passed, they dragged the freed servants back. The timing is what makes the sentence in this verse so severe. They had already admitted the sin and acted on it.
They turned back, and made the men and women servants they had set free return, and forced them into service again... How shameful, when God had brought them out of slavery, that they should forget the will of the Lord about their own brothers in slavery. They could own a foreigner without limit, but they could not keep one of their own brothers more than six years. So they had completely forgotten their duty at home until the time of their trouble, when they read and obeyed, letting their Hebrew servants go. Their guilt was much greater for it. They had felt their own sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen what the will of God was, and they had resolved to do it under pressure of danger. Then, as soon as the danger was gone, they went back to their evil ways.
The word they refused to honour is the word God turns on them. They would not give freedom to a brother, so He gives them a freedom of His own.
Jeremiah 34 illustrates the unfaithfulness of the people. They made a covenant to set free their servants who were Hebrews. They did this, but afterwards they turned from their covenant and brought their servants back. So the Lord reminds them of His covenant, which they had broken right up to that day. Therefore He proclaims "liberty" for them — to destruction, ruin, famine and scattering!
This is not God losing patience. Commentators place it under His government of the world, where what a person does comes back on him.
"Whatever one sows, that will he also reap." This, however, is not grace but government. Still it is true of a saint as well as of a sinner... I shall never reap the reward of my sins in eternal blessedness, for that is infinite grace. But under His righteous government I will reap the reward of my wrongdoing down here... God never lets go the reins of government, even over the world, though for a time He did not step in with governmental power.
Judah's turn-around exposes a sorrow that fears the punishment and not the sin.
False repentance. Many think they repent when it is not the offence, but the penalty that troubles them; not the treason but the executioner's axe. Some think they repent when they shed a few tears, as Saul did for his unkindness to David... But for all this he follows David again. So men can lift up their voice and weep for sins, yet follow their sins again. Others give up their sin, but still keep their love for it in their hearts. They are like a snake that sheds its skin but keeps its sting.
- Liberty owed. God had brought Israel out of slavery. They were never to hold a Hebrew brother beyond six years — a law they ignored for generations.
- Liberty granted. Under siege, the people obeyed and let their servants go. They did the right thing, but only because danger pressed them.
- Liberty withdrawn. When the danger passed, they dragged the freed men back. That made the guilt heavier, not lighter: they had already seen God's will and admitted their sin.
- Liberty returned. God takes their own word and hands it back — a freedom to the sword, to famine and to scattering among the nations.
- Liberty tested. Repentance that fears only the penalty, not the sin, lasts as long as the threat lasts. That is the warning this chapter leaves.
And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, -- the calf which they cut in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
Under siege, the king and the people of Jerusalem swear before God to free their Hebrew servants. As soon as the army pulls back they take them again, so God turns the ceremony that sealed their oath into their sentence.
They kept the oath only while the danger lasted.
But afterwards the sight of danger passed for the moment, because Nebuchadnezzar raised the siege for a while. So "they turned around and made the servants and the female servants whom they had set free return, and brought them into subjection as servants and female servants." Then the word of the Lord comes by Jeremiah again... How disgraceful then, when God had brought them out of bondage, that they should forget the Lord's will about their brothers in bondage... Their guilt was much greater, because they had felt their sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen what the will of God was. They decided to do it under the pressure of danger, and as soon as the danger was gone they returned to their evil ways.
God answers the reversal in kind. They would not proclaim liberty to their brothers, so God proclaims a liberty of His own. One writer calls it "liberty" to destruction, desolation, famine and dispersion (H J Vine).
The strange picture in this verse was ordinary legal practice in that world. A death gave a covenant its force.
After they took this oath, a covenant confirmed it. In those days people sealed a covenant by cutting a victim in halves, and the two sides then passed between the parts. This shows how seriously they took the shedding of blood, or the taking of life, in that day. No testament, again, was in force as long as the person who made it was alive (Hebrews 9:17). In this case too the one who made it had to die. In our case the Lord Jesus died and rose again. On that basis God has made with His people an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure.
So the men of Jerusalem had done more than break a promise. By walking between the halves of the calf they had already said what should happen to them if they failed.
These men seem to have imitated this covenant with Abram in a way. But in them there was no faith counted for righteousness, though they solemnly acknowledged their obligation to the will of God. They passed between the calf. That was a sacrificial sign of confirmation before the Lord. It was also a way of calling down death on themselves if they were unfaithful to the covenant, like the children of Israel in Exodus 24.
God holds them to their own words. Two verses on, He says their dead bodies will be food for the birds and the beasts — the fate of the divided animal they had stepped over.
Commentators trace the rite back to God's covenant with Abram in Genesis 15. The key detail there is who walked between the pieces.
What sealed all this as a covenant came after dark. A smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between the divided pieces of the sacrifice. In this twofold way God showed His presence. There was no thought of Abram passing between the pieces, as though he were pledging himself to anything. It was God pledging Himself to do as He had just said, and in an unconditional way.
That is the whole difference. Abraham received a promise God bound Himself to keep. The men of Jerusalem bound themselves, and could not keep it.
One writer puts the two covenants side by side, and shows where each leaves a person.
The first covenant was not made without the sprinkling of blood, but it put man behind death. If you do not obey, all is lost; Jeremiah 34:16-20. If they did not obey, they must die. They had promised obedience and sealed that promise with the sprinkling of the blood. In Abraham's case, God made a promise to him and sealed it by passing between the pieces, by death... Now, under grace, we see sin entirely put away. If we had died, judgment must have come on us. Christ came into it and bore the judgment for us, so we are free from the whole thing.
- Promise. Under siege the people swore to free their Hebrew servants. They took them back the moment the army pulled away. Knowing sin makes the guilt heavier, not lighter.
- Pledge. In that day people sealed a covenant by cutting a victim in half and walking between the parts. Life was the price of the agreement.
- Curse. Walking between the parts confirmed the covenant before the Lord. It also called death down on the men if they broke it.
- Contrast. Abram never walked between the pieces in Genesis 15. God alone passed through, and He pledged Himself with no conditions.
- Gospel. A covenant that rests on man's obedience puts him behind death: disobey and all is lost. Christ bore that judgment, so those who are His are free from the whole thing.
-- the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf;
Jeremiah 34 falls during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. The king and people promised before God to free their Hebrew slaves, then took them back. Verse 19 names everyone who walked between the halves of the calf. Why does God list each group?
What made the reversal so serious was that they had already done the right thing once.
But afterwards, when the sight of danger had passed for the moment — Nebuchadnezzar lifted the siege for a while — they turned back. They made the male and female servants they had set free return, and forced them into service again. ... How disgraceful, then, that God had brought them out of bondage and they forgot the will of the Lord about their brothers in bondage! ... So their guilt was much greater. They had felt their sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen what the will of God was, and they had resolved to do it under the pressure of danger. But as soon as the pressure was gone, they returned to their evil ways.
Cutting a calf in two and walking between the halves meant something definite to the men who did it.
These men seem to have copied this covenant with Abram in a way. But in them there was no faith counted for righteousness. Still, they solemnly acknowledged their obligation to the will of God as they passed between the calf. That act was not only a sacrificial sign of confirmation before the Lord. It was also a calling down of death upon themselves if they were unfaithful to the covenant.
The sentence God passed matched the curse they had called down on themselves.
And so the Lord says to those who had passed between the parts of the calf that He will give them into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.
The same act appears in Abraham's life, with one decisive change. There God Himself passed between the pieces.
Next, the Lord encourages him by binding Himself now with a solemn act of His own. In it He could not deny Himself, or lie as a man would in a similar solemn covenant. He passes between the pieces of the victim.
The verse names every rank — officials of Judah and Jerusalem, court officials, priests and ordinary people. The same failure ran from the princes down through the nation.
And now we shall see that the people become like their princes. Like master, like man. ... Jeremiah 34 shows their state. The princes and the people make a covenant and break it soon after. So Jerusalem, the princes and the people will become "a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse." And His word came true with startling exactness.
Kelly traces the same likeness up to the king:
If the king was a righteous man, the Lord always brought blessing to the people for his sake alone. If the king was godless, his evil drew down chastening on the people. Sadly, where there was a godless king, there was also a godless people. We may say, Like people, like king; and not only "Like people, like priest."
God's answer takes the very word they had used and turns it against them.
They made a covenant to free their servants who were Hebrews. This they did, but afterwards they turned from their covenant and brought the servants back. On this the Lord reminds them of His own covenant, which they had broken right up to that very day. So He proclaims "liberty" for them — to destruction, desolation, famine and dispersion!
Darby sets this broken covenant beside the first covenant, where obedience was the rule and blood sealed the promise. He then shows where it all ends.
If you do not obey, all is lost (Jeremiah 34:16-20). If they did not obey, they must die. They promised obedience, and the blood sprinkled on them sealed that promise. ... Many symbols showed that death had to come in, but obedience was the rule, and so all was failure. Yet the principle ran all through — there must be blood. Now, under grace, we see sin put away completely. If we had died, judgment must have come on us. Christ coming into it, and bearing the judgment for us, we are free from the whole thing.
- Promise. They pledged before God to free their Hebrew slaves. They did it — then took them back as soon as the siege lifted.
- Pledge. Walking between the halves of the calf was a self-curse. It called down the death of the animal on them if they broke faith.
- Contrast. With Abraham, God Himself passed between the pieces and bound Himself, because He cannot lie. These men bound themselves and broke faith.
- Spread. The verse names officials, priests and common people together — like master, like man; like people, like king. So the judgment falls on all.
- Payment. They would not proclaim liberty, so God proclaimed a liberty of destruction, famine and dispersion. The broken covenant demanded death — and Christ bore that judgment to set the guilty free.
them will I give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their carcases shall be food for the fowl of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth.
Jerusalem was under siege, and the men addressed here had sworn a public oath to free their Hebrew slaves — then took them back as soon as the Babylonian army pulled away. Verse 20 is their sentence, and it raises two questions: why it falls on these men, and why it leaves them unburied.
To seal the oath they cut a calf in two and walked between the halves. That act called down on them what had happened to the calf:
These men seem to have copied, in a way, this covenant with Abram. But in them there was no faith counted for righteousness. They did solemnly acknowledge their obligation to the will of God, passing between the calf. The calf was not only a sacrificial sign for confirmation before the Lord. It was also a kind of calling down of death upon themselves if they were unfaithful to the covenant, like the children of Israel in Exodus 24.
What makes their guilt heavier is not ignorance but retreat. They had seen God's will, acted on it while afraid, and dropped it when the pressure lifted:
They had completely forgotten their obligations at home until the time of their trouble. Then they read and obeyed, letting their Hebrew slaves go. So their guilt was much greater, because they had felt their own sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen what the will of God was. They resolved to do it under the pressure of danger. But as soon as the danger was gone, they returned to their evil ways. "Therefore, thus says the Lord, You have not listened to Me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother... behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, says the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine."
The same rite appears in God's covenant with Abram, with one difference. Abram watched; God alone moved between the pieces:
The ratification of all this as a covenant was when, after dark, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between the divided pieces of the sacrifice. In this twofold way God showed His presence. There was no thought of Abram passing between the pieces, as though he were pledging himself to anything. It was God pledging Himself to do as He had just said, and that in an unconditional way.
The verse ends with bodies left for birds and beasts. Jeremiah had already announced that judgment over this city:
One of the judgments pronounced on the people of Jerusalem was that they should not be buried. Birds and wild beasts would eat their bodies. Jeremiah 16:4.
The next verse names Zedekiah and his princes, and their sentence is not the same. God had promised this king a peaceful death, and one commentator gives the reason:
"You shall not die by the sword, but you shall die in peace." How gracious is Jehovah! He softened the judgment that fell on Zedekiah, because the king's heart had relented towards His prophet. The kindly act is not forgotten by God.
A covenant that rests on human promise can end only in death. Under grace, the outcome changes:
The first covenant was not made without the sprinkling of blood, but it threw the man back behind death. If you do not obey, all is lost; Jeremiah 34:16-20. If they did not obey, they had to die. They had promised obedience, and blood sprinkled on them sealed that promise... Now, under grace we see the whole putting away of sin. If we had died, judgment must have come on us. Christ coming into it, and bearing the judgment for us, we are free from the whole thing.
- Oath. Walking between the halves of the calf called down death on you if you broke faith. Verse 20 gives these men what they asked for.
- Betrayal. Fear of the siege made them obey. They took the slaves back when the army pulled away, and that made the guilt greater.
- Sentence. They refused liberty to their brothers. God gave them a liberty of their own: to sword, pestilence and famine, with bodies left for birds and beasts.
- Mercy. God did not forget Zedekiah's kindness to the prophet, so He softened the king's sentence.
- Substitute. A covenant resting on human promise throws people back behind death. Abram's covenant rested on God walking alone, and Christ bore the judgment to set the guilty free.
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.
Jeremiah 34 ends with sentence passed on a king and his officials. They had just broken a promise made to God during a siege, and now God hands them over to the army whose retreat had made them feel safe.
Under threat from Babylon, the people had freed their Hebrew servants. The moment the pressure lifted, they took them back.
But afterwards the danger seemed to be over for the moment, because Nebuchadnezzar called off the siege for a while. Then "they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves." … Their guilt was much greater. They had felt their sin and their fathers' sin. They had seen what the will of God was. They had decided to do it while danger pressed them, and then went back to their evil ways as soon as the danger passed. "Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother … behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine."
A few verses earlier, the people sealed their promise with a ritual. They walked between the halves of a cut animal.
These men seem to have copied that covenant with Abram in a way. But in them there was no faith counted for righteousness. They did solemnly acknowledge their duty to the will of God as they passed between the parts of the calf. That act was a sacrificial sign of confirmation before the Lord. It was also a way of calling down death on themselves if they broke the covenant, like the children of Israel in Exodus 24.
The Hebrew wording describes the act itself.
The Hebrew word for making a covenant means, literally, to cut a covenant. Any covenant at all — between people, or as in this case between God and man — was made by taking an animal and cutting it in two. The parties then passed between the pieces, and so blood sealed the covenant.
The army "which has withdrawn from you" points to a real lull in the war. Egypt's army had come, and Babylon pulled back from the city.
Now there was no faith in the policy of Zedekiah or his advisers. Egypt stepped in, and the brief relief left them elated. At once they let themselves hope that Jeremiah was wrong to predict that Nebuchadnezzar would win and Judah would fall. … "Thus says the Lord: Do not deceive yourselves, saying, 'The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,' for they will not go away." … The help of man is useless against the word of God. This was not the first time Egypt had proved a broken reed, piercing the hand of those who leaned on it.
The verse names the king and his officials together. Rossier shows where the real power sat.
In fact it is the king who is the captive of his captains and his princes, and he does not dare resist them. In reality he did not hate Jeremiah. The fear of men pressed him, instead of the fear of the Lord ruling him — the Lord whom he had despised and dishonoured.
Kelly also notes that this verse sets out a different end from the one announced just before it.
They were not to be killed like the others. They were to be taken prisoner and humiliated, though God might lessen their calamity, as we have seen in the case of Zedekiah. … The ways of the Lord are solemn, whether with the guilty king … or with the princes and priests, the still more guilty advisers of the king.
Kelly weighs what kind of king Zedekiah was.
There were worse kings than he, and he showed some willingness to listen to the prophet. Still, Zedekiah brought on the crisis of judgment for Jerusalem and his people. It is not the most daring man who does the worst deed. Weakness may be guilty where there is no looking to God for strength. … But the Lord showed him mercy, because, I think, of what he had done for His servant Jeremiah: "You shall not die by the sword. You shall die in peace." … How gracious the Lord is! He softened the judgment that fell on Zedekiah, because the king's heart had relented towards His prophet. God does not forget a kind act.
- Cut — To make a covenant was to cut one. The parties walked between the halves of a killed animal, and blood sealed the deal.
- Curse — Walking between the pieces called down death on yourself if you broke faith. Verse 21 enforces that clause.
- Cancelled — They freed their servants while danger pressed, then took them back when it lifted. Knowing God's will first made their guilt heavier, not lighter.
- Conned — The retreating army looked like rescue, but it was only a pause. Leaning on Egypt against God's word was leaning on a broken reed.
- Compassion — Even here judgment came measured: capture instead of slaughter. God did not forget one small kindness shown to His prophet.