In
this chapter we have two messages which God sent by Jeremiah. I. One to
foretel the fate of Zedekiah king of Judah, that he should fall into the
hands of the king of Babylon, that he should live a captive, but should at
last die in peace in his captivity, ver. 1-7. II. Another to read the doom
both of prince and people for their treacherous dealings with God, in
bringing back into bondage their servants whom they had released according
to the law, and so playing fast and loose with God. They had walked at all
adventures with God (ver. 8-11), and therefore God would walk at all
adventures with them, in bringing the Chaldean army upon them again when
they began to hope that they had got clear of them, ver. 12-22.
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Captivity
of Zedekiah Foretold; The Babylonish Captivity Predicted.
B. C. 589.
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1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the
LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his
dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the
cities thereof, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD,
the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him,
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon,
and he shall burn it with fire: 3 And thou shalt not escape out
of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and
thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak
with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. 4 Yet
hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD
of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword: 5 But thou
shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings
which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they
will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word,
saith the LORD.
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of
Judah in Jerusalem, 7 When the king of Babylon's army fought
against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left,
against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of
the cities of Judah.
This prophecy concerning Zedekiah was delivered to Jeremiah, and by him to
the parties concerned, before he was shut up in the prison, for we find this
prediction here made the ground of his commitment, as appears by the recital
of some passages out of it, ch. xxxii. 4. Observe,
I. The time when this message was sent to Zedekiah; it was when the king
of Babylon, with all his forces, some out of all the kingdoms of the
earth that were within his jurisdiction, fought against Jerusalem and
the cities thereof (v. 1), designing to destroy them, having
often plundered them. The cities that now remained, and yet held out, are
named (v. 7), Lachish and Azekah. This intimates that things
were now brought to the last extremity, and yet Zedekiah obstinately stood
it out, his heart being hardened to his destruction.
II. The message itself that was sent to him. 1. Here is a threatening of
wrath. He is told that again which he had been often told before, that the
city shall be taken by the Chaldeans and burnt with fire (v.
2), that he shall himself fall into the enemy's hands, shall be made a
prisoner, shall be brought before that furious prince Nebuchadnezzar, and be
carried away captive into Babylon (v. 3); yet Ezekiel prophesied that
he should not see Babylon; nor did he, for his eyes were put out,
Ezek. xii. 13. This Zedekiah brought upon himself from God by his other sins
and from Nebuchadnezzar by breaking his faith with him. 2. Here is a mixture
of mercy. He shall die a captive, but he shall not die by the sword
he shall die a natural death (v. 4); he shall end his days with some
comfort, shall die in peace, v. 5. He never had been one of
the worst of the kings, but we are willing to hope that what evil he had done
in the sight of the Lord he repented of in his captivity, as Manasseh
had done, and it was forgiven to him; and, God being reconciled to him, he
might truly be said to die in peace, Note, A man may die in a prison
and yet die in peace. Nay, he shall end his days with some
reputation, more than one would expect, all things considered. He shall be
buried with the burnings of his fathers, that is, with the respect
usually shown to their kings, especially those that had done good in Israel.
It seems, in his captivity he had conducted himself so well towards his own
people that they were willing to do him this honour, and towards
Nebuchadnezzar that he suffered it to be done. If Zedekiah had continued in
his prosperity, perhaps he would have grown worse and would have departed
at last without being desired; but his afflictions wrought such a
change in him that his death was looked upon as a great loss. It is better
to live and die penitent in a prison than to live and die impenitent in a
palace. They will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! an honour which his
brother Jehoiakim had not, ch. xxii. 18. The Jews say that they
lamented thus over him, Alas! Zedekiah is dead, who drank the dregs of
all the ages that went before him, that is, who suffered for the sins of
his ancestors, the measure of iniquity being filled up in his days. They
shall thus lament him, saith the Lord, for I have pronounced the word;
and what God hath spoken shall without fail be made good.
III. Jeremiah's faithfulness in delivering this message. Though he knew it
would be ungrateful to the king, and might prove, as indeed it did,
dangerous to himself (for he was imprisoned for it), yet he spoke all
these words to Zedekiah, v. 6. It is a mercy to great men to have
those about them that will deal faithfully with them, and tell them the evil
consequences of their evil courses, that they may reform and live.
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Transient
Reformation; The Servants Re-enslaved.
B. C. 589.
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8 This is the word that came unto
Jeremiah from the LORD,
after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were
at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; 9 That every man
should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being a
Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to
wit, of a Jew his brother. 10 Now when all the princes, and
all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one
should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none
should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them
go. 11 But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and
the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into
subjection for servants and for handmaids. 12 Therefore the word
of the LORD
came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying, 13 Thus saith the LORD,
the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I
brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen,
saying, 14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his
brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served
thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers
hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. 15 And ye
were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty
every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the
house which is called by my name: 16 But ye turned and polluted
my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom
ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into
subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. 17
Therefore thus saith the LORD;
Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his
brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for
you, saith the LORD,
to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to
be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And I will
give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed
the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the
calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, 19 The
princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the
priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of
the calf; 20 I will even give them into the hand of their
enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead
bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of
the earth. 21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I
give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek
their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone
up from you. 22 Behold, I will command, saith the LORD,
and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and
take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a
desolation without an inhabitant.
We have here another prophecy upon a particular occasion, the history of
which we must take notice of, as necessary to give light to the prophecy.
I. When Jerusalem was closely besieged by the Chaldean army the princes and
people agreed upon a reformation in one instance, and that was concerning
their servants.
1. The law of God was very express, that those of their own nation should
not be held in servitude above seven years, but, after they had served one
apprenticeship, they should be discharged and have their liberty; yea,
though they had sold themselves into servitude for the payment of their
debts, or though they were sold by the judges for the punishment of
their crimes. This difference was put between their brethren and strangers,
that those of other nations taken in war, or bought with money, might be
held in perpetual slavery, they and theirs; but their brethren must serve
but for seven years at the longest. This God calls the covenant that he had
made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, v.
13, 14. This was the first of the judicial laws which God gave them (Exod.
xxi. 2), and there was good reason for this law. (1.) God had put honour
upon that nation, and he would have them thus to preserve the honour of it
themselves and to put a difference between it and other nations. (2.) God
had brought them out of slavery in Egypt, and he would have them thus to
express their grateful sense of that favour, by letting those go to whom
their houses were houses of bondage, as Egypt had been to their
forefathers. That deliverance is therefore mentioned here (v. 13) as
the ground of that law. Note, God's compassions towards us should engage our
compassions towards our brethren; we must release as we are released,
forgive as we are forgiven, and relieve as we are relieved. And this is
called a covenant; for our performance of the duty required is the
condition of the continuance of the favours God has bestowed.
2. This law they and their fathers had broken. Their worldly profit swayed
more with them than God's command or covenant. When their servants had lived
seven years with them they understood their business, and how to apply
themselves to it, better than they did when they first came to them, and
therefore they would then by no means part with them, though God himself by
his law had made them free: Your fathers hearkened not to me in this
matter (v. 14), so that from the days of their fathers they had been
in this trespass; and they thought they might do it because their fathers
did it, and their servants had by disuse lost the benefit of the provision
God made for them; whereas against an express law, especially against an
express law of God, no custom, usage, nor prescription, is to be admitted in
plea. For this sin of theirs, and their fathers, God now brought them into
servitude, and justly.
3. When they were besieged, and closely shut in, by the army of the
Chaldeans, they, being told of their fault in this matter, immediately
reformed, and let go all their servants that were entitled to their freedom
by the law of God, as Pharaoh, who, when the plague was upon him, consented
to let the people go, and bound themselves in a covenant to do so.
(1.) The prophets faithfully admonished them concerning their sin. From them
they heard that they should let their Hebrew servants go free, v.
10. They might have read it themselves in the book of the law, but did not,
or did not heed it, therefore the prophets told them what the law was. See
what need there is of the preaching of the word; people must hear the word
preached because they will not make the use they ought to make of the word
written. (2.) All orders and degrees of men concurred in this reformation.
The king, and the princes, and all the people, agreed
to let go their servants, whatever loss or damage they might sustain
by so doing. When the king and princes led in this good work the people
could not for shame but follow. The example and influence of great men would
go very far towards extirpating the most inveterate corruptions. (3.) They
bound themselves by a solemn oath and covenant that they would do this,
whereby they engaged themselves to God and one another. Note, What God has
bound us to by his precept, it is good for us to bind ourselves to by our
promise. This covenant was very solemn: it was made in a sacred place, made
before me, in the house which is called by my name (v. 15), in
the special presence of God, the tokens of which, in the temple, ought to
strike an awe upon them and make them very sincere in their appeals to him.
It was ratified by a significant sign; they cut a calf in two, and passed
between the parts thereof (v. 18, 19) with this dreadful
imprecation, "Let us be in like manner cut asunder if we do not perform
what we now promise." This calf was probably offered up in sacrifice to
God, who was thereby made a party to the covenant. When God covenanted with
Abraham, for the ratification of it, a smoking furnace and a burning
lamp passed between the pieces of the sacrifice, in allusion to this
federal rite, Gen. xv. 17. Note, In order that we may effectually oblige
ourselves to our duty, it is good to alarm ourselves with the apprehensions
of the terror of the wrath and curse to which we expose ourselves if we live
in the contempt of it, that wrath which will cut sinners asunder
(Matt. xxiv. 51), and sensible signs may be of use to make the impressions
of it deep and durable, as here. (4.) They conformed themselves herein to
the command of God and their covenant with him; they did let their
servants go, though at this time, when the city was besieged, they could
very ill spare them. Thus they did right in God's sight, v.
15. Though it was their trouble that drove them to it, yet he was well
pleased with it; and if they had persevered in this act of mercy to the
poor, to their poor servants, it might have been a lengthening of their
tranquillity, Dan. iv. 27.
II. When there was some hope that the siege was raised and the danger over
they repented of their repentance, undid the good they had done, and forced
the servants they had released into their respective services again. 1. The king
of Babylon's army had now gone up from them, v. 21.
Pharaoh was bringing an army of Egyptians to oppose the progress of the king
of Babylon's victories, upon the tidings of which the Chaldeans raised the
siege for a time, as we find, ch. xxxvii. 5. They departed from
Jerusalem. See how ready God was to put a stop to his judgments, upon
the first instance of reformation, so slow is he to anger and so swift to
show mercy. As soon as ever they let their servants go free God let them go
free. 2. When they began to think themselves safe from the besiegers they
made their servants come back into subjection to them, v. 11, and
again v. 16. This was a great abuse to their servants, to whom
servitude would be more irksome, after they had had some taste of the
pleasures of liberty. It was a great shame to themselves that they could not
keep in a good mind when they were in it. But it was especially an affront
to God; in doing this they polluted his name, v. 16. It was a
contempt of the command he had given them, as if that were of no force at
all, but they might either keep it or break it as they thought fit. It was a
contempt of the covenant they had made with him, and of that wrath which
they had imprecated upon themselves in case they should break that covenant.
It was jesting with God almighty, as if he could be imposed upon by
fallacious promises, which, when they had gained their point, they would
look upon themselves no longer obliged by. it was lying to God with their
mouths and flattering him with their tongues. It was likewise a
contempt of the judgments of God and setting them at defiance; as if, when
once the course of them was stopped a little and interrupted, they would
never proceed again and the judgment would never be revived; whereas
reprieves are so far from being pardons that if they be abused thus, and
sinners take encouragement from them to return to sin, they are but
preparatives for heavier strokes of divine vengeance.
III. For this treacherous dealing with God they are here severely
threatened. Be not deceived; God is not mocked. Those that think to
put a cheat upon God by a dissembled repentance, a fallacious covenant, and
a partial temporary reformation, will prove in the end to have put the
greatest cheat upon their own souls; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous,
is a jealous God. it is here threatened, with an observable air of
displeasure against them, 1. That, since they had not given liberty to their
servants to go where they pleased, God would give all his judgments liberty
to take their course against them without control (v. 17): You
have not proclaimed liberty to your servants. Though they had done it (v.
10), yet they might truly be said not to have done it, because they did not
stand to it, but undid it again; and factum non dicitur quod non
perseverat--that is not said to be done which does not last. The
righteousness that is forsaken and turned away from shall be forgotten, and not
mentioned any more than if it had never been, Ezek. xviii. 24. "Therefore
I will proclaim a liberty for you; I will discharge you from my service,
and put you out of my protection, which those forfeit that withdraw from
their allegiance. You shall have liberty to choose which of these judgments
you will be cut off by, sword, famine, or pestilence;" such a
liberty as was offered to David, which put him into a great strait, 2
Sam. xxiv. 14. Note, Those that will not be in subjection to the law of God
put themselves into subjection to the wrath and curse of God. But this shows
what liberty to sin really--it is but a liberty to the sorest
judgments. 2. That, since they had brought their servants back into
confinement in their houses, God would make them to be removed into all
the kingdoms of the earth, where they should live in servitude, and,
being strangers, could not expect the privileges of free-born subjects. 3.
That, since they had broken the covenant which they ratified by a solemn
imprecation, God would bring on them the evil which they imprecated upon
themselves in case they should break it. Out of their own mouth will he
judge them, and so shall their doom be; the penalty of their bond shall be
recovered, because they have not performed the condition; for so some read v.
18, "I will make the men which have transgressed my covenant as the
calf which they cut in twain; I will divide them asunder as they divided
it asunder." 4. That, since they would not let go their servants out of
the hands, God would deliver them into the hands of those that hated them,
even the princes and nobles both of Judah and Jerusalem (of
the country and of the city), the eunuchs (chamberlains, or great
officers of the court), the priests, and all the people, v.
19. They had all dealt treacherously with God, and therefore shall all be
involved in the common ruin without exception. They shall all be given
unto the hand of their enemies, that seek, not their wealth only, or
their service, but their life, and they shall have what they seek;
but neither shall that content them: when they have their lives they shall
leave their dead bodies unburied, a loathsome spectacle to all
mankind and an easy prey to the fowls and beasts, a lasting mark of
ignominy being hereby fastened on them, v. 20. 5. That, since they
had emboldened themselves in returning to their sin, contrary to their
covenant, by the retreat of the Chaldean army from them, God would therefore
bring it upon them again: "They have now gone up from you, and
your fright is over for the present, but I will command them to face
about as they were; they shall return to this city, and take it and burn
it," v. 22. Note, (1.) As confidence in God is a hopeful
presage of approaching deliverance, so security in sin is a sad omen of
approaching destruction. (2.) When judgments are removed from a people
before they have done their work, leave them, but leave them unhumbled and
unreformed, it is cum animo revertendi--with a design to return;
they do but retreat to come on again with so much the greater force; for
when God judges he will overcome. (3.) It is just with God to disappoint
those expectations of mercy which his providence had given cause for when we
disappoint those expectations of duty which our professions, pretensions,
and fair promises, had given cause for. If we repent of the good we had
purposed, God will repent of the good he had purposed. With the froward
thou will show thyself froward.
