17 “Therefore thus says the Lord, ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming [f]release each man to his brother and each man to his neighbor. Behold, I am proclaiming a [g]release to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to the sword, to the pestilence and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— 20 I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. 21 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 life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has gone away from you. 22 Behold, I am going to command,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’”
In this passage, God continues to speak of their broken covenant. God says that since they did not release their brothers from bondage, that He will release them all, but not for freedom. Instead, it would be to war, disease and starvation. And then we see something that might seem a little odd at first. God says this judgment will be upon all who “cut the calf in two and passed between its parts”. What is that about??
In short, this was a blood covenant that they made with each other that they would set free all their fellow countrymen. A blood covenant was a pretty big deal, and meant that if they broken it, the other party could take their life. It was the same idea as the covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis 15, except all of these broke the covenant, and so there was no one to hold them accountable… except God Himself, who they seemingly forgot (as usual).
Now, as we near the end, we perhaps see a clue, that maybe it was Zedekiah’s last-ditch effort to appease God. For in v. 21, we see that the army of Babylon had actually left. Then, not unlike Pharaoh of old, as soon as the danger was past, they went back on their word. We don’t know exactly why, but it was likely the same reason they rarely followed God’s law about the Sabbath year, and the Year of Jubilee.
That is, they were so focused on earthly things, they didn’t think God could possibly provide what was needed if they actually let their slaves go free. Could they really let the land lie fallow for an entire year, and forgive all debts, and still make it through the year? They didn’t think so, and took their slaves back. As a result, God reminds them that Babylon isn’t gone for good, but will come back and “make the cities of Judah a desolation.”
We also tend not to be unlike these fickle people of old. We beg and plead for God to help us out, and then when life is good, we promptly forget about Him. God will remind us, one way or another, but instead of waiting for Him to bring the rod of judgment, we should remember Him daily. It’s incredible that there is no one like God, and yet our mind wanders so easily away.
Instead, we need to remember the instructions of Paul to the church at Thessalonica, “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” As the saying goes, “God is good, all the time…” So all the time, we should remember that all important fact, and keep our focus on Him. Don’t get distracted by this world, but “let the things of earth grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”