An Empire Ends A New One Begins - Jeremiah 34

Battles were raging. Town after town had fallen to Nebuchadnezzar’s forces. The fortified cities of Lachish, Azekah and Jerusalem were Judea’s last hold outs. Imagine the bloodshed! Lifeless bodies littering the landscape! Some killed by swords; others pierced with arrows! Buildings on fire! Ragged refugees running for their lives! Such great tribulation!

“The Word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, thus says the Lord: behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. And you shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be taken and delivered into his hand; your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, he shall speak with you face to face, and you shall go to Babylon.’” Jeremiah 34:1-3

Have you ever been the bearer of bad news to a person who is in-charge of an already failing operation? Jeremiah had bad news for King Zedekiah. The city will be conquered. It will be burned down. Zedekiah shall come face to face with the King of Babylon.

A greater tribulation than Judah’s is yet to come. In Matthew 24:20-22, Jesus said, “And pray that your flight may not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

People will need more than head knowledge about Jesus in that day to survive. They will need a relationship like Jeremiah’s with the Lord. Close, personal and constantly abiding in Him!

The Lord revealed to John in Revelation 20:11-15 a great white throne and Him that sat on it. Earth and sky fled from His face. He saw the dead stand before God. Their works were recorded in books. Those books were opened. They were judged according to those works. “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Everlasting tribulation!

Thus, it is so for every person who rejects Christ. Such a person is judged not by Christ’s merits but by his or her own. In Acts 10:43, the apostles proclaimed, “To Him [Jesus Christ] all the prophets witness that, through His Name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.” Forgiveness of sin via faith in Jesus is the Gospel.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 says that when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, He will take vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the Gospel. “These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”

Zedekiah’s doubt did not stop God’s Word from coming to pass.

Amidst tribulation, the Lord did provide some good news for Zedekiah...

“Yet hear the Word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you: you shall not die by the sword. You shall die in peace; as in the ceremonies of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they shall burn incense for you and lament for you, saying, ‘Alas, Lord! For I have pronounced the Word, says the Lord.’” Jeremiah 34:4-5

During the decline of his nation, the Lord brought forth a word of consolation to Zedekiah. “You will not die by the sword. You will die in peace.” Zedekiah failed God and nation but was given a peaceful end.

“Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and Azekah; for only these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah. This is the Word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them: that every man should set free his male and female slave—a Hebrew man or woman—that no one should keep a Jewish brother in bondage.” Jeremiah 34:6-9

“By law, a Hebrew after having been a bond-servant for six years, on the seventh year was to be set free.” [JFBC] That was God’s law. In Jeremiah 34:15-19, Zedekiah made a covenant with a solemn ceremony in the temple to set the bond-servants free.

The Babylonian army surrounded Jerusalem. After Jeremiah told Zedekiah that he would go to his grave in peace, King Zedekiah urged the people of Judah to let their slaves go free.

“Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that everyone should set free his male and female slaves, that no one should keep them in bondage anymore, they obeyed and let them go.” Jeremiah 34:10

As tribulations intensified, they obeyed the Lord in this matter. Wow, a miracle! The Lord honored their obedience. He caused the mighty Babylonian army to withdraw.

I wish that was the end of this chapter. It would have been a happy ending. I can hardly believe what Zedekiah and his people did after the Babylonians departed...

“But afterward they changed their minds and made the male and female slaves return, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male and female slaves.” Jeremiah 34:11

“This is how many ungodly people are in life-or-death situations. In desperation they cry out to God to save them. They pledge to give Him their undying devotion if He will only deliver them this once. But when God answers their prayers, they go right back into their former way of life.” [1]

Can you imagine the disbelief and despair on the faces of their slaves? They were set free. They celebrated with great joy. Now, they were back to being slaves again.

In Matthew 18:23-35, Jesus told a parable in which a king forgave a servant’s great debt because he humbled himself and pleaded for mercy. But afterwards, that same servant refused to forgive his fellow servant a small debt. So, the king had the unforgiving servant arrested and handed over to tormentors. “So,” said Jesus, “My heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

The king and his cohorts failed to forgive the debt of their servants. How did God respond to their misdeeds? He made a new promise to them...

“Therefore the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying, at the end of seven years let every man set free his Hebrew brother, who has been sold to him; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you. But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear. Then you recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My Name.” Jeremiah 34:12-15

In Luke 4:18, Jesus said that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him to... proclaim liberty to the captives... to set at liberty those who are oppressed. The Lord wants us to emulate His love for captives.

“Then you turned around and profaned My Name, and every one of you brought back his male and female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves. Therefore, thus says the Lord: you have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, everyone to his brother and every one to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim liberty to you, says the Lord—to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth.” Jeremiah 34:16-17

The re-enslavement of slaves set free was the last straw. God promised them tribulations. He called Babylon to return and finish the job they had left undone.

The last year of Zedekiah’s reign was a sabbatical year. A year to set slaves free! God’s retribution was right. He sent the royals into bondage and He had their slaves set free.

In Philemon 1:10-19, Paul wrote a letter to a slave master named Philemon. Paul appealed to Philemon to set his slave Onesimus free. Paul asked Philemon to see Onesimus as a brother. Onesimus had believed in Jesus. Paul also wanted to Onesimus to remain with him and help him. He offered to pay any debt that Onesimus owed to Philemon.

“And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it—the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who 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 life. Their dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth.” Jeremiah 34:18-20

During the covenant they made before God in His house to emancipate their slaves, they passed through the parts of an animal cut in two, implying that they wished to be cut asunder if they broke the covenant that they made in God’s house. [JFBC]

Talking about being cut asunder... in Matthew 24:48-51, Jesus told of an evil servant who beat his fellow servants. He ate and drank with drunkards. Suddenly, his master showed up and had him cut asunder. This parable speaks to the mistreatment that Zedekiah and his men gave to their servants.

“And I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army which has gone back from you.” Jeremiah 34:21

J. Gresham Machen wrote, “Emancipation from the blessed will of God always involves bondage to some worse taskmaster.”

Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken wrote, “The emancipation revocation was not the first time Zedekiah had acted in bad faith.” “Perjury and slavery are contrary to the character of God. God always keeps His Word. How can God’s people be covenant-breakers when their God is a covenant-keeper.” “The reason Nebuchadnezzar was paying such an unfriendly visit to Jerusalem was because Zedekiah had broken his promise. Zedekiah’s example teaches what a wicked thing it is to go back on one’s word.” [2]

Ezekiel 17:12-17 says that King Nebuchadnezzar brought Jerusalem’s King Jehoiachin to Babylon. After that, he placed Zedekiah on Jerusalem’s throne. Zedekiah was to collect taxes from the people for Babylon. What did Zedekiah do? He asked Egypt to help him dispel the Babylonians. But Pharaoh’s mighty army would be of no help to Zedekiah] in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives.”

“Behold, I will command, says the Lord, and cause them [the Babylonians] to return to this city. They will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.” Jeremiah 34:22

The New Testament speaks of a crueler enemy than Nebuchadnezzar. His name is Satan. Satan means adversary or accuser. In John 10:10, he is a thief. In Revelation 12:10, he is the accuser of the brothers. In Matthew 4:3, he is the tempter. In Isaiah 14:13-14 and Luke 10:18, he is a fallen angel. In Ephesians 6:11, Paul advises you to “put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Satan wants people to sin so he can gain control over them. In Matthew 5:25, Jesus said, “Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.” In other words, if you sin, confess it to God, ask God to forgive you, and to cleanse it from you via the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.

It is better to say with Augustus Toplady, “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling. Naked, come to you for dress; helpless, look to you for grace. Foul, I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die.” Or to pray as the repentant tax collector prayed in Luke 18:13, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” In Luke 18:14, the man who turned to God went away justified.

We need Jesus to overcome the works of the devil. In 1 John 3:8, John wrote, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil.” In Matthew 4:10, when tempted by the devil, Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan!” In Romans 16:20, Paul proclaimed, “The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.”

“The freedom Jesus offers is the best of all freedoms – freedom from sin. There has never been any worse slavery than slavery to sin. If slavery to sin is the worst of all slaveries, then freedom from sin is the best of all freedoms.” “If you have been set free from sin, then why would you ever want to go back into bondage? That would be as wicked as what Zedekiah did when he took free men and put them back into slavery.” [3]

Zedekiah and the wealthy people of Jerusalem should not have made free people captives once again. Theirs was an anti-example of Christ. The Lord had to uproot them from Jerusalem. He called Israel to be His witness. The Lord had to do as He said He would in Jeremiah 1:10, “Root out, pull down, destroy and throw down” before He could rebuild and replant Jerusalem to be a city on a hill, a lamp on a stand and the salt of the earth.

After the Babylonian captivity ended, the Lord rebuilt Jerusalem with godly men like Nehemiah, Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah, Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest. They honored and served God.

I want to live in a city built and ruled by God, don’t you?

After the end times tribulation, New Jerusalem will come down from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Out of the chaos will come order. The city’s Builder and Maker is God. There will be a “new heaven and a new earth.”

Isaiah 61:3 says that the Lord gives “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” to those who trust in Him.

Now may “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (2 Corinthians 13:14)



[JFBC] Jamieson-Fausset Brown Commentary

[1] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 529-530

[2] Ibid

[3] Dr. Phillip Graham Ryken, Jeremiah and Lamentations from Sorrow to Hope, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, © 2001, p. 533