The Hypocrisy of Hollow Obedience
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
In Jeremiah 34, King Zedekiah and the Israelites promise to free their servants, hoping to gain God’s favor during Babylon’s siege. Once danger lifts, they break their vow, re-enslaving them. This hypocrisy exposes false repentance. God condemns such deceit, reminding believers that vows to Him must be sincere and kept.
Sadly sometimes we get cute with our promises to God. We get sly with our promised actions to Jesus. In Jeremiah 34, we see an example of this,
8The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to proclaim release to them: 9that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that no one would keep them, his Jewish brother or sister, in bondage. 10And all the officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, so that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free. 11But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male servants and as female servants.
In that scene the King of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar has besieged Jerusalem. The siege went on for two years. King Zedekiah, aware that the Israelites had disobeyed God in holding their servants for more than the legal limit of 7 years, entreated them to release their servants and give them the lawful liberty they were entitled to. (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12). The People enjoyed the free labor and had held on to the servants for longer than the Law permitted. The king hoped that releasing the servants en masse would find favor with God and He would then release the Israelites from the siege.
Disobedience always brings woe. For the unsaved, the greatest disobedience is failing to repent and believe the Gospel. For the Christian, prolonged disobedience without repentance results in discipline, (but not eternal judgment).
The people did let their servants go, in actual obedience to the Law finally, but also because they thought they would receive a benefit from it- namely the cessation of the siege. They were in fact just trading one personal benefit for another. When the King told them of their fault in their breaking the Law, they immediately (seemingly) reformed. They had even sealed it in the Temple with the solemn vow-covenant ceremony (verse 15, verse 18). It all looked good on the outside.
But their heart condition was another matter. There, they could not hide their despicable hypocrisy. God sees the heart. And soon, their behavior followed.
The siege was temporarily lifted. Some believe it was because King Nebuchadnezzar withdrew, turning his attention to an advancing Egyptian army.
However, the People were relieved at this release from the siege, however it happened, and in no thanks to God they immediately recalled all their servants and put them in bondage again.
Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible says, “When there was some hope that the siege was raised and the danger over they repented of their repentance, undid the good they had done, and forced the servants they had released into their respective services again.“
‘They repented of their repentance’…
We see throughout the Old Testament that the People are consistent covenant-breakers. This time was no different. We see that God did not overlook their sin.
For us in New Testament times, God is no less unimpressed when we go back on our promises. Matthew 5:33-37,
“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 But make sure your statement is, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil origin.”
Also James 5:12, Above all, my brothers, do not swear, not by heaven or earth or by any other oath. Simply let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, so that you will not fall under judgment.
Do we often promise God something but then conveniently forget the promise when all works out? When time passes? When our fleshly desires rear up again? Do we pass it off as an excuse? Or explain it away? I do sometimes. I know we all do at times.
Matthew Henry again: “For this treacherous dealing with God they are here severely threatened. Be not deceived; God is not mocked. Those that think to put a cheat upon God by a dissembled repentance, a fallacious covenant, and a partial temporary reformation, will prove in the end to have put the greatest cheat upon their own souls.”
Don’t cheat your own soul.
We don’t make vows to God anymore by cutting an animal in half and walking between the parts (at least, I hope not!), nor do we make oaths and vows at a temple (same!), but in prayer, in the sanctuary, in church in front of the Pastor marrying you, we make a vow or an oath or a promise. If we do so in all seriousness to God, it’s serious. Don’t go back on it.
As for the Israelites, God said since they did not release the servants, He will release them … to the sword and to the plague, to the famine, and to their enemies. God is not mocked.
It’s important to remember He is GOD, friend to the repentant sinner, yes, but GOD.
