Reflections on Jeremiah 34

Jeremiah 34 (Contemporary English Version)
1. King Nebuchadnezzar had a large army made up of people from every kingdom in his empire. He and his army were attacking Jerusalem and all the nearby towns, when the LORD told me
   
2. to say to King Zedekiah: I am the LORD, and I am going to let Nebuchadnezzar capture this city and burn it down.
   
3. You will be taken prisoner and brought to Nebuchadnezzar, and he will speak with you face to face. Then you will be led away to Babylonia.
   
4. Zedekiah, I promise that you won't die in battle.
   
5. You will die a peaceful death. People will mourn when you die, and they will light bonfires in your honor, just as they did for your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you.
   
6. I went to Zedekiah and told him what the LORD had said.
   
7. Meanwhile, the king of Babylonia was trying to break through the walls of Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem, the only three towns of Judah that had not been captured.
   
8. King Zedekiah, his officials, and everyone else in Jerusalem made an agreement to free all Hebrew men and women who were slaves. No Jew would keep another as a slave. And so, all the Jewish slaves were given their freedom.
   
9. (SEE 34:8)
   
10. (SEE 34:8)
    
11. But those slave owners changed their minds and forced their former slaves back into slavery.
    
12. That's when the LORD told me to say to the people:
    
13. I am the LORD God of Israel, and I made an agreement with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, where they had been slaves.
    
14. As part of this agreement, you must let a Hebrew slave go free after six years of service. Your ancestors did not obey me,
    
15. but you decided to obey me and do the right thing by setting your Hebrew slaves completely free. You even went to my temple, and in my name you made an agreement to set them free. But you have abused my name, because you broke your agreement and forced your former slaves back into slavery.
    
16. (SEE 34:15)
    
17. You have disobeyed me by not giving your slaves their freedom. So I will give you freedom--the freedom to die in battle or from disease or hunger. I will make you disgusting to all other nations on earth.
    
18. You asked me to be a witness when you made the agreement to set your slaves free. And as part of the ceremony you cut a calf into two parts, then walked between the parts. But you people of Jerusalem have broken that agreement as well as my agreement with Israel. So I will do to you what you did to that calf.
    
19. I will let your enemies take all of you prisoner, including the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the royal officials, the priests, and everyone else who walked between the two parts of the calf. These enemies will kill you and leave your bodies lying on the ground as food for birds and wild animals.
    
20. (SEE 34:19)
    
21. These enemies are King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army. They have stopped attacking Jerusalem, but they want to kill King Zedekiah and his high officials. So I will command them to return and attack again. This time they will conquer the city and burn it down, and they will capture Zedekiah and his officials. I will also let them destroy the towns of Judah, so that no one can live there any longer.
    
22. (SEE 34:21)

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The term "foxhole religion" might be applied to what occurs in chapter 34. Foxhole religion is a term coming from war when soldiers, crouching in foxholes and trembling with fear for their lives, make promises to God of what they will do if He saves their lives from the threat of battle. Jerusalem, and the only two other remaining fortified cities in Judah, were under heavy attack from the Babylonian army and defeat appeared imminent. In an attempt to appease God so He might rescue them from the Babylonians, king Zedekiah of Judah "made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom to them, so each man would free his male and female Hebrew slaves and no one enslave his Judean brother." (34:9) One of many of the laws of Moses that Judah was breaking was the keeping of slaves from among their own people. Although the law allowed for Jewish people to sell themselves into slavery, it required that all slaves be released every seven years. But Judah was not releasing their slaves. In an attempt to appease God's anger, Zedekiah made this covenant with the people to release their slaves and abide by the law.

Promises made to God while crouching fearfully in a foxhole are often not kept once the danger is past. This was true of Zedekiah's covenant with the people. Judah was given a wonderful opportunity to escape total destruction at the hands of the Babylonians when king Nebuchadnezzar withdrew his troops from Jerusalem to repel an attack by the Egyptians.  With the threat removed and faced with the huge task of rebuilding their heavily damaged cities, the people reneged on their covenant and took back their slaves. What a huge mistake! What were they thinking? It was obvious that God's hand was involved in the attack by the Babylonians. Should it not be just as obvious that God had turned the threat away and the best response would be to sincerely return to God in thankfulness for His mercy?

Such actions reveal a view of God as a powerful but mindless being who one does not relate to but who rather is manipulated by one's actions. This view of God credits Him with only limited powers. It does not recognize Him as being all-knowing, for instance. Otherwise He would see through their schemes and manipulations to gain His favor. Well, God is all-knowing and He did see through their schemes, and considered their breaking of the covenant to release their slaves a personal affront, saying, "you have changed your minds and profaned My name." (34:16) The window of opportunity God gave them by withdrawing the Babylonian army was going to slam shut. Therefore, "You have not obeyed Me by proclaiming freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. I hereby proclaim freedom for you"--this is the LORD's declaration--"to the sword, to plague, and to famine! I will make you a horror to all the earth's kingdoms."

Scripture refers to having "fear of the Lord." For those who seek to follow God and abide by His teaching, this is a reference of respect and reverence for God. However, sin turns this "fear of the Lord" into true fear. When we turn our backs on God and rebel against His teaching, we have reason to fear Him as did the people of Judah. They did not revere Him and thus did not respect His blessings. Therefore, they came to truly fear Him.