1 - 7 Announcement of the End of Zedekiah
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying, 2 “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him: “Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. 3 You will not escape from his hand, for you will surely be captured and delivered into his hand; and you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face, and you will go to Babylon.’”‘ 4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the LORD concerning you, ‘You will not die by the sword. 5 You will die in peace; and as [spices] were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will burn [spices] for you; and they will lament for you, “Alas, lord!”‘ For I have spoken the word,” declares the LORD. 6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the remaining cities of Judah, [that is], Lachish and Azekah, for they [alone] remained as fortified cities among the cities of Judah.
After the “book of comfort” (Jeremiah 30-33) we are back to everyday life. The word of the LORD comes to Jeremiah at the moment when the entire world is gathered against Jerusalem (verse 1). Nebuchadnezzar and all his army and all the kingdoms over which he rules and all the nations over which he does not rule are fighting against Jerusalem and all the cities that belong to it. Jerusalem is the target. In that situation, the LORD instructs Jeremiah to go to Zedekiah saying that He will give the city into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar who will burn it with fire (verse 2).
The LORD alludes to Zedekiah’s fleeing when He says that he will certainly be seized and brought before Nebuchadnezzar personally (verse 3). His fleeing will be futile. He will come to Babylon. He will come face to face with the king of Babylon, but Babylon itself he will not see, because his eyes will be put out before he is taken to Babylon (Jer 52:11; Eze 12:13b).
In His mercy, the LORD also says that Zedekiah will not die by the sword (verse 4), but in peace in Babylon. It is even so, that spices will be burned for him (cf. 2Chr 16:14; 21:19). This is an unexpected sign of tribute to this yet so wicked king, who apparently still had a certain care for his people (verse 5).
Once again the Spirit of God points out the circumstances under which Jeremiah speaks all his words to Zedekiah (verse 6). The battle for Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah that have not yet fallen is in full swing (verse 7). Two remaining cities are mentioned by name, because they are the only cities that have been fortified – by Rehoboam (2Chr 11:5,9) – and there the opposition is fiercest.
8 - 11 The Servants Deceived
8 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them: 9 that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman; so that no one should keep them, a Jew his brother, in bondage. 10 And all the officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant, so that no one should keep them any longer in bondage; they obeyed, and set [them free]. 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection for male servants and for female servants.
Again the word of the LORD comes to Jeremiah (verse 8). The occasion is a covenant Zedekiah made with all in Jerusalem to proclaim the release of the male servants and the female servants (verse 9). The agreement is that each one will release his male servant and his female servant who was a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, that is, a member of the people. This will be done from the understanding that it is a brother, a neighbor. It seems that the rich made the poor serve as servants for longer than the seven years prescribed by God in the law (Exo 21:1-11; Lev 25:39-55; Deu 15:12-18). This covenant is entered into by many (verse 10). They obey it and set them free.
Then comes the regret (verse 11). As soon as they notice what a loss they have suffered, they turn around and take back the servants and submit them to themselves again as male servants and female servants. This is a low, mean trick. The covenant was not made wholeheartedly. It has been assumed that Zedekiah also made this covenant only for political reasons. He must have thought that the free male servants and female servants would be much more willing to help defend the city against Nebuchadnezzar’s attack than if they had to do hard servant service. It is impossible to imagine that such a wicked man who cared nothing for God’s law would now suddenly be so insistent on carrying out a commandment of the law. He is known as a covenant breaker (Eze 17:11-21).
However, as soon as relief comes in the distress, they come back to their decision (cf. Ecc 5:3). It can rightly be said of them: “For your loyalty is like a morning cloud and like the dew which goes away early” (Hos 6:4b). The enemy has (temporarily) moved away (verse 21). This will be related to a threat from Egypt (Jer 37:5,7-10). Life largely resumes its normal course and they force the freed servants to serve them again.
The precept about the release of a servant has a spiritual meaning for us. For us, it means that we show our brother his true spiritual freedom and do not oblige him to us. If a brother owes us something, we must write off his debt. If we do not do so, we keep him in bondage in a certain respect. Then we will be disciplined. What matters is how we treat each other as brothers and sisters, whether we submit to each other and not someone to us.
12 - 16 The Sin of the Nation
12 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 13 “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘I made a covenant with your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying, 14 “At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you and has served you six years, you shall send him out free from you; but your forefathers did not obey Me or incline their ear to Me. 15 Although recently you [had] turned and done what is right in My sight, each man proclaiming release to his neighbor, and you had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. 16 Yet you turned and profaned My name, and each man took back his male servant and each man his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male servants and female servants.”‘
Then comes the word of the LORD to Jeremiah (verse 12). The LORD recalls to the people that He, “the LORD God of Israel”, made a covenant with their fathers when He led them out of Egypt, the house of slavery (verse 13). With emphasis, Egypt is called “the house of bondage”. Then the LORD decreed that a Hebrew brother who had had to sell himself as slave must be set free by his lord after six years of service (verse 14; Exo 21:1-6).
This law was given right after their exodus from Egypt, where they themselves served as servants for a long time. As a result, they know what it is to be a servant. Then you would say that they would execute such a law wholeheartedly. But the fathers did not listen. Man quickly forgets the misery in which he has been when things are going well for him and is then even able to exploit others.
Now the people to whom Jeremiah addresses the word, did listen to this commandment (verse 15). The LORD even says that they have repented and done what is right in His sight. The release and the covenant they have carried out. He praises that. What He does not praise, however, is that they have gone back on the covenant they made (verse 16). He blames them for that. It is a great injustice and unworthy of man to go back on such a decision. It is a great sin against God and against their neighbor. They had the servants “set free according to their desire”, but then subjected them to serve as servants again. The LORD is rightly very angry about this.
17 - 22 The Retribution of Betrayal
17 “Therefore thus says the LORD, ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,’ declares the LORD, ‘to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, [when] they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— 20 I will give them into the hand of their enemies and 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. 21 Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has gone away from you. 22 Behold, I am going to command,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring them back to this city; and 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.’”
A new judgment from the LORD follows (verse 17). He will declare them outlaws, as it were, to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine because of their disobedience to the law of release. He will give these deadly means a free hand. These will do a thorough work, so that they will become a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
The LORD knows all the men who have broken His covenant (verse 18). They are the men who made a covenant before Him and symbolically ratified it by cutting a calf in two and passing between the pieces. They did not make the covenant on a whim, but consciously and willingly. Whoever violates the covenant will suffer the fate of the calf killed at the covenant making. In the covenant that God made with Abraham, only God passed between the pieces, not Abraham (Gen 15:7-21). Therefore, that covenant rests solely on God’s promises, without any responsibility on the part of man.
This is not a small and select company, but it is people from all segments of the population, from high to low, who have acted in this way (verse 19). All these transgressors the LORD will give into the hand of their enemies, including enemies who seek their life (verse 20). The bodies of those who are killed will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. They will not be chased away, contrary to what Abraham did (Gen 15:11).
To Zedekiah, the most responsible, another special word comes from the LORD. He will also fall under God’s judgment (verse 21). Zedekiah first gave the command, but failed to act against all who returned to it. He is told that he will fall into the hand of the enemy, the king of Babylon, although it does not appear that the king of Babylon will take the city, for he is just now moving away from Jerusalem because of an attack by the king of Egypt (Jer 37:5). As a result, the inhabitants of the city think that evil has passed. Possibly that is also why they have returned to their covenant to release the servants.
However, the enemy has only temporarily moved away (verse 22). The LORD speaks that He will give command and then the enemy will come back to fight against the city. Then the city will be taken and burned with fire. The other cities of Judah will also be destroyed, so that they will be a wasteland without inhabitants. The LORD says He will do it; therefore it will happen.