Jeremiah 34:17

Jeremiah 34 verse 8-22 tells the story of the nobles and princes of Jerusalem who were commanded by the King to set their slaves free (as was the law set by the LORD to set them free every 7 years). They obeyed (surprisingly!) but then it says they changed their minds and took them all captive again. The LORD pronounces judgment on them for doing so:

‘Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbour. Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the LORD – ‘to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth.’ (Jeremiah 34:17)

The LORD says He is setting them free to the sword, the pestilence and the famine, as if they were not free to it before. He has held them captive from the troubles of the world, held them under His arm as it were.

Freedom in the Bible is never seen as a state of being able to do absolutely whatever you want. It is a state of being freed from something into something better or more beneficial. Indeed, the slaves of the nobles were freed from their slavery into their own lives. That doesn’t mean they could just do whatever they wanted, as they still had to make a living for themselves. God proclaims liberty to the nobles, liberty from His divine protection to the troubles of the world. We as Christians have been set free from the power of sin and death, and now we are bondservants of Jesus Christ. We are all servants of something. There is no such thing as ‘true’ freedom. Or if there is, the meaning of ‘true’ freedom must be amended to be ‘ a state in which you are free to do as you were created to do’.

How does this challenge us? As Christians we have been set free to be with Jesus Christ. We are free to live in the way we were created (‘We are His workmanship, created for good works in Christ’). And God will never change His mind, like these corrupt nobles. But do we? Do we go and turn back to our old captivity? Do we run after the things of the world, the ‘broken cisterns that will hold no water’? What value we see in them is but illusion. Make sure your focus and life is in Jesus Christ, where we have true freedom.