Isaiah 34
In Jeremiah 34, the setting is the situation just before the final destruction of Jerusalem, with King Zedekiah of Judah and the people of Judah. When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem, the prophet Jeremiah received God’s word and delivered it to King Zedekiah and the people of Judah.
This chapter is divided into two main parts. The first part (verses 1–7)describes how Zedekiah will be captured by Babylon, and his final outcome is foretold. The second part (verses 8–22)deals with an incident in which, in the face of the reality of exile, the people of Judah made a temporary decision to set their slaves free in accordance with God’s law for the Jubilee (the Year of Release), but soon reversed that decision and thereby brought God’s anger upon themselves.
1verseCome near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear, the world, and everything that comes from it.
2verseFor the LORD is enraged against all the nations, and angry with all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has given them over for slaughter.
3verseTheir slain will also be cast out, and the stench of their dead bodies will come up. The mountains will melt in their blood.
4verseAll of the army of the sky will be dissolved. The sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree.
5verseFor my sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, for judgment.
6verseThe LORD’s sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7verseThe wild oxen will come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood, and their dust made greasy with fat.
8verseFor the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
9verseIts streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, and its land will become burning pitch.
10verseIt won’t be quenched night or day. Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation, it will lie waste. No one will pass through it forever and ever.
11verseBut the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness.
12verseThey shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing.
13verseThorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches.
14verseThe wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there, and shall find herself a place of rest.
15verseThe arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate.
16verseSearch in the book of the LORD, and read: not one of these will be missing. None will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them.
17verseHe has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it.
Central Message and Meaning
Jeremiah 34 emphasizes how important obedience to and faithfulness toward God’s word are. King Zedekiah never accepted God’s command to surrender to Babylon, and the people of Judah also temporarily followed the law that called for freeing social underdogs, but then reversed it for practical reasons. As a result, the foretold judgment of God comes to pass.
In particular, “the liberation of freedom” that God required was God’s intent to restore the practice of faith and justice for the community, yet it shows that human fear and an instinctive pursuit of self-interest once again hindered the practice of God’s word.
Points for Reflection
- Consider the idea that a life that obeys God’s word—and the practice of that word—should not stop at a simple, temporary commitment.
- Take time to reflect on justice and mercy toward social underdogs, and your attitude toward practicing justice in our lives.
Apply It to Me
- Let’s reflect on whether I have ever easily reversed or compromised God’s word—or my convictions—depending on the situation.
- Check how much attention you give and practice in helping those who are vulnerable within the community you belong to (home, faith community, society).
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