WWUTT 2544 A King's Funeral In Judgment (Jeremiah 34:1-22)

The children of Judah thought that they could fool God by doing a little bit of righteousness and earning some of God's favor, and then they could jump right back into their sin again.

But the Bible tells us God will not be mocked when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Jeremiah, we come today to chapter 34.

We just finished up a section of Jeremiah called the Book of Consolation, that was from chapters 30 to 33, in which

God promised Israel and Judah that He would restore them once again to their land.

Though they had been sent into exile and they were being punished because they had worshipped false gods and they had rebelled against the

Lord, their God, eventually God's anger would be abated and the punishment would be fulfilled.

And He would even move in the heart of the king that was over them, that they would be restored to their land and occupy once again that place that God had promised to the descendants of Abraham.

Well, there was another group of Jews that had not been obedient to God. One of the things that the Lord had commanded through the prophet

Jeremiah was that they were to be in submission to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was an instrument in the

Lord's hand to bring this punishment upon Judah. And so they were to submit to Nebuchadnezzar and go into Babylon.

But Zedekiah and a number of Jews with him rebelled against the Lord. They did not listen to Jeremiah and they remained there in Jerusalem.

So what we're going to read here in chapter 34, after just reading about God comforting

Israel and Judah here, he is promising to bring judgment on those who did not obey.

That's going to include Zedekiah. We read about his punishment in verses one through seven, and then there's a description of what it is that the

Hebrews did dishonestly in verses eight through 16. And then

God promises judgment upon them in verses 17 to 22. So let me begin reading verses one through seven.

Hear the word of the Lord. The word that came to Jeremiah from the

Lord, when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities.

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, go and speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah and say to him, thus says the

Lord, behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he shall burn it with fire.

You shall not escape from his hand, but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand.

You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face and you shall go to Babylon yet.

Hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah, king of Judah, thus says the

Lord concerning you, you shall not die by the sword, you shall die in peace.

And as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you.

So people shall burn spices for you and lament for you saying, alas,

Lord, for I have spoken the word declares the Lord. Then Jeremiah, the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah, king of Judah in Jerusalem, when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left,

Lakish and Ezekiah, for these were the only fortified cities of Judah that remained.

We'll stop there for a moment because this is, this is just the judgment that comes upon Zedekiah. The rest of the

Hebrews will be addressed after this. Now Nebuchadnezzar had already come against Jerusalem once, but the people who did not go with him into captivity.

Now the Lord is bringing Nebuchadnezzar against them again, and this time to burn the city with fire and those who remained in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem who did not submit to the word of the

Lord and go into captivity with Nebuchadnezzar, they are being punished. They will be destroyed here as the

Babylonians come against them a second time. Now Zedekiah is being told that even though he disobeyed, yet he would receive a king's burial.

So once again, where it is said in verse four, you shall not die by the sword.

You shall die in peace. And as spices were burned for your fathers, so shall people burn spices for you and lament over you.

This, this is a king's funeral. When spices are burned like, uh, like frankincense and myrrh, remember a couple of those spices that were gifted to Jesus by the

Magi when they came and visited him, according to Matthew chapter two, these were the kinds of gifts that were given to a king.

And so those spices would be stored up by the king. They would be preparing for their death.

Even at the beginning of their reign, they would spend a time in their reign or some of the, some of the riches that they possessed, they would spend on preparing their tomb.

So Zedekiah would be able to receive a king's funeral and he would be buried with his fathers as the

Lord has promised here. So it was with your father, so it will be for you. And Jeremiah comes to Zedekiah and delivers this word.

Zedekiah would have the opportunity to see the king of Babylon face to face. Now, that was somewhat of an honor because Zedekiah was not going to be left to die like a dog, like any other peasant that might be destroyed when the armies come into Jerusalem, but he was actually going to be regarded as a king by the king who was conquering him.

And Zedekiah wouldn't be put to death in the presence of Nebuchadnezzar, but again, would die in peace and receive a proper burial for a king of Judah.

Now from here, we read about what the Hebrews did that was not honest.

It was disobedient to the Lord. And then God is going to say to them what kind of punishment they will receive.

So let me now read beginning in verse eight, the word that came to Jeremiah from the

Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation to them that everyone should set free his

Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother.

Now let me stop there. You will know from the law that there were certain conditions that were given to enslave a fellow

Jew, but that slavery was always supposed to be temporary. There was the year of Jubilee in which they were supposed to be set free or every seventh year, a

Sabbath year, they were supposed to be set free. So there wasn't supposed to be a permanent enslavement of their fellow

Jews. But in this case, what appears to be happening is that the Hebrews have enslaved them for longer than what the law allowed.

So they think this has made God angry and therefore in order to assuage him, in order, in order to turn back his wrath from us, let's let our

Hebrew slaves go. And maybe that will, that will, will make the Lord's wrath turn away from us.

So in verse 10, they all obeyed all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again.

They obeyed and set them free. But verse 11, afterward, they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free and brought them into subjection as slaves.

So almost as if they're doing this thinking, well, God has seen us set them free, but he's not going to see us enslave them again.

This was the level of injustice that was going on in the hearts of this people. This isn't the only thing that God is punishing them for, but it just demonstrates their rebellion against God.

They think that if they do just a little bit, then they've done just enough to gain their righteousness. We're now righteous before God because I obeyed a little bit and we might see them as being rather foolish, but how much do we do this?

Like how much have you reasoned with yourself that I've done just enough good here.

I've earned a little bit of favor with God. So now I can indulge in just a little bit of sin because look how good

I am. So I can do a little bit of sin and God is going to be just fine with it. You know you've done this.

Don't be shaking your head going, that's not me. I'd never do something that foolish. Oh yes, you have. We've done this before.

We've all thought way too highly of ourselves and our righteousness and thought that we have gained a certain level of merit with how good

I have been lately. So maybe I can just indulge in this sin a little bit.

Maybe you didn't consciously think that. Maybe that wasn't your scheme or your plan in any way, but somehow in there is just the way that you reasoned subconsciously, if anything, but had thought you earned a little bit of pleasure for yourself, though it was against God.

You indulged in it anyway. Hopefully you felt guilty about it afterward and came back to the

Lord and asked for forgiveness. But my friends, we should never flirt with evil in this way. We should never think so highly of ourselves to think that I can dabble in this a little bit and it won't be all that dangerous.

God will just forgive me for it. Well, how do you know that God won't just turn you over to your enemy, which could be yourself, or the schemes of Satan to ensnare you and draw you into that and away from God and his goodness and all that he has shown you through the gospel.

We need to be very careful about those temptations of the flesh. Not tiptoeing the line like I can get close to the fire without getting burned.

Your attention then is on the fire. It is not on God. Where should we be oriented?

We should turn ourselves entirely to the Lord. Stay away from that sin. Don't even go near it.

Pursue Christ and keep your eyes on him as talked about in Hebrews 12, looking to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith.

We run with endurance the race that is set before us. And it's said there in Hebrews 12, one and two, we take off every sin and every weight which so easily entangles that could hinder us from running that race.

We put it all away. You don't even keep something back there in your back pocket that you can pull out every once in a while that you want to indulge in this.

Whatever it is, whatever would separate you from God, whatever would take your attention away from Christ, get rid of it.

Get it out of your life because otherwise you're holding on to it as an idol. It's as if you are saying,

I'm not complete unless I have this thing. Friends, Christ is to be your everything and you are to feel completely satisfied in Christ.

So put off all of those things, or as said in Colossians 3, 5, put to death what is earthly in you.

Don't fool yourself into thinking I've earned myself a little bit of pleasure because that takes you away from Christ.

It dishonors God. It makes a mockery of him. And remember what is said in Galatians, God will not be mocked.

Let us pursue righteousness that we've been clothed in if we are in Christ Jesus.

And so the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord. Verse 13, thus says the

Lord, the God of Israel, I myself made a covenant with your fathers when

I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying at the end of seven years, each of you must set free the fellow

Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years.

You must set him free from your service. But your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me.

You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming liberty each to his neighbor.

And you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name. But then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves whom you had set free according to their desire.

And you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.

Now, the Lord is laying all of this out for them to remind them that they themselves were slaves at one point, and they were brought out of slavery from Egypt.

And so it was said in the law that just as you were slaves, you're not to enslave your fellow brother.

Now, there may be a circumstance in which perhaps your neighbor, your brother or somebody like that owes you something.

Maybe they have a debt they need to pay off. So in which case, they will become your servant and they will serve you in that position until seven years, and then they are to be set free.

This was mentioned in the law. This has been repeated again in Jeremiah. And the basis for this, as God had given it to them, even in the law was you are one slaves, so you should not enslave one another.

I've set you free, so you must also set free. Now, there's a version of this that we practice as well.

I go back to Colossians 3 on this. As God has forgiven you, so you must also forgive.

God has freed you from slavery to your sin, so we should not have bitterness or grudges or anything else against one another.

If somebody asks forgiveness from you, you should be ready to forgive them.

For God forgives us, we must forgive one another. So that's how that might play among us in a

Christian or a new covenant context, that we would not hold things against one another, but we would be forgiving for God does not hold anything against us if we have been forgiven in Christ Jesus.

But now, since the Hebrews have behaved in this way here in Jeremiah chapter 34, so God is going to play a little bit of irony against them, and he's going to set them free, but not to the kind of freedom that they would have asked for.

So hear what the Lord says next, beginning in verse 17. Therefore, thus says the

Lord, you have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, everyone to his brother and to his neighbor.

Behold, I proclaim to you liberty. Okay, so they've not proclaimed liberty to their slaves.

So how's God going to repay them? He's going to proclaim liberty to them. Oh, okay, well, that's interesting.

Liberty to what? Well, let's continue on. Still verse 17. I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence and to famine, declares the

Lord. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.

So they're going to be set free from the favor of God, from the protection of God.

They will not have God's blessing anymore. They are going to be turned over to the sword, the

Babylonians that will come against them, to pestilence. This is often a result of a war -torn region as well, because things have become unsanitary.

There isn't a good storage of food. There isn't any way that trash or sewage is being dealt with.

And so this breeds disease. Food goes bad, it spoils. And now it brings about this rottenness upon the people.

And so a plague begins to spread. So the sword is going to get you, the pestilence is going to get you, and then also famine.

There won't be any food at all. There's no longer the community that is planting fields and harvesting together.

There's no storage of food. Where do we get sustenance? You will perish by famine, declares the

Lord. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. All the rest of the kingdoms will be looking at you and they'll be going, what did those people do that their

God would turn them over to judgment in this way? Verse 18, and the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of my covenant that they made before me,

I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts.

Now, this was a common kind of sacrifice that was made when a covenant was established between two people.

You would have an animal that would be presented for sacrifice and it would be cut in half. One half of the animal would be placed on one altar and the other half of the animal would be placed on the other altar.

And then the two who are making the covenant with each other would walk between the two halves of the animal as they burned on their respective altars.

There was something like this that God did with Abraham in Genesis chapter 15, when God made a covenant with Abraham, Abraham set the sacrifice on the two altars and God passed between the parts.

And what's being signified there too, is that if we break apart this covenant, then we will be divided just as these animals here on this sacrifice are divided.

We will be cut apart if we break this covenant. And so God is saying to the people, you broke the covenant.

So you know what? You're going to be made like this animal. You are going to be broken in half. You are going to be torn in two.

Verse 19, the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf.

And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives.

Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth and Zedekiah, king of Judah and his officials.

I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, which has withdrawn from you.

Behold, I will command declares the Lord and we'll bring them back to this city and they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire.

I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitants.

And this is something that we need to keep in mind when it comes to our sin. God will not be mocked.

What someone sows that will he also reap as I quoted from Galatians. And so if you are going to sow unto the flesh, then you're going to reap from the flesh corruption and it will destroy you.

My friends turn from your sin to Christ. Do not enter, entertain the sin any longer, lest it destroy you, but be cleansed by Christ and be made new.

You know, just as this was being spoken to a group of people, so this could also apply to a group of people.

It could apply to a church. You could have a church congregation, a body that is beginning to tolerate sin and they're not dealing with it.

And what did God say? What did Jesus say would happen to a church that would not listen to correction and repent?

In Revelation chapters two and three, he said that he would remove his lampstand from them.

The spirit of God would no longer be with that church that tolerates sin and walks in the ways that are in rebellion against God's word.

It may not even be an individual congregation. You could go larger. It could be entire denominations.

And we've certainly seen that happen. Entire denominations that turn away from the

Lord. The liberal side of the Lutherans, the liberal Episcopalians, the United Methodist Church that is tolerating sin and has now embraced

LGBTQism and is appointing even those who are openly homosexual to the priesthood, to their pastorate.

God removes his lampstand from them and they are no longer blessed with the presence of the spirit of God in their midst.

For they do not honor his word. They do not honor Christ. But they have become one with the world and have chased after the passions of their flesh.

So my friends, as Jesus said in Revelation chapter three to the church at Laodicea, those whom

I love, I reprove and discipline. So be zealous and repent. And let us not entertain those passions of our flesh any longer, but turn away from sin and continue in the righteousness of Christ that we are given by faith in him.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for what we have read here. And I pray we learn the lesson from this that we do not entertain our sins any longer or think so pridefully that I can do a little bit of good and that will win me a little bit of favor to do a little bit of bad.

I can enjoy a little bit of sin on the side. It will destroy us ultimately. We behave like fools whenever we do that.

For the sin is never as good as we think it is. But Christ is always good to us and let

Christ be sufficient for us for everything. We are fully satisfied in Christ Jesus.

As the psalmist says in Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

I have everything I could ever need in Christ. As also said there in Psalm 23, lead me in paths of righteousness for your namesake.

It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. This has been When We Understand the

Text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt

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