JEREMIAH
36
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2003 James Melough
36:1. “And it
came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah,
that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,”
36:2. “Take thee
a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee
against Israel,
and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto
thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.”
The fourth year of Jehoiakim
was 605-604BC. The fact that Jeremiah’s prophecies were to be preserved in a
book or scroll indicates that they weren’t confined to the nations of his own
time, but that they embrace the present as well as the impending Tribulation
and millennial ages.
36:3. “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.”
Iniquity is the word used to
describe sin of a more heinous nature than is usually implied in the word
sin. It describes perversity or depravity which deserves to be punished with
the sword, i.e., which brings destruction. It helps to convey the enormity of
Judah’s
guilt.
As noted already, however,
God’s foretold destruction of that generation of Judah, as a nation, was
irrevocable, the warning being continued only for the benefit of the
individual here and there who might repent and thereby save his soul, though
not necessarily his life. The same principle governs the preaching of the
Gospel today. The doom of apostate Christendom and the rest of the world is
unalterable, the day of grace being extended for a little while only for the
benefit of the rare individual who will repent and trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ. The warning that we are living in the very last days of this age of
grace is confirmed by the almost total lack of response to the Gospel.
36:4. “Then
Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of
Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll
of a book.”
It is interesting to note
that Baruch means blessed; and Neriah my lamp is Jehovah.
36:5. “And
Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of
the Lord:”
Apparently the prophet may
still have been confined to the guard chamber by the command of the evil king
Jehoiakim, though the fact that he and Baruch went into hiding, see vv.,19,26
would indicate that they were either not closely guarded, or enjoyed a
considerable degree of liberty.
36:6. “Therefore
go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast 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 thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come
out of their cities.”
It seems that prior to the
destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC there were no regularly appointed fast
days, fasting being called for prior to that only in cases of dire emergency,
and being appointed for regular observance only after that calamity. The
“fasting day” mentioned here therefore was probably a special occasion, an
attempt to appease God and induce Him to deliver them from the yoke of
Babylon.
36:7. “It may be
they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return every
one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the Lord hath
pronounced against this people.”
As discussed already, the
doom of the nation was sealed, but the term “every one” may indicate the
prophet’s hope that at least some individuals would heed the warning, repent,
and save their souls, though not necessarily their bodies.
The people would still
preserve the hypocritical show of worshiping Jehovah, as does apostate
Christendom today; but now, as then, the instructed believer realizes that
there will not be mass conversions in response to the preaching of the
Gospel. The bulk of the harvest has been gathered in. This is the time of
mere gleaning, the evangelist being fortunate to find a stalk here and another
there to encourage him to persevere, knowing that the age is about to end.
36:8. “And
Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet
commanded him, reading in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.”
36:9. “And it
came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah,
in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the
people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah
unto Jerusalem.”
It seems clear that God’s
command to Jeremiah to write, was based on His foreknowledge of that coming
day of fasting, which would furnish the largest possible audience for His
message.
36:10. “Then
read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the
chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at
the entry of the new gate of the Lord’s house, in the ears of all the people.”
Gemariah was a good man well
disposed toward Jeremiah, his father Shaphan, a scribe, being the one to whom
Hilkiah the high priest gave the new-found book of the Law during the reign of
the good king Josiah, see 2 Ki 22:3-13, the reading of which prompted the
godly reforms of Josiah. It is very possible that in making his chamber
available for the reading of Jeremiah’s words, Gemariah had hope that similar
good results would follow that reading also.
36:11. “When
Michaiah the son of Gemariah the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all
the words of the Lord,”
36:12. “Then he
went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber: and, lo, all the
princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah,
and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah
the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.”
The “scribe’s chamber” is
also translated, “the conference room where the administrative officials were
meeting” - Taylor.
36:13. “Then
Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read
the book in the ears of the people.”
36:14.
“Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of
Shelemaiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll
wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son
of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them.”
36:15. “And they
said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in
their ears.”
36:16. “Now it
came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and
another, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these
words.”
Verse 19 makes it clear that
the need to tell the king didn’t stem from ill-will towards Baruch or
Jeremiah, but rather from the knowledge that Jehoiakim would hear of it
eventually, and retaliate against them and Jeremiah and Baruch, by executing
them as he had Uriah the prophet as recorded in 26:20-23.
36:17. “And they
asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his
mouth?”
36:18. “Then
Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth,
and I wrote them with ink in the book.”
36:19. “Then
said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man
know where ye be.”
Their desire to know how the
book came to be written was undoubtedly in anticipation of their being asked
the same question by the king.
36:20. “And they
went into the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of
Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.”
No reason is given for their
depositing the roll in Elishama’s room, but it is possible that they may have
suspected that Jehoiakim would destroy it, as in fact he did.
36:21. “So the
king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishma the scribe’s
chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all
the princes which stood beside the king.”
36:22. “Now the
king sat in the winter house in the ninth month (December): and there was a
fire on the hearth burning before him.”
36:23. “And it
came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves (columns), he cut
it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until
all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.”
Since the writing was in
vertical columns on a roll or scroll that was rolled by the reader from one
roller on to another, what is translated as leaves was literally
vertical columns. And it was Jehoiakim, the angry king, not Jehudi,
who mutilated and burned the scroll.
Relative to this burning of
the scroll, William MacDonald makes the apt comment that this is “a perfect
picture of what liberals and rationalists have been doing with the Word of God
ever since.”
36:24. “Yet they
were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his
servants that heard all these words.”
Neither the king, nor those
around him, who had heard Jeremiah’s message of coming destruction, were
perturbed. Having heeded the words of the false prophets, they despised the
truth spoken by God’s true servant. It is the same today in apostate
Christendom. Having believed the lies of their false teachers, they dismiss
as nonsense the warnings given by those who believe the Scriptures, and who
therefore recognize that the terrible thunder clouds of Divine judgment are
about to burst and destroy this present evil world, sweeping down to hell
multitudes who mocked God and His messengers who tried to warn them.
36:25.
“Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the
king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.”
The warnings of godly men
are similarly ignored today both by commoners and rulers alike, rulers, in
fact, being foremost in setting an evil example for the people.
36:26. “But the
king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel,
and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the
prophet: but the Lord hid them.”
What folly it is for men to
seek the hurt of those whom God protects; and what folly it is on the part of
believers to fear the wrath of mere men, since nothing can happen apart from
God’s permission or direction!
36:27. “Then the
word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll,
and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,”
36:28. “Take
thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the
first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.”
36:29. “And thou
shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast burned
this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon
shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from
thence man and beast?
36:30.
“Therefore thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none
to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the
day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.”
36:31. “And I
will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will
bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of
Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened
not.”
The assurance that Jehoiakim
would have no descendant to occupy the throne of Judah is not contradicted by
the fact that his son Jehoiachin did succeed him as recorded in 2 Ki 24:8-17,
but he reigned a mere three months before being carried to Babylon where he
was imprisoned for thirty-seven years, at the end of which he was released,
but never returned to Canaan, see 2 Ki 25:27-30.
Relative to the foretold
ignominious disposal of Jehoiakim’s
dead body, no details have
been preserved, but see comments on 22:19.
Men may close their eyes and
ears against God’s Word, and harden their hearts, but nothing man may do will
ever be able to alter His decrees. What He foretells will be accomplished
just as surely as if it were already done.
36:32. “Then
took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of
Neriah; who wrote thereon 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 unto them many like words.”
Not only was the original
roll rewritten, but additional facts were added, so that Jehoiakim’s work of
destruction simply resulted in the production of an enhanced scroll to give
further warning to those with the wisdom to heed God’s Word.
[Jeremiah
37]