King Zedekiah is trapped Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzer’s armies surround them. There are only three fortified cites left in all of Judah, and they are all under siege. The prophet Jeremiah has sent word to the king that he will certainly be conquered and deported to Babylon, although he will live.  Zedekiah sends a message to all those in Jerusalem, “Release all of your male and female slaves. Every Jew is to be a free man now. We’re all in the same boat, we must stand together against the enemy.” The citizens set their slaves free…then, when the attention of the king’s soldiers has passed, they secretly re-conscript their slaves.

God if furious. He sends another message through Jeremiah, “This is just like you sons of Israel. I told you in the law that you were to release your brothers who have become your slaves every seven years. Each slave will be paid for seven years’ worth of work, and set free at then end of the term. But you never did this, and even when your own freedom is on the verge of disappearing you remain stubborn. So if you will not proclaim a release for them, I am proclaiming a release for you: a release to famine, sword, and pestilence, until everyone gawks at your pitiful plight.” (See Jeremiah 34.)

And the Jews were conquered, and lost their autonomy for centuries.

Part of the fear of God is respect for fellow man. None of us is property, we are equal because we are equally sons and servants of the same Father and King. In God’s kingdom of the freed, there is some room for a hierarchy of function (if done in love) but not a hierarchy of ultimate value. Yet when one man gets power over another, it becomes hard for him to relinquish it willingly.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul says:

The time has been shortened, brethren, so that…those who buy [should be] as if they did not possess, and those who use the world, as if they did not make full use of it, for the form of this world is passing away.”

Just as the last days of Israel’s freedom compelled Zedekiah to think lightly of servanthood, so we who are in the last days, awaiting as with trimmed lamps the imminent arrival of the Lord, ought to think lightly of the servant and master roles in our cultures. Employers, your rights over your employees are fleeting; honor them. Employees, remember that only the Lord owns you; give Him the firstfruits of your energies. Do not fear man, nor strive to be feared by him. The time has been shortened, and both the rulers and the ruled will soon stand on level ground before the Judgement Seat. It is best that we remember, while putting our utmost into our work (whether leader or follower), that the productivity of our business is of little eventual importance, but the people with whom we do business are God’s beloved.

Lead graciously, and serve willingly, because we are the mere stewards of any power we exercise over our fellow man, and the true King is coming soon.