November 1, 2019October 15, 2021
by in Jeremiah, Messages, Pastor Dave
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Sunday, November 3rd, 2019

Jeremiah 34:8-22

“Broken Promises”

Service Orientation: A kept promise is a good promise, and God hates broken promises. Jesus came to show us how far God was willing to go to keep His promises; and thereby inspire us to do the same.

Memory Verse for the Week: “Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.” James 5:12

Background Information:

  • This passage may be dated 589-588 B.C. The siege actually lasted from 588-586 B.C. Daniel 3:2-4 and 4:1 show the vast extent of the neo-Babylonian empire. Soldiers came from subject countries to join in the siege (cf. 2 Kings 24:2). Nebuchadnezzar’s army had to be formidable because Egypt was hostile to him. His assault on Judah and Jerusalem was still in the early phase because the Judean cities were only being threatened at this time, and Jeremiah was not yet in prison. Since cities like Lachish and Azekah (v. 7) were not yet captured and Jerusalem was still free (v.2), the date was early in the final invasion, probably in Zedekiah’s ninth year. As v.22 shows, the Babylonians, who had temporarily retired from the siege (37:5), would return to finish the destruction of Jerusalem. (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary; Vol 6, 595)

  • King Zedekiah had initiated a covenant with his subjects regarding their Judean slaves, that they were to be set free. The reason is not stated, but most likely the dire circumstances of the Babylonian siege lay behind the ceremony. Some scholars have speculated that with the scarcity of food, the manumission of the slaves meant that the owners were no longer obligated to feed them. It is also possible that freed slaves were more likely to defend their freedom in the struggle with Babylon. In any case, after the release of the slaves circumstances apparently improved enough so that the solemn oath of the covenant was broken and the slaves were taken back by their owners. (J. Andrew Dearman, The NIV Application Commentary; Jeremiah, Lamentations, 311)

  • We do not know anything about this drought outside of the oracle, and the chapter does not situate it in time. However, as Jeremiah’s oracles as a whole point to an impending national catastrophe that we know as the Babylonian exile, this drought was probably understood to be a divine anticipation of that judgment. (Tremper Longman III, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series: Jeremiah & Lamentations, 118)

 

The question to be answered is…

What’s so significant about Judah’s actions and what relevance does it hold for 21st century Christians?

Answer…

Covenants were (and are) a big deal to God. God is a promise-keeping God and abhors anything less. Judah’s broken promise spat in the face of their fellow Hebrews AND in the face of God; whose name they carried. As followers of Jesus, we are to keep our promises as His representatives on earth.  

 

The word of the day is… Promise

 

Where did the people err and what was the result? 

  1. The people caved under pressure. (vv. 1, 2, 6)

 (Pro. 24:10; Is. 48:10; Jer. 29:11)

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, twenty-three 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). (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive, 160)

 

  1. A covenant was cut in haste. (vv. 8-10)

(Ps. 23:4; Pro. 1:7, 10:23, 14:29, 19:2, 21:5; Gal. 6:7; Mat. 6:34; Eph. 5:15-17; James 3:13)

While the Babylonian armies were tightening their grip on the land of Judah, Zedekiah directed the people to proclaim liberty to their Hebrew slaves. The motives for this action doubtless were mixed. Would freed slaves join more heartily in the defense of the city? Would their former masters be relieved from feeding them? Would the renewal of this practice of freeing slaves, which had apparently long been disregarded, be pleasing to God? In any case, the compact with the slaves was sealed by solemn ceremonies. (Howard Kuist, The Layman’s Bible Commentary: Jeremiah, 105)

 

 

  1. The promise of freedom was reneged on. (v. 11, 16)

(Lev. 5:4-6; Num. 30:2; Is. 1; Mat. 5:37; )

Freedom turned out to be short-lived. The leaders made a treaty, and then they violated it. They made a deal, and then they reneged on it. They established a covenant, and then they broke it. There had been no genuine repentance, so there was no permanent release. Unconditional release was followed by unexpected recapture. (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Jeremiah, 528)

 

  1. Result: Renegation invited desolation. (vv. 17-22)

(Lev. 26:14-46; Ps. 37:20, 107:33-34; Is. 13:9; Lam. 1; Ez. 18:20; Ezra 9)

In v. 17 there is pungent play on the Hebrew word derör (“liberty” or “release”). NIV puts it most effectively: “freedom.” Since they had not actually given the slaves freedom, God ironically declares that the people themselves would be freed—freed from his protecting hand. The guilty would be freed for doom and destruction. Because they had enslaved their brothers and sisters, they were to be subjected to their enemies. (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary; Vol 6, 598)

Constant rejection of God’s Word, whether by an individual or a nation, will bring doom. (Max Anders, Holman OT Commentary: Jeremiah, 278)

A study of the actions of Zedekiah and his people reveals the moral poverty of Judah in this sad hour. (1) The leaders of the nation had broken a covenant voluntarily made and duly ratified in God’s house. (2) They had thus profaned the character of God, in whose name the vows had been taken. (3) They were irresolute and double-minded in their devotion to God. (4) They quickly bowed to the law of expediency. (5) Their repentance was superficial, for (a) it was motivated only by a fear of consequences, (b) it was a change of conduct with no real change of heart, (c) its results were shallow and temporary. (C. Paul Gray, Beacon Bible Commentary: Jeremiah, 440)

 

Conclusion…What should we take away from this text as modern-day followers of Jesus? 

A. When the pressure’s on, press-in, and cling to Jesus.

(Ps.118:5-6, 119:50, Is. 53:4-7; John 16:33; 1 Co. 10:13; Phil. 4:23;  Ja. 1:12; 1 Pet. 1:6-7)

Most promises or pronouncements of judgment have a built-in opportunity for choice. If God declares good for a nation, this nation can negate the promise by sinning. If God declares evil or judgment for a nation, he will change the outcome of that declaration if the people repent. God deals with individuals and groups on the basis of their moral choices. (Max Anders, Holman OT Commentary: Jeremiah, 280)

 

B. Jesus promises freedomto those in His family. And He never backs out. 

(Luke 1:45, 4:18; Acts 2:39; Rom. 4:16, 9:8; 2 Cor. 1:20, 3:17; Gal. 5:1, 3:19; Heb. 10:23)

The freedom Jesus offers is the best of all freedoms — freedom from sin. There has never been any worse slavery than slavery to sin. Every child who comes into the world is born in bondage, already a captive of sin. From the very first moment of life, sin controls and dominates thoughts, desires, wills, hearts, imaginations, emotions, and actions. Jesus said, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). The Apostle Paul said, “I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin” (Romans 7:14; cf. 7:25). Slavery to sin brings guilt, grief, condemnation, and finally death. (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Jeremiah, 533)

 

C. As carriers of Jesus’s name, keep your promises. 

 (Ps. 25:20-21; Prov.12:22, 25, 19:1; Mat. 5:33, 37; Tit. 2:7-8; Ja. 5:12; 1 John. 2:3) 

Because God is a covenant-keeper, he hates covenant-breaking. If you belong to God, you must keep your word, meet your obligations, fulfill your vows, satisfy your contracts, and keep your promises. After all, you are the child of a promise-keeping God. (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Jeremiah, 532)

 

Worship Point…

We become living acts of worship as our lives reflect the kind of promise-keeping integrity Jesus has. 

(Pro. 10:9, 19:1, 20:7, 21:3, 28:6; Rom. 12:1; Phil. 4:8, Heb. 13:18; 1 Pet. 3:16; Tit. 2:7 )

God promises you and me His presence. I don’t always feel His presence. But God’s promises do not depend upon my feelings; they rest upon His integrity. I may fail in my promises, but He does not break His. (R. C. Sproul, Discovering the God Who Is, 48)

 

Gospel Application…

Jesus kept the covenant in all the ways we couldn’t so that in him we could be seen as promise-keepers by God. 

(Ps. 105:8, Jer. 31:33; Luke 22:20; 2 Cor. 5:12; Eph. 2:8-9; Heb. 8:10, 9:15, 12:24, 13:20)

Some covenants were agreements between equals, but in this example only the owners passed between the Parts (19). In the covenant with Abram, only the fire of the Lord did so (Gen. 15:17-18), for the divine covenants are gifts to be accepted, not deals to be negotiated. They are comparable to a will and its bequests. God’s indignation at this example of a broken covenant leaves us in no doubt of the sacredness of his own commitment. (Derek Kidner, The Message of Jeremiah, 117)

 

Spiritual Challenge Questions…

Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or life group.

  • Have you ever felt backed into a corner and made a promise you couldn’t (or didn’t intend to) keep? What was the result?
  • What collateral damage have you experienced from broken promises made to you or those around you in the past?
  • What can you do to safeguard your integrity when it comes to the promises you make to others? 

 

Quotes to note…

Sin has sired a thousand heartaches and broken a million promises. Your addiction can be traced back to sin. Your mistrust can be traced back to sin. Bigotry, robbery, adultery all because of sin. But in heaven, all of this will end. (Max Lucado, The Lucado Inspirational Reader, 249)

No promise of the covenant of grace belongs to any man, until he has first believed in Christ.  (Jonathan Edwards, Select Works of Jonathan Edwards, 150)

Remarkably, after centuries of not paying any attention to these laws, God’s people finally listened, repented, and proclaimed freedom to their countrymen. They followed this divine command: “Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrew who has sold himself to you. After he has served you six years, you must let him go free” (34: 14a). They obeyed the verse that is inscribed on Philadelphia’s most famous landmark: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus 25:10). (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Jeremiah, 527)

Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters. (C.S. Lewis in “Equality” from Present Concerns, quoted in Christianity Today, February 3, 1989, p. 31.)

One step forward in obedience is worth years of study about it. (Oswald Chambers, quoted in Our Daily Bread, March 4, 1993)

The covenant God granted Israel at Mount Sinai obligated the people to certain norms of behavior toward God and one another. Obedience, however, was not only an act but also a matter of the heart (and soul). Neither an individual nor a group honors God solely with outward obedience, although obedience is a key indicator of a person or group’s true allegiance. (J. Andrew Dearman, The NIV Application Commentary; Jeremiah, Lamentations, 313)

No man in this world attains to freedom from any slavery except by entrance into some higher servitude. There is no such thing as an entirely free man conceivable. If there were one such being he would be lost in this great universe, all strung through as it is with obligations, somewhere in the net of which every man must find his place. It is not whether you are free or a servant, but whose servant you are, that is the question. (Phillip Brooks, The Candle of the Lord and Other Sermons, Vol. 2, 363)

 

FURTHER RESEARCH, QUOTES, and RESOURCES…

The incident narrated at length in chapter 34 took place during the siege of Jerusalem in 588—587 B.C. Reports of a move by Egyptian forces to attack the Babylonians reached the commander of the besieging forces and he was forced temporarily to lift the attack on the city. This provided opportunity for action of a deeply perverse and dishonorable character on the part of the threatened citizens of Jerusalem. When the siege against the city set in, the slave-owners had released both male and female slaves (34:8—10). This was motivated partly by a form of genuine humane concern, recognizing that in such dangerous times each individual had to look to do the best for himself or herself. More cynically, it had been perpetrated out of a desire to abandon responsibility for feeding and protecting such enslaved persons. However, with the lifting of the siege the citizens hoped it would provide permanent relief from the threat, and the deep cynicism and treachery latent in the situation became plain. The slave-owners repossessed their former servants (v. 11)! Jeremiah saw in such an action a twofold significance. In the first place the possession of slaves in perpetuity was in contravention of the Deuteronomic law embedded in the covenant relationship between God and Israel made on Horeb (vv. 13—14). Such slavery of fellow Israelites on grounds of debt should have been limited to a maximum period of seven years (Exod. 21:2—6; Deut. 15:12—18, esp. v. 12). Secondly, as if this flagrant contravention of the divinely given covenant law were not enough, these callous citizens of Jerusalem profaned the very name of God in repossessing the slaves they had freed for so short a period (v. 16). They thereby broke the legal and solemn oath taken before God by which they had conferred freedom upon their slaves. Jeremiah carefully matched the words of his threat to the baseless disregard of human rights and feelings such actions displayed (v. 17). These citizens had dis- owned allegiance to God’s covenant. How could they subsequently suppose that God would adhere to his side of the covenant commitment in protecting and upholding such people and their city?
(R.E. Clements, Interpretation Bible Commentary: Jeremiah, 205-206)
 
Whatever his personal or political motivations may have been, emancipation was the best proclamation Zedekiah ever made. Slavery, as it was practiced among the people of God in those days, was scandalous. It was a violation of God’s Law: “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything” (Exodus 21 :2; cf. Deuteronomy 15:12). (527) (cf. Lev. 25:39-42)
 
It could be argued that much the same thing happened at the end of the Civil War. The Emancipation Proclamation held out the promise of real freedom. But it took a long time for that promise to even begin to be fulfilled. Slavery gave way to lynching. Lynching gave way to Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws gave way to segregation. Segregation gave way to prejudice. Americans can thank God for the great progress the United States has made toward racial reconciliation, but prejudice persists to the present day. Zedekiah’s emancipation revocation teaches what a wicked thing it is to go back on the promise of freedom. (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Jeremiah, 529)
 
God proceeded to remind his people that they used to be slaves themselves. “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your forefathers when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (v. 13). The people of Jerusalem owed their very freedom to God. They had received their liberty “from the gratuitous mercy of God, who made them free, who brought them forth from tyranny in Egypt. It hence follows, that they could not be masters over others, since they themselves were servants.'” (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Jeremiah, 531)
 
Slaveholding was such a great sin that it demanded a harsh punishment. “Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you, declares the LORD — ‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth” (v. 17). According to God, the people did not actually proclaim lib- erty in the first place because they did not grant liberty in the end. (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Jeremiah, 531)
 
To understand this punishment, it helps to know that Biblical covenants were not made, they were cut. Instead of signing a contract, the parties to a covenant took an animal and cut it in two. Then they walked between the severed halves of the carcass (Genesis 15:9-17). They were taking a self-maledictory oath, calling down curses upon themselves should they violate the terms of the agreement. Anyone who violated the covenant — especially slaveholders — deserved to be dismembered and left to the dogs. Because God is a covenant-keeper, he hates covenant-breaking. If you belong to God, you must keep your word, meet your obligations, fulfill your vows, satisfy your contracts, and keep your promises. After all, you are the child of a promise-keeping God. (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Jeremiah,  532)
 
This was and is the emancipation proclamation of Jesus Christ. Jesus was quoting from Isaiah 61, which celebrates the release of captives every seventh year and every Jubilee Year. When Jesus sat down in the synagogue, he taught that he himself was the fulfillment of Isaiah 61. The Old about Testament laws about freedom from slavery were meant to teach about the work of Christ in bringing freedom once and for all. Jesus is the Jubilee. (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Jeremiah, 532)
 
What kind of freedom does Jesus offer? Not, primarily, political freedom. This is why it would be a mistake to study Jeremiah 34 and think only about the politics of slavery. Remember, Jesus did not throw off the yoke of Roman rule. He did not free the Jews from their servitude. In fact, right up until his death Jesus had to keep reminding people that he was not offering political freedom. (Phillip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word: Jeremiah, 533)
 
Jeremiah is unique among the prophetic writings because the fulfillment of its central oracles about the Lord’s judgment on Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity is set forth more than once in its pages. Chapters 34—38 are largely occupied with Jeremiah’s experiences during the siege of Jerusalem. Like other portions Of the book, they are not in strict chronological order. Most Of the events they narrate took place in the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, shortly before the Fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Chapters 34.38, largely biographical, cover the siege of Jerusalem; chapter 39, its fall; and chapters 40—44, events after the fall. (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary; Vol 6, 594)
 
6—7 Speaking so boldly to the king was hazardous, but Jeremiah feared only God (v. 6).(Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary; Vol 6, 596)
 
The ancient method of making a covenant is indicated in v. 18 (cf. Gen 15:9—17). As in the Assyrian inscriptions, the intention was that, as they passed through the pieces of the divided sacrifice, they invoked on themselves a curse that, if they broke the covenant, they would be cut in pieces like the sacrificial calf (so Driver et al.). The Hebrew way of referring to making a covenant by saying “cut a covenant” obviously goes back to Genesis 15:9-17. (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary; Vol 6, 598)
 
Later on, Zedekiah was captured while fleeing the besieged city. His last days were spent in darkness because the Babylonians blinded him—a cruel act that came after the execution of members of his family (39:5—7). (J. Andrew Dearman, The NIV Application Commentary; Jeremiah, Lamentations, 310)
 
34:6—7. These verses seem to be an incidental comment regarding the timing of Jeremiah’s communication to Zedekiah. As a result of archaeological work, however, they have become an interesting commentary on the formation of the book. According to verses 6—7, the two cities of Azekah and Lachish were still holding out against the Babylonian forces when Jeremiah made his prophecies to Zedekiah. The site of ancient Lachish is at modern Tell ed Dutveir in the Shephelah hills southwest of Jerusalem. During the 1930s an expedition sponsored by the British School of Archaeology excavated at the site. Near the gate and near the interior fortress the excavation team found several ostraca (letters written on pottery shards) from stratum II, dating from the time of Jeremiah. One of the letters states that the signals from Azekah, located a few kilometers to the north of Lachish, could no longer be seen. (J. Andrew Dearman, The NIV Application Commentary; Jeremiah, Lamentations, 310)
 
Zedekiah was king of the land, and he faced a choice. Would he heed the prophet with a word from Yahweh, or would he ignore him? We do not have any written record of his response to the prophet’s message. But we do have a record of what happened. The horrible things the king endured lead us to believe that he chose to reject Jeremiah’s passionate plea. (Max Anders, Holman OT Commentary: Jeremiah, 280)
 
If Israelites became impoverished, they could sell themselves into slavery. However, this slavery was only temporary since the law stipulated that slave owners must free their Hebrew slaves in the Sabbatical Year. While it was possible for Hebrew slaves to become permanent slaves, this decision was theirs and not the slave owners.  (Tremper Longman III, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series: Jeremiah, 228)
 
Perhaps the withdrawal of the Babylonians led the residents of Jerusalem to think everything was fine and so they could again oppress their fellow citizens for their own economic benefit. However, since the text does not state a reason, we are speculating. The point of the passage is clear enough. They did not follow through on their commitment to do the right thing; they betrayed their covenantal agreement. (Tremper Longman III, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series: Jeremiah, 229)
 
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. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive, 161)
 
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 siege and Nebuchadnezzar went off to confront the Egyptian army (Jer. 34:21—22; 37:5—11), the masters all forced their slaves back into servitude. Ihe solemn covenant made in the temple meant nothing. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Decisive, 161)
 
The emancipation proclaimed by Zedekiah was long over-due. When God had given the law from Mt. Sinai, he had written into it a provision by which he had commanded his people to free their brothers and sisters who had been forced to sell themselves into slavery. Every seven years (the Sab- bath year) and every fifty years (the year of Jubilee) God had commanded such an emancipation to take place (Exodus 21 :2, Leviticus 25:39-43, and Deuteronomy 15:12-15). (David M. Gosdeck, The People’s Bible: Jeremiah, 228)
 
The reason God gave for this practice was that the whole nation had been slaves in Egypt. God had freed them from that slavery. In truth they all belonged to him. They were, therefore, not to enslave their Israelite brothers and sisters permanently. They were further to keep these commands of the law with loving hearts, for love is the fulfillment of the law. Down through the centuries these commands about slavery had rarely been observed. The Lord praised Zedekiah and the people for following this commandment of his law. (David M. Gosdeck, The People’s Bible: Jeremiah, 228)
 
Very shortly after their grand gesture of freeing their slaves, the slave owners changed their minds. Without protest or any attempt to stop them, King Zedekiah went along with the reversal. Greed blinded them to their own long-term self interest. Perhaps they believed that the siege had been permanently broken and feared that they would suffer great personal financial loss if they permitted their slaves to remain free. They forgot that if Nebuchadnezzar returned and took the city, their ownership of slaves was meaningless. They themselves would be slaves.(229)
 
Zedekiah is solidly at the centre of the whole incident. It was he who initiated the reform, and its failure is a comment on his inability to maintain the Mosaic covenant. More profoundly, it is a comment on the inability of the whole Davidic dynasty to do so. The extrapolation is fair because of the implicit analogy with Josiah’s reform. According to our understanding of the account of that reform, its purpose was to show the inescapable failure of the dynasty, even in the face of the best contrary indications. Here, there are few good indications at all. Jeremiah, concentrating on Josiah’s successors, has never pretended to repose any hope in them. Nevertheless, the analogy with Josiah, already suggested by the comparable prophecy regarding a death ‘in peace’, can be maintained. Like him, Zedekiah attempts a kind of reform, and in this case too, its only issue is to make embarrassingly clear yet again that dynasty and nation must fall. (J.G. McConville, Judgment and Promise, 106)
 
The words of verse 11, “But afterward,” are significant. According to 37:1-10 and 34:21-22, there was a lull in the siege. The Egyptian armies from the south, presumably relieving Jerusalem, drew the Babylonian forces away from the besieged city. Once again slaves could work in the fields outside the city. Military pressure against the city was relieved. Was the trouble over? The freed slaves were re-enslaved. (Howard Kuist, The Layman’s Bible Commentary: Jeremiah, 105)
 
In spite of the long-suffering 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 could- n’t prevent Judah’s shameful ruin at the hands of the idolatrous Babylonians. The end had come. (Warren W. Wiersbe,  The Bible Exposition Commentary: Job-Song of Solomon, 126)
 
The destiny of the king (vv. 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. (Warren W. Wiersbe,  The Bible Exposition Commentary: Job-Song of Solomon, 126)
 
At one point during the siege, Zedekiah and the people made a covenant with the Lord in the temple (34:15) 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. (Warren W. Wiersbe,  The Bible Exposition Commentary: Job-Song of Solomon, 126)
 
The Rechabites were a clan of nomadic people loyal to their ancestor Jonadab (2 Kings 10:15-23), who commanded them not to live in houses, not to have farms or vine- yards, and not to drink wine. They were related to Moses’ father-in-law (Jud. 1:16; 4:11) and for over 250 years had composed a small “separatist” clan in the nation. Because of the Babylonian invasion, they had forsaken their tents and moved into Jerusalem. (Warren W. Wiersbe,  The Bible Exposition Commentary: Job-Song of Solomon, 127)