By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher
Text: Jeremiah
34:1-22
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. 5 You shall die in peace. And as spices were burned
for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall burn
spices for you and lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the
word, declares the Lord.”
(ESV)
I woke up this morning and
discovered the bank had paid me seven cents in interest in my checking account.
This led me to imagine what one could do with seven cents. I thought about
buying a drop of gas but wondered if seven cents could even buy a drop of gas
at over five dollars a gallon. I thought about something to eat and realized
that all seven cents might buy is a sesame seed on a hamburger bun. Instead of
spending the money frivolously, I decided to take my windfall profit of seven
cents, along with my own money, and buy a smoothie or coffee drink at Church
this weekend because the money goes to missions. In other words, the seven
cents, along with some other money, is going to missions.
Jeremiah 34:1-22 records three
words from the Lord.
1) The
City of Jerusalem will fall to the Babylonians (Jeremiah
34:1-5) – The army of Judah is fighting against the invading Babylonian
army which means the people of Judah still believe their army can defeat the
Babylonian Army (Jeremiah
34:1). This prompts the Lord to issue a command to Jeremiah to give a word
to King Zedekiah reminding him that the city of Jerusalem will fall to the
Babylonians (Jeremiah
34:2). The Lord's word to King Zedekiah continues by telling Zedekiah that
the Babylonians will capture him and that he will meet the king of Babylon
face-to-face (Jeremiah
34:3-4). However, King Zedekiah will not die by the sword but die in peace
in Babylon (Jeremiah
34:5).
2) Continued
disobedience (Jeremiah
34:6-16) – The second word from the Lord occurs during the Babylonian
attack on Jerusalem and the fortified cities of Lachish and Azekah (Jeremiah
34:6-7). The Word also came after a proclamation made by King Zedekiah to
set their Hebrew slaves free, something that was part of the Levitical law in
Israel (Deuteronomy
15:12; Jeremiah 34:8-9). While the people of Judah initially obeyed the
king’s proclamation, they went back on their word and took their Hebrew slaves
back into slavery (Jeremiah
34:10-11). Not only was this disobedience in violation of the King's
proclamation but it also went against the command of the Lord in Deuteronomy
15:12 to free their Hebrew slaves after six years during the seventh year something
their fathers had not obeyed (Jeremiah
34:13-14). King Zedekiah’s proclamation and the initial obedience to the
proclamation was an act of repentance by the people of Judah (Jeremiah
34:15). However, the people going back on their word by taking back their
Hebrew slaves negates their initial repentance and is continued disobedience of
God (Jeremiah
34:16).
3) Consequences
of a broken covenant (Jeremiah
34:17-22) – Instead of enjoying the benefit of repentance, in the third word
of the Lord, the people of Judah find out they will suffer consequences for
their continued disobedience. The consequences will be death by the sword, pestilence,
and famine (Jeremiah
34:17). In the ancient world during the time of Jeremiah, individuals would
walk between the halves of a slaughtered calf indicating their agreement to
honor the covenant. God compares those that transgressed the King’s
proclamation to the slaughtered calf (Jeremiah
34:18-19). The transgressors will die with their bodies becoming food for
the birds and beasts (Jeremiah
34:20). The fate of King Zedekiah and his officials is capture by the army
of the King of Babylon with the cities of Judah becoming a desolation without
inhabitants (Jeremiah
34:21-22).
The context of Jeremiah
34:1-22 is the people of Judah at war with Babylon (Jeremiah
34:1). While it is understandable that the people of Judah would fight
against an invading army to protect Jerusalem. They have had ample warning from
God and the opportunity to repent of their disobedience to God. Their fighting
against Babylon is futile for they are about to go into exile as prophesized by
God (Jeremiah
13:15-27). As a further example of disobedience, Jeremiah reminds them of
the commandment to free their slaves after six years of servitude during the
seventh year (Deuteronomy
15:12). Even in the face of attack from the armies of Babylon, the people
disobey the proclamation of king Zedekiah to free their Hebrew slaves per God’s
Word, by freeing their Hebrew slaves, only to conscript them into slavery again
(Jeremiah
34:8-11). God’s people must not be just hearers of the Word, but doers of
the Word (James
1:22-25).
I encourage everyone reading this
post to learn more about God through His Word, the Bible. However, just as
Jesus told the woman at the well, true worshippers of God worship in spirit and
truth (John
4:23), knowing the truth of God’s word is insufficient unless accompanied by
the spirit of obedience to the Word. My prayer to those reading this is that
they would continue gaining knowledge of God’s Word and not forget to apply the
truths learned to their lives. A world in chaos must see God’s people living in
obedience to the Word of God and how it benefits one’s life. If anyone is
reading this and has not accepted Jesus as their personal savior, I encourage
you to do so now by praying with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
May God challenge and bless everyone
reading this post.
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