Jeremiah 36:20-32.  Today’s reading continues the story of the scroll we started yesterday.  In 605 BC God told Jeremiah to write down all that he had been told over the years by God, since the beginning of his service or ministry back when Josiah was king (Jeremiah started delivering messages in 627 BC).  Jeremiah was then to have his secretary, Baruch, take the scroll and read it in the Temple, on a day when a national fast was declared.  About a year later the opportunity came and Baruch read the scroll in the Temple to many people.

Bible experts believe that much if not all of what is in chapters 1-25 was in the scroll.  Keep in mind that Jeremiah’s messages in those chapters were consistently about how the people of Judah were disobedient and disrespectful toward Yahweh (LORD).  The people and their rulers had turned to false gods and foreign armies for help in their struggle against Babylonian invaders.  Jeremiah informed them that the Babylonian invasion was punishment for their unfaithfulness to God.  Jeremiah’s message first was to turn back to God and possibly divert some of the trouble, though not all of it.  As the rebellion toward God and his discipline became more deeply rooted in the people of Judah, Jeremiah’s message became more insistent on the destruction of the city and the Temple.  There would be no excaping God’s discipline.  Through out the messages there was hope, if not for the all the individuals in Jeremiah’s world at least for their descendants, the tribes of Israel.  Also keep in mind that in 605 BC that Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, cemented his control over the area and took certain top citizens captive from the kingdoms of the area, including Judah.  A year later in 604 BC Nebuchadnezzar captured and looted the city of Ashkelon on the Mediterranean coast about 50 miles from Jerusalem (Think Riverside and Long Beach or maybe Newport Beach and Los Angeles).  That is probably why the day of fasting was called for by the people, they were scared and wanted God’s help.

After Baruch read the scroll in the Temple some of the religious leaders (scribes) heard about it.  They had been in the palace of the king when the scroll was read.  They had Baruch brought to the palace where he was asked to read the scroll again.  This was done in their private offices and the king was not present.  The scribes were very impressed by what Baruch had communicated and after they determined that the  words were the words of Jeremiah (whom they must have considered a legitimate prophet) they took the scroll and told Baruch to find Jeremiah and hide.  These men had a variety of previous experience and connections.  As we saw yesterday three of them (at least) had connections back to the good and obedient king, Josiah.  The fathers of these men had been a part of bringing the actual word of God, the Old Testament, back into the daily lives of the people of Judah.   Another of these men had been involved in a “hit squad” who tracked down and brought a faithful prophet to the king to be executed (Elnatha, Jeremiah 26:20-23).  Though they were entangled in the evil politics of Jehoaikim’s reign it appears that they were not completely supportive of him.  Here we find them in great fear because of the word of God that they have heard.  For some this might have been the turning point in their lives, the kind of turning Jeremiah had been urging.  In spite of their sense of the danger of the situation they wee more afraid of God.  There were two things they had to do; protect God’s messengers and deliver God’s word to the king.

After sending Baruch away they approached the king with news of the scroll.  They had left the scroll in their office and we can only guess why.  The king ordered the scroll to be brought out and read to him.  Since it was winter the king was in a part of the palace that would be warmer, probably on the first floor, with a little fire pit burning in the room to keep it warm.  The scroll was probably made out of papyrus (a paper made out of reeds) the pieces of “paper” were connected together in a long strip about 10” tall and 30’ wide.  The strip was written on up and down the 10” way in columns.  As a column was completed the writer would roll the “paper” up in a stich and keep writing.  When the scroll was finishe or stored away two sticks would be used and the scroll could be “scrolled’ back and forth between the two sticks.

As one of the scribes, Elishama, read the scroll from Jeremiah the king would cut three of four columns off and throw them in the fire.  The knife he used was  a knife used by scribes to cut scrolls to certain lengths and also to scrape off the writing if they made a mistake, like an eraser.  I guess in that respect the king thought he was an editor fixing the “mistakes” of Jeremiah or Baruch.  In this case though he was rejecting the whole paper, it’s kind of like a teacher crumpling up an essay you have written and telling you to start over.  The problem here of course is that the author was Yahweh, I’m pretty positive I don’t have anything to say to God about anything he has to say.  In verse 23 we learn that he did on fact reject the whole thing.  In verse 24 we are told that the king and his servants (probably political leaders, not maids and butlers) were not afraid and did not tear their garments.  Back in the day when Josiah was brought a scroll that contained the Old Testament in it (or some part of it) he had it read to him too.  His response to hearing God’s word was tearing his clothes; it was a sign of sadness for the fact that they had not been hearing from God for a long time.  There is certainly a contras here between the good and faithful king Josiah and his unfaithful son King Jehoaikim.  Jehoiakim was completely rejecting Jeremiah’s word as being from God; or he worse, he was rejecting and denying the power of Yahweh.  In verse 25 we see that they scribes pleaded with him not to destroy the scroll.  With what happens next we will see that these guys were putting themselves in serious danger; and remember one of them had been on the hit squad that brought another faithful servant of God (Uriah) back to be executed by the hand of this very king (In 2 Kings 23:37 we are told that he was evil or wicked and in 2 King 24:4 we are told that he “filled Jerusalem with innocent blood”, not a guy you want to cross.).

In verse 26 we see this violent tendency coming out in the king when he orders his son and others to go arrest Baruch and Jeremiah.  By the way there is some indication that Baruch might have had connections with this group of scribes, he was sort of an insider.  I’m sure the arrest order for him made the other scribes quite nervous.  Of course don’t think that Jehoaikim wanted to just arrest Jeremiah this time, I’m sure he was sharpening his knife or sword waiting for his guys to bring back his next innocent victims.  Unfortunately for him Yahweh is powerful and Yahweh had hidden Jeremiah and Baruch.

In verses 27-31 Jeremiah is told to make another scroll by Yahweh (LORD).  He was to write on it “all the words that were on the scroll that Jehoaikim, King of Judah, had burned”.  We don’t want to miss the little details here.  First this is Yahweh talking.  He is the personal God of Israel and also the creator God of the universe.  Second these are God’s words not Jeremiah’s or Baruch’s (Jeremiah 36:2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 29).  Third (v. 28) God makes a real point of naming Jehoaikim and his position, it’s almost like he making fun of Jehoiakim; “Oh!  Big bad King Jehoiakim who can cut up and burn paper!”  Paper is nothing and neither are titles it’s the person behind the paper or the title that matters and here we have a match between the Creator of the Universe and King Jehoiakim.  By the way, Jehoiakim was only king because Pharaoh Necho took his younger brother off the throne and put him on it.  But wait there’s more, Pharaoh Necho was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar who we are told was a servant of Yahweh (Jeremiah 25:9; 27:6; 43:10).  The power of these guys is so small God doesn’t even really have to try when he wants to deal with they.

In verse 29-30 God personalizes this scroll.  Because Jehoiakim questioned the punishment that God warned them was coming, God was going to completely remove Jehoiakim’s family from the throne and all future influence.  Mr. Big Shot King was losing his kingdom and he wouldn’t even get the honor that most kings get, his body would not be buried with spices, no honor fire for him, his body was going to be left out to rot.  It is interesting that he died suddenly (in December 598) after rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar.  Nebuchadnezzar was on his way to put down the rebellion when Jehoiakim died and his son Jehoiachin became king.  In March Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and captured Jehoiachin.  We are also told that Nebuchadnezzar’s servants besieged the city first and then Nebuchadnezzar arrived (2 Kings 24:10).  In 2 Chronicles 36:6 we are told that Nebuchadnezzar came up against him and “bound him with bronze shackles to take to Babylon”.  That seems to contradict the story in 2 Kings 24 and the prediction of Jeremiah here in verse 30.

It is important to start with the things that are clear and then work out from there.  In 2 Kings 24 we are told that Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and that Yahweh sent groups of raiders against him.  These raiders included Chaldeans (the people of Nebuchadnezzar), as well as Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites.  These were all tribal people in the area.  They would have been subjects of Nebuchadnezzar.  After these raiders came we are told he “slept with his fathers”; a polite way of saying he died (2 Kings 24:6), then Jehoiachin, his 18 year old son, became king and after 3 months and 10 days he was dethroned by Nebuchadnezzar himself (2 Chronicles 36:9; 2 kings 24:11).  In 2 Kings 24:10 we are told that the siege was started by “Nebuchadnezzar’s servants”; this may be a reference to the raiders from 2 Kings 24:2.  Certainly they were his servants even if Yahweh stirred them to action against Jerusalem.  God may have even used their allegiance to Babylon as the way of motivating them.  If we take the information in 2 Chronicles 36:6 at face value then Jehoiakim was bound and taken captive with the goal of taking him to Babylon.  Although that verse says Nebuchadnezzar bound him it could have been a representative of Nebuchadnezzar; his guys.  The raiders certainly fit this description, especially the “Chaldeans”.  They may have been dragging him back home when he died.  Depending on the circumstance they may have left his body behind, even parading it around the outside of Jerusalem before abandoning it.  Notice the various accounts never say Jehoiakim ever made it to Babylon.  With Nebuchadnezzar on the way and continual raids the body may have laid there in the “heat of the day and the frost of the night” (remember it was winter).  When Nebucahdnezzar arrived he then would have taken the son captive.

Another problem some people have with this part of Jeremiah is that Jeremiah (well actually God) told the king that he would have “no descendants to sit on the throne of Jerusalem”.  First of all the usual way that sort of curse works out in the Bible is all of the kids are killed by someone.  In verse 31 we are told Jehoiakim will have descendants but they will be punished for their “iniquity” (a word that has the idea of “twisted”).  So we know that the “no one on the throne” thing isn’t going to work out in the usual way.  And his son, Jehoiachin, did become king in his place.  Didn’t he sit of the throne?  Well he probably did “sit” on the throne but God may have meant more than physically setting down.  The Hebrew word for “sit” is “yashab”.  It is in the Bible 922 times and 437 of theses it has the idea of “dwelling” and 221 times it has the idea of “inhabiting”.  It seems like the idea is more than just taking a break, in three and a half months while under constant siege he probably didn’t really live the part of king, he didn’t even get around to burying his father.  That may or may not be what happened but we have to be careful of accusing God or a prophet of error when it is us and our interpretations or limited knowledge of the facts that is the problem.  And there are other possibilities based on the various meanings of the words used.  A well established rule of legal and historic investigation is to give a witness the “benefit of the doubt”.  Ad it is clear that there is no absolute contradiction in the Bible’s accounts.

In verse 31 we are reminded that the trouble had come because of the “twisted” ways of the kings “descendants, servants and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah”.  We are also reminded that God had warned the people (“declared”) but they did not listen.

IN verse 32 we are told that Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch.  Baruch then “wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah” (wrote what Jeremiah dictated) all the words that had been on the scroll that Jehoiakim had burned and more like them. In Jeremiah 36:2 our translations say something like “write all the word I spoke to you”.  It is clear that Jeremiah didn’t write all the words because he adds more when he rewrote the scroll.  The original command didn’t explicitly contain the word all but even if it contained the idea of all it may have meant all in substance not necessarily all in content.  God wanted the ideas communicated and not necessarily every single word.  If the content of the scroll is what we have in chapters 1-25 it would seem to contain all the ideas God might have wanted to communicate to his lost and wandering people in Judah.  The amount of repetition should have been enough for anyone to get the picture and it certainly contained a number of specific warnings to key people like kings and false prophets.   God certainly seems to think his people had enough information to turn back to him.  He had told them over and over again-but they did not listen.

God has spent centuries working to give us a complete picture of the problem of “sin”.  He wants us to know how we have offended him and what needs to happen to fix our broken relationship.  God has also spent centuries helping us know what won’t work (see “The Old Testament Connection” for more). He paid a high price to fix our relationship (Philippians 2:5-8) and he has patiently endured all the messed up history before and since so people would have a chance to understand and turn to Jesus (2 Peter 3:9).  There will be an end to all of it though (2 Peter 3:10-15).  There will be a day of judgment and the dawn of a new world; an existence with God.  But we need to consider that God wants people with him (2 Peter 3:15). For God so loved the world that he sent Jesus so that whoever believes in who he is (the infinite God-man) and what he has done (died in our place) can spend eternity with God.

God thank you for being so patient with us, with me.  Thank you for being clear and reliable and persistent.  It is clear that sin has consequences.  It is clear that you are willing to give lots of chance for us to turn back to you.  It is also clear that there are limits, Jehoaikim rejected your word; he and his children and his servants and the people of Judah and they were sent into exile.  You told the author of Hebrew that we all die once and then are judged.  We have this life alone to turn to you.  Thank you for showing me the way before it was too late.   Help me show others the way so they will not be exiled in eternity.

Jeremiah 36:1-19.  Yesterday we saw God use a faithful non-Jewish family to teach the unfaithful Jews what they were missing; to challenge them about their lack of response to his repeated messages to them.  And that family, the Rechabites, weren’t even being directly obedient to God, although they were honoring one of his principles by their actions.  It was interesting to think that they were doing instinctively what the Jewish people would not do in spite of repeated direct communications from God.  In today’s reading we see more of the attitude that led to the downfall of the Kingdom of Judah.

In verse 1-3 the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah.   God told Jeremiah to write down all the messages he had given Jeremiah up until that day; messages for the Northern Kingdom, messages for the Southern Kingdom, and messages for all the nations of the earth.  In verse 1 we learn that it is the fourth year of King Jehoiakim.  Jehoiakim bdcame king in 609 BC so that would mean that this happened in 605 BC.  That is an interesting year because it is also the year the Nebuchadnezzar crushed the Egyptian army at Carchemish and demanded allegiance from the Judah and the other kingdoms in the area.  It was also that year that the first captives were taken to Babylon, including the prophet Daniel.  If Jeremiah was to writhe all of his messages on the scroll (and that certainly looks like what God told him to do) it could have been quite a job.  Jeremiah first delivered messages from God in the thirteenth year of Josiah (Jehoiakim’s father); that would have been 627 BC.  How would you like to have to write down every homework assignment from the beginning of your school career (for Jeremiah it would have been 22 years, that’s a lot of writing).

As we saw yesterday and in our reading of Jeremiah there is a lot of repetition in his messages, in fact God even made a point of that yesterday. But the leaders and people were not getting it; they were hearing but not listening.  Jeremiah obeyed God and called his secretary, Baruch, who then began writing everything Jeremiah told him; all that God had told Jeremiah.  When Baruch completed the scroll Jeremiah asked him to take it to the Temple and read it on a “fast” day.  Evidently Jeremiah had been banned from the Temple.

In verse 7 we see that Jeremiah hopes the people will call out to God and ask for help and forgiveness.  The word translated “supplication” means to “fall down”, the idea is to show respect and humility.  Jeremiah hoped the people would be reminded by the word on the scroll of their defection from God and would beg him to help them back.   In verse 8 we see that Baruch obeyed Jeremiah and read the scroll in the Temple.

Verse 8 was a summary of the actions of Baruch in reading the scroll.  Verses 9-10 are a more detailed description of the reading.  In verse 9 we learn that the actual reading happened in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoaikim, 604 BC.  This is probably the same reading that is described in verse 8, it would have taken some time to write down all of the messages Jeremiah had given over a 22 year time span.  We don’t know when in the fourth year they started writing but we are now about a year later.  We see that there was a time of “fasting” and many people were in Jerusalem.  The point of fasting is not to punish the body but to spend extra time talking to and listening to God.  For most that would have involved going to the Temple (although Jeremiah regularly communicated to God outside of the Temple).  In a way fasting isn’t about what you aren’t doing as much as it is about what you are doing,; focusing on God.   In the Temple they would have heard Baruch reading the scroll of Jeremiah’s messages.

In verses 11-16 we see one of the religious leaders reporting to the others who were in the palace hanging out.  You would think that on a national day dedicated to communicating with God that they all would have been at the Temple, but they weren’t.  The messenger told them all about what Baruch had been saying so they called for Baruch.  They then asked Baruch to re-read what was written on the scroll to them (wouldn’t it have been better if thay had just been in “church” like everyone else?).  When he finished reading they all looked at each other and were afraid.  We don’t know if they were afraid because of the message they had heard (which consistently had been one of destruction of Judah, Jerusalem, and the Temple), were afraid because of the frequent appeals by God for the people of Judah to turn back to God (which the leaders and most of the people had regularly ignored), or if they were afraid for Baruch because the king probably would not appreciate the message.  In the days of the kings father (Josiah) a similar thing happened when a scroll of the Old Testament was found stuffed away in the Temple, when it was read King Josiah tore his clothing (a sign of great sadness and sorrow)(2 Kings 22-23).  Interestingly the guy who made the report to the others and one of the guys in the palace were the grand-son and son of the guy who had delivered the other scroll to Josiah, and Elnathan’s dad, Achbor, was involved too (2 Kings 22:15).  At the end of the reading they told Baruch that they were going to tell the king what they had heard for him.

In verses 17-19 the religious leaders to whom Baruch had read the scroll asked him where it had come from, did Baruch write it (like maybe he was writing what he remembered) or had Jeremiah told him what to write.  Baruch informed them that he had written down words dictated to him by Jeremiah.  The officials told Baruch to go find Jeremiah and hide.  Clearly at least part of their fear was for the safety of Baruch and Jeremiah.  They must have also had some sense that the words were actually those of God; they were going to report them to the king whom they believed would be very unhappy about the message.  If they had though the words were just Baruch’s biography of Jeremiah then they probably would not have passed them on.  I’m sure they feared for their own safety too, since they would be delivering an unpopular message to Jehoiakim.

I think it’s important to see that being God’s messenger can be a risky job.  In 2 Corinthians 5:20 we are told that we are Jesus’ “ambassadors”; he says that God is using us to bring the world back to him.  In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus told his followers to go into the whole word and make followers (literally “students”) of his.  It is clear from the history in the Old Testament (see “The Old Testament Connection”), from the history of Israel and Judah, and from our own personal histories that people like to do their own thing, nobody likes to admit that they are a failure and that they cant get by on their own.  The message of Jesus is “good news” but it also offends almost everyone.  The message of Baruch could have been good news, there was time to turn back, but most in Judah were offended.  That is why Jeremiah and Baruch needed to hide, but they needed to proclaim too. We need to tell the world about Jesus, through our lives, our actions, and our words but many wont like it and some may even try to harm us.  E need to be faithful and careful.  In the book of Mark Jesus said he had come to teach (Mark 1:38) but he was also careful when in the presence of those who hated him.  He was focused and wise making sure he could finish all that God had for him to do.  We need to be faithful too, we need to live for and tell others about Jesus.  We also need to be wise when danger is present and carefully figure out what God wants us to do.

God help us remember that we are here to help a lost world understand the way back to you; we need to be Jesus’ ambassadors.  It may take a long time and involve a lot of rejection and suffering but we need to do what you tell us to do; we need to deliver the “word of Yahweh” that as been given to us.  God help us be faithful, keep us safe, and give us words of life, word of healing, words that communicate your love and care for the world.