Jeremiah 34:1-22
The king of Judah, Zedekiah, will be hand over to Babylonian, but he will not die by the sword; he will die peacefully while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and other two cities of Judah.
The Lord asked people of Jerusalem freedom for the slaves. So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves. But they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.
Therefore the Lord says: You have not obeyed me, you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen, so I now proclaim 'freedom' for you -- 'freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. The men 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.
Why?
The date is still 588/7. After receiving God's message, king Zedekiah issues a order to free all Jewish slaves, perhaps hoping this will win God's favor. The law said Jewish slaves should be freed after six years, but the practice had lapsed. Now the owners free their slave but go back on their undertaking to make this permanent. The slaves are forced into slavery again- and God condemns the owners as law-breakers.
V21: There was a temporary let-up while Nebuchadnezzar dealt with Pharaoh's army.
Covenant is an reverence oath, violent to the covenant will like the calf they cut in two - die in peaces. Especially the covenant with the Lord.
Freedom for the slaves is one of the mercy from the Lord, if you don't freedoms for others, the Lord won't freedoms our bondage from others. Jesus makes us free from the sin.
How?
My hope comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He makes me free. I shall be peace and rest in his arm. Why should I worry or unhappy to my situation? I am free from all of my concerning, for the Lord is my fortress.
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