Jeremiah 36:14
The Bible says in Jeremiah 36:14-19, “Therefore
all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son
of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast
read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the
roll in his hand, and came unto them.[15] And they said unto him, Sit
down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.[16]
Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both
one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these
words.[17] And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou
write all these words at his mouth?[18] Then Baruch answered them, He
pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in
the book.[19] Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and
Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.” The initial reaction
that the princes had to hearing the words that Michaiah had to say from the
Word of God was that the princes wanted to hear the Bible for themselves, and
that is why the princes asked Baruch to read it to them. The second reaction
that the princes had once they heard the Word of God was as it says in verse
16, “they were afraid.”
I think they were afraid because they
knew that this was not a politically-correct message. The Word of God made it
very clear that
We should also notice how the Word of
God came to be written down in this instance. God gave the words to Jeremiah,
and then Jeremiah spoke the words, and Baruch wrote them down. And so we see
that sometimes the Word of God was given to a prophet, and then a second person
wrote them down. This same method was used with the Apostle Paul. In First
Corinthians 16:21 Paul wrote, “The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand.”
This implies that someone else was a scribe writing most of the epistle as Paul
dictated it, but then Paul wrote the salutation in his own hand.
Back in Jeremiah let’s see what
happens when the king heard the words of God as they were read to the king. It
says in Jeremiah 36:2-26, “And they went in to the king into the court, but
they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the
words in the ears of the king.[21] So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the
roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it
in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside
the king.[22] Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month:
and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.[23] And it came
to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the
penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll
was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.[24] Yet they were not
afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that
heard all these words.[25] Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and
Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but
he would not hear them.[26] But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of
Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to
take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.”
The verse that is most important to notice in this passage is that they took
the written Word of God, the scroll that Baruch had written as Jeremiah
pronounced God’s Word, then they cut up the scroll with a knife and then cast
the scroll into the fire.
One might think: that is the end of
that scroll. It is gone forever. But we are talking about the Word of God.
Remember that the Word of God is indestructible. It cannot be changed, and it
cannot be destroyed. The Word of God is as indestructible as God Himself. The
Bible says in Jeremiah 36:27-32, “Then the word of the LORD came to
Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch
wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,[28] Take thee again another
roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which
Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.[29] And thou shalt say to
Jehoiakim the king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll,
saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall
certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man
and beast?[30] Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah;
He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be
cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.[31] And
I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will
bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of
Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened
not.[32] Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the
scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the
words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and
there were added besides unto them many like words.”
We need to remember that the Word of God is indestructible. This truth is very
applicable today because of the issues involving Bible translations and
especially the Greek texts that are used for those translations. Did God give
His Word through the prophets and apostles, or did He not? Yes, God gave His
Word. Even though there are many who attack the Word of God, just like in the
days of Jeremiah, and some of the attacks are very subtle; no one can destroy
God’s Word. This is one more reason to use the King James Version of the Bible.
The entire Word of God existed in 1611 and was available to be used for
translation work. It is false to say that modern scholarship will uncover
errors for us. That would only be possible if the Bible is simply a book
written by men, but the Bible comes from God and God preserves His Word even
from the most sinister attacks upon it just as we see with the scroll that
Jeremiah had Baruch pen.
The Bible says in Jeremiah 37:1-10, “And king
Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom
Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.[2] But
neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the
words of the LORD, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah.[3] And
Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of
Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the LORD our
God for us.[4] Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for
they had not put him into prison.[5] Then Pharoah's army was come forth
out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of
them, they departed from Jerusalem.[6] Then came the word of the LORD
unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying,[7] Thus saith the LORD, the God of
Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to
inquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall
return to Egypt into their own land.[8] And the Chaldeans shall come
again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.[9]
Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely
depart from us: for they shall not depart.[10] For though ye had smitten
the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but
wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn
this city with fire.”
It is interesting to notice that
Zedekiah the king did not want to know the truth from God, but he sent
messengers to Jeremiah saying that he did. In those days it was politically
correct to say that you wanted to serve God even when you did not. That is
quite a bit different from our society where it has become politically correct
to turn away from God even outwardly in many circumstances such as with the
educational system. But the outcome is the same. The outcome is that the
leaders do not really want to hear from God, and have no intention of trying to
do what the Lord wants. Another spiritual lesson from this passage is that if
you do not want God’s will, then you are going to be overrun by His will. God’s
wheels may seem to turn slowly, but they turn ever so finely, and everything in
His path is born along. Julia Ward Howe wrote, “Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of
wrath are stored. He hath loosed the fateful lightening of His terrible swift
sword. His truth is marching on.” God decided that the Chaldeans would conquer
The Bible says in Jeremiah 37:11-21, “And it came
to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for
fear of Pharaoh's army,[12] Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to
go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the
people.[13] And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the
ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of
Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the
Chaldeans.[14] Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the
Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought
him to the princes.[15] Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah,
and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for
they had made that the prison.[16] When Jeremiah was entered into the
dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;[17]
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly
in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said,
There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of
Babylon.[18] Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I
offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye
have put me in prison?[19] Where are now your prophets which prophesied
unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against
this land?[20] Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let
my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not
to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.[21]
Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the
court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out
of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus
Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.” One of the truths
that is evident in this passage is the fact that Jeremiah was falsely accused.
Those who rejected God’s Word also rejected Jeremiah. Instead of being people
of faith they became very negative; and they were negative against Jeremiah.
There were two good attributes demonstrated by Jeremiah, even when he was
attacked in this way. First we see that Jeremiah continued to tell the truth.
That is what a believer does. We have experienced faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and so we speak about that faith. We cannot change our message just
because we are hated. We can only tell the truth. As a matter of fact that is
how to be a witness for Christ. Just tell the truth. The second attribute
demonstrated by Jeremiah was that he was respectful to king Zedekiah even
though the king hated him, and even though the king was an ungodly and wicked man.
God has placed us under authorities on this earth, and God wants us to have the
proper attitude under these authorities. Rebellion is as witchcraft.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2013 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved