Link Jer. 34:20 & Rom. 6:23 on sin's cost.
How does Jeremiah 34:20 connect with Romans 6:23 about sin's consequences?

Backdrop of Jeremiah 34:20

• The people of Judah swore before God to release their Hebrew slaves (Jeremiah 34:8–10) but reneged on that promise.

• God responds: “I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies who seek their lives. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.” (Jeremiah 34:20)

• The broken covenant triggers immediate, visible judgment—death and disgrace.


Sin’s Consistent Payday

Romans 6:23 states the principle behind that judgment: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jeremiah 34:20 is a case study; Romans 6:23 is the timeless rule.

– Sin earns a wage.

– The wage is death, whether in war, exile, or eternal separation.

– What happened to Judah’s leaders foreshadows the universal penalty Paul describes.


Key Connections Between the Verses

• Covenant violation → death (Jeremiah 34:20) = Sin → death (Romans 6:23).

• Both passages treat death not as accident but as payment owed.

• Physical death in Jeremiah illustrates the spiritual and eternal death Paul warns about.

• God Himself executes the sentence in both contexts—affirming His justice and consistency.


Scripture Echoes Reinforcing the Link

Genesis 2:17—eat, you die; the pattern begins.

Ezekiel 18:4—“The soul who sins is the one who will die.”

Deuteronomy 28:25–26—covenant curses include corpses exposed to birds and beasts (exact language Jeremiah employs).

James 1:15—sin “gives birth to death,” mirroring Paul’s wording.


Wages Versus Gift

• Jeremiah highlights only the wage.

• Romans reveals the alternative: “the gift of God is eternal life.”

• Judah tasted the first half; Christ offers the second to all who believe (John 3:16; 1 Peter 2:24).


Take-Home Truths

• God’s judgments in history validate His unchanging moral order.

• Sin always pays in death; only grace interrupts the cycle.

Jeremiah 34:20 shows the paycheck being cashed; Romans 6:23 offers the way out—receiving life in Christ.

What can we learn about God's justice from Jeremiah 34:20?
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