The Broken Promise to Free the Slaves

While Babylon's army was fighting against Jerusalem and the remaining fortified cities of Judah, Jeremiah brought a hard message from the Lord to King Zedekiah. Jerusalem would be handed over to the king of Babylon and burned. Zedekiah would not escape, but would be taken to Babylon. Even so, he was told he would not die by the sword, but would die in peace.

After that, King Zedekiah made a covenant with the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty. Hebrew male and female servants were to be released, so that no one would keep a fellow Jew in bondage. The princes and the people agreed, and for a time they obeyed and let them go free.

But then they changed course. They took back the servants they had released and forced them into service again. So the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. God reminded them that when he brought their ancestors out of Egypt, he had commanded that a Hebrew servant should be released after serving six years, at the end of seven years.

The Lord said that at first they had done what was right by proclaiming liberty to one another and making a covenant before him in the house called by his name. But then they turned back and profaned his name. They had taken people who had been set free and made them servants again. Their promise before God had been broken.

Because they would not proclaim liberty to their brothers and neighbours, the Lord declared a fearful liberty to sword, pestilence, and famine. The rulers and people who had passed between the parts of the calf when they made the covenant would be given into enemy hands. Zedekiah and his princes would also be handed over. Though Babylon's army had gone away for a time, God said it would return, take Jerusalem, burn it, and leave Judah's cities desolate. What kind of freedom do you think God wanted them to protect?