Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Jer 34:8 and following. Indeed, this parable speaks of the arm of Yahweh who came to strike his people because they do not respect the Decalogue. The law, the Covenant of Moses are not followed. Israel’s faults bring divine sanctions, it is the law of retaliation applied to humans for their selfishness, and the will of Yahweh not listened to. For in an ancient Near East where slavery is the general rule, Israel is no exception: slaves exist, and the Bible records for this. Mainly contained in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, the many biblical regulations that frame these practices appear to be less severe than the Assyrian, Babylonian, or Greco-Roman laws. For example, a slave who has been wounded because of his master must be released as compensation (Ex 21. 26).
The rules are even more flexible when the slave is a Hebrew: he must be freed after six years of work, and even “covered with gifts” upon his release (Dt 15. 14-15)! “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt.” This reminder, recurrent in the Hebrew Bible, seems to want to introduce an awareness of the suffering of others and the cause of the weakest. For the liberation from Egypt, and therefore from servitude, being the founding act of the people of Israel, the Hebrew Bible is indeed the story of liberation. But this liberation is always to be done, because the Bible tells of man’s perpetual infidelity towards God: he, on the other hand, never seems to abandon his project of liberation and salvation for man. Most theologians see in the Decalogue, although it is a binding text, with its commandments formulated in a negative way, a “law of freedom”: because to submit to it makes oneself free.
This incident has a lot of morals; one of the most obvious is the futility of the strictest oaths and the most solemn symbolic ritual. Whatever influence oaths may have in getting a liar to tell the truth, they are very bad guarantees for the performance of contracts. The Christian Church has elevated perfidy to a sacred obligation: For, at first glance, an oath seems to give firm assurance to a promise; what was only a promise to man is transformed into a promise to God. What could be more binding on the conscience than a promise to God? True; but he to whom the promise is made can always evade its execution. To persist in what God does not require or desire because of a promise made to God seems absurd and even wicked. It has been said that men have a way of calling everything they want to do a dispensation from Providence.
However, the main lesson of the incident lies in its additional testimony of the supreme importance that the prophets attached to social justice. When Jeremiah wanted to renew the bonds of communion between Judah and his God, he did not make them enter into a covenant to observe a ritual or cultivate pious feelings, but to free their slaves. It has been said that a gentleman can be known by the way he treats his servants; a man’s religion is better tested by his behavior toward his helpless dependents than by his frequentation with the means of grace or his predilection for pious conversation. If we were right to assume that the government supported Jeremiah because the act of emancipation would provide recruits to hold the walls, this illustrates society’s ultimate dependence on the working classes. In emergencies, desperate efforts are made to coerce or cajole them to support governments by which they have been neglected or oppressed. The rest of this alliance shows how sterile and ephemeral are the concessions generated by the terror of imminent ruin. That is why the social alliance between all classes of the community must be woven thread by thread through long years of mutual aid and goodwill, peace and prosperity, if it is to endure the tension of national peril and disaster.
The New Testament is part of the same dynamic: through his resurrection, Jesus frees man from “the slavery of sin and death. It is striking that, on the cross, Jesus dies of the death of a slave. This is what Paul confirms in his Letter to the Philippians: “Who, existing in the form of God, did not regard as a prey to be torn from being equal with God, 7 but stripped himself, taking a form of servant, becoming like men; and having appeared as a simple man (Phil 2. 6-7). This is what Jesus seems to be saying when he repeats that he came to serve and not to be served. The gesture of washing the feet is emblematic of this attitude, which Christ’s disciples are invited to adopt towards their brothers.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
- Emancipation of Hebrew slaves
Lev 25:10 And you will sanctify the fiftieth year, you will publish freedom in the land for all its inhabitants: it will be for you the jubilee; each of you will return to his property, and each of you will return to his family. Ezr 1.3 Who among you is of His people? May his God be with him, and let him ascend to Jerusalem in Judah and build the house of Jehovah, the God of Israel! It is the God who is in Jerusalem. Isaiah 61:1 The spirit of the Lord, the Lord, is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the unfortunate; He sent me to heal the heartbroken, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and to the prisoners deliverance; Jer 34:9 that everyone may set his slave and servant, the Hebrew and the wife of the Hebrew, free, and that no one may be left in bondage the Jew, his brother.
- Examples of Oppression
Ex 1:14 They restored their bitter life by hard work in clay and brick, and by all the works of the fields: and it was with cruelty that they imposed all these charges on them. Neh 5:1 Great complaints arose from the common people and their wives against their brethren the Jews. Ez 22:29 The people of the land engage in violence, commit rapines, oppress the unfortunate and the destitute, trample the stranger against all justice. James 2:6
And you degrade the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you, and who drag you to court? James 5:4 Behold, the wages of the workers who have harvested your fields, and of whom you have frustrated them, cry out, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
- Poverty
Pr 10:15 Fortune is for the rich a strong city; The ruin of the wretched is their poverty. Pr 30:8 Remove falsehood and false speech from me; Do not give me poverty or wealth, grant me the bread that is necessary for me. Isa 3:7 On that very day he will answer: I cannot be a doctor, and in my house there is no bread or clothing; Do not establish me as leader of the people!
- Rejoicing the world
Jb 20:5 The triumph of the wicked was short, And the joy of the momentary ungodly? Pr 14:13 In the midst of laughter the heart can be afflicted, and joy can end in distress. Ec 2:10 All that my eyes had desired, I did not deprive them of; I did not deny my heart any joy; for my heart took pleasure in all my work, and it is the part that has returned to me. Ec 7.6 For like the sound of thorns under the boiler, so is the laughter of fools. This is again a vanity. John 4:9 Feel your misery; be in mourning and tears; may your laughter turn into mourning, and your joy into sadness.
From all of the above, we note that while the siege of Jerusalem is taking place, Jehovah charges Jeremiah with a personal message for King Zedekiah. God promises the king to spare him and grant him a peaceful death. Indeed, this man’s intentions were not bad. He was even animated by a certain benevolence towards Jeremiah. But he was totally lacking in strength of character: He did not have the energy that faith will give Nehemiah on a comparable occasion (Neh 5:1-19). After decreeing the release of all the Hebrew servants, Zedekiah was not able to enforce this decision for long. Then Jehovah recalls what are the precise instructions of the Law on this subject, which the fathers had already ignored. And we remember the teachings concerning the servant who, out of love, does not want to go out free, a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus (Ex 21:2-6). God will use the wicked action of these men to illustrate the punishment He has in store for them. He will act like them, that is, take away the freedom He once granted them and subjugate them to the king of Babylon (Luke 6:27-38). On the occasion of a renewal of iniquity, prophecy announces the certain ruin of the people. However, Zedekiah, while being taken captive to Babylon, died there in peace. The exact government of God is shown here in a remarkable way. Zedekiah had sworn by jehovah’s name, and had violated his oath: he is judged as profane. But we see that he would have wanted to listen to Jeremiah and that he did not dare to do so: God takes this into account, and mercy is exercised towards him. For Judah violates, in defiance of the law, his solemn commitment to his brothers whom he enslaves again. May the Lord Jesus keep us all of it and help us do His will.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the parable of the book eaten. »
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.