Jeremiah 36
COMMENTARY:
: 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. (5545 “forgive” [calach] means pardon, spare, release, or remove guilt.)
DEVOTION: This chapter is about the LORD commanding Jeremiah to put the LORD’S commands in writing for the king and people. Jeremiah dictated the words the LORD has given to Baruch to write on a scroll.
Jeremiah commanded him to go to the temple to read the scroll to the people. It was on the occasion of a national fast. Baruch read the words of the LORD to the people in the temple of the LORD. There reaction was that those who heard the words wanted the princes to hear the words of this book.
Michaiah heard the reading of the scroll at the Temple and told the princes. Baruch was asked to read the scroll to the princes. After they heard it they wanted to tell the king about the words of the scroll. They also warned Baruch and Jeremiah to hide, in case, the king wanted to kill them. It was wise advice.
When the words were taken to the king’s house – he burned them. The people were afraid but the king and his princes were not afraid. In fact, king Jehoiakim wanted to kill Jeremiah and Baruch but the LORD hid them so the soldiers could not find them.
Why did the LORD have Jeremiah write HIS words down? This verse gives us a good reason for the writing of the book. The LORD wanted all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah to know what was going to happen to them. HE wanted them to return to HIM.
HE wanted them to leave their evil ways. HE wanted to see them return and HE would pardon their iniquity and sin. The Bible informs us in many places that the LORD is longsuffering.
Jeremiah wrote the scroll the second time at the command of the LORD. In the second writing there was judgment on king Jehoiakim and his children.
There are many who want to burn the Bible. There are many who want to cut up parts of the Bible. We had President of the United States who cut up parts of the Bible because he didn’t like them.
Our Bible is complete and we need to listen to what it has to say. There are many bad translations of the Bible. There are false books that people worship. We need to be reading the Word of God and listen to its warnings. The LORD is coming!!!
CHALLENGE: Understand that the LORD is long-suffering. HE loves HIS people. Repentance is necessary for God to forgive.
: 6 Therefore go you, and read in the roll, which you have 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 you shall read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. (7121 “read” [qara] means call, cried, proclaim, shout, summon, announce, invoke, or utter a loud sound.)
DEVOTION: Jeremiah is in prison because he dared to proclaim the Word of the LORD to the leaders of the nation. He was not afraid of their faces or what they could do to him. He was going to give the leaders the Words that the LORD had given him no matter what happened to him. He was not afraid of humans as they could only kill his body but the LORD could condemn him to the lake of fire for eternity.
So we find that he had to send his servant to the house of the LORD to read the message of the LORD to them, so that, they were warned of what was going to happen if they didn’t listen to the LORD and repent.
The same message is supposed to be proclaimed from our pulpits today but most of the pulpits in our churches are proclaiming easy living and calling it the Word of the LORD. Those pastors or ministers are going to have to face the LORD one day and face their judgment. They will be held responsibility for those that they made a twofold more a child of hell then themselves.
We live in a world that is changing to the point that the Bible is not being proclaimed very much and we are wondering why our world is going in the direction it is. If we were only listening to this book we would know why we are heading in the direction we are headed.
God is judging our nation for our turning from HIS commands to manmade religion. It is sad to go into a church and not hear the Word of God that is found in the Bible proclaimed with power. I think many of our rulers would do the same thing that the king of Judah did with God’s word as it was proclaimed with power to him. They would do what our courts are doing. They would do what our leaders are doing. They would do what most of our ministers are doing: cutting up the parts of the Bible they don’t want to hear!!
CHALLENGE: Are you going to a church that is really proclaiming the Word of God powerfully? Are you changing your life to fit the Word of God or changing the Word of God to fit your life?
: 24 Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. (6342 “afraid” [pachad] means fear, awe, shake, tremble, dread, or reverence.)
DEVOTION: In any given circumstance each person responds differently. Some are fearful at the slightest sound. Some don’t scare very easily. Each of us has our threshold of fear.
The people heard the reading of the book and they were concerned that the king should hear these words. So Michaiah gathered the princes to hear the words of the book. Once they heard it they thought the king himself should hear the words of the LORD as recorded by Baruch from the prophet Jeremiah who received the message from the LORD.
However, after the princes heard the words of the LORD they told Baruch and Jeremiah to hide. They thought they knew how the king would react to the message from the LORD.
They were right. He burned the book. He ordered the arrest of Baruch and Jeremiah. Instead of fasting and praying and renting his garment, he ordered them arrested in order to kill them. The LORD had hid Jeremiah.
What is our reaction to our reading of the Bible? In this type of setting would we have not listened like king Zedikiah? Would we just have thrown the Bible away and walked away unchanged?
If we are not applying the Word of God to our life on a regular basis it is just like burning it and throwing it away. It does us no good. The LORD wants us to confess our sins to HIM on a daily basis. If we think we are without sin – we are liars.
CHALLENGE: If the LORD convicts you of sin in your life there needs to be repentance. King Zedikiah thought if he burned the words of the LORD it would go away. Don’t copy his thoughts.
: 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 to them many like words. (3254 “added” [yacaph] means to have an addition made to, be increased in quality, quantity, size or scope, to give more, enhance, or cause to add to.)
DEVOTION: Here we find that the king of Judah didn’t like what he heard from the LORD and decided to burn the word of the LORD that Jeremiah brought to him. He thought if he just burned the message it wouldn’t come to pass. He thought that he had the power to change what the LORD say was going to happen. He was wrong.
The LORD had Jeremiah write the same words again plus some other words of judgment that were going to happen because of his attitude toward the LORD.
Sometimes we think that we can read the Word of God and HIS commands and the ones we don’t like we can disobey without any consequences. That is not what happens.
The LORD’S words don’t return to HIM void because we think we don’t want to face the consequences of our sins.
We have to listen to the LORD and HIS Word that HE gives us in the Bible if we are going to live a life that is pleasing to HIM. We have to make a choice to follow HIM correctly or face judgment.
CHALLENGE: When you read the instructions found in the New Testament do you want to obey them? If not, they there need to be an examination of your commitment to the LORD. If there is genuine commitment there is obedience.
DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org. Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you.
Visit our Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.