Jeremiah 34:16
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.
Jeremiah 34 belongs to Judah under Zedekiah and comes near the last of Jeremiah's work in Judah, in suggested chronological order after chapter 21 and before chapters 37, 32, and 33. It stands among Messianic prophecies carried forward through the restoration from Babylon to the more glorious restoration under Christ. The prophecies after chapter 20 are not placed in chronological order because of the gathering together of the manuscript rolls in one book, though this makes no change in the teaching and the chapter itself nearly always clearly indicates its chronology.
The verse means the people turned back and polluted God's holy name by causing every man his servant and every man his handmaid, whom they had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return and bringing them into subjection to be servants and handmaids again. Zedekiah's people reversed the freedom they had granted their servants, forcing them back into servitude and thereby dishonoring the Lord's name. The failure to uphold the proclaimed liberty was a violation of God's requirements.
That re-enslavement broke their covenant, pledge, and proclaimed liberty to grant freedom. It violated God's commands and requirements, including the law concerning jubilee for releasing servants and others who were oppressed. Zedekiah's attempted release was such a requirement that had not been carried out since the time of Moses.
The covenant of liberty was made with a sacrifice prepared by separating its pieces, with the parties passing between them. This practice is connected with God's covenant of liberty with Abraham and with Christ's sacrifice, which brings freedom from sin. Service agreed to and paid for in advance was voluntary, but keeping a servant beyond the agreed term made the service involuntary, which God condemned and punished.
This oppression of the laboring people was part of the indictment against the Jews before their destruction by Nebuchadnezzar. Their adoption of slavery brought God's judgment, fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the kingdom and took the people captive. Owning slaves was never pleasing to God, even though Israel was temporarily permitted to do so, because slavery violated God's moral law.
Polluting or profaning what is holy does not make it cease to be holy, for the Lord's name remained holy despite Israel's actions. The verse therefore counters the claim that profaning the Sabbath would end its holiness.