Jeremiah 34:8
The Bible says in Jeremiah 34:8-11, “This is the
word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had
made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim
liberty unto them;[9] That every man should let his manservant, and
every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none
should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.[10] Now when
all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard
that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go
free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and
let them go.[11] But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and
the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into
subjection for servants and for handmaids.” This passage of
scripture involves at least two problems with the human race: 1. Slavery and 2.
Not keeping one’s word. Concerning slavery, it is the sad truth that throughout
human history people have enslaved their fellowman over and over again. This
passage of scripture reminds us that God wants to give people liberty. The
founders of the
The people of
The Bible says in Jeremiah 34:12-17, “Therefore
the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,[13] Thus
saith the LORD, 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
bondmen, saying,[14] At the end of seven years let ye go every man his
brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and 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.[15] And ye were now 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:[16]
But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every
man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and
brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.[17]
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming
liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I
proclaim a liberty for you, saith 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.” The covenant that God is talking about in this passage is
of course the covenant of the law that was given through Moses. The Israelites
of the Old Testament and those up until the death of Christ lived under the
covenant of the law. We know that the Israelites did not keep the covenant, and
thus was their downfall. We who believe in Jesus are under a better covenant
because we have a covenant of promise based upon what Jesus did for us instead
of what we can do for Him. Of course, He wants us to obey Him too, but the
covenant of grace is not based upon our obedience. It is all of grace and of
faith.
What is really interesting about this
passage in Jeremiah 34:12-17 is what this passage gives as evidence of the fact
that the Israelites had broken the covenant. The covenant of the law was made
up not only of the Ten Commandments, but also of hundreds of other
commandments. To keep the law required keeping all of the commandments. To fail
in just one was a failure to keep the law. That is why it says in Galatians
3:10-13, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse:
for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which
are written in the book of the law to do them.[11] But that no man is
justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall
live by faith.[12] And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth
them shall live in them.[13] Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree.” The Israelites had failed in everything. They were idolaters,
they were adulterers, they were violent, and they were liars, among many other
sins and failures. They broke all the laws of God, and yet notice in this
passage in Jeremiah what God singled out as their great failure that got His
attention, and that resulted in God saying that this was the evidence that they
had broken God’s covenant. God made it very clear what was so odious to Him. He
said in Jeremiah 34:16, “But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his
servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their
pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection.” God wants
every person to be free: to experience freedom and to enjoy freedom. Notice
that it also says in Jeremiah 34:17, “Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye
have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother,
and every man to his neighbour.” God wanted them to “proclaim” liberty. One of
the important activities to retain freedom in any country is to “proclaim”
liberty. Everyone needs to be reminded, constantly reminded that freedom takes
preeminence over everything else. Freedom is more important than prosperity.
Freedom is more important than peace. Freedom is more important than security.
Samuel Francis Smith, the writer of “My County Tis of Thee,” had it right when
he penned in the first stanza: “Let freedom ring.”
God gives freedom to all: both
believers and unbelievers: freedom to chose and freedom of will. Freedom is
God’s will, and God is good. Anyone who takes away freedom from other people is
not serving God, but is serving the worst elements of human nature. When the
Israelites were making servants out of their countrymen, they were proving how
wicked and ungodly they had become.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 34:18-22, “And I will
give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the
words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in
twain, and passed between the parts thereof,[19] The princes of Judah,
and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people
of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;[20] I will even
give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek
their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the
heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.[21] 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.[22] Behold, I will command, saith the LORD,
and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and
take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a
desolation without an inhabitant.” This is a
pronouncement of a death penalty to these people. Of course, the law always
brings a death-penalty, not because of the law but because of man’s failure to
keep the law. The law cannot make you righteous because you do not keep the
law. The law can only lead you to Christ by teaching you that you are a sinner
and that you need a Savior. It says in Galatians 3:24, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto
Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
The Bible says in Jeremiah 35:1-14, “The word
which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of
Josiah king of Judah, saying,[2] Go unto the house of the Rechabites,
and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the
chambers, and give them wine to drink.[3] Then I took Jaazaniah the son
of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the
whole house of the Rechabites;[4] And I brought them into the house of
the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of
God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of
Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:[5] And I set before
the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said
unto them, Drink ye wine.[6] But they said, We will drink no wine: for
Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no
wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:[7] Neither shall ye build
house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye
shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be
strangers.[8] Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab
our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we,
our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;[9] Nor to build houses for us to
dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:[10] But we have
dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our
father commanded us.[11] But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king
of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to
Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of
the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.[12] Then came the word of the
LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,[13] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye
not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.[14] The
words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink
wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's
commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking;
but ye hearkened not unto me.” God found a family where the
members of the family obeyed the father, and God said that this family was
symbolic of how believers ought to be under the spiritual direction of their
heavenly Father. And so we see one of the reasons that God established a family
with a father at the head of that family. From your relationship with those in
your family, you should learn how to obey God. If you rebel against the
constituted authority of you family structure, you are learning to rebel
against God. Of course, with the family used in this example, the father issued
a righteous commandment. We live in crazy times in these last days. You have no
obligation to follow the directive of a parent who gives you unrighteous
directions. Your responsibility is always to Jesus first. But even if you have
unrighteous parents whom you cannot follow, you can still have an attitude of
honor towards them. It says in the fifth commandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be
long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”
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Copyright; 2013 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved