Please open your copies of God’s word to Jeremiah 36. Before we look at this chapter, we need to consider the background of the prophecy we are about to read. About 17 years earlier, King Josiah was ruling over the nation of Judah and he initiated repairs to God’s temple. In the process of doing this, Hilkiah the high priest finds the Book of the Law (cf. 2 Kings 22:8). The secretary takes the book and reads it to King Josiah. When Josiah hears the words of the Book of the Law, he tears his clothes and inquires of the Lord because he understands that God’s wrath was great against them for not doing what was written in the book. God’s response is that judgment is coming but will be delayed because Josiah was penitent and he humbled himself before him (cf. 2 Kings 22:19). I want us to have this moment in our minds and how Josiah responded to hearing the word of the Lord as we come to Jeremiah 36. Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah is now ruling over Judah.
The Purpose of God’s Word (Jeremiah 36:1-4)
We are told that it is the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s rule over Judah. This means it is 605 BC, which is the year in which the Babylonian Empire is going to make their first invasion against Judah. The Lord tells Jeremiah to take a scroll and write on it all the words that he has spoken against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the beginning of Jeremiah’s ministry all the way up to this point. So Jeremiah calls Baruch to be the scribe as Jeremiah dictates to him all the words that the Lord had spoken to him during his prophetic ministry. But I want us to focus on the reason God is doing this which is told to us in verse 3.
It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” (Jeremiah 36:3 ESV)
Notice that the reason for his word is to get the people to turn from their evil ways. But let me be even more specific. God says that through his word he is going to warn the people of the disaster that is coming for their sins so that they may turn from their evil ways and he can forgive them. The reason for God’s word is so that we will plead for mercy and turn from our sins. God is warning us about the future so that judgment does not have to come upon each of us. God does not want us to pay the consequences for our sins. God does not want us to receive what we deserve. God gives us his word and tells us his judgment so that we would turn from our evil ways and seek the Lord’s forgiveness. So this is God’s hope for the people of Judah. Jeremiah has his prophecies compiled and written down so that the people will listen and respond.
The Preaching of God’s Word (Jeremiah 36:5-19)
Now it is time to preach this message. But there is a problem. Jeremiah is restricted from going into the house of the Lord. We are not told exactly why he is restricted from the temple courts. In Jeremiah 25 we read that in this same year Jeremiah had been preaching the message of God’s wrath. In Jeremiah 26 we read that in the first year of Jehoiakim’s reign he stood in the temple courts preaching and judgment and was nearly put to death. It may be that the temple courts are on alert for Jeremiah and he will not be allowed to go to the temple courts. Whatever the reason is, Jeremiah must send Baruch with the task of proclaiming the message of God’s word. Jeremiah tells Baruch to read the scroll in the hearing of all the people who come. But notice again that the purpose of God is emphasized. “It may be that their pleas for mercy will come before the Lord and that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people” (Jeremiah 36:7 ESV).
Baruch does all that Jeremiah said to do, reading the scroll in the temple area (Jeremiah 36:8). I want us to notice the time marker in verse 9. It is now the fifth year of Jehoiakim’s reign. This means that Baruch has been preaching to the people in the temple courts for months. This also means that the first invasion by the Babylonians has occurred. So God’s judgment is already being experienced. Verse 10 shows that Baruch is still preaching the scroll to the people. But now some of the city officials and king’s administration hears what Baruch is teaching (Jeremiah 36:10-15). When they heard these words, they realize that they must report these words to the king. Interestingly, they ask how Baruch wrote all of these words and if they were dictated from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 36:17). Baruch affirms that this is the case and the officials tell Baruch and Jeremiah to hide and not let anyone know where they are. The reason is that the officials are going to take the scroll to King Jehoiakim.
The Purging of God’s Word (Jeremiah 36:20-26)
The king sends Jehudi to get the scroll and to read it to the king with the officials standing next to him. The king was in his winter house and there was a fire burning in a fire pot next to him. Listen carefully to verse 23. When three or four columns of the scroll were read, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire. The king continued to do this until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire. Look at verse 24. Neither the king or any of his servants who heard all these words were afraid and they did not tear their clothes. This is a direct contrast to what Josiah, Jehoiakim’s father, did when he heard the word of the Lord. Josiah’s son hears the words, cuts them piece by piece, and throws them into the fire. We are told in verse 25 that a few of his officials were urging the king not to do this. But he did not listen to them. Not only did he not listen, he also sent the command to arrest Jeremiah and Baruch (Jeremiah 36:26). But the Lord hid them and kept them safe from the king.
I want us to think about this response to the word of the Lord. There is no fear toward his word. There is no repentance toward God’s word. There is the purging of God’s word. The king destroys the scroll, signifying that if he has the power to nullify the message by getting rid of it. Further, look at verse 29 and you will see that the king did not agree with the message of the scroll. The king burned the scroll saying, “Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” (Jeremiah 36:29). The king did not agree with the message, so he destroyed the message believing that this would nullify the message.
This is the way our world thinks about God’s word. Our culture is doing all that it can to purge God’s word out of this society. Whether it is through disagreement, scorn, or destruction, our world thinks that if we can get rid of it then the messages of sin and judgment, then they are erased and nullified. What is missed is the reason for God’s word. God’s messages of judgment against sin are so that everyone in the world will turn from their evil ways and be forgiven. God does not want us to experience judgment. But we think that if we ignore it, then it will not happen.
But let’s apply this point more directly to ourselves. Perhaps we read what the king burning the word of the Lord column by column and think that we would never do something like this. Maybe we do not burn it, but are we not effectively saying the same thing when we do not open it? How many days does our copies of God’s word stay unopened? How often are we reading God’s word for ourselves to learn more about God? How much time to we give to a deeper study of his word? Do we prepare for Bible classes because we want to learn the deep messages of God and grow a deeper faith? You see that the king thought God’s word to be meaningless and unnecessary. Do we show the same apathy to his word? Do we think that if we do not know the word that our ignorance will be good for us on the day of judgment? God has an answer to our response to his word if we are trying to purge his word from our lives.
The Permanence of God’s Word (Jeremiah 36:27-32)
Come back to Jeremiah 36:27. God has instructions after Jehoiakim burned the scroll of God’s word. God tells Jeremiah to take another scroll and write down all the words that the prior scroll had. Did destroying God’s word have any effect? Did disagreeing with God’s word have any effect? Did ignoring God’s word have any effect? None of these behaviors changed the reality of God’s word. I like to compare this to the idea of gravity. You can ignore gravity. You can hate gravity. You can destroy all the books about gravity. But your beliefs and your actions do not change the truth about gravity. The same is true regarding the word of God. Your beliefs and actions do not change the truth of what God has said about sin and judgment. So here is my point: why would we ignore God’s word when we know that God’s word will stand and God is trying to warn us about what is coming and how to avoid this judgment? Now I would like you to notice the end of verse 32. Jeremiah took another scroll, rewrote all the words that the king destroyed, and added many similar words to them. Not only does God’s words of judgment remain, but now more words of judgment are proclaimed against you for your rejection of his word.
Indestructible Word
So what are some messages for us today? First, the word of the Lord endures and our response does not change this truth. The apostle Peter taught this truth in this way:
“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:24-25 ESV)
The indestructible word of the Lord is good news for us. His word does not change. His word cannot be destroyed. His word is the eternal truth for us to live our lives by and depend upon for all that we do. People will come and go. Philosophies will come and go. Cultures and nations will come and go. But the word of the Lord remains forever.
This leads us to the second point that we really need to listen to what God has revealed for us. Look again at Jeremiah 36:31. Notice that judgment is proclaimed “but they would not listen.” There cannot be repentance if we will not listen to his word. God declared that he was giving his word so that the people would turn from their evil ways and be forgiven. But this repentance can never happen if we will not listen to what God has told us. This idea of the impossibility of repentance can be hard for us to accept but it is true. It is something that the writer of Hebrews pushes strongly upon his audience as a warning.
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. (Hebrews 6:4-6 ESV)
What is the writer saying? If you know and have experienced what God has said but leave it, there is nothing anyone can do to restore you to repentance. Let me use Jeremiah as an example. The king knew what God said. The king heard the scroll and responded by throwing it in the fire. What more is Jeremiah going to do to bring the king to repentance? The king has refused to listen. This is why Jesus would instruct his disciples to shake the dust off their feet and move on to another town if the people would not listen to them. This is why God gives directions for withdrawing from those who are in unrepentant sin. There is nothing left that we can do when someone will not listen. Friends, the word of the Lord endures forever. Are we listening? Are we in the word or are we effectively casting the word of the Lord in the fire?