Jeremiah 34:1-22
“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. 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.
Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 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.
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. Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage. 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. But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.
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.
Why?
The people of Judah agreed free their Hebrew slaves, but later they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed. They did it against the covenant of the Lord to proclaim freedom for the slaves.
People for their own benefit and put their neighbor to be their slaves or makes trouble. It is against the word of the Lord. All these selfish people did not know what they have done against the Lord. So they have the freedom to fall by the sword, plague, and famine.
How?
Real freedom is obeying the covenant of the Lord, and obeying God's word, there is no my own idea but walking with the way of the Lord leads me.
No comments:
Post a Comment