“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; that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother. Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go. But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, at the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: but ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth,” Jeremiah 34:8-17.
I read these words on August 6th, and saw how offensive to the Lord were the actions of the rulers of Jerusalem when they made a covenant with those in their service in keeping with that commandment the Lord had established for Israel and recorded in Exodus 21:2:
“If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing”.
Sadly, they had almost immediately gone back on it and forced those liberated back into bondage. Upon reading this, I thought of the ‘Covenant’ made before the Lord that the ministers, elders committee men and members of the Free Presbyterian Church entered into on 28h February 1988, the 350th anniversary of ‘The National Covenant of Scotland’.
It was a Covenant which may be summarised by the synopsis, “To stand faithfully for all that Christ is for and against all that He is against.”
Most of the older Free Presbyterian ministers, office-bearers and members would have signed that Covenant.
I must say that there are many who have failed to faithfully keep that which they solemnly swore to uphold before the Lord, by signing their name to the Covenant!
There have been many occasions in recent years in which there was a deliberate avoiding of the taking of any discipline against breaches of God’s Word and the ordination oath taken by office-bearers! That has been seen at both Session and Presbytery levels.
Not fully committed
It cannot be said today that all in membership of our Presbytery are fully committed to “To stand faithfully for all that Christ is for and against all that He is against.”
Let whoever amongst the recent leaders of Presbytery deny and challenge that statement, if they wish, and then face the evidence that can be mustered to show the incidents of wrong-doing that have been ignored, even when attention was publicly drawn to such matters!
Whatever ignoring of sin may go on amongst our Presbytery leadership and church membership, no such disregarding of sin is found with the Lord. He does not shut His eyes to sin!
Verse 17 of this passage, quoted above, makes that clear. There is a heavy price to be paid for breaching any grave and solemn undertaking, made before the Lord, to obey Him faithfully!
If there is not a recognising of this and a repenting of the most momentous failings over recent years, then I believe the Free Presbyterian Church will pay a very heavy price before the Lord — if that judgment has not already begun to fall upon us!
I tremble to think that “The time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God,” 1 Peter 4:17.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Saturday 8th August 2026