The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the 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 shall burn it with fire. 3 You shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ 4 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.”
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 cities of Judah that were left, Lachish and Azekah, for these were the only fortified cities of Judah that remained.
8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them, 9 that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. 10 And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. 12 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 13 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, 14 ‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; you must set him free from your service.’ But your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. 15 You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name, 16 but then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.
17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. 21 And 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 lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you. 22 Behold, I will command, declares the Lord, and will bring them back to this city. And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.” Jeremiah 34 ESV
Jeremiah 34 Zedekiah will die in Babylon
1-7. I am giving this city - Jerusalem had been under siege, but Egypt had attacked the Babylonians from the south, and Nebuchadnezzar turned away from Jerusalem momentarily to handle business elsewhere. Naturally, the false prophets and shepherds would read too much into this short reprieve. Jeremiah's message from God is that this will be short lived, Babylon is coming back for you.
You shall die in peace - He sees his sons killed in front of him, meets Nebuchadnezzar, but then is taken to a land he cannot see because his eyes are gouged out. He lives his life out in peace there, blind but quiet.
…12And at dusk the prince among them will lift his bags to his shoulder and go out. They will dig through the wall to bring him out. He will cover his face so he cannot see the land. 13But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, and there he will die. 14And I will scatter to every wind all the attendants around him and all his troops, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.… Ezekiel 12: 12-14
8-22. A proclamation of liberty to them - When they were under siege and thought that Jeremiah may be right in his prophecy, the king put out a decree to set their slaves free. They were supposed to do this at the end of the sixth year anyway, just as they were supposed to let the land lie fallow in the seventh year, but they had ignored these laws for some time. They were keeping their fellow Israelites indentured indefinitely. They were also keeping land that was supposed to return to the family at the year of jubilee. So here were two forms of indenturement, property, like our mortgages today, and personal debt that was paid by servitude. Keeping someone indentured beyond God's limitations to this practice required that the slave asked to stay with his master, and have his ear punched to signify this, as one brands cattle. If this was not the case, then keeping them in this manner would be likened to those who kidnapped men for the slave trade, which was punishable by death. So realizing the wrong, they go to make it right for fear of coming retribution from Babylon.
Afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they hat set free - We could look at this two ways, either they saw Babylon turn to fight Egypt and thought all clear, back to business as normal, which is gross. Or, they heard Jeremiah say, look, you're still going to be captured by Babylon and they are going to burn down Jerusalem, and so they decided to take back their slaves, since the act wasn't going to buy their own freedom, which is also gross. They had no real desire to obey God, and no love of neighbor.
…29Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”… Mark 12: 29-31
I will make them like the calf - This was a covenant sacrifice where an animal or animals was cut in two and the parties agreeing to the covenant walked between the pieces. They performed the ceremony, but it was an empty ritual because they did not obey. The most beautiful example of this near east practice is when God makes His covenant with Abraham. Abraham kills the animals and lays out their carcasses, but when the time comes to pass between the pieces, Abraham sleeps and God enacts the covenant alone. It is called a unilateral covenant, for God is the initiator and keeper. Man will kill, and need God's mercy, but God will hold up the covenant. Instead of Isaac He provides a ram, instead of the works of sinners He provides His Son.
…21The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” 22But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”… 1 Samuel 15: 21-23
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