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Jeremiah 36:1-32. Accept The Word Of God When God Sends It To You

Accept The Word Of God When God Sends It To You

Jeremiah 36:1-32                              Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 36:3                                3-24-18

“Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.” (3)

Dear Lord, thank you for keeping us grounded in your word, and by your spirit. Without you and your Gospel what is there to “hold onto” in this world. Jesus is the Eternal Rock in which we can hold onto. Thanks for being our anchor and our rock. Please illumine my heart with your word. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: God’s Infinite Patience and Kindness (1-26)

Verses 1-26, “In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now. 3 Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, they will each turn from their wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin.”

4 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the Lord had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll. 5 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am restricted; I am not allowed to go to the Lord’s temple. 6 So you go to the house of the Lord on a day of fasting and read to the people from the scroll the words of the Lord that you wrote as I dictated. Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their towns. 7 Perhaps they will bring their petition before the Lord and will each turn from their wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the Lord are great.”

8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; at the Lord’s temple he read the words of the Lord from the scroll. 9 In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting before the Lord was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah. 10 From the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the Lord’s temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll.

11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, 12 he went down to the secretary’s room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. 13 After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll, 14 all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand. 15 They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.”

So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?”

18 “Yes,” Baruch replied, “he dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”

19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah, go and hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”

20 After they put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they went to the king in the courtyard and reported everything to him. 21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and Jehudi brought it from the room of Elishama the secretary and read it to the king and all the officials standing beside him. 22 It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. 23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. 24 The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. 25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Lord had hidden them.”

The Lord commanded Jeremiah to write down all the messages which God had given him since the time of Josiah’s rule. God wanted each person to repent personally before God’s word. Then they could be forgiven and escape his wrath. Even though each person would be given a chance to repent before the word of God, the invasion of the Babylonian army and Judah’s exile would not be averted until the majority of the religious and political leaders and the people had repented of their sins. I still think that a lot of people, who repented of their sins, went onto exile into Babylon. Though they may have gone to heaven after they died, they still had to endure suffering at the hands of the Babylonian army and their uprooting. God’s forgiveness did not save them from suffering in this world. But, with a right relationship with God, they could grow stronger through it, rather than letting it tear them down.

Jeremiah dictated God’s words to Baruch, who wrote them down on a scroll. Then he sent Baruch into the temple to teach the people. He prayed that the people would repent. Many of the people listened, even some leaders, and the fear of God came to their hearts.

I am very impressed of Baruch. He was a good man. He was a servant. He was there to help Jeremiah serve this mission as a prophet to the people. He also had great faith. Jeremiah could not go to the courtyard of the temple to read the very unpopular message. He knew that there would be some people who would want to kill him. In this passage the King of Judah wanted to have both Jeremiah and Baruch arrested. Baruch had a dangerous and a very unpopular mission, but he had faith to obey and God strengthened him to carry through with it.

When Baruch spoke the word of God, many of the leaders of the people listened and their hearts responded. Look at verses 15-17 again. “So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand. 15 They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?” They were genuinely moved by the words of God. The Spirit of God was working in their hearts.

God works through his words. When the words of God, (not our own words) are spoken in faith, then they work in peoples’ hearts to transform their hearts and minds. The word of God is living and active. Hebrews 4:12 reads, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (NIV) Isaiah the prophet knew that that the words that he spoke to the people would be like God’s arrows. Isaiah 49:2 reads, “He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.” God will make his word to serve the purpose for which he sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11,As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” You get the point.

I learn here that God really wants to work through people to serve his purpose. He wants to work through people who uphold his word. He wants to work through people who will expose his word to the people in faith. God will accomplish his purpose through them. He wants to work through people who are willing to be led to preach before dangerous crowds of people who don’t want to listen.

I need to not be fearful in presenting the Gospel to people. I need to put it “out there”, like putting a lamp on a stand for all to see, even if it does mean rejection by a people who reject God.

But when they brought the scroll to the king, he did not repent. This godless king cut up the scroll containing God’s word through Jeremiah and burned it, piece by piece. He tried to arrest Jeremiah and Baruch, but God protected them. He had no fear of God in his heart. It was a total and complete disregard and disrespect for God’s message to him. God gave him many chances, but the king spurned every overture from God. God had no choice. Judgment would come.

Part 2: God’s Word Can Not Be Ignored (27-32)

Verses 27-32, “27 After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. 29 Also tell Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord says: You burned that scroll and said, “Why did you write on it that the king of Babylon would certainly come and destroy this land and wipe from it both man and beast?” 30 Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on the throne of David; his body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31 I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.’” 32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.”

God told Jeremiah to write it again on another scroll and rebuke the king.  I can see God’s love and his grace here. He is once again sending his word to the King, through his servants. But this time God is telling him of the judgement to come because of his obstinance. If I was God, I would just stop talking and trying to communicate and simply send wrath to the king. But thankfully I am not in control of things. God is infinitely more patient and gentle than any person is. But the king pushed it too far. There was no hope of repentance for the nation. Judgement would come in the form of an invading Babylonian army.

You can’t turn your back on God and his word. The king thought that if he ignored the words spoken to him, burn them and have the servants of God arrested, then the whole problem would simply go away. But this is not true. God’s word cannot be destroyed by evil people, nor can unrepentant people avoid the consequences of sin by burning God’s word. A person may avoid God’s judgment for a while, but it will come. If they make it through this life, then they, like all people will have to stand before the judgement seat of Christ.

People try to do this today. The courts give a court summons and attempts are made to deliver it. But people reject the letter. They think that by rejecting it, then they don’t have to respond to it. But that will get them into even more trouble. Police try to stop people but they people keep on walking or they drive away, resisting arrest. They think that the police will just go away and let them flee. But that is not the case. They are just inviting more trouble on themselves.

It reminds me of a couple who owned a house. The renters stopped paying and refused to move out. The people who owned the house were using up their retirement nest egg in order to pay the mortgage. They were very graceful to the renters for a long time. They tried to be patient and kind. They spoke words of truth to them about their need to keep up with the rent. But they rejected those words and became more obstinate and aggressive towards the owners. They dug their heels in refusing to move out. Now they are going to go to court. Court summons have been delivered to them and they refuse to accept the summons by not answering their door. They think that their problem will just go away, but it will not. Their problems are just getting bigger. If they are not out at a certain time, all of their belongings will be taken curbside and the house locked. Their rent history will be tarnished for years to come.

I learn that I need to accept and embrace every word of God that comes to me. I need to stand and walk in the light of God’s word and never reject it or avoid it but walk in the light. If I need to repent of something, then so be it, I need to repent of something. May God grant me the grace to accept the truth like a man (who has been saved by God’s grace) and allow God to work through his word in my heart.

Prayer: “Lord, thank you that you always ready to reach out to us by your word. You try, but our stubborn hearts reject you. Help me to accept you word and walk in it.”

One Word:  When God’s word come to you, repent before it.




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