Jeremiah 36:1
The Bible says in Jeremiah 36:1-3, “And it came
to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that
this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,[2] Take thee a roll
of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against
Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake
unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.[3] It may be
that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them;
that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their
iniquity and their sin.” Just these few verses teach us several important truths
about God. First of all we are taught about the doctrine of the inspiration of
the Holy Scriptures, the writings that we call the Bible. Why did Jeremiah
write the book of Jeremiah? He wrote the book because God told him to write it.
That truth tells us the origin of the Bible. The Bible comes from God. That is
why the Bible is the most important of all books. All other books come from
man, but this book comes from God. Jeremiah 36:1 tells us one of the important
truths about the Bible: whose words make up the Bible. Jeremiah was told to write
down God’s words. That is why we call the Bible “the Word of God.”
God did not give Jeremiah some ideas
and then tell Jeremiah to express those ideas in His own words. God gave the
very words to Jeremiah. That is important to know for several reasons. When you
read the Bible, you are reading the words that came from God. That is one of
the reasons that reading the Bible is allowing God to speak to you, assuming
that you have the Holy Spirit to reveal the meaning to you. The Bible is a
spiritual book, and it can only be understood with spiritual eyes. But
concerning the words, Jesus said in Mark 13:31, “Heaven and earth shall pass
away: but my words shall not pass away.” The fact that God
gave His words, and told the prophets to write down His words means that God
wants His words preserved to all generations. The all-powerful and almighty God
gave His words, and He has preserved His words. God did not give ideas, He gave
words. Of course, ideas are expressed by words. If you change the words, you
will change the ideas. That is why it is important that the words do not
change, and that is why God told Jeremiah to give written words, so that the
words would not be changed.
If you are going to believe God, and
if you are going to have faith that God’s Word is true, then you must believe
that the words have not changed since God gave them. God preserved the words
somehow, whether we know all the details of how He preserved His Word, we know
that He has preserved it. This concept is important also in regards to Bible
translation. The best Bible translation will always attempt to be faithful to a
literal word-for-word translation of the words. The Old Testament was written
in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek. If you have the
opportunity, learn all the Hebrew and Greek that you can. But whether you learn
some Hebrew and Greek or not, use the best literal word-for-word translation
into your native language that you can find. That is why I use the King James
Version of the Bible. Gog’s Word does not change. The King James Version was
translated over 400 years ago, and 400 years from now it will still be the
same. Therefore, using the King James translation is a good testimony to the
concept that God’s Word does not change. Also, there is a very big issue
related to which ancient Greek texts should be used as the source for the
translation. There is a very big error being followed in most of the modern
“Christian” seminaries. They follow modern textual criticism which is covered
in flowery theological language, but basically it says that there are errors in
the Bible related to the translations and the Greek texts that currently are
known and used, and as the years and decades go by they will find more of the
errors and correct them in the newest translations. Hopefully, you can see a
problem with such a philosophy. It is a humanistic philosophy based upon the
concept that the Bible is not God’s Word. These theologians do not believe that
the Word of God has been preserved to all generations.
When the King James translation was
created over 400 years ago, the Greek texts that were used are called the
Textus Receptus. The Greek texts were compiled because those were the ones that
were known, trusted, and used by the theologians of that day. Can we expect
that the Greek texts that existed 400 years ago were the ones that God
preserved for all generations? Of course, we can. That makes no sense at all
that God would allow errors into the Greek texts that can only be uncovered by
modern theologians and by the theologians of future generations. That is a
humanistic approach taken by those who do not believe the Bible is without
error. Many of the modern theologians are probably not born-again Christians,
and naturally they are going to develop foolish and corrupt theories of Bible
translations. That is another reason to keep using the King James translation.
The theologians of four hundred years ago were probably all born-again through
faith in Jesus. Very few, if any, of the modern theologians are born-again.
Beware of the false teachers.
The race to constantly create new
translations has resulted in watering-down the Bible. I suggest using the King
James Version, and as we study how the words were translated, we can use what
we learn as part of our teachings. That is exactly what I do. For sake of
argument, let’s suppose that I do find a translation that is based upon the
Textus Receptus, and that I believe is a better translation that the King James
Version. Would my method of studying the Word of God change? The answer is
“no.” I would still have to study the individual words in order to get more
depth of meaning. I would still find verses that I would thing could be
translated better. As I studied how the words were translated, I would use what
I learn as part of my teachings. It really comes down to a question of the
Greek texts. Most modern translations do not fit into the category where I can
even consider them because they are not translated from the textus receptus
like the King James Version. In other words most modern translations have
forgotten what happened when God gave His words to Jeremiah and the other
prophets. God said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 36:2, “Take thee a
roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee.” And then
Jesus said in Mark 13:31, “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words
shall not pass away.”
The first message that God gave to
Jeremiah is the most important and the most basic message of the entire Bible.
God said in Jeremiah 36:3, “It may be that the house of
The Bible said in Jeremiah 36:4-8, “Then
Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of
Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll
of a book.[5] And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I
cannot go into the house of the LORD:[6] Therefore go thou, and read in
the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the
ears of the people in the LORD's house upon the fasting day: and also thou
shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.[7]
It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return
every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD
hath pronounced against this people.[8] And Baruch the son of Neriah did
according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book
the words of the LORD in the LORD's house.” Not only did Jeremiah
write down the words of God, but He knew that it was important that everyone
hear and read the words of God. That should be a no-brainer. Since the words of
the Bible are God’s Words, everyone should hear those words, and everyone
should read those words. The Bible says in Luke 4:4, “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”
The Bible says in Jeremiah 36:9-13, “And it came
to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the
ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in
Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto
Jerusalem.[10] Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the
house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in
the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house, in the ears
of all the people.[11] When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of
Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the LORD,[12] Then
he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber: and, lo, all the
princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah,
and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah
the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.[13] Then Michaiah declared
unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the
ears of the people.” The reaction that Michaiah had to hearing the Word of God
is a good lesson for us in how to be a witness in the world: Listen to the Word
of God and read the Word of God and then tell others what you heard from the
Word of God. That is pretty simple. Just start a phrase with, “The Bible says….”
For Christians the Bible is the most important book in the world. On any
subject that applies to the spiritual principles of the Bible, we should always
tell others what the Bible says on that subject. One of the main goals of life
is as follows: learn what you can, and then tell others what you have learned.
When you first become saved through faith in Christ, you start studying and
learning the Bible because the Spirit of God opens up the Bible to you. This
new understanding that you keep gaining throughout your life is not just for
your own benefit. Do what Michaiah did: tell others what the Bible says.
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Copyright; 2013 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved