Breaking Free

I Want to Break Free

In 1984, Queen released the song “I want to break free”. It’s a song that has become somewhat of an anthem as people try to break oppressive systems of various kinds.

It had been a bit of a theme of that time. In the few decade before this song, we have the period we sometimes call the sexual revolution. People realised that many of the social norms around sex and relationships were unnecessarily holding them back. We get the image of the feminist burning their bras.

Oh how I want to break free.

We don’t need to be restricted by these rules any more.

Or course, there are other kinds of freedoms we long for.

People in the midst of political oppression long for freedom. When I say political oppression, I don’t just mean when you get callled out for saying something politically incorrect. I’m talking about countries where you can be jailed and tortured if you step out of line.

They long to be freed.

Perhaps your under a lot of debt. The home loan payments are weighing you down, and the credit card is maxxed out.

I want to break free.

Perhaps you have an addiction, be it gambling, alcohol, pronography or whatever. It dominates your life. And it’s having very negative effects.

Oh how I want to break free.

That’s of course a very wide range of ways we might feel locked in. Some might be worse than others. Some might be more real than others. Whatever it is, we have this longing to break free. We don’t want to be stuck in a system or process that stops us doing what we perceive we ought to be doing.

So what do we do? How do we move forward?

Well, there’s no shortage of people telling you how to break free.

There will be political people on both the left and right side of politics, who will tell you the solution and path forward for a more free and prosperous society.

Advertisers will tell you about the latest product that will set your life free.

Or you might like to find one of the many many self-help books available to break free of whatever personal issue you’re facing.

There’s no shortage of people who can tell you how to break free.

But here’s the thing… if we’re so confident in how to break free, how come we still feel so stuck?

Are they all telling us lies?

Or is it possible that we’ve misunderstood what it is that we’re trying to break free from?

What is this freedom that we actually desire so strongly?

Context

Well, I want to take you to the time of Jeremiah, because here we find a time when everyone is feeling the pressure, and everyone is longing for a freedom.

Now our passage for today is Jeremiah 28, but I want to actually start in Jeremiah 25.

Jehoiakim is king in Judah and it is the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

That puts us at the date 605BC.

Now you might remember that the call of Jeremiah came in the year 627BC, and I mentioned that this was the date of the last of the strong kings of Assyria fell. We were in a bit of a transition period where the world super power of Assyria was quickly falling into obscurity, and the Babylon were quickly emerging as the next superpower. But in this transition period, neither were dominant.

That changed in 605BC.

You see, in 605BC, Nebuchadnezzar defeats Egypt at the battle of Carchemish. That was effectively the moment that the world realised, a new sheriff is in town.

It was an ominous sign for Judah.

Any relief they might have felt in the demise of Assyria, their previous oppressed, would be gone.

If anything, Babylon might even be more formidable that Assyria had been.

Now, imagine your an average Joe living in Jerusalem. You’ve probably heard the rumours floating around that Babylon has just defeated Egypt. You’ve probably heard the name Nebuchadnezzar said in hushed tones - a name to be feared.

And then Jeremiah stands up and confirms your worst fears.

Jeremiah 25:8–11 NIVUK

Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: ‘Because you have not listened to my words, I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

Now, I want you to pay attention to that mention of 70 years.

The word that Jeremiah is giving from God is that yes, they are going to be defeated, but even at this point we get the first glimpse of hope. The defeat will be long, but not forever.

Seventy years is a long time.

Just think, we’re are you going to be in sevety years time? I think for most of us, that’s a pretty easy question to answer. I’ll be getting ready to celebrate my 115th birthday. (If you like, I can invite you to my party.)

Some of the children, and perhaps the teenagers might be around to see seventy years, but that’s about it.

This is a massive burden that is about to be laid on them.

Well, we get the history of this time in 2 Kings 24, where we’re told that Nebuchadnezzar does come and invade the land during the reign of King Jehoiakim. For three years Jehoiakim submits, but then he decides to rebel, and it doesn’t go well for him.

In the year 597BC, Babylon invades again, this time carrying many of them into exile. 2 Kings 24:14 says that ten thousand were taken including all the officers and fighting men, all the skilled workers and artisans… the only people left being the poorest people of the land.

Zedekiah is made king, but just to be clear, he’s effectively a puppet king of Nebuchadnezzar.

Whatever faint hint of any kind of freedom they might have had is now well and truly gone.

Those wno have gone into exile have lost everything. Those that remain, well they plight isn’t much better. They constantly live with the threat of Nebuchadnezzar breathing down their neck. One wrong move and they know what will happen.

Jeremiah and the yoke

Well, this first group of exiles left in the year 597BC.

Let’s move four years later to the year 593BC, which is where we find ourselves in Jeremiah 27.

That image of ten thousand of their best and brightests being forced off their land is still fresh in their mind.

God gives Jeremiah a very interesting instruction.

In Jeremiah 27:2, he’s told to “Make a yoke out of straps and crossbards and put it on your neck”

He then walks around with the homemade yoke.

The image is clear. A yoke is a symbol of submission. When an ox wears a yoke they can only do what the master tells it to do. There is no freedom for someone wearing a yoke.

Jeremiah then goes around with his yoke. I suspect he would have been quite the sight. People probably thought he was a bit mad. It’s not your normal fashion accessory.

The message he gives might sound strange. He told people, if you do not serve Nebuchadnezzar and bow to his yoke, you will be destroyed.

This is the opposite of freedom.

These people are longing for freedom, this is not what people want.

If you go through Jeremiah 27, it’s like Jeremiah’s doing a bit of a tour with his home made yoke.

He goes before king Zedekiah in verse 12 and gives him the message to submit to Babylon.

In verse 16 he goes before the priests and the people with the same message.

Hananiah’s promise of freedom

Well, let’s go to chapter 28 which is the passage we had read for us earlier.

We’re in the same year, and apparently Jeremiah is still walking around with that home made yoke.

I think it’s starting to irritate the people who remain in Jerusalem.

People want their freedom. They’re getting desperate.

Well, enter the prophet Hananiah.

He’s introduced in verse 1 simply as the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur.

The name Hananiah means Yahweh is gracious (or the Lord is gracious). What a great name.

So we have Jeremiah present still wearing his yoke. We also have the priests and all the people present. So it kind of feels like something special is about to happen.

When he starts to speak, it all sounds so good. He says...

Jeremiah 28:2–3 NIVUK

‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the articles of the Lord’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon removed from here and took to Babylon.

He’s declaring freedom!

Finally, someone declaring what they all want to hear.

Well, this interesting.

Remember, Jeremiah had previously said 70 years. Hananiah has just reduced it to 2 years.

With Hanaiah’s prediction, that yoke that Jeremiah’s being wearing is starting to look pretty silly.

So everyone turns to Jeremiah. Remember he’s there listening to all of this with everyone else. How is he going to respond?

We get Jeremiah’s response in verse 6.

He says “Amen! May the Lord do so!”

You see, Jeremiah desires this freedom as much as the next person. This has been no walk in the park for him. He’s suffered. I’m sure he would love for the suffering to end.

But if you look at what he continues to say, in verse 9 he says… “but...” just be cautious, because this is only from the Lord if the prediction comes true.

This was one of the things we talked about last week when we considered how to spot the false prophet.

Hanaiah remains undettered. He wants to make his point and he wants to make it in a dramatic way.

You can almost imagine a bit of theatre here.

He takes the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck. Did Jeremiah just let him? Or did Jeremiah put up a struggle?

I’m not sure. But when it says Hanaiah broke it, my bet is that he did this in some sort of dramatic way to emphasize his point.

Jeremiah’s yoke had become the symbol of the oppression they were facing. Break that yoke, and they’re free.

I want to break free!

Look at the end of verse 11. Jeremiah doesn’t put up a fight. He doesn’t argue his case.

It says he simply went on his way.

I almost imagine he’s thinking - this is not worth my time.

But at some point soon after, God speaks to Jeremiah again - go back and tell Hanaiah, you have broken a wooden yoke, but in it’s place you will get a yoke of iron.

So, how does this chapter end?

Well, remember how Hanaiah was promising freedom within two years. As it turns out, in two months, he dies.

The one promising a quick fix freedom, got a quick fix death.

Relooking at Freedom

So what do we make of all of this?

Well, can I suggest that we tend to have a poor understanding of freedom.

Could it be that we’ve failed to see what the real problem is?

Let’s just go back to where I started. You see, I mentioned a number of different ways in which we can feel locked in… things for which we want to be free from.

We talk about being free from financial hardship. Or free of addiction. Or free of political oppression.

Now, it’s possible, in the course of your life, you might actually beat whatever it is you I trying to get free from. But are you actually free?

You’re not really, because you find yourself jumping from one hardship to the next.

Sometimes I might even feel that you switch a wooden yoke for an iron yoke.

You get a financial windfall and wipe all your debts. But then you invest heavy and it fails. Your debts end up bigger than where you started.

You stop smoking, only to start eating too much.

What we fail to see, we can’t be free of this world. No matter what you do, you are living in a broken world. More than that, you are a broken person living in a broken world.

No matter what self-help book you find, or guru you look to, or amount of self-motivation you can muster, at best, you’re going to put a bandaid on a broken leg.

But there is a better understanding of freedom.

I want to suggest that freedom is found in submitting to God.

If you really want to break free, submit to God.

Now, I recognise that might sound counter intuitive.

Many people will describe trying to break free from what they might describe as an oppressive religious system. Possibly, the system they were in was oppressive, but the submission to God that I’m talking about is different.

You see, it starts by recognising that God is the one who designed this world. It was when humanity tried to do things differently to what God intended that things started to go bad.

Finding freedom by rebelling against God is the real counter-productive idea. Freedom by our own means is actually a way to become more stuck.

The analogy that is often used and works well is the sports field. Imagine whatever sport you prefer best. There are a whole bunch of rules. But those rules are not designed to frustrate the players, they’re designed to make the game fun and enjoyable for all.

When we operate within the parameters that God intended, we actually become truly free.

Take our sexual ethic for example. God is not some sexual prude who doesn’t want you to have any fun.

Rather when you see someone who jumps from sexual partner to sexual partner, what often occurs is a trail of destruction. A special kind of freedom is found when it is done God’s way.

You’ll find many people telling you how to free yourself.

There are many prophets of this world who will tell you what you want to hear, but the real prophet is the one who will tell you to repent and turn to God.

Finding hope in the struggle

So let me give you a little preview of next week.

Jeremiah is going to communicate with the people who have been sent into exile.

You might imagine it is all going to be a bit gloomy.

But it’s in this chapter that we’re going to find perhaps one of the most well-known verses of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 29:11 which says: “For I know the plans I have for you… plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.

It’s when we submit that we start to see the beautiful plan God has for us.

It sounds strange, but things needed to be torn down before they were able to be built back up.

I understand you want freedom. And the truth is, breakthroughs can and will happen in your life time.

But sometimes we need to go through the struggles first.

Sometimes we just need to allow the struggles to be what they are. Let them draw us back to God. Let them shape us. And from these struggles, find the way that God intends to build us up. Not in our design, but in his great design.

Conclusion

Do you want to break free?

Well, the answer is not in things of this world. The answer is submitting to God.

Don’t believe the lies that say you can do it by worldly means. That way only leads to destruction.

Believe the way that draws you close to God.

Let me pray...