How will the Lord “break his yoke from off your neck” in “that day”?

The salvation and redemption promised in the previous vision (Jeremiah 30:5–7) is now explained more fully in Jeremiah 30:8–9. This is a short passage of prose inserted into the poetry of Jeremiah 30:1–24, evidence again that messages and events from different times of Jeremiah’s ministry have been brought together here. This passage is linked with the rest of the chapter with the phrase in that day and with the promise of redemption for Israel.

The Lord of hosts declares, I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him. This promise stands in stark contrast to the confrontation between Jeremiah and the false prophet Hananiah in Jeremiah 28:1–17. Hananiah falsely proclaimed that Judah would not face further judgment. He insisted that the Lord would protect Judah from Babylon’s invasion, that no more people would be taken into exile, and that those already exiled would soon return, as the Lord ended Babylon’s power (Jeremiah 28:1–4).

Jeremiah, however, gave a very different message. He warned that judgment was indeed coming, that many more would be exiled, and that the exile would last seventy years. The disagreement between Jeremiah and Hananiah was not just about timing—it was about the heart of the Lord’s relationship with Judah. Hananiah and other false prophets reassured the people that there was peace with the Lord, and therefore peace would come to the land. But Jeremiah made it clear that Judah remained in deep disobedience and unfaithfulness. The covenant curses were now unavoidable.

Yet, Jeremiah did speak of hope. The exile would end—but only in the Lord’s timing and only after it had fulfilled his purposes. On that day, the Lord would remove the yoke of Babylon, the same yoke he had placed on Judah and the surrounding nations (see Jeremiah 27:1–15). The day would come when God’s people would be freed from foreign oppression. It is striking that, while Nebuchadnezzar is earlier described as the Lord’s servant (Jeremiah 27:6), he is not even named here. He is referred to only as a foreigner who has enslaved the Lord’s people.¹ Though Babylon and its king had served as instruments of the Lord’s judgment, they too would face judgment when the Lord redeemed His people.