Jeremiah has just told this prophecy to King Zedekiah of the destruction of Jerusalem. Then something else clicks with Zedekiah he remembers a law about slavery, Exodus 21 v 2 - " 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." According to the dictionary a covenant is a binding agreement. God has made several covenants with his people; one of the most famous ones is Abraham. Genesis 15 v 4-5, " 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” God makes covenants with some of his people after Abraham. But some people make covenants with God or they might see it as a promise. Sometimes I am about to say to God I promise I won't do that again but what if I sin again? Or do I just keeping trying and working through things? I know God is there to help me, but can I make a promise I am likely to break. When I was younger my Dad made me a promise to build me a fort for cowboy’s toys and he didn't just go off make and present something to me 2 months later, he involved me in the making. God is all about the process. May be my promise to God should be, "I am committed to the process of constantly growing".
Jeremiah 34 v 8-22
So Zedekiah made a covenant/promise with the people to free all the Hebrew slaves, he thought he could win God's favour by doing a kind act. So people set their Hebrew slaves free but as soon as the pressure of the Babylonians lifted the people became bold and proud and go back to sinning they reclaim their slaves. Zedekiah didn't want to have Kavanah (God's Purpose and Presence) in his life he wanted his own purposes but wanted to keep God on the subs bench for when times got tough. God doesn't work like that!
God is very angry at this covenant being broken because when Zedekiah made the covenant with the people this also meant, because it involved God's law, that the covenant involved God. The people who went back on the covenant, God said he would cut them in half like a calf and walk between the pieces, seems a bit weird but there is a deeper meaning. Walking through a calf that was cut in half was the customary way to bind an agreement, but God doing this meant he would bring Judgement on them for breaking the agreement/covenant. God then tells Zedekiah that he will call back the armies of Babylon to destroy the city.
Zedekiah tried to get in God's good books by making a simple covenant but the people were so corrupted that they broke it straight away. I don't want to be like Zedekiah just doing the minimum for God, but I want to go the extra mile, Matthew 22 v 39 - ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
Am I committing to the process of God pruning, encouraging and growing me or am I committing to one off promises that don't last?
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