Slices
Prepare
On what basis should we judge our political leaders? Bring to mind a few whom you consider the best and the worst.
Bible passage
Warning to Zedekiah
34 While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, “This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. 3 You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and given into his hands. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.
4 ‘“Yet hear the Lord’s promise to you, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: you will not die by the sword; 5 you will die peacefully. As people made a funeral fire in honour of your predecessors, the kings who ruled before you, so they will make a fire in your honour and lament, ‘Alas, master!’ I myself make this promise, declares the Lord.”’
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out – Lachish and Azekah. These were the only fortified cities left in Judah.
Freedom for slaves
8 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for the slaves. 9 Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage. 10 So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. 11 But afterwards they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I said, 14 “Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years, you must let them go free.” Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay attention to me. 15 Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: each of you proclaimed freedom to your own people. You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name. 16 But now you have turned round and profaned my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.
17 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says: you have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim “freedom” for you, declares the Lord – “freedom” to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 Those who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. 19 The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, 20 I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.
21 ‘I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them, to the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you. 22 I am going to give the order, declares the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, take it and burn it down. And I will lay waste the towns of Judah so that no one can live there.’
Explore
Several aspects of this fascinating chapter are unclear. The end of Zedekiah’s dismal reign approaches (vs 21,22) – more grisly details can be found in Jeremiah chapter 52. On the other hand, we find here God’s promise, to someone he loves, that Zedekiah’s last days will be spent in peace and honour (vs 4,5). How so? One idea is that this Hebrew word for ‘promise’ (v 4: dabar) implies conditionality, and Zedekiah blatantly ignored God’s conditions.* Another thought is that, even as a blinded, grieving prisoner, this man could indeed have found a final peace with his Lord. Let’s hope so – this young leader was dealing with appalling circumstances.
The other story in this chapter, to do with slaves, is also not simple.* It seems from verse 8 that Zedekiah was instrumental in proclaiming the release of slaves – though why, we do not know (but see Exodus 21:1–11; Deuteronomy 15:12–15). Verse 11 tells us that ‘the officials’ were the ones to then force people back into slavery. Probably by this stage, the king’s grip on events in his dwindling territory was less than firm. That said, it is clear from verses 12–14 that God’s original covenant is no less applicable just because times are tough.
*See also Christopher Wright, The Message of Jeremiah, IVP (2014), 356–363.
Respond
Thankfully, it is not for us to judge Zedekiah. Rather, let’s give thanks that we can receive mercy rather than justice at the hands of God.
Deeper Bible study
‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’1 Teach me to obey your word to me.
Two things from Israel’s history can clarify this chapter. First, the legislation for a sabbatical year.2 The Law recognised that people who had fallen into debt could deal with their debts by committing to work for a neighbour until they were extinguished. The sabbatical year, which Israel had agreed to when they entered a covenant with God, provided for the release of these debt slaves every seven years, with any remaining debt cancelled. Second, a covenant ceremony sometimes involved the parties to the covenant bisecting an animal and walking between the pieces, agreeing to be similarly bisected if they broke the covenant.3
Although the people of Judah had not been in the habit of freeing their debt slaves, a time did come when king Zedekiah and the people made a covenant to do so (v 8), probably sealing the covenant by bisecting a calf (vs 18,19). They freed their slaves, but afterwards changed their minds and enslaved them again. God had something to say about that. In 588 bc Nebuchadnezzar had temporarily withdrawn from his siege of Jerusalem. God announced that he was about to bring him back (v 22). Moreover, in a characteristic play on words, Jeremiah announced that because they had not released their slaves, God was going to release them – to the sword, plague and famine. Jerusalem and Judah would face certain destruction.
Nebuchadnezzar’s siege might have been the reason why the people freed their slaves. ‘Perhaps God will see our faithfulness and save us’, they may have said. Nebuchadnezzar’s withdrawal may have caused them to change their minds and take back their slaves. I speculate, of course. But, which one of us has not made promises to God when things are bad, only to renege on those promises when things improve?
Ask God to search your heart to see if there are commitments you have made that you have not kept. Can you commit to keep them?
1 1 Sam 3:9,10 2 Deut 15:1–18 3 See the example in Gen 15:7–21
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Ezekiel 16,17; Psalm 119:145–176
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray that Jordana Smith, newly appointed Mission Enabler in the south east, will learn all that she needs for her job and will understand God’s vision for SU’s direction. Pray that she will be able to help churches and Faith Guides to reach the 95 and to impact their communities.
