When God’s People Break Sacred Promises: The Heartbreaking Story of Jeremiah 34
What’s Jeremiah 34 about?
This chapter tells the devastating story of how God’s people made a solemn covenant to free their Hebrew slaves during Jerusalem’s siege, only to take them back into slavery when the immediate danger passed. It’s a powerful reminder that God takes our promises seriously—especially when they involve justice for the vulnerable.
The Full Context
Picture Jerusalem in 588 BCE, surrounded by Babylonian armies like a noose tightening around the city’s neck. King Zedekiah and his people are desperate, and in their desperation, they do something remarkable—they make a covenant with God to release all Hebrew slaves, following the ancient law that required freedom after six years of service. It’s a beautiful moment of repentance and justice, exactly what God had been calling for through Jeremiah’s ministry.
But here’s where the story takes a heartbreaking turn. When the Babylonian army temporarily withdraws (likely due to an Egyptian intervention), the people’s hearts change faster than the political winds. They force their newly freed slaves back into bondage, breaking their sacred covenant with God. This chapter sits in the broader context of Jeremiah’s warnings about Jerusalem’s coming judgment, serving as a perfect example of why that judgment was both necessary and just. The literary structure moves from covenant-making to covenant-breaking, showing how quickly human hearts can turn from repentance to rebellion when the pressure lifts.
What the Ancient Words Tell Us
The Hebrew word for covenant here is berith—not just any agreement, but a sacred, binding relationship sealed before God. When the text says they “made a covenant before me” (Jeremiah 34:15), it’s using the same language used for God’s covenant with Abraham. This wasn’t a casual promise; it was a solemn vow with divine witness.
Grammar Geeks
The Hebrew verb shuv (to return) appears throughout this chapter in two devastating ways: the people “returned” to doing evil, while God promises the sword will “return” to destroy them. It’s the same word used for repentance, showing how true turning can go either direction.
The phrase “proclaim liberty” (dror) in Jeremiah 34:8 is the same word used in Leviticus 25:10 for the Year of Jubilee. This wasn’t just freeing slaves—it was declaring God’s kind of justice, the kind that resets society’s inequalities and gives everyone a fresh start.
But then comes the tragic reversal. The text says they “brought them into subjection” again—the Hebrew kabash is a harsh word meaning to subdue by force, the same word used for conquering enemies in battle. These former slaves weren’t just re-employed; they were violently forced back into bondage.
What Would the Original Audience Have Heard?
For Jeremiah’s first audience, this story would have hit like a physical blow. Everyone knew the Mosaic law about Hebrew slaves found in Deuteronomy 15:12-18—after six years, you must let them go free, and not empty-handed. This wasn’t obscure theology; it was basic covenant faithfulness that separated Israel from the surrounding nations.
Did You Know?
Archaeological evidence from this period shows that debt slavery was rampant in Judah during the late monarchy. The Babylonian siege would have made economic conditions even worse, with wealthy landowners likely exploiting desperate families who had to sell themselves to survive.
The audience would have immediately connected this broken promise to their ancestors’ experience in Egypt. God had freed them from slavery, and now they were enslaving their own brothers and sisters. The irony would have been crushing—they were becoming the very thing God had rescued them from.
The reference to “walking between the pieces of the calf” (Jeremiah 34:18) would have made everyone’s blood run cold. This was the most solemn form of covenant-making in the ancient Near East. You cut an animal in half and walked between the pieces, essentially saying, “May this happen to me if I break this promise.” God is saying, “You want to know what happens to covenant-breakers? Look at that dead calf—that’s your future.”
But Wait… Why Did They Think This Would Work?
Here’s what’s genuinely puzzling about this story: Why did the people think they could manipulate God like this? Did they really believe they could make a sacred covenant just to get divine help, then break it when the coast was clear?
The text suggests they treated their covenant with God like a business transaction or political alliance—something you honor when convenient and abandon when it’s not. But this reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of who God is. He’s not a distant deity you can fool or a political ally you can betray without consequences.
Wait, That’s Strange…
The timing here is almost absurdly bad. They break their covenant right when Jeremiah has been consistently warning that their rebellion is exactly why judgment is coming. It’s like someone promising to stop speeding while the police officer is writing their ticket, then flooring it as soon as the cop drives away.
Perhaps they thought God was as fickle as they were—that His promises and threats changed with circumstances. But this chapter shows the devastating difference between human unfaithfulness and divine faithfulness.
Wrestling with the Text
This passage forces us to confront uncomfortable questions about our own relationship with God. How often do we make promises in crisis that we conveniently forget in comfort? When life gets hard, we might promise God anything—better attendance at church, more generous giving, kinder treatment of others. But when the pressure lifts, how quickly do our hearts revert to old patterns?
The people in Jerusalem weren’t just breaking a promise to God; they were re-enslaving human beings who had tasted freedom. This wasn’t a victimless crime of personal piety—it was injustice that crushed the vulnerable and betrayed God’s heart for the oppressed.
“God’s judgment isn’t divine vindictiveness—it’s the natural consequence of choosing injustice over His kingdom.”
God’s response through Jeremiah is both heartbroken and resolute: “You have not obeyed me in proclaiming freedom, each to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you freedom—freedom to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine” (Jeremiah 34:17). The bitter irony is unmistakable—they wanted freedom from their covenant obligations, so God will give them freedom from His protection.
How This Changes Everything
This chapter revolutionizes how we think about promises made to God. It’s not just about personal integrity—though that matters enormously. It’s about understanding that our promises to God are inseparable from how we treat other people, especially the vulnerable.
The connection between worship and justice isn’t accidental in Scripture; it’s foundational. You can’t claim to love God while oppressing the people He loves. You can’t make sacred vows while living unholy lives. The people of Jerusalem learned this the hardest way possible.
For us today, this means our relationship with God is lived out in our relationships with others. Our promises to God about how we’ll treat our family, our employees, our neighbors, the poor in our community—these aren’t separate from our spiritual life. They are our spiritual life.
Key Takeaway
When we make promises to God in desperation but break them in comfort, we reveal we never truly understood either His character or our covenant with Him. True repentance changes not just our words but our treatment of others—especially those who can’t defend themselves.
Further Reading
Internal Links:
External Scholarly Resources:
- The Message of Jeremiah by Derek Kidner
- Jeremiah 1-25 by Jack Lundbom (Anchor Bible Commentary)
- The Book of Jeremiah by Robert Davidson
Tags
Jeremiah 34:8, Jeremiah 34:15, Jeremiah 34:17, Jeremiah 34:18, covenant, slavery, freedom, justice, broken promises, Babylonian siege, Zedekiah, Hebrew slaves, Deuteronomy 15:12-18, Leviticus 25:10, repentance, judgment, social justice
