Jeremiah · chapter 34 of 52
Updated on
Jeremiah 34 contains two messages during the siege of Jerusalem. First, the Lord warns Zedekiah that the city will be burned and he will fall into the hands of the king of Babylon, though he will die in peace. Then the Lord condemns the owners who freed their Hebrew slaves in a solemn covenant and afterward took them back, and announces that he will hand them over to the sword, famine and plague.
Nebuchadnezzar's army is attacking Jerusalem and the last fortified cities of Judah. At this moment of crisis, King Zedekiah and the leaders make a religious decision that looks generous but ends in betrayal. Jeremiah 34 shows that the covenant with God includes how we treat people, and that one cannot invoke his name and then break the promise.
While Nebuchadnezzar and his army fight against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah, the Lord sends Jeremiah to Zedekiah with a message: the city will be handed over to the king of Babylon and burned, and Zedekiah himself will not escape but will be captured and speak with the king face to face. But the Lord promises that he will not die by the sword: he will die in peace, and they will mourn him and burn incense in his honor as for his ancestors. Jeremiah delivers the message in Jerusalem while only Lachish and Azekah remain standing among the fortified cities.
King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to the Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one would hold a fellow Jew as a slave. The officials and people obeyed and let their slaves go. But afterward they changed their minds, took them back and forced them into slavery again.
Then the word of the Lord comes. He reminds them that when he brought their ancestors out of Egypt he commanded them to release a Hebrew brother after six years, a command their ancestors did not keep. Now they had proclaimed liberty before the Lord, in the temple, and then profaned his name. Because they have not proclaimed liberty, the Lord proclaims liberty for them to the sword, plague and famine. Those who passed between the pieces of the divided calf in the covenant will be handed over to their enemies, and so will Zedekiah and his officials; the Babylonian army, which had withdrawn, will return and burn the city.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord promises Zedekiah that he will not die by the sword but in peace, with the mourning and honors of his ancestors. Even in the middle of judgment, God shows personal mercy toward a weak king who ignored many warnings.
The king and the people make a covenant to free the Hebrew slaves, and at first they obey. The text does not hide that the obedience was real, but it did not last, and that makes the later accusation heavier.
They had done what was right before the Lord and made a covenant in his house, but they profaned it by taking their slaves back. To invoke God's name and then break the promise is to treat his name lightly.
Because they did not proclaim liberty to their neighbors, the Lord proclaims liberty for them: liberty to the sword, plague and famine. The punishment mirrors the sin, for those who denied freedom to others receive a freedom that leaves them unprotected.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Lachish and Azekah, the only fortified cities that remained. — Jeremiah 34:7
Answer: In peace, not by the sword, and they will mourn him and burn incense in his honor. — Jeremiah 34:4-5
Answer: To proclaim liberty to the Hebrew slaves, so that no one would hold a fellow Jew as a slave. — Jeremiah 34:8-9
Answer: They changed their minds, took them back and forced them into slavery again. — Jeremiah 34:11
Answer: Liberty to the sword, to plague and to famine. — Jeremiah 34:17
Answer: They cut a calf in two and passed between its pieces. — Jeremiah 34:18-19
Jeremiah 34 reminds us that our promises matter to God. The slave owners made a solemn commitment but canceled it when it became inconvenient. In a small group you can ask which promises made before God, in a wedding, a volunteer role or a decision to give, we are tempted to abandon when they cost us.
The chapter also joins faith with justice toward the weak. God cares how we treat those who depend on us, such as workers, employees or relatives. Check whether there is someone you should treat more justly, and remember that faithfulness to God shows in how we care for others.
Jeremiah 34 shows a people who invoke the covenant with God and break it as soon as danger seems to pass. In chapter 35, God contrasts that unfaithfulness with the faithfulness of a simple group, the Rechabites, who obey the instructions of their ancestor.
The law given to Israel, which ordered a Hebrew slave to be set free after six years of service, as found in Exodus 21 and Deuteronomy 15. The owners had not been keeping it, and Zedekiah's covenant looked like a return to that forgotten obedience.
It was an ancient rite for sealing a covenant. Whoever passed between the pieces accepted that something similar might happen to him if he broke his promise. Jeremiah uses the image to show that those who betrayed the covenant exposed themselves to death.