At the end of Judah’s Independence Jeremiah preached a message of extreme urgency, offering the kingdom a chance to avert the dire consequences of death, destruction and exile. 

Talk about freedom is not cheap.  It is an insult to the God of Abraham.  He is a god who does not fabricate, abdicate, or refuse to accommodate. We know how long he had sheltered his people from disaster,  how many of his messengers had been assassinated, and how many times the people had demonstrated they meant business (by returning to covenant ways).  King Zedekiah however was not a guy prone to change or repent.

This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

Jeremiah 34:8

They did, temporarily, showing that they truly did not treasure their liberation from Egypt. Even when the triumph of David’s Son had been clearly demonstrated, freedom was a thing for oneself, not everyone. People like Saul and James kept up the bogus freedom rhetoric. But thanks be to God that Messianic liberty is firmly entrenched in the heart – attitudes – of the followers of Christ. We want our peers to own and enjoy whatever God has given us.