Jeremiah 36 (HCSB)
Jeremiah Dictates a Scroll
1 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 nations from the time I first spoke to you during Josiah’s reign until today. 3 Perhaps when the house of Judah hears about all the disaster I am planning to bring on them, each one of them will turn from his evil way. Then I will forgive their wrongdoing and their sin.”
4 So Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neriah. At Jeremiah’s dictation, Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah. 5 Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the temple of the Lord, 6 so you must go and read from the scroll—which you wrote at my dictation—the words of the Lord in the hearing of the people at the temple of the Lord on a day of fasting. You must also read them in the hearing of all the Judeans who are coming from their cities. 7 Perhaps their petition will come before the Lord, and each one will turn from his evil way, for the anger and fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people are great.” 8 So Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet had commanded him. At the Lord’s temple he read the Lord’s words from the scroll.
Baruch Reads the Scroll
9 In the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people of Jerusalem and all those coming in from Judah’s cities into Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord. 10 Then at the Lord’s temple, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper courtyard at the opening of the New Gate of the Lord’s temple, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read Jeremiah’s words from the scroll.
11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, 12 he went down to the scribe’s chamber in the king’s palace. All the officials were sitting there—Elishama the scribe, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. 13 Micaiah reported to them all the words he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14 Then all the officials sent word to Baruch through Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, saying, “Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll and went to them. 15 They said to him, “Sit down and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.
16 When they had heard all the words, they turned to each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must surely tell the king all these things.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us—how did you write all these words? At his dictation?”
18 Baruch said to them, “At his dictation. He recited all these words to me while I was writing on the scroll in ink.”
Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll
19 The officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide yourselves and tell no one where you are.” 20 Then they came to the king at the courtyard, having deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and reported everything in the hearing of the king. 21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi then read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing by the king. 22 Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning in front of him. 23 As soon as Jehudi would read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut the scroll with a scribe’s knife and throw the columns into the blazing fire until the entire scroll was consumed by the fire in the brazier. 24 As they heard all these words, the king and all of his servants did not become terrified or tear their garments. 25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah had urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 Then the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord had hidden them.
Jeremiah Dictates Another Scroll
27 After the king had burned the scroll with the words Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll, and once again write on it the very words that were on the original scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned. 29 You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: This is what the Lord says: You have burned the scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it: The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cause it to be without man or beast?’ 30 Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his corpse will be thrown out to be exposed to the heat of day and the frost of night. 31 I will punish him, his descendants, and his officers for their wrongdoing. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the disaster, which I warned them about but they did not listen.”
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim, Judah’s king, had burned in the fire. And many other words like them were added.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 23): Although I have never thrown Your words in the fire like King Jehoiakim did in this Scripture, I have done similar in a sense since coming to faith. Jehoiakim did not want to accept Your will for him in the words Your messengers sent to him. I have done this often in my life since coming to faith, Father. I often have not been willing or accepting of Your will for my life, putting Your words for me in the fires of doubt, rebellion, anger, disagreement, distrust, and selfishness. Although these are not an actual fire like Jehoiakim used on Your written message, they are my life’s fires that I often use to avoid listening to and embracing Your messages to me. Forgive me for this disobedience, Father. Help me to squelch these fires in my life so that I am accepting of Your will for me regardless of if I agree with it or not in the moment. Give me righteous discernment to know when a message comes from You, so that I no longer burn any messages from You in the fires of this life, Father.
PROMISE (verse 3): Such an amazing promise You’ve made here, Father, that You have proven to me so many times throughout my faith journey. You promise us that those who turn from their evil ways will be forgiven of their wrong doings and their sin. Thank You so much for Your everlasting, never-ceasing forgiveness, Father. Thank You for Your faithfulness to the promises You’ve made to us. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to die for our sins and wrong doings on the Cross. Thank You for always being there with open and loving arms to comfort us and forgive us for when we do make mistakes in this life, Father.
ATTITUDE (verse 25): In this verse, Your messengers had urged Jehoiakim not to burn Your message to him in those scrolls, yet “he would not listen to them.” I know I have done this more times than I can count and far more than I’d like to admit. I have failed to listen to not only You directly, but also to the messengers You have put in my life over the years. Help me to have a present and attentive attitude to any message You have for me, Father. Help me to be open to Your messages, but to also not be disobedient in the receipt of Your message so that I no longer fail to listen.
COMMAND (verse 3): Although this was also put as the promise in my journal, I do feel part of this Scripture is also a command. You tell us that each of us will turn from our evil ways; then and only then will you forgive our wrong doings and sin. Help me to be better at turning from my evil ways, Father. I know I will fail and struggle in the future as I am a weak and broken vessel in a very weak and broken world, but I also know that through You all things are possible. I know that if I can quickly turn back to You and reach out for forgiveness, that all of my mistakes in the future will become smaller and smaller. Please remind me of Your presence and grant me Your discernment and counsel in the moments that I struggle, so that I know to reach out to You for help recovering and getting myself out of that situation.
EXAMPLE (verses 27-32): Jeremiah and Baruch give such an amazing example to live by here. They had initially written a scroll with a message from You to King Jehoiakim, but the king could not accept what was written and decided to destroy it in a fire. Your messengers did not relent from what You had commanded them to say, so they wrote Your words again on another scroll to ensure Your message makes it through and is known. Even with the prospect of death coming to them if they were to persist, they persisted. Even in the dangers of sending a message to a king that death will come to him and that his lineage will no longer rule, they were faithful to You. Help me to live my life in this way, Father. Help me to be faithful to anything You’ve convicted me of so that I may persist in a world that will always want me to stop. Help this vessel of mine become strong enough through You, so that I can endure whatever You need me to endure in this life, Father.
*DAILY NOTE: Why do I have such a rebellious attitude towards my faith in this life, Father? Why do I so easily give into the world, the enemy, or my flesh in situations instead of Your way and Your will for me? It seems like the easier thing to do in the moment, but then the results almost always are not what I expected or hoped for. Help me to lean on You and rely on You more, Father. Remind me that Your words are far more powerful than anything this world, the enemy, or even my own flesh says to me at any given time. Remind me to never symbolically “throw Your words in the fire” as was actually done in this Scripture, Father.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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