Jeremiah 34, Jeremiah Series

For basketball fans, ‘March Madness’ is the tournament where the best teams in college basketball meet over a couple of weeks. The tournament begins with 64 teams endeavouring to win a national championship which takes talent, determination, and grit. It is so difficult to repeat. Yet between 1964-75, an eleven-year stretch, one team won that championship ten times, the UCLA Bruins. At that time, players came and moved on from University, but one single factor never changed: Coach John Wooden. So, what was his secret to such high-level consistency? Tony Dungy, who coached and won a Superbowl, studied John Wooden’s philosophy and summarized it this way: “He didn’t just coach teamwork and preparation and strategy. He coached character and attitude and ideals.” John Wooden was a wonderful follower of Jesus Christ, and how he coached these young athletes extended into their lifestyles. He realized that the real issue in life is character. When we become the right kind of person, certain results occur.

In Jeremiah 34, we see a contrast between God’s faithfulness and those who rebel against God and their fickleness toward others. In the next chapter, we will compare these people who were unfaithful to God and another people group who were faithful to keep the instructions of their forefathers.

The message comes sometime in the final year and a half of Zedekiah’s reign before the city is destroyed, and the people are exiled. This chapter reinforces why God had to bring his people into exile. They had violated their covenant with God in every way possible. In Jeremiah 34, we see three aspects of the coming judgment upon Judah, but the real question that we need to evaluate in our own lives is what God will address in our lives as we also will face Him. How did we walk in relationship to our covenant with Him? Are we faithful? I recently attended a bible study group in our church to answer questions regarding what happens after this earthly life. One of the questions had to do with the issue of judgment. Will God judge everyone? The quick answer is yes. However, as believers who trust in Christ, we will not be judged for our sins, but we will be judged based on how we served the Lord.