Jeremiah 34:12-22 – Let our words be our bond

We learned from Jeremiah 34:1-11, that in a last-ditch attempt to alleviate the pressure on Judah and Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and his forces, Zedekiah decreed the release of slaves on the Sabbath Year. This was a command God had given in Exodus 20:2 shortly after he had delivered them from their bondage in Egypt. The king was just rehashing it. The people did as he had decreed. But shortly after, they went back on the words and again violated this law.

What they had done did not escape the eye of God. He saw everything. They obeyed then reneged, and went back to their old habit of not keeping this stipulation. When Zedekiah re-established this ruling, Jeremiah 34:15 said that they all renewed this covenant in the temple. Now by reneging on this law, they had committed two wrongs - lying under oath thus showing contempt for God’s name, and reverting to practice slavery.

Zedekiah had shown himself to be a man of duplicity. He had no qualms about going back on his words. In Ezekiel 17:11-18, we saw how he went back on his words to Nebuchadnezzar on securing the assistance of the Egyptians. Now again he and his fellowmen led by him again went back on their words after doing well in releasing their slaves on the Sabbath Year. From Zedekiah, we learn that going back on one’s promise is a serious thing.

We surmise from these verses that in desperation, Zedekiah made a commitment but when the relief was provided, he reneged on the commitment and went back to the old habit and acted like his past. And the people led by him also failed to keep God’s command. Verse 17 God then said to Zedekiah and the people, “Behold, I am proclaiming a release to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. So God assured them that in failing to keep His covenant everyone from leaders to priests to commoners would be judged for they had become covenant breakers. Since they desired to be released from God’s will, they have chosen to be subject to another will. Hence, God would free them into the hand of their adversaries, to die by their swords. God would bring back the Babylonians who would leave Jerusalem and Judah ravaged and desolate.

The lesson – it is a wicked thing to go back on one’s promise. How often would people make a promise in desperation and then when pressures are relieved, they would go back on their words. This is especially so when we make a promise to God and then renege on our words. We must heed the warning of the preacher in Ecclesiastes 5:4-7. “When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For in many dreams and in many words, there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.”