"kingdom promises" are to be taken literally or interpreted in East was attacking God's chosen people (see Ps. 74).
Jeremiah 34 deny that Judah's leaders made some stupid decisions. But behind their "unwise politics" was a more insidious reason: The leaders really didn't believe the word of God. During the dramatic rise and fall of empires in that stormy era, Judah looked around for allies instead of looking up for divine assistance. Instead of repenting and turning to God, they hardened their hearts against the Word and trusted their own wisdom.
9. Baruch may have had royal blood in his veins since his brother Seraiah was a staff officer in the king's service (Jer. 51:59 niv), and such officials were usually princes. The fact that Seraiah went to Babylon with the king shows how important a man he was in the eyes of the Babylonians. The family of Neriah may have thought that Baruch gave up a bright future in order to serve with Jeremiah, but they were wrong. Many of the royal officers perished, but God protected Jeremiah and Baruch and provided for them (see Jer. 45). No doubt Baruch was an encouragement to the prophet, who was usually friendless and forsaken. 10. The statement goes back to Abraham (Gen. 18:14), and was also used by Moses (Num. 11:23) and Job (Job 42:2). Gabriel echoed it when he said to Mary, "For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37), and Jesus said, "With God all things are possible" (Matt. 19:26). Paul's testimony was "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13 nkjv). Jeremiah discovered that God's character is faithful and His promises are true no matter how we feel or what our circumstances may be. 11. Good and godly Bible students disagree as to whether these "kingdom promises" are to be taken literally or interpreted in a "spiritual sense." If these promises are to be applied to the church today, it's difficult to understand what they mean and how they apply. I have therefore taken the approach that these promises will have their real fulfillment in the future kingdom. For further study, see There Really Is a Difference by Renald E. Showers (Friends of Israel); Millennialism: The Two Major Views by Charles L. Feinberg (Moody Press); The Millennial Kingdom by John F. Walvoord (Dunham); and Continuity and Discontinuity, edited by John S. Feinberg (Crossway Books).
Jeremiah recorded a number of events in Judah's final days that prove we can't treat God's word any way we please and get away with it.
God's Word Dishonored (34:1—35:19) The year was 588 BC and Nebuchadnezzar's army was successfully conquering the kingdom of Judah. The last two fortified cities were about to fall: Lachish, twentythree miles from Jerusalem, and Azekah, eighteen miles from Jerusalem (34:7). Not only did Nebuchadnezzar bring his own invincible Babylonian troops, but also he demanded that the vassal countries he'd conquered send their share of recruits. In a sense, the entire Near East was attacking God's chosen people (see Ps. 74).
The destiny of the king (34:1–7). God gave weak King Zedekiah another opportunity to repent and save the city and the temple from ruin, but he refused to listen. Jeremiah warned him that the royal family and the court officials would not escape judgment and that he would be taken captive to Babylon, where he would die in peace. One act of faith and courage would have saved the city from ruin and the people from slaughter, but Zedekiah was afraid of his counselors (38:1–6) and was only a pawn in their hands.
III. Jeremiah's ministry and the fall of Jerusalem (34—39) A.Ministry during the siege—34—38 1. To King Zedekiah—34,
The treachery of the people (34:8–22). At one point during the siege, Zedekiah and the people made a covenant with the Lord in the temple (v. 15) to free all the Jewish slaves. A calf was slain and then cut in half, and the priests, officers, and people walked between the halves as a sign that they would obey the terms of the covenant (vv. 18–19; Gen. 15:17). In so doing, they were agreeing to free their Jewish slaves or be willing to suffer what the calf had suffered.
CHAPTER TEN Jeremiah 34—39; 52 CONTEMPORARY EVENTS AND ETERNAL TRUTHS
A nation that cannot preserve itself ought to die, and it will die—die in the grasp of
According to the law of Moses, a Jewish master had to free his Jewish slaves at the end of seven years of service (Ex. 21:1–11; Deut. 15:12–18). The Jews hadn't done this for years, and now they decided it was a good thing to do. Why? Perhaps they felt that God would honor their obedience and defeat the enemy in some miraculous way, as He had done for Hezekiah (Isa. 36—37). Instead of believing God's Word and submitting to Babylon, the Jews tried to bargain with the Lord and "bribe" Him into helping their cause.
the evils it is too feeble to overthrow.
Senator Morris Shepherd1 I n spite of the longsuffering of God and the faithful ministry of God's prophets, the kingdom of Judah was about to die. It was a nation with a glorious heritage—laws given from heaven by Moses, a land conquered by Joshua, a kingdom established by David and made magnificent by Solomon, a people in whose midst Jehovah dwelt in a splendid temple—and yet that glorious heritage couldn't prevent Judah's shameful ruin at the hands of the idolatrous Babylonians. The end had come.
Of course, there were probably some practical considerations behind this covenant. If the slaves were free, they'd have to care for themselves; their masters wouldn't have to feed them or care for them. Also freemen were more likely to want to fight the enemy and maintain their newfound freedom. Whatever the reason, the effects of the covenant didn't last very long, for when there was a lull in the
What caused Judah's slow decay and final collapse? The historian would point to their unwise politics, particularly depending on Egypt for help, and we can't