What scriptural connections exist between Jeremiah 34:15 and other covenant teachings? The Immediate Covenant Scene in Jeremiah 34:15 “Recently you repented and did what pleased Me; each of you proclaimed freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before Me in the house that bears My name.” • Key elements: repentance, release of fellow Hebrews, a public oath made in the temple. • God treats this as a literal, binding agreement, immediately connecting it to earlier covenant law. Freedom Mandated: Links to the Sinai Legislation • Exodus 21:2 — “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh year he shall go free without paying anything.” • Deuteronomy 15:12 – 15 — the same release law, grounded in Israel’s own redemption from Egypt. • Jeremiah 34:15 shows Judah finally acting on these statutes, however briefly. Their obedience demonstrates that the servant-release command was still in force centuries after Sinai. "Proclaim Liberty": Jubilee and Prophetic Echoes • Leviticus 25:10 — “Proclaim liberty in the land” at the Jubilee. Jeremiah borrows the identical phrase. • Isaiah 61:1 and Luke 4:18 — the Servant/Messiah “proclaims liberty to the captives,” alluding to Jubilee language. • Jeremiah therefore ties a concrete social act (freeing slaves) to the larger redemptive theme of release that culminates in Christ. Temple-Based Covenants: National Renewal Moments • Exodus 24:7-8 — covenant ratified with blood before the Lord. • 2 Kings 23:2-3 — Josiah “made a covenant before the LORD” in the temple. • Nehemiah 10:29 — post-exilic Israel “bind themselves with a curse and an oath.” • Jeremiah 34:15 fits this pattern: leaders gather at God’s house to swear obedience, underscoring the temple as a covenant throne-room. Cutting the Covenant: The Blood-Path Ceremony Revisited • Genesis 15:9-18 — animals halved; God passes between the pieces. • Jeremiah 34:18-19 — violators will be treated “like the calf they cut in two.” • The identical imagery proves Jeremiah’s audience understood the deadly seriousness of covenant oaths; breaking them invites the fate of the slain animal. Covenant Blessings and Curses: Deuteronomy in Action • Deuteronomy 28:15ff — curses promised for disobedience. • Jeremiah 11:3-4 — “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant.” • In chapter 34, the curse begins to fall (vv. 17-22) when the people renege. God’s response is consistent with His earlier covenant warnings. Jeremiah’s Bridge to the New Covenant • Jeremiah 31:31-34 — a “new covenant” written on the heart guarantees lasting obedience. • Ezekiel 36:26-27 — new heart, new Spirit enable God’s statutes. • Matthew 26:28 — Jesus’ blood inaugurates that covenant. • The brief faithfulness of Jeremiah 34:15 exposes human inability to keep covenant on our own, driving us to the better covenant sealed by Christ. |
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