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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
But
afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved
them again.
Then
the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of
Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of
Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I said, ‘Every seventh year each of you must
free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served
you six years, you must let them go free.’ Your ancestors, however, did not
listen to Me or pay attention to Me. Recently you repented and did what is
right in My sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to your own people. You even
made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My Name. But now you have
turned around and profaned My name; each of you has taken back the male and
female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to
become your slaves again.”
“Therefore
this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed
freedom to your own people. 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. Those who have violated My covenant
and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before Me, I will
treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. The
leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the
people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, I will deliver
into the hands of their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will
become food for the birds and the wild animals.”
Jeremiah 34:11-20
This ends today’s reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we left yesterday’s devotion, there was great reason to
celebrate, not only for the Israelites of Jeremiah’s day and their actions but
for all of us here in the 21st century as well. In both instances, we saw a
people who were once under bondage experienced freedom.
Today, we will see that the freedom for the Hebrew slaves in
Jerusalem during the reign of King Zedekiah and the Babylonian attack of
Jerusalem was short-lived because the Israelite people decided to renege on
their promise to free the slaves.
It was a decision they would regret dearly. Look at these
verses from Jeremiah, Chapter 34:
But afterward they changed their minds and
took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:
“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your
ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I said,
‘Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold
themselves to you. After they have served you six years, you must let them go
free.’ Your ancestors, however, did not listen to Me or pay attention to Me.
Recently you repented and did what is right in My sight: Each of you proclaimed
freedom to your own people. You even made a covenant before Me in the house
that bears my Name. But now you have turned around and profaned My name; each
of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where
they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.”
“Therefore this is what the Lord says: You
have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. 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. Those who have violated My covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of
the covenant they made before Me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two
and then walked between its pieces. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the
court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between
the pieces of the calf, I will deliver into the hands of their enemies who want
to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild
animals.” Jeremiah 34:11-20
Before we get into the ill-advised actions of the
Israelites, note here that we learn a lot about why the movement toward freeing
the Hebrew slaves happened in the first place. For the Lord tells us that it
went all the way back to the days of their ancestors.
In those days, the days when God brought His people out of
their slavery in Egypt, God commanded His people to free any fellow Hebrews who
were enslaved in their seventh year of servitude. Thus, enslavement was only to
last six years before freedom ensued. It was under this rule that the
Israelites in Jeremiah’s day were operating and they had done what they were
supposed to do in God’s sight. They made a covenant before God in His temple to
seal it in truth.
All would have been fine if the Israelites would have left
things well enough alone at that point.
But they didn’t.
For as the scriptures tell us, they changed their minds and
took back the slaves they had just released, bringing them into enslavement
again. They reneged on their promise and as we will see, that was a fatal error
in judgment.
We
get the first clue that bad times were coming for the Israelites who went back
on their word when God tells them that they “profaned” His name. This was
followed by a promise of judgment, a promise God would not go back on. Since
the Israelites had sinfully taken away the freedom of the once freed slaves,
now they would see God exercise His liberty to punish them, giving His people
the freedom to:
1.
Fall by the sword, plague and famine.
2.
Become abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.
3.
Be mistreated and handed over to the enemy, affliction, or starvation.
4.
Suffer death at the hands of their attackers, illness, or lack of food.
Not exactly the kind of freedom anyone should want to have
and certainly not an enjoyable kind of liberation, that’s for sure.
What’s our takeaway from all this? What do we glean away to
be able to apply to our own lives?
First, God expects us to obey His expectations.
The Israelites were expected by God to follow the traditions
and customs He handed down to their ancestors, freeing the Hebrew slaves in the
seventh year.
Today, God still expects us to follow His words, will, and
way as He guides us to fulfill His purposes.
Second, expect trouble if you go back on your promise, particularly
when it applies to carrying out God’s expectations.
The Israelites would see their demise as the penalty for
breaking their covenant.
What’s it going to be for us?
Let’s just do ourselves a favor and not even make the
question relative. All we need to do is remain compliant with God’s word and
way for our lives and we will always live in the light of His grace, mercy, and
love. We will live to experience the richness of His many blessings.
And we can trust that God’s favor will be upon us when we
live in a way that is pleasing in His sight because if there’s one thing sure
about God, it’s that He never reneges on His promises.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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