Jeremiah 34:8-22
Whilst the siege of Jerusalem is in progress, the LORD entrusts Jeremiah with a personal message for king Zedekiah (vv. 2-6), no doubt the one which is hinted at in Jeremiah 32:3. God promises to spare the king suffering and to grant him a peaceful death. Vv. 8, 9 teach us that this man in fact had good intentions. He even felt a certain kindness towards Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38:10; Jeremiah 38:16). However he totally lacked any strength of character. He did not have the energy which faith gave to Nehemiah in a similar situation (see Nehemiah 5:1-19). Having decreed the freedom of all the Hebrew servants, Zedekiah is incapable of enforcing this decision for any length of time. So the LORD recalls the precise instructions of the law on this matter, of which the fathers had already taken no notice. We remember the teaching concerning the servant who, out of love, did not want to go out free, a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus (Exodus 21:2-6).
God uses the evil action of these men to illustrate the punishment which He has in store for them. He is going to act like them, by taking away their freedom which He had previously granted them and making them subject to the king of Babylon (Luke 6:38).