And they went in to 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.
20. the court ] This would of course be an open place. Cf. Jer 36:22. Read therefore (changing one consonant in MT.) the word which occurs in MT. of 1Ki 1:15 (“chamber”) and render cabinet. (So Gi., Du., Co.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The court – i. e., The inner quadrangle of the palace, in which was the royal residence.
They laid up the roll – They left the scroll in charge, i. e., in the care of someone.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 36:20-26
He cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth until an the ton was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth
The burnt roll
I.
The incidents connected with the text.
II. A few observations upon them.
1. The piety of the parent is no assured guarantee for the religion of the son. The life of the Spirit can alone come from God, and it is given and withheld in a way to us past finding out. There are many instances in which we should not be justified in attributing any neglect to the parent, though the child may not by any means have walked in his steps; and, where this does occur, men not unfrequently become monsters of iniquity; for it has been well remarked that none are more abandoned than those who become wicked after a religions education: they cannot have quietness in vice till they have stupefied their consciences; and the greater the obstacles before men can fully indulge their lusts, the more depraved they are afterwards. The testimony of the Spirit, respecting Josiah, the father of Jehoiakim, is this, that he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David.
2. However men may slight and pour contempt upon the threatenings of God, they can in no way prevent their fulfilment. Jehoiakim and his princes mocked at the message of God, despised His gracious warnings, and purposed the infliction of punishment upon the prophet and scribe concerned in their delivery; but by so doing they did but provoke the wrath of the Lord till there was no remedy: God at length brought upon them the King of Babylon. And all this, we are told, took place, that the Word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The destruction of the world in the time of Noah was long delayed; but it came at length, and that when men were little expecting it. And, if men will not be prevailed upon to flee to the refuge which God hath in infinite mercy provided, this warning must be fulfilled in their destruction.
3. Those who slight Gods warnings increase their condemnation. It was declared by the Lord through Huldah, the prophetess, to Josiah, the father of Jehoiakim, Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God when thou heardest His words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before Me, and didst rend thy clothes and weep before Me, I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord: behold I will gather thee to thy fathers; and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace (2Ch 34:27).
III. The applicability of this subject to present times. Are there not those in this our land who endeavour, by the keen knife of wit and sarcasm, to cut the Bible in pieces, and thus bring it into contempt, and cause it to be neglected? And why do they act thus? They hate the Bible because they perceive that its threatenings are pointed at them and their sins; they are against the Bible because they see that the Bible is against them; they Know very well that, if the Bible be true, if it be indeed the Word of the living God, they are in a very awful case–in danger of feeling the wrath of God for ever in another world: this they cannot bear to think of, and therefore they first begin to wish that it may not be true; next, indulge a faint hope that it is not; and, lastly, are led on by. Satan to believe that it is nothing else but a cunningly-devised fable, fitted to frighten and alarm the minds of the weak; forgetting that the very circumstance which makes it so distasteful to themselves, namely, that it forbids the indulgence of every sinful desire and the practice of every wicked act, is of itself one of the very strongest proofs that it is not the Word of man, but of God.
IV. Some lessons of instruction.
1. The duty of reverencing Gods Word.
2. The duty of making it known according to our ability among others.
3. The duty of dealing ,faithfully with those who live in disobedience to Gods commands. (T. Grantham.)
The burnt roll and the Scriptures
I. The words in the roll were inspired by God; so are the Scriptures.
1. Christ appealed to and taught out of them (Mat 4:4; Mar 12:10; Joh 7:42; Act 1:16; Heb 3:7; 2Pe 1:19; 2Pe 1:21; 2Ti 3:16).
2. Further proof–
(1) Their harmony and agreement.
(2) The perfect moral scheme they unfold.
(3) Their power over mens hearts.
(4) Their wonderful preservation.
II. The words in the roll contained Divine threatenings against sin. So throughout the Scriptures.
III. The words in the roll were intended to produce penitence and result in forgiveness (verse 3). To the Lord our God belong–mercies, &c.
IV. The words in the roll are despised by the hardened and rebellious (verses 22-24). Burning was merely the outward and visible sign of contempt, neglect, and disdain.
V. The words in the roll are, nevertheless, reverenced by some (verse 25). (Homiletic Magazine.)
Rejection of Gods message
I. Deep and varied interest of the Book of Jeremiah.
1. Divine truth of doctrine and promise (Jer 17:1-27; Jer 30:1-24; Jer 31:1-40, &c.).
2. Views of a prophets inner life of anguish and faith (chaps. 1, 9, 10, 12).
3. Passages of vivid narrative (this chapter).
II. A strange scene.
III. A searching lesson for the soul. The possibility of complete indifference to the most urgent warnings from God, even without open rejection of religion. Let us take the case of Zedekiah thus in some few respects.
1. His act as a specimen of the souls acts now.
2. His excuses.
3. His doom.
IV. Zedekiah hears a message from one whom, on the whole, he owns as Gods messenger, and, by way of reply, he burns it. Countless souls own the Bible, as, on the whole, Gods Word. Perhaps in a time of distress, like Zedekiah (chap. 38.), they will anxiously turn to it. But in their hour of security, when grief or conscience is silent, the Bible may warn mere, but in vain. Church lessons, sermon texts, family portions, private reading, all bring them Gods warnings. The soul, while it dares not say it is false, can yet cast the unfelt truth aside.
V. Zedekiah, perhaps, explained his act in some vague way to himself. Jeremiah is a prophet; but cannot a prophet be prejudiced and exaggerate? So Bible readers will let sceptical depreciation off the Bible so far warp them as just to take the edge off the reality of its warnings. Ye shall not surely die.
VI. But much more than this: Zedekiah positively rejected the message from wounded pride. He did not want it: he was well enough as he was. This blinded him in great measure to the question whether it were from God or not. So self will rise against the very words of Jesus, till it has seen its need and misery as it is (Rev 3:17).
VII. Zedekiah, for all this security and indifference, was on the verge of a real and dreadful doom. Ruin, captivity, blindness, bereavement (chap. 39.). So now, indifference to Divine warnings is no disproof of their truth. The Judge of all the earth will act, not on our view of things, but on His own.
VIII. He who threatens is He who atones, saves, and loves. He sends His real threatenings to drive us to His real mercy (Rev 3:19). (H. C. G. Moule, D. D.)
Jeremiahs roll burnt
The history with which our text is connected is soon told. It appears that Jeremiah the prophet, at the command of the Lord, had instructed Baruch the scribe to write, in a roll of a book, an abstract or an abridgment of all the sermons which during the last three-and-twenty years he had preached, as well as an account of the various judgments which the Lord had denounced against Judah by reason of their sins. This was done that the king and his people might be put in remembrance of what they had heard, and that they might the better understand it, when they had it all before them at one view.
I. The importance of the written word. Our Lord and His apostles speak to us by their written words in the New Testament; and they attest the inspiration of the written Old Testament by the numberless quotations from its various hooks. These Scriptures we are commanded to talk of, when we walk by the way, and when we sit in the house. We are also especially to heed them when they are read or explained to us in the sanctuary of public worship.
II. The value of Divine ordinances. We should come up to the house of God, my brethren, to ask those things that be necessary as well for the body as the soul. We should come up to set forth Gods most worthy praise. We should also come up to hear His most holy Word.
III. The Lords object in the Scriptures. The object which God has in view in giving us His Word, is to save our souls. He therein tells us, first, of our danger, and then of our refuge. The Scriptures, therefore, when rightly received, issue in our salvation. This was the Lords object in reference to Judah. Judah had sinned; and the Lord had threatened, by Jeremiah, to punish those sins. Mean-while, however, he tried once more to bring them to repentance. He therefore commanded Jeremiah to commit to writing all the evils he had pronounced against that nation, in the hope that, when they read what was written, they might be alarmed at their danger, and seek pardon from their God before their destruction came.
IV. The rebellion of the carnal mind. The carnal mind, we are told, is enmity against God. It on this account opposes Gods Word, and hates and persecutes Gods faithful servants.
V. The folly of destroying Gods word. Those men destroy Gods Word who will not receive its sayings. It matters not, however, my brethren, whether you receive the whole Word of God, or not. By it you must be one day judged. The judgment will be set, and the books will be opened. If you could get together and burn all the Bibles in the universe, that flame would never destroy Gods truth. Hell would be the same: eternity would be the same: death and judgment would be unaltered. Reject not, then, the inspired Word. Receive it most thankfully. Pray, over it most earnestly. (C. Clayton, M. A.)
The rash penknife
Jehoiakim s last opportunity was now to come. The Spirit of God comes upon the prophet Jeremiah, and inspires him with a message from Heaven. Baruch, the scribe, is summoned to take it down in writing from his lips. I see him coming to the prophets chamber with ink and pen and sheets of parchment. The people are awed and amazed. One of them, named Michaiah, instantly hastens off to the palace, and, finding a number of the princes gathered together, acquaints them with what has taken place, and gives them the substance of the prophecy. Presently one of these is commissioned to go into the monarchs presence and inform him. Jehoiakim, professing great indifference, has yet his curiosity aroused, and wishes the document itself to be brought to him. So Jehudi runs and fetches the roll, telling of the awful judgments that are about to descend upon the throne and upon the land, and proceeds to read it aloud to the king. The tragic sequel you already know, So Jehoiakims day of grace closed. In that moment the door of mercy was shut against him for ever! His doom was sealed. The Spirit of God was quenched. The man was given up. Not, observe, that his life was ended; he lived at least four years after this; but he had sinned away his day of grace, and never more was God to ply him with the offers of mercy. His souls ruin was now complete.
I. Those who, in their early days, have resisted holy influences, generally turn out the most wicked of men. I hardly know an exception to this rule. Nor can you much wonder that it is so. It is just what we might expect. When a man deliberately tramples on conviction, and resists the dealings of Gods Spirit, he uses the most effectual means to sear his conscience and harden his heart. If, in early days, you have been hedged round with Christian influences, and loving counsels, and bright examples, and fervent prayers: and you have withstood all these things, you are just the person most likely to make a rebound to the other extreme, and plunge headlong into gross iniquity.
II. If a mans religion is not genuine and heart-deep, it often happens that troubles and calamities only drive him farther away from God. Do you remember what is written of King Ahaz? It might be written of many a one besides him. In the time of stress did he trespass yet more against the Lord. Yes, with some men the more they suffer the more they sin. Adversity angers them against God. It is well known that times of pestilence, whilst they have brought out an unwonted religious earnestness on the one side, have brought out an unusual amount of wickedness on the other. The plague of London developed the vices of the metropolis to a frightful extent. Men patrolled the streets singing ribald songs beside the dead cart. When a ship is wrecked, and about to go to the bottom, if some fall on their knees and pray, others fly to drink and cursing. Nothing is a truer touchstone of character than the way in which a man treats the chastenings of God.
III. As the heart gets hardened in sin, there is a growing unwillingness to listen to the voice of God. As soon as a young man begins an evil course, and resolves to take his fill of sinful pleasure, he acquires a hatred of his Bible, and a disinclination to attend the house of God. If he cannot silence Gods ministers, he will keep as far as possible from them, and shut his ears against all good counsel I know a man to whom the sound of the church bells is so hateful, that in the warmest day in summer he will close all his windows, if possible, to keep it out. He was once a very different man, but now the devil has got such possession of him, that he abhors every vestige of religion; and I verily believe that were you to put a Bible into his hand, he would cut it in pieces with his penknife, and pitch it into the fire. If I want to know something of your state of heart, I ask, what value do you put on, and what use do you make of the law of God? (J. T. Davidson, D. D.)
The Bible disposed of, what then?
Were the Bible proved to be quite unworthy of confidence, were it shown to be dotted everywhere with error as thick as a leper with his loathsome scales, what advantage would it be to godless men?
I. God would still remain. The Bible does not make God; it does not even demonstrate the being of God. It assumes Him. Its opening words are, In the beginning God created. The simplest argument in all the world is that which phrases itself thus: Design supposes a designer. Were I to say that John Milton made Paradise Lost by jumbling letters in a bag and tossing them forth, all reasonable men would laugh at me; but this would be no more preposterous than is the allegation that our universe is a fortuitous concourse of atoms. All men know that back of law is the Lawgiver, back of order the Arranger, back of design an Infinite Contriver. But while the world would retain its belief in God, it would, in the absence of the Scriptures, know nothing of His Providence or of His Fatherhood.
II. The sense of sin would remain. The Bible is not responsible for the sense of sin. If there were no Bible, our consciences would still speak to us. When Prof. Webster was lying in prison awaiting his doom he made formal complaint that he was affronted by his keepers, who shouted at him, Oh, you bloody man! and by his fellow-prisoners, who pounded on the walls of his cell, shouting, Oh, you bloody man! A watch was set, but no voice was heard; it was his guilty conscience that was crying out against him. It is not the Bible that gives us Ixion on the wheel, or Sisyphus vainly rolling the stone up the mountain-side, or Tantalus up to his lips in the ever-receding waters. No, in any case conscience would remain; but in the absence of revelation we should know no remedy for its sting.
III. Were the bible destroyed, our sense of duty would still remain. The moral law is set forth in the Scriptures in the Decalogue and the Sermon on the Mount. The Decalogue, however, was written in the human constitution long before it found expression in Scripture. It is interwoven with the nerves and sinews of the race. The Sermon on the Mount is simply a broad and glorious exposition of the Decalogue. There is nothing new or original here. We are reminded that the Golden Rule itself did not originate with Christ. The ethical system of the Bible is merely an authoritative statement of certain laws which are written in the soul of man. God here places His imprimatur on those otherwise anonymous precepts which the whole world recognises as right. So, were the Bible to vanish, the moral distinctions would remain, and a man would know his duty while, alas! ever sensible of not doing it.
IV. The bible gone, death would still remain; death-and judgment following after. It needs no revelation from on high to tell us that, as Abd-el-Kader says, the black camel kneels at our gate. That admonition is written on the grave-stones that line the journey of our life.
The air is full of farewells to the dying
And mournings for the dead.
But without the Scriptures we should have no hope of triumph over death.
V. The dream of immortality would still remain. This is quite independent of Scripture. The Greeks put an obolus upon the tongue of the dead to pay their ferriage across the Styx because there might be a happy land beyond. The Indian chic was buried with his bows and arrows at his side, because, if there should by chance be a happy hunting-ground, he would need them there. Thus immortality has always been a fond dream–a dream only. When Cicero lighted the lamp in the grave of his daughter it was with the thought that possibly her life, though extinguished for a time, might be rekindled. When Socrates put the cup of hemlock to his lips, he said, I go; whether to perish or to live again I know not. The old fable of the Phoenix expressed the fondest of pagan hopes. No, no, we should not lose the dream but we should lose the certainty, for in the Gospel life and immortality are brought to light. The twilight vanishes, the dream becomes a splendid reality. The Bible is our noonday sun. Its glories are far away from the multitude who will not receive it. There are mysteries, vast and incomprehensible here; but burn the Book, or what is the same, let the world lose its confidence in it, and all that makes life worth living goes from us. But the Bible is in no danger; it has come to stay; it will glorify life and illuminate the valley of death until the last penitent sinner has gone through heavens gate. Voltaire said that he would pass through the forest of the Scriptures and girdle all its trees so that in a hundred years Christianity would be only a vanishing memory. The hundred years have expired; Voltaire is gone, and none so poor to do him reverence, but Christianity is still here, and the trees of the Lord are full of sap. The brazier of Jehoiakim is a golden altar, the fumes of which, like frankincense, have gone through all the earth. (D. J. Burrell, D. D.)
The mutilated Bible
1. Consider the object which God has in view in writing His Word and sending His written messages to mankind. This object is most pathetically set forth (verse 3). That is why God has given us the Bible! Not to bewilder us, not to start us on courses of intellectual speculation, not to tempt our curiosity, not to found rival sects, but to bring us to Himself to obtain forgiveness of iniquity and sin.
2. Man is so unwilling to hear anything unpleasant or disagreeable about himself that lie gets into a wrong temper before he actually knows what God s object is. Jehoiakim did not hear the whole roll. Did any man ever destroy the Bible who knew it wholly? The difficulty is in the three or four leaves. There are men to-day who having heard three or four leaves of Genesis have cut it with the penknife. They cannot get over the six days and the talking serpent, so they cut the roll with the penknife. Or if they begin another book, they are offended by the extraordinary numbers of people killed in war, and the romantic ages of the patriarchs; so they cut the roll with the penknife. Or if they begin elsewhere, they are offended by the descriptions of human nature, its depravity, its helplessness, its horrible sin; and having heard three or four leaves, they cut the roll with the penknife. Now the Bible must be read in its entirety, that all its parts may assume their just proportions and their appropriate colour.
3. Though Jehoiakim cut the roll and cast it into the fire, the words were all rewritten, and the impious king fell under the severe and fatal judgment of God (verse 30). Men have not destroyed revelation when they have destroyed the Bible. The Word of the Lord abideth for ever. The penknife, cannot reach its spirit, the fire cannot touch its life. The history of the Bible is one of the proofs of its inspiration.
4. The desire to cut the Bible with the penknife and to cast it into the fire, is quite intelligible because in a sense profoundly natural. The Bible never lures human attention by flattering compliments. What wonder if the leper should break the mirror which shows him his loathsomeness?
5. This desire to mutilate the holy Word shows itself in various ways, some of them apparently innocent, others of them dignified with fine names and claiming attention as the last developments of human progress.
(1) Look, for example, at the use made of the sectarian penknife.
(2) Look at the use of the philosophical penknife. The letter is cut down to nothing, and revelation becomes a question of consciousness, so that the inquiry is not so much, What is written? as, What do you feel? From these reflections we may well learn to hold the roll as inviolable, holy, sufficient, final. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The indestructible Book
There are thousands of Jehoiakims yet alive who cut the Word of God with their penknives; and my object is to designate a few of them. The first man I shall mention as thus treating the Word of God is the one who receives a part of the Bible, but cuts out portions of it with his penknife, and rejects them. Jehoiakim showed as much indignity toward the scroll when he cut one way as when he cut the other. You might as well behead Moses as to behead Jonah. Yes, I shall take all the Bible or none. No; you shall not rob me of a single word of a single verse of a single chapter of a single book of my Bible. When life, like an ocean, billows up with Rouble, and death comes, and our barque is sea-smitten, with halyards cracked, and white sails flying in shreds, like a maniacs grey locks in the wind–then we will want Gods Word to steer us off the rocks, and shine like lighthouses through the dark channels of death, and with hands of light beckon our storm-tossed souls into the harbour. In that last hour take from me my pillow, take away all soothing draughts, take away the faces of family and kindred, take away every helping hand and every consoling voice–alone let me die, on the mountain, on a bed of rock, covered only by a sheet of embroidered frost, under the slap of the night-wind, and breathing out my life on the bosom of the wild, wintry blast, rather than in that last hour take from me my Bible. Stand off, then, ye carping, clipping, meddling critics, with your penknives! I can think of only one right way in which the Bible may be divided. A minister went into a house, and saw a Bible on the stand and said, What a pity that this Bible should be so torn! You do not seem to take much care of it. Half the leaves are gone. Said the man: This was my mothers Bible; and my brother John wanted it, and I wanted it; and we could not agree about the matter, and so each took a half. My half has been blessed to my soul, and his half has been blessed to his soul. That is the only way that I can think of in which the Word of God may be rightfully cut with a penknife. The next man that I shall mention as following Jehoiakims example is the infidel who runs his knife through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and rejects everything. Men strike their knife through this Book, because they say that the light of nature is sufficient. Indeed! Have the fire-worshippers of India, cutting themselves with lancets, until the blood spurts at every pore, found the light of nature sufficient? Has the Bornesian cannibal, gnawing the roasted flesh from human bones, found the light of nature sufficient? No! I call upon the pagodas of superstition, the Brahminic tortures, the infanticide of the Ganges, the bloody wheels of the Juggernaut, to prove the light of nature is not sufficient. A star is beautiful, but it pours no light into the midnight of a sinful soul. The flower is sweet, but it exudes no balm for the hearts wound. All the odours that ever floated from royal conservatory, or princely hanging gardens, give not so much sweetness as is found in one waft from this scriptural mountain of myrrh and frankincense. All the waters that ever leaped in torrent, or foamed in cascade, or fell in summer shower, or hung in morning dew, gave no such coolness to the fevered soul as the smallest drop that ever flashed out from the showering fountains of this Divine Book. The light of nature is not sufficient. Infidels strike their penknife through this Book because they say that it is cruel and indecent. There are things in Ezekiel and Solomons Song that they dont want read in the families. Ah! if the Bible is so pernicious just show me somebody that has been spoiled by it. Again, they strike their penknife through the Bible because it is full of unexplained mysteries. What, will you not believe anything you cannot explain? Have you finger-nails? You say, Yes. Explain why, on the tip of your finger, there comes a nail. You cannot tell me. You believe in the law of gravitation; explain it, if you can. I can ask you a hundred questions about your eyes, about your ears, about your face, about your feet, that you cannot answer. And yet you find fault that I cannot answer all the questions you may ask about this Bible. I would not give a farthing for the Bible if I could understand everything in it. I would know that the heights and depths of Gods truth were not very great if, with my poor, finite mind, I could reach everything. Again, the infidel strikes his penknife through this Book because he says, if it were Gods Book, the whole world would have it. He says that it is not to be supposed that if God had anything to say to the world He would say it only to the small part of the human race who actually possess the Bible. To this I reply that the fact that only a part of the race receives anything is no ground for believing that God did not bestow it. Who made oranges and bananas? You say, God. I ask, How can that be, when thousands of our race never saw an orange or a banana? If God were going to give such things why did He not give them to all? If all the human race had the same climate, tile same harvests, the same health, the same advantages, then you might by analogy argue that if He had a Bible at all He would give it to the whole race at the same time. Again, the infidel strikes his penknife through the Book by saying: You have no right to make the Bible so prominent, because there are other books that have in them great beauty and value. There are grand things in books professing no more than human intelligence. The heathen Bible of the Persians says: The heavens are a point from the pen of Gods perfection. The world is a bud from the bower of His beauty. The sun is a spark from the light of His wisdom. The sky is a bubble on the sea of His power. Beautiful! Beautiful! Confucius taught kindness to enemies; the Shaster has great affluence of imagery; the Veda of the Brahmins has ennobling sentiment; but what have you proved by all this? Simply that the Author of the Bible was as wise as all the great men that have ever lived put together; because, after you have gone through all lands, and all ages, and all literatures, and after you have heaped everything excellent together and boiled it down, you have found in all that realm of all the ages but a portion of the wisdom that you find in this one Book. Take it into your heart! Take it into your house! Take it into your shop! Take it into your store! Though you may seem to get along quite well without this Book in your days of prosperity, there will come a time to us all when our only consolation will be this blessed Gospel. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The written Word
Jeremiah continued to prophesy close up to the time of the first captivity. The days were evil, the cup of the nations iniquity was filling rapidly, as rapidly, indeed, as the cup of its predicted desolation and sorrow, yet the people discerned not the signs of the times.
I. The circumstances which led to the preparation of this roll. Jeremiah had now been a preacher to the people for three-and-twenty years, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and warning the nation every one night and day with tears. The effect of these spoken addresses, however, had been utterly disappointing; under Divine guidance he must now have recourse to another expedient. He must prepare a summary of all his sermons, revive upon the minds of the people the warnings which seemed to have passed away; must enable them to read, each in the solitude of his secret chamber, words which, as heard with the outward ears, had neither moved them to repentance nor kindled in them any sense of alarm. And the word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 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. It is worthy your noting how frequently in the Old Testament the Almighty gives instructions to have His words committed to writing; to Habakkuk it is said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables. The commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai must be preserved on two tables of testimony,–tables of stone, written with the finger of God; and the commission given to Ezekiel shall be contained in the roll of a book, written within and without. Of all this, no doubt the design is to make us appreciate the value of a written revelation, of a written rule of faith, of a written charter of salvation, of a written and inspired record of the mind and will of God. In a matter so vital to mans happiness, God would not leave us at the mercy of mans memories–to the fidelity with which oral traditions might be handed down. But let us see what this history teaches us is the avowed purpose of the Most High in giving us this written revelation. Write all these words, for it may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; and the same thought is repeated in the seventh verse, where Baruch is instructed to go and read the writing to the assembled people. It may be, they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return every one from his evil way. But how striking is this language on the part of Almighty God. It may be that such and such effects will follow on the use of certain means. In the infinite prescience of the everlasting mind we know there can be no such thing as a may be; gathering into its sweep as that mind does the issues of all being, chance, time, space, every circumstance with regard to every soul, is an inevitable must be. While still further, with regard to this very people of whom it is said, It may be that they will turn, we know it was a settled fact, in the order of the Divine omniscience, that they would not turn, but would deal very treacherously. Too humble we cannot be in dealing with those apparently conflicting difficulties of moral state, nor too thankful either. They teach us that in relation to the acts and purposes of an infinite mind there are things which are too high for us; that however much two statements may seem to cross each other, if they are clearly revealed we must accept both. An intellect to which nothing would be paradoxical, says Bishop Horsley, would be an infinite intellect. It is a bad way of reconciling two Scripture doctrines to ignore or overlook or hide under a bushel one of them. The denial of the doctrine of the Divine predestination, of a knowledge on the part of God of how you or I shall act at any given moment of our future history, is simple atheism; the dethronement of God from the rule of the universe, and a passing of the sceptre to the hands of a thousand wild contingencies, that each may contend for it as it will. And yet with all this must be in the Divine purposes, room should be left for the may be in the human volition and acts. I bid you take a practical example. Look at the apostle Paul and his companions in the storm. All the men in that ship were to be saved; he knew that, as an absolute purpose of God, which nothing could prevent. It was a must be; but the sailors did not believe in this assurance. Hope was gone, the ship must be abandoned. Down with, the boats instantly, and let each for himself take his chance of deliverance. Now, how did Paul act, with his foreknowledge that all the passengers should be saved? Did he sit quietly? Just the reverse; with all the earnestness and solemnity of one who felt that on the assistance of these sailors he and all that sailed with him were dependent for their life, he cried out, Except these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved. I have told you that there shall be no loss of any mans life among us and I believe that It shall be even as it was told. He seems to add, God s predestinations are accomplished not by the superseding of human efforts, but by the employment of them; not by forcing our moral liberty, but in harmony therewith. The end is fixed; but for the fulfilment of it my earnestness is necessary, your submission to my directions is necessary; the labour and skill of these seamen to lighten the ship, to take up the anchor, to loose the rudder-bands, to hoist up the mainsail to the wind are necessary. There is a sense in which it must be that you shall be saved, and there is a sense in which it may be that you shall perish. You have, to do, not with the certainty, but with the contingency, and it hangs upon this, Except these abide in the ship. And it is under like limitations that God uses the expression, it may be, in regard to the effect which the writings of Jeremiah might have upon the minds of those who should read them,–whether the Jews or ourselves. But, in our case, the putting of the Bible into our hands is, so to speak, a moral experiment. To us, His ministering servants, God says, Here is a book fitted by the nature of its discoveries to commend itself to every mans conscience; calculated by its discoveries of a Saviours love, and power, and tenderness, to win the most hardened heart to repentance, and accompanied, moreover, with such piercing and persuasive energy, through the influences of the Spirit, that only on the supposition of the most resolved obduracy and pride can any conscience remain unconvinced of its guilt, or any sinner continue in the error of his ways. I, in My infinite foresight, may know that in the case of this man, or of that, the message will fail, but I will have the experiment tried with all. Thou shalt speak My word unto them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. You must preach upon contingencies; Take thee a roll of a book, it may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil that I purpose to do unto them. But let us look at this may be–this merciful contingency that God, in condescension to our forms of thought, is pleased to speak of. These possible results, which it is in the heart of God to do, should be produced by our taking the Book of Scripture into our hands. First, God hopes thereby to excite in us a holy fear of His just displeasure–It may be that they will hear all the evil that I purpose to do unto them. Yes, will hear it and believe in it–will not suppose that I speak parables, will not think that I have just menaced merely to humble, or have drawn pictures of calamity only to terrify, but will be persuaded of a truth that if My message be not accepted these results will follow. I will leave men to themselves, I will withdraw from them the influences of My Holy Spirit, I will bid the great High Priest offer up no more prayers for them, I will even suffer them to delude themselves into a false peace. Oh! ye who despise the Word, will ye hear all the evil which God purposes to do unto you? But see, God has better hope of His work. He trusts it may produce amendment of life, accompanied with earnest desires for forgiveness–It may be that they may return every man from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. Do not fail to note here the import of that expression. That I may forgive. It touches upon another of God s deep things, namely, upon what God is able to do, what are the limits imposed upon Him by the nature of His own attributes, upon some things which cannot be done by Him, to whom, nevertheless, we are accustomed to say that all things are possible. Sins of longest life I can forgive, and sins of the blackest dye; I can forgive infirmity, forgive years of despised grace and despised opportunity, but it is beyond the power of My holy nature, beyond the reach of the great propitiation, to forgive where there is no returning, where the heart is still in love with evil, enslaved under the uncast-off yoke of sin. It may be that they may return, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. I must note one other of these contingent results which God hopes for through His written Word, put by the Spirit into the mouth of Jeremiah; namely, that it will set the people upon much earnest prayer. It may be, he says to Baruch, in the seventh verse, that they will present their supplications before the Lord, and will return every one from his evil way. Very beautifully does this come in, for none of the other results were to be expected without this the sense of spiritual danger, the heart to turn from sin, the desire for experimental assurance of the Divine forgiveness, are, it is true, not things that we could ever obtain by ourselves, but are the gifts of God, promised to earnest and persevering prayer. You are told to pray, told that it is the will of God that you should pray. There you have something; use that, and then God will give more. You pray that you may know how to pray; if the heart so turned to God be not yours, yet you desire that you may have that heart, and all hinges upon your honest use of Gods kind contingencies. This merciful experiment He is making with you as to the use of His written Word, it may be they wall present their supplications before the Lord. If they do, the next step will follow, they will return every one from his evil way. Such is the design of a gracious God, in ordering Jeremiah to prepare the roll; such were His ends in restoring it after it was destroyed, and presenting it, with all its subsequent enrichments, for the use of us and of our children unto this day.
II. The roll destroyed. Jeremiah, as we learn from the narrative, was at this time under restraint; not in prison, where he was not placed until afterwards, but only forbidden by Jehoiakim to exercise his prophetic functions, or even to be present at the services of the temple. Accordingly he gives it in charge to Baruch, a man who had taken all the Lords words in his mouth, to go up and recite all the words of the Lord in the ears of the people who would assemble in the Lords house on the fast day. Whether there was no congregation assembled, or in obedience to some unrecorded instruction, the first reading of the roll seems to have taken place in the hearing of a single person only, in one of the side courts in the entrance of the gates of the Lords house. This noble hearer was Michaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, the scribe, who was so arrested by the words he had heard that he lost no time in going to tell them, as well as he could remember, to the princes at the time resident in the court of Jehoiakim. Interested in this second-hand recital, the princes thought they should like to hear for themselves, and they accordingly sent for Baruch to the palace, that they might have a private hearing of the words of this roll. And here it concerns us nearly, to watch what effect the reading of this roll had upon the princes. Well, in the first instance, it produced in the minds of these princes sentiments of deep emotion. It came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid, both one and the other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king all these words. Easily can we conceive how encouraged Baruch would be by this first fruit of a faithful message; he had stirred up the dormant activities of conscience; the arrows of conviction were rankling sharply in the soul, a sudden fear had evidently taken hold of the men,–they trembled. For this, as we know, is the sequel: the princes tell the matter to the king, the king sends for the book, commands one of his servants to read out of it, and is so irritated at its disclosures, that at the end of the third or fourth leaf he takes the roll from the hand of Jehudi, and having cut it up to pieces that no part of it might be recovered, waits with awful deliberation until all the roll is consumed in the fire on the hearth. The marvel of the sacred writer seems to be less at the burning than at what followed the burning, or rather at what did not follow the blasphemous hardihood that could go so far and not tremble at the mischief itself had wrought, yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king nor any of his servants that heard all these words. It is just here that an important practical lesson comes in for us, for it tells us what despised religious conviction may lead to; what a soul-hardening tendency there is in warnings which we have felt once, and felt keenly too, but which we resolved afterwards we would put aside and try to forget all about; and the danger is the same to this day. Show me a man who has never been the subject of one serious or solemn thought, whom the Word, whether read or preached, has never penetrated with a sense of sin or danger, and of that man, I say, I have hope. The arrow is yet on the wing, it may pierce him yet. But when we come to the case of a man who, like Judahs princes, has trembled under the power of the Word, or who, like Jehoiakim himself, has felt it to be so pointedly addressed to his own heart that he could bear its presence no longer, then I say there is room for nothing but the most distressing apprehension, and fearful standings in doubt. Ay! better had it been for Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah never to have seen that roll at which their consciences trembled, than having seen it and having trembled at it, to have relapsed into their former indifference, and even to stand by whilst its dishonoured pages were blazing on the hearth.
III. The roll restored and replenished with more awful judgments. Who ever hardened his heart against God and prospered? Who ever kicked against the pricks of an accusing conscience and did not live to mourn in bitterness his folly? The anger of Jehoiakim against the roll was great, because it told him that the king of Babylon should certainly come and destroy the land. And so, like the foolish Brahmin who crushed the microscope with a stone because it showed him insects in his food, he thought to be revenged on the roll by burning it in the fire. Well, what are the consequences? Why, the new roll Jeremiah was to write contained not only the former things, but some worse, even the utter ruin of the royal house, the condemnation of Jehoiakims posterity to captivity and shame, and the exposure of his own body to the burial of an ass, as an eternal monument of Gods displeasure against all who despised the warnings of His written Word. Not only was Jeremiah to rewrite all the words of the Book which had been burned in the fire, but, says the sacred historian, There were added besides unto them many like words. And what is the great practical lesson I wish you to derive from this part of the history? That the Word of God is imperishable. A singular and wonderful Providence, as we all know, has watched over that Word. Every jot and tittle shall have its complete fulfilment, for indeed there is something beyond the mere writing. Oh, suffer me to remind you of its double aspect, its double lesson, its double tendency, either to strengthen the mind and hopes of the righteous, or to cover with overwhelming hopelessness the prospects of the ungodly and the sinner. Let me say a word first to those who feel that they do not belong to Christ, have no part in the covenant, know well enough they are not washed, not sanctified, not justified by the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God. Must I not in all faithfulness say to them, even as Baruch would have said to Jehoiakim when he threw the strips and shreds of heavenly truth into the flame, Be thou well assured that all the words written in this roll shall come to pass, yes, and there shall be added unto them many like words? The neglect of the preached Word can but aggravate the condemnation. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away. More grateful, however, is it to the minister of the Gospel of love and peace to approach this imperishableness of the written Word from its other side, and see what are the promises to them that fear God. And to them I say, even to all that are in Christ Jesus, to all that have found peace, this unfailing certainty of all that God hath written in His Word is like a footing on the everlasting rock. Yes, it is yours to live in a world of change, changes in nature, changes in Providence, changes in the Church of God, changes in the rolling seasons, changes in your own frames and feelings, and desires and spiritual experiences; and what protection and refuge against your own inconstancy, your own fluctuations of purpose, and will, and power, is it to be able to fall back on the unchanging, eternal, indefeasible Word of promise of the Most High God, of Jesus the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. (D. Moore, M. A.)
Bible-burning
We read in the first lesson this morning the earliest instance of Bible-burning on record, and also the uselessness of the experiment. On this page of the Bible we have two extremes brought into juxtaposition–there is the extreme of utter obedience, as illustrated by the Rechabites, in the preceding chapter, and the extreme of disobedience, recorded here. Between these two cases lies the life conduct of the men and women of our generation. Few are so obedient as to follow out to the very letter the duties enjoined on us by Gods holy Word. We like to shirk the more disagreeable, and to modify others so as to justify a partial obedience; and yet, though we may try to find loopholes through which to escape distasteful duties, I question much whether any would go to the extreme of defiance, represented by Jehoiakims conduct in burning the Book itself. Whether the teachings of the Book are followed out as they should be, or disregarded, people generally admit their duty to obey and yield honour and respect to the Book itself, if not from proper motives, then from a superstitious, unreasoning veneration. The holy Bible ought to be treated by us with respect at least; the Book ought not to be treated as any other book, but should occupy a place peculiarly its own, and that because it is the gift of God to man, the gift which shows us the way of salvation, which tells us of Gods relationship to us as our Father, which tells the story of a Saviours love and compassion. Jehoiakim is a beacon to us to warn us of the danger of hardening our hearts and resisting holy influences. Sins persisted in bring sorrow and reverses, and the effect of reverses is either to bring us to God or to drive us far away from Him into the outer darkness of misery and ruin. Unless the heart is illuminated by the light of true religion, man will rebel when God chastens; misfortunes will but drive him into evil excesses, and, instead of quickening within his breast the sense of sin and inciting to repentance, he will go from bad to worse, he will be unwilling to hear the voice of God, will shut his eyes to his danger, and will, in effect, dismiss those whose duty it is to recall him to his better self, with the old answer of Felix to Paul. (M. P. Maturin, M.A.)
Rejected blessings
Time is the material of our lives, but do not those people out it with a penknife, and cast it into the fire, who talk of killing time, and put their words into practice? But if it perishes it is recorded, and an hour will come when they would give all that they possess for a moment of it. Youth is one of the precious opportunities of life–rich in blessings if we choose to make it so, but having in it the materials of undying remorse if we out it with a penknife, and cast it into the fire. Health is another of Gods most precious gifts which is too often cut with a penknife and thrown into the fire of passionate sin. Never treat money affairs with levity–money is character. This is a wise precept, for money is a power lent to us by God, not for our own use only, but for the good of others. There is then such a thing as conscientious money-spending, and it is very sinful to cut money, so to speak, with a penknife and cast it into the fire. If we are to be saved, we must use the means of salvation which God gives to us as He gave this roll of a book to Jehoiakim. Above all, we must not treat with contempt the gracious invitations of our Saviour to come unto Him. If we despise or neglect so great salvation, we shall kill our souls. No doubt Jehoiakim fancied when he burned the roll upon which Gods threatenings against his sins were written, that these would somehow be prevented from taking effect. But the truth of God is not so easily destroyed. Jeremiah caused another and a longer roll to be written. From this we may learn the often-forgotten fact that the truth of God does not depend upon men. They may believe or they may not believe, but though this matters to themselves it cannot destroy truth. It is well to remember this fact, which, when stated, seems so obvious, for many men have a contemptuous patronising way of talking about religion as if it would perish if they ceased to believe it. And as it is with truth, so is it with our responsibilities. We do not get rid of them by simply ignoring them and treating them with contempt. (E. J. Hardy, M. A.)
Jehoiakims penknife
A homely writer says, Jehoiakims patent has expired, and a whole army of followers of his are fond of cutting at Gods Word. God gives very sharp, earnest, forcible warnings. He gives them in Scripture; He gives them in our daily lives. Do not let us handle Jehoiakims penknife to pare down the long dark columns of warning against sin and heedlessness and godlessness, which are written in His book. Shall I tell you how this absurd childish folly comes about? It comes of small pieces of heedlessness, gentle warnings not heeded, then stronger ones are sent, and they too are soon tossed aside. I cannot believe that Jehoiakim became such a downright fighter against God by any sudden visitation; he probably went on from smaller neglects to greater; from neglects to rejections; from rejections to defiance, till at last he thought as little of cutting Gods Word into fragments, as he once would have thought of putting off a serious thought to a more convenient season. (J. Kempthorne, M. A.)
Burning the roll
I remember, when on a mission, coming down from a pulpit where I had been pleading with souls, and going up to a respectably dressed man, one on whom my eye had rested more than once while preaching. I saw the tear was in his eye; I knew that the Word had gone home to his heart. I entreated him then and there to give himself up to the Lord. I daresay I talked with him for a quarter of an hour, till at last I found he too seemed to burn the roll. He began by listening to me politely and civilly, but as I went on earnestly pleading with him, pressing him to surrender himself to God, I saw he was resisting and hardening his heart, till at last he said something to the effect that he wished I would not talk to him any more. So after offering a short prayer I had to withdraw. A few weeks after, that man was struck on the head in a drunken broil, and never had time to say, God save my soul. His day of grace ended in that church, he too had burned the roll. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)
Unbelief does not alter facts
Jehoiakim made the other mistake of thinking that he had removed the danger when he had destroyed the roll that told of it. He could burn the parchment, but did that arrest the tramp of Nebuchadnezzars army? Putting out the lighthouse lamps does not blow up the reef. Its merciless fangs are as sharp as ever, and all the more surely fatal because they are hid in the darkness. We do not alter facts by refusing to believe them, or to attend to the statement of them. As Bishop Butler says, Things are as they are, and burning Jeremiahs roll changed nothing. Only it was the throwing away of one more possibility of escape, and made the king a more hopeless victim of the fierce conqueror. (A. Maclaren.)
Jehoiakims wickedness
We have before us one of the most tragic acts of wickedness recorded in the history of the kings of Judah. It is in striking contrast with the act of the good King Josiah (2Ch 34:15-33), who, when the lost book of the law was found, humbled himself and gave instant heed to its warnings and precepts; all the more so because the good king was father of this wicked and defiant one. Truly grace does not run in the blood. The chapter before us relates how Jeremiah had written out a summary of the prophecies concerning the impending captivity, and caused it to be read to the people assembled at a great and special fast in the Temple, and afterward to the princes in private, and finally to the king (verses 1-19). The object of the special message was one of compassion and pity on the part of Jehovah (verses 3, 7). It is wonderful how, in the midst of His wrath, God always remembers mercy. The reading of the prophecy to the people evidently made a deep impression, for the news of it was carried to the princes, who sent for Baruch and had him read it to them. They in turn were deeply affected, and said it must be brought before the king. They, however, knew his tyrannical temper, and took two precautions. First, after hearing from Baruch s lips how he came to write this prophecy of woe, they warned him to go with Jeremiah, and both to secrete themselves from the wrath of the king; then they laid the writing up in the house of the scribe (verses 15-19), and lastly went in to report the matter to the king. These princes seemed favourable to the prophet and to the Word of God, but they feared the king. An evil king can suppress the good that is in his people and prevent a whole nation from repentance or reformation. Men in authority have great privilege, but also great responsibility.
I. The Word of God destroyed. The burden of the word of Jeremiah, which was a summary of all his prophecies on this point, was that Judah should be carried away captive by the King of Babylon (verse 29). This was not the first warning, but the gathering up of all past threats; it was Gods final word to the king and the people. As it was read, he ordered it bit by bit to be cut away and thrown into the fire until all was consumed. In this action the following points may be noted–
1. The contempt of the king. The princes had put the writing away in the house of the scribe (verse 20) before they went in to the king. This was a testimony of their respect for a message sent by a prophet of the Lord, and of their fear for its safety. The king, however, had no such feelings of reverence for Gods Word. He did not even dignify the document by sending a proper official to bring it; but showed his contempt by telling a page or under-secretary to fetch it. This act was a suggestive prelude to what followed afterward. The Bible, of all books, is entitled to the place of highest honour, and it is a bad sign when this due respect ceases to be manifest.
2. The rage of the king. As the book was being read, the king overlooked the message, which undoubtedly was incorporated, that God hoped that the reading of it might induce them to turn from their sins and claim His promised mercy. Many people, who declaim against what they call the hard and bitter denunciation of sin and of the judgments of God, seem persistently to forget that the Book which condemns sinners to death and hell is mostly taken up with earnest and loving entreaties to repentance, with promises of life and salvation. God was beyond his reach, but His Word being within his grasp, he poured out his wrath against that. He ordered it to be cut to pieces and burned with fire. This was not a hasty and impulsive action on the part of the king, but deliberate and premeditated. He perseveres in his evil work, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his princes. He was a proud and haughty scorner, who dealt in proud wrath (Pro 21:24). There are times when remonstrance ceases to be wise, and a wilful sinner must be given up to his chosen way. The reason for his wrath was the evil tidings which the prophets words brought him. Yet how foolish was his wrath–how impotent his rage! For what did he destroy? Only the parchment on which the Word of God was written; not the Word of God itself. It is related of a heathen princess of hideous countenance, that on looking into a mirror which a missionary had, and seeing her ugliness, she destroyed the glass in rage, and ordered that no more mirrors should be brought into her kingdom. I once saw a man in a railway carriage to whom a leaf of the New Testament had been given, crumple it up in his hand, fling it on the floor, spit on it, and grind it under his heel. This action was as ridiculous as it was impotent. The rage of the hater of Gods Word was evoked, but the Word of God was not destroyed.
3. The attitude of the witnesses. There were two classes of witnesses present.
(1) The kings servants; his pages and immediate attendants. Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king nor any of his servants that heard all these words. This implies that the message not only failed to bring about any repentance or desire that the evils threatened might be averted (compare 2Ch 34:19), but that the servants were not even horrified at the action of the king in ordering the writing to be destroyed. They became parties to the act of the king in his wilful unbelief, in his contempt and deliberate defiance of Jehovah. When we join ourselves either in service or companionship with unbelieving men, we must be prepared either to go with them or break from them, when a crisis comes by reason of Gods Word. We may serve an ungodly king, like Daniel, if we have the courage to take Gods part when occasion comes, or we may have social and business relations with unbelievers, if we are prepared to act in a like loyal manner. But how often a timid Christian finds himself overborne by his wicked companions when they warm themselves at their fire, as with Peter in the High Priests palace.
(2) On the other hand, there were three princes present who made intercession to the king, that he would not burn the roll; but he would not hear them. They had, however, cleared their skirts and washed their souls from the iniquity. Are we as faithful in all such like emergencies?
4. The baffled king. Having destroyed the writing, the king began to reflect that he had not avoided Gods Word or put himself beyond the further reach of it, so long as the scribe and the prophet were at large. He therefore sent to have them arrested. Probably he contemplated their murder, thinking thus he would get rid of the Word. This is an old method with the haters of God. But the Lord hid them. Let us suppose he had succeeded in getting hold of the prophet and had killed him; would he next seek to destroy God too? This would be the logical course. How men forget that when they have destroyed the outward revelation they have not destroyed the Word of God; and when they have killed the prophets they have not baffled the Spirit by whom the prophets speak. God hid His prophet and His scribe. Man is immortal till God has no further need of him. Let all God s witnesses know of a truth that God can deliver His servants from any manifestation of the wrath of man, if it is best for them and for His cause; and let them know when He does not deliver, it is neither for want of love, faithfulness, nor power, but because all round it is best that they should seal their testimony with suffering or death.
II. The indestructible Word. The facts in this incident bring out clearly the truth, that mans hatred and rage against Gods Word are as impotent as is the broken wave that falls back in spray from the rock against which it has spent itself. In this conflict of man against Gods message, we see that it is neither a book nor a man against which the enemies of Christ fight. God can reproduce His Word, either by the same prophet, as He did in this case, or by another. Before the world can get rid of the Gospel it must kill all the believers in the world, and then they must not be too sure that God has not hidden His Word as He hid His prophet, to come forth unexpectedly, as the law came forth in the time of Josiah. Millions of Bibles may be destroyed, and the preachers and witnesses of the Word burned and put to the sword, but it only serves to both increase the Word of God and multiply the witnesses. When will the world learn that they cannot fight against God? Look only at the impotence of men in this conflict in the past. One Herod destroyed the little children, but God hid His Christ; another Herod beheaded John the Baptist, but failed utterly to destroy his testimony. The world crucified Christ; but God raised Him from the dead. The world imprisoned the apostles, stoned Stephen, put James to the sword, persecuted the young Church, but this only served to increase the number of believers and multiply the revelation. Paul wrote more Epistles while in prison than he would have if he had been free. John wrote the Revelation while he was exiled for the Word of God. The Word of God cannot be broken, or defeated,–as this foolish and wicked king found out. Several points more may be noted in connection with this latter half of our study.
1. God takes note of our treatment of His Word. It is evident that the eyes of the Lord were upon the king while he was burning the roll, from the fact that, immediately afterward, He commissioned Jeremiah to rewrite it.
2. The Word rewritten. Not one jot or tittle of Gods Word shall pass away till all be fulfilled. What was the king advantaged by his work? What are any of us advantaged by our unbelief? Suppose we say, I do not believe Gods Word, will that alter the fact that it will be carried out to the letter? Suppose instead of destroying Gods Word, we keep it closed, never look into it and never go where it is preached, or, reading and hearing, do not heed it; will that prevent it from being fulfilled? Shall our unbelief make Gods Word to be a lie? Did the unbelief of the antediluvians prevent the flood?
3. More words added. In the first message God had simply told the king that he and the people would be carried away captive, but now He adds more, saying that for this act of wickedness he himself should be deprived of a direct heir, and his body should be cast out and exposed to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. He would not only bring upon the men of Judah all that He had first declared, but would add an especial punishment to the king. Cumulative unbelief brings cumulative punishment. With the burial of an ass shall he be buried; dragged and east out far from the gates of Jerusalem, and none shall mourn for him, either as brother, or kindred, or king (Jer 22:19). To mutilate the Word of God, either by adding to it or destroying it, is to bring special additional plagues and sufferings upon the transgressor (Rev 22:18-19). Let us learn this solemn lesson in connection with the Word of God. His Word is eternal; it can neither be bound nor broken; that it will not cease in the world until all that is written therein be fulfilled. All the unbelief, neglect, and rage against it are utterly futile (Isa 40:6-8). (G. F. Pentecost.)
The story of a penknife
I. Jehoiakims use or misuse of the penknife. Let us talk a little about this famous penknife. In itself it was a very insignificant article. Very unlike was it to its namesakes of to-day, which contain so many other things beside the knife blades that one feels as if one were carrying about an engineers tool bag and a portable carpenters shop. The knife Jehoiakim used was a rough specimen of workmanship, doubtless, even though, as it belonged to me king s confidential secretary, it is likely to have been the very best of its kind. Probably it was a straight bit of metal thickened at one end for a handle, flattened and sharpened for a blade at the other end. A pocket-knife it was not, being carried in the oblong writing-case or box along with the ink horn and reed pen. That rough bit of bladed iron was the instrument of the kings spiritual suicide.
II. The meaning of Jehoiakims conduct.
1. He had formed a resolution against God. The message of the roll asserts the Divine authority over Jehoiakim and his kingdom. He would not permit such interference. He would manage his own affairs. How bright a day was it for some of us when we resolved that we would serve God! But what a black day it must be when the decision is taken that God shall not be served. That was what Jehoiakim meant. He doomed himself henceforward to follow his own will.
2. This resolution was avowed by a public act. Among our red-letter days, if the day of decision for Christ comes first, the day of professing Christ comes next in importance. As days are reckoned in heaven, that would be the exact order. But what a terrible thing to express the opposite decision! It may be quickly and easily done-by the tone of a laugh. Jehoiakims courtiers would all know, as well as if he had said the words, punctuating each word with a slash of the penknife at the manuscript, I will not serve God.
3. The decision and profession were impatient and hasty. The entire roll was Gods message to the king. Only three or four columns–a very small portion comparatively, was read before the whole was destroyed. To decide against God without hearing Him out, is a madmans act. Let our minds be open a while longer. Jehoiakim had committed himself, and all the greater part of his people.
4. This hasty action was an insult to God. To tear up a letter unread or in public–and Jehoiakim did both–can have but one meaning. This letter ought never to have been written. But fancy acting like this towards God, and saying to your Maker, You have no business to interfere with me!
III. The use of the penknife by imitators of Jehoiakim in other times. In many ways it is possible to insult Almighty God by professing a hasty, half-conscious decision that we will let Him manage our life. The penknife is still at work in various ways.
1. One favourite kind of penknife is an insult or injury to Gods messenger. Gods message is often represented by the man who brings it, and pulling the servant to pieces, in one way or another, is a common expression of revolt against God. Herods penknife was the sharp sword of his executioner, putting an end to the life of the prophet who had become an incarnate rebuke. Cruelty is not always necessary. A passing slight is quite enough.
2. Similar results may be effected by staying away from a meeting, or severing oneself from a society or class, breaking off an acquaintance with an earnest Christian, and so on. The Bible class is getting rather warm, as you call it. Conversions are frequent, and it will be your turn soon. So you absent yourself.
3. A more or less sincere profession of scepticism will serve the purpose well. Are there some here ready to decide hastily against God and heaven? Have you listened to the entire message which, in various ways, God has spoken? Have some of us used the penknife in days gone by? Has the message of the Saviour no power to affect us now, because of certain action of ours in the past, which has torn up, as it were, the communication between God and ourselves? Are we on this account conscious of no desire or inclination to be better than we are? Let us humbly entreat the Lord we have insulted to speak again. Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth. No, I am not Thy servant; but I fain would be; nor am I sure that I can hear. I destroyed my hearing by my own act; but oh, for the sake of the dear Saviour, who bade the Gospel be preached to every creature, speak again, Lord, and make me listen. (W. Carey Sage, M. A.)
A fool and his penknife
All things were hastening to a general clash and ruin unless they speedily mended their ways; and the king and his flatterers were living, as such gentry do, in a fools paradise. Jeremiah saw it with the seers illumined eyes. It came to him as the Word of the Lord, and as the Word of the Lord he wrote it down on a roll of parchment. The roll was brought to the king, as he sat enthroned in one of his palaces, with his courtly parasites and sycophants around him. It contained no flattery. It was a black picture of the kings misdoings, and the terrible consequences which some near morrow would bring. The royal sinner did not like it. What sinner does, whether he be king or beggar? He did not want to think about to-morrow. No man on the highway to destruction does.
I. Now that picture of the king with the penknife is often repeated in various ways. The Bible has been so often attacked by that instrument that if it were not the indestructible Word and work of God it would long since have disappeared. People have always been so busy cutting out what they did not believe, or what they did not like, that really it is only by a perpetual miracle that there is any of it left. I thank God that I have still my Bible, and believe in it in spite of all the cutting and paring down that has been done. Somehow it stands the fire and comes out unharmed, no matter what furnace you pass it through. Critics have their day, and Jehoiakims do their fooling and die, but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever.
II. I am afraid we all keep that instrument for special occasions, and use it when we do not wish to face an inconvenient or unwelcome truth. Men who profess the greatest reverence for the Bible sometimes manage to put out parts which do not harmonise with their conduct and views. There are our good friends who admire, honour, revere, and love Christ as the highest man, but stop short of worshipping Him as Divine. It must surely be a difficult thing for them to read the New Testament without the penknife.
III. I fear we are all sinners, either with penknife or the paste. We often cut out moral precepts and commandments if they do not quite accord with our conduct. Most of us use the knife on those many words of Jesus and His apostles which warn us against Mammon worship and covetousness and the love of money, and tell us not to pay all our devotions to the people who have it. It makes our conscience easier if we can somehow get these texts put out. Some people do not always like the Fourth Commandment and kindred injunctions which speak to us about honouring father and mother and reverencing the hoary head. That is quite antiquated prejudice, and out of date, they say; let the penknife deal with it. There are people who talk far too freely, and not always too truthfully, discussing the faults of friends, and passing on mischievous scandal. I read them what Jesus said: For every idle word you shall give account. Oh! is that there? they say. I do not believe it; lend me a penknife. And there are Christian people who find it desperately hard to forgive; it is as hard as to get a camel through the eye of s needle. They will keep a grudge and maintain a silent quarrel with a fellow-Christian for years. I open the book for them and read: If thy brother offend thee seventy times, and seventy times repent, thou shalt forgive him, &c. Be ye kind, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any. And they stop me and say, These things are not in my Bible; I have cut them all out. And there are all those sayings of the Master and His apostles about cheerfulness, gladness, thankfulness–Be of good cheer; in all things give thanks; be content with such things as ye have; rejoice always, and again I say rejoice. They are the brightest and pleasantest sunshine in the Bible; but some of us use the penknife on them every day. We should all be better Christians if we could lust take the Book as it is, and not be always forgetting or putting out the parts we least like. But let me not forget to say that the penknife is used far more constantly, and more in Jehoiakims fashion, by those who are not Christians at all, by those who are living wholly irreligious lives. Away with all the warnings, threatenings, counsels, and invitations which stand in the way of our desires. The soul that sinneth it shall die. The wages of sin is death. For all these things God will surely bring thee into judgment. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap Cut away the roll; burn it; let us forget the words; out of mind is out of existence; the day of reckoning will never come. But it does come, nevertheless! The inevitable hour creeps on; the debt stands though you tear the bill in two and burn both halves. You cannot burn Gods ledger in which all the accounts are kept. You will have to pay that bill unless, through faith and repentance and the merits of Jesus, it is all forgiven. (J. G. Greenhough, M. A.)
The indestructible Word
I. Eyes opened to see. There was a vast difference between Baruch, whose heart was in perfect sympathy with Jeremiah, and Jehudi or the princes. But there was almost as much between the faithful scribe and the heaven-illumined prophet. The one could only write as the words streamed from those burning lips; he saw nothing, he realised nothing; to him the walls of the chamber were the utmost bound of vision; whilst the other beheld the whole landscape of truth outspread before him, the rocks and shoals on the margin of the ocean, the inrolling storm-billows tipped with angry foam, the gathering clouds, the ship straining in every timber and driving sheer on the shore. This was the work of the Spirit who inspired him, and whose special function it was to open the eye of the seers of the old time to the great facts of the unseen and eternal world, which were shortly to be reduplicated in the world of the temporal and visible. To speak what he knew, and to testify what he had seen–such was the mission of the prophet. In our case there is no likelihood of this. Yet men may be seers still. Two men may sit together side by side. The veil of sense may hang darkly before the one, whilst for the other it is rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Happy are they the eyes of whose heart are opened, to know what is the hope of His calling, what the riches of His inheritance in the saints, and what the exceeding greatness of His power toward them that believe. It is very important that all Christians should be alive to and possess this power of vision. It is deeper than intellectual, since it is spiritual; it is not the result of reasoning or learning, but of intuition; it cannot be acquired in the school of earthly science, but is the gift of Him who alone can open the eyes of the blind, and remove the films of earthliness that shut out the eternal and unseen. It is a thousand pities to be blind, and not able to see afar off, when all around stand the mountains of God in solemn majesty; as the Alps around the Swiss hostelry, where the traveller arrives after nightfall, to eat and drink and sleep, unconscious of the proximity of so much loveliness. If, on the other hand, you have the opened eye, yon will not need books of evidences to establish to your satisfaction the truth of our holy religion; the glory of the risen Lord; the world of the unseen. With the woman of Samaria you will say, We have seen it for ourselves. They who see these things are indifferent to the privations of the tent-life, or, as in Jeremiahs case, rise superior to the hatred of man and the terrors of a siege.
II. The use of the penknife. It is probable that no one is free from the almost unconscious habit of evading or toning down certain passages which conflict with the doctrinal or ecclesiastical position in which we were reared, or which we have assumed. In our private reading of the Scripture we must beware of using the penknife. Whole books and tracts of truth are practically cut out of the Bible of some earnest Christians. But we can only eliminate these things at our peril. The Bible is like good wheaten bread, which contains all the properties necessary to support life. And we cannot eliminate its starch or sugar, its nitrates or phosphates, without becoming enfeebled and unhealthy. It is a golden rule to read the Bible as a whole.
III. The indestructible word. Jeremiah wrote another roll. And the facts to which Jeremiah bore witness all came to pass. Neither knife nor fire could arrest the inevitable doom of king, city, and people. The drunken captain may cut in pieces the chart that tells of the rocks in the vessels course, and put in irons the sailor who calls his attention to it; but neither will avert the crash that must ensue unless the helm is turned. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
They were obliged by their office as counsellors to the king to acquaint him with what they heard, which might be prejudicial to him and his nation; and indeed this was the very end why God had commanded the enrolling of these prophecies, that both the king, and princes, and people might take notice of them; but they did not carry the book with them, but laid it up in the secretarys chamber.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. chamberThere werechambers in the king’s palace round the court or great hall, as inthe temple (Jer 36:10). Theroll was “laid up” there for safekeeping, with other publicrecords.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they went in to the king into the court,…. The inner court, the king’s court, where he usually resided; though very probably they did not rush in at once; but first sent to know whether the king could be spoke with, or would admit them, they having something to communicate to him; which they might do by the person in waiting, by whom they were introduced:
but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; they did not take it with them, but left it in the secretary’s office; and, no doubt, put it up safe in some chest or scrutoire, as something valuable, and not to be exposed to everyone; or to be thrown about, torn, or trampled on, as a book of no use and value: very probably it was with the consent of Baruch that it was left with them: and this was a point of prudence in them not to take it with them when they went to the king:
and told all the words in the ears of the king; that is, the sum and substance of them; for it cannot be thought they should remember every word in the roll; but the main of it they did, and rehearsed it in a very audible manner.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The reading of the book before the king. – Jer 36:20. The princes betook themselves to the king , into the inner fore-court (leaving the book-roll in the chamber of the secretary of state), and gave him an account of the matter. is the inner court of the palace, in which the royal dwelling-apartments are situated. , to entrust a thing or person to any one (Jer 40:7), hence to deposit, preserve, Isa 10:28.
Jer 36:21-22 Thereupon the king makes Jehudi fetch the book, and causes it to be read before himself and the assembled princes. , to stand over, since the one who is standing before his master, while the latter is sitting, overtops him; cf. Gen 18:8. The king was sitting, as is stated in Jer 36:22 by way of preparation for what follows, in the winter-house, i.e., in that portion of the palace which was erected for a winter residence, in the ninth month, i.e., during the winter, and the pot of coals was burning before him. The rooms of eastern houses have no stoves, but in the middle of the floor there is a depression, in which is placed a sort of basin with burning coals, for the purpose of heating the apartment: cf. Keil’s Bibl. Archol. ii. 95, S. 7. For the expression , “and as for the fire-pot, it was burning before him,” cf. Ewald, 277, d.
Jer 36:23 Now, “when Jehudi had read three or four columns, he the king cut it the book-roll with a pen-knife and threw the pieces into the fire, in the pot of coals, till the whole roll was consumed on the fire in the pot of coals.” , properly “doors,” are not leaves, but divisions of a book. The opinion of Hitzig, that leaves are to be understood, and that the Megillah, therefore, was not a roll, properly speaking, but a book with leaves, cannot be substantiated. In the synagogues, the Jews even at the present day, according to the ancient custom, use real rolls, which are rolled up on a stick. On these the Scripture text is written, though not in lines which occupy the whole breadth of the roll; the whole space is divided into parts. “ Scribebatur,” says Buxtorf in Institutione epistolari Hebr. p. 4, “ volumen lineis, non per longitudinem totius chartae aut pergamenti deductis, sed in plures areas divisis, quomodo sunt latera paginarum in libris complicatis. Istae propterea voce metaphoric vocantur januae valvae, quod figuram januae referent.” The subject of is not Jehudi, as Hitzig thinks, but the king, and the word does not signify “he cut it out,” but “he cut it in pieces” (the suffix refers to ). We are not, with many expositors, to view the conduct of the king in such a way as to think that, whenever Jehudi had read some portions, he cut these off and threw them into the fire, so that the book was, with these interruptions, read through to the end, and at the same time gradually destroyed. Such conduct Graf justly characterizes as trifling and silly, and not in harmony with the anger of a king having a violent disposition. But we cannot see how the imperfect (in Ngelsbach’s opinion) proves that Jehudi read the whole, when the text states that only three or four columns were read. The meaning, peculiar to the imperfect, of the continuation or repetition of an act, is fully made out by supposing that the king cut down the roll bit by bit, and threw the pieces into the fire one after the other. Neither does the expression imply that the whole book was read; for does not denote the completion of the reading, but the completion of the burning: hence the words are to be translated, “till the whole roll had completely got upon the fire,” i.e., was completely burnt; cf. , Gen 47:18. The inf. absol. is a continuation of the finite verb, as frequently occurs, e.g., in Jer 14:5; Jer 32:44.
Jer 36:24-25 In order to characterize the conduct of the king, the writer remarks, “Yet the king and his servants who heard all these words (which Jehudi had read) were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments (in token of deep sorrow); and even when Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah addressed the king, requesting him not to burn the roll, he did not listen to them.” So hardened was the king, that he and his servants neither were terrified by the threatenings of the prophet, nor felt deep sorrow, as Josiah did in a similar case (2Ki 22:11, cf. 1Ki 21:27), nor did they listen to the earnest representations of the princes. are the court-attendants of the king in contrast with the princes, who, according to Jer 36:16, had been alarmed by what they heard read, and wished, by entreaties, to keep the king from the commission of such a wicked act as the destruction of the book. Ewald, on the contrary, has identified with the princes, and thereby marred the whole account, while he reproaches the princes with “acting as the wretched instruments of what they knew to be the sentiments prevailing at court.”
Jer 36:26 Not content with destroying the book, Jehoiakim also wished to get Baruch and Jeremiah out of the way; for he ordered the king’s son Jerahmel and two other men to go for Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; “but the Lord hid them,” i.e., graciously kept them out of the sight of the spies. is not the son of Jehoiakim, – if so, we would find simply ; but a royal prince is meant, cf. Jer 38:6; 1Ki 22:26; 2Ki 11:1-2; Zep 1:8.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Jeremiah’s Roll Consumed. | B. C. 607. |
20 And they went in to 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. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama 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. 22 Now the king sat in the winter house in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. 23 And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, 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. 24 Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. 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. 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. 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, 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. 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? 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. 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. 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 unto them many like words.
We have traced the roll to the people, and to the princes, and here we are to follow it to the king; and we find,
I. That, upon notice given him concerning it, he sent for it, and ordered it to be read to him, Jer 36:20; Jer 36:21. He did not desire that Baruch would come and read it himself, who could read it more intelligently and with more authority and affection than any one else; nor did he order one of his princes to do it (though it would have been no disparagement to the greatest of them), much less would he vouchsafe to read it himself; but Jehudi, one of his pages now in waiting, who was sent to fetch it, is bidden to read it, who perhaps scarcely knew how to make sense of it. But those who thus despise the word of God will soon make it to appear, as this king did, that they hate it too, and have not only low, but ill thoughts of it.
II. That he had not patience to hear it read through as the princes had, but, when he had heard three or four leaves read, in a rage he cut it with his penknife, and threw it piece by piece into the fire, that he might be sure to see it all consumed,Jer 36:22; Jer 36:23. This was a piece of as daring impiety as a man could lightly be guilty of, and a most impudent affront to the God of heaven, whose message this was. 1. Thus he showed his impatience of reproof; being resolved to persist in sin, he would by no means bear to be told of his faults. 2. Thus he showed his indignation at Baruch and Jeremiah; he would have cut them in pieces, and burnt them, if he had had them in his reach, when he was in this passion. 3. Thus he expressed an abstinent resolution never to comply with the designs and intentions of the warnings given him; he will do what he will, whatever God by his prophets says to the contrary. 4. Thus he foolishly hoped to defeat the threatenings denounced against him, as if God knew not how to execute the sentence when the roll was gone in which it was written. 5. Thus he thought he had effectually provided that the things contained in this roll should spread no further, which was the care of the chief priests concerning the gospel, Acts iv. 17. They had told him how this roll had been read to the people and to the princes. “But,” says he, “I will take a course that shall prevent its being read any more.” See what an enmity there is against God in the carnal mind, and wonder at the patience of God, that he bears with such indignities done to him.
III. That neither the king himself nor any of his princes were at all affected with the word: They were not afraid (v. 24), no, not those princes that trembled at the word when they heard it the first time, v. 16. So soon, so easily, do good impressions wear off. They showed some concern till they saw how light the king made of it, and then they shook off all that concern. They rent not their garments, as Josiah, this Jehoiakim’s own father, did when he had the book of the law read to him, though it was not so particular as the contents of this roll were, nor so immediately adapted to the present posture of affairs.
IV. That there were three of the princes who had so much sense and grace left as to interpose for the preventing of the burning of the roll, but in vain, v. 25. If they had from the first shown themselves, as they ought to have done, affected with the word, perhaps they might have brought the king to a better mind and have persuaded him to bear it patiently; but frequently those that will not do the good they should put it out of their own power to do the good they would.
V. That Jehoiakim, when he had thus in effect burnt God’s warrant by which he was arrested, as it were in a way of revenge, now that he thought he had got the better, signed a warrant for the apprehending of Jeremiah and Baruch, God’s ministers (v. 26): But the Lord hid them. The princes bade them abscond (v. 19), but it was neither the princes’ care for them nor theirs for themselves that secured them; it was under the divine protection that they were safe. Note, God will find out a shelter for his people, though their persecutors be ever so industrious to get them into their power, till their hour be come; nay, and then he will himself be their hiding place.
VI. That Jeremiah had orders and instructions to write in another roll the same words that were written in the roll which Jehoiakim had burnt, Jer 36:27; Jer 36:28. Note, Though the attempts of hell against the word of God are very daring, yet not one iota or tittle of it shall fall to the ground, nor shall the unbelief of man make the word of God of no effect. Enemies may prevail to burn many a Bible, but they cannot abolish the word of God, can neither extirpate it nor defeat the accomplishment of it. Though the tables of the law were broken, they were renewed again; and so out of the ashes of the roll that was burnt arose another Phoenix. The word of the Lord endures for ever.
VII. That the king of Judah, though a king, was severely reckoned with by the King of kings for this indignity done to the written word. God noticed what it was in the roll that Jehoiakim took so much offense at. Jehoiakim was angry because it was written therein, saying, Surely the king of Babylon shall come and destroy this land, v. 29. And did not the king of Babylon come two years before this, and go far towards the destroying of this land? He did so (2Ch 36:6; 2Ch 36:7) in his third year, Dan. i. 1. So that God and his prophets had therefore become his enemies because they told him the truth, told him of the desolation that was coming, but at the same time putting him into a fair way to prevent it. But, if this be the thing he takes so much amiss, let him know, 1. That the wrath of God shall come upon him and his family, in the first place, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. He shall be cut off, and in a few weeks his son shall be dethroned, and exchange his royal robes for prison-garments, so that he shall have none to sit upon the throne of David; the glory of that illustrious house shall be eclipsed, and die in him; his dead body shall lie unburied, or, which comes all to one, he shall be buried with the burial of an ass, that is, thrown into the next ditch; it shall lie exposed to all weathers, heat and frost, which will occasion its putrefying and becoming loathsome the sooner. “Not that his body” (says Mr. Gataker) “could be sensible of such usage, or himself, being deceased, of aught that should befal his body; but that the king’s body in such a condition should be a hideous spectacle, and a horrid monument of God’s heavy wrath and indignation against him, unto all that should behold it.” Even his seed and his servants shall fare the worse for their relation to him (v. 31), for they shall be punished, not for his iniquity, but so much the sooner for their own. 2. That all the evil pronounced against Judah and Jerusalem in that roll shall be brought upon them. Though the copy be burnt, the original remains in the divine counsel, which shall again be copied out after another manner in bloody characters. Note, There is no escaping God’s judgments by struggling with them. Who ever hardened his heart against God, and prospered?
VIII. That, when the roll was written anew, there were added to the former many like words (v. 32), many more threatenings of wrath and vengeance; for, since they will yet walk contrary to God, he will heat the furnace seven times hotter. Note, As God is in one mind, and none can turn him, so he has still more arrows in his quiver; and those who contend with God’s woes do but prepare for themselves heavier of the same kind.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 20-26: THE SCROLL READ BEFORE KING JEHOIAKIM
1. Having deposited the scroll (for safe keeping) with Elishama, the Secretary, the princes went to report what they had heard to Jehoiakim the king, (vs. 20).
2. Sending Jehudi to bring the scroll, Jehoiakim then had him to read it as all the princes stood round about him, (vs. 21).
3. It is noted that this transpired in the “winter quarters” of the king -where there was a fire on the hearth, (vs. 22).
4. Showing his contempt for the word of the Lord, Jehoiakirn would, as soon as three or four columns were read, cut off that part of the scroll and cast it into the fire! (vs. 23-24).
a. This procedure was followed until the entire scroll was consumed by the fire, (comp. 1Ki 22:8; 1Ki 22:27; Isa 28:14; Isa 28:22).
b. The king was not afraid; nor did he, or any of his princes, manifest the slightest degree of repentance! (vs. 24; contrast vs. 16; comp. Psa 36:1; Psa 64:2-5; Isa 26:11).
c. His attitude was quite different from that of his father, Josiah, (2Ki 22:11-13; 2Ch 34:18).
5. When they saw his intention to destroy the scroll, Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded against the rashness of the king; but he refused to listen, (vs. 25; comp. Gen 37:22; Act 5:34-39).
6. Jehoiakirn then commanded three of his men to arrest both Baruch and Jeremiah (comp. 1Ki 19:1-3; 1Ki 19:10; 1Ki 19:14), but the Lord hid them until the king’s wrath had subsided, (vs. 26; comp. Jer 1:19; Jer 11:19; Jer 15:20-21).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The Prophet now relates that the princes went to the king, after having first deposited the roll with Elishama the scribe; for as the king’s ears were tender, they were unwilling to perform at once so odious an office. And thus they who are with kings, and engage their attention, fascinate them with their flatteries; for there is in courts no independence, for the greatest flatterer is the highest in favor. As, then, all courtiers seek eagerly to find out how they may please kings, so they carefully beware lest they should offend them. This was the reason why the princes deposited the roll with Elishama. We hence learn that their regard for God was small and frigid; for if they believed that Jeremiah had dictated to his scribe what he had received from the Spirit of God, the offending of the king ought not certainly to have been deemed by them of so much moment. Why, then, did they not venture immediately to bring forward the roll, and to exhort the king to hear, except that adulation, as I have said, is always timid. Hence then it was that they ventured not to shew the roll to the king, but only told him that they had read some dreadful things, so that the king did not find fault with them, as they had not too boldly brought before him what he was unwilling to hear. This, then, is one thing.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
C. The Word Attacked Jer. 36:20-26
TRANSLATION
(20) Then they went unto the king in the court, having deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elisham a the scribe, and they report all the words to the king. (21) And the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he brought it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the presence of the king and all the princes who were standing alongside the king. (22) Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and a brazier was burning before him. (23) And it came to pass, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, he ripped it with a scribes knife and cast it into the fire which was upon the brazier, until the whole scroll was consumed by the brazier fire. (24) And they did not tremble nor rend their clothes, neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. (25) Though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah had entreated the king not to burn the scroll, he did not listen to them. (26) And the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of the king, 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.
COMMENTS
After depositing the scroll in the office of Elishama the scribe for safekeeping, the princes hastened immediately to royal court to report the matter to king Jehoiakim (Jer. 36:20). Why did not the princes take the scroll with them into the presence of the king? Perhaps they feared what the king might do to the scroll and wished to delay as long as possible that violent reaction. Perhaps they reasoned that if the king himself ordered the scroll brought into his presence that they would no longer be responsible for what he did with it. It may be too that they hoped the king would not wish to be bothered by the scroll and would not wish to waste his time having it brought to him and read. The king however was very interested and dispatched Jehudi, who is not further identified, to get the scroll. Then Jehudi is ordered to read the scroll in the presence of the king, the princes mentioned in Jer. 36:12, and other princes of the realm (Jer. 36:21). Since the temperature was chilly, the king was holding court that day in the winter house, the inner portion of the palace which was shielded from the winter winds. In order to keep warm the king was sitting beside a brazier filled with live coals. Jehudi began to read the scroll. But before he could read three or four columns (not leaves as in KJV)[315] Jehoiakim jumped from his throne, tore the book from the hand of the reader, slashed it to pieces with his penknife, and threw the fragments into the fire[316] (Jer. 36:23). The king and his ministers[317] were so calloused that they manifested neither sorrow nor fear that the word of God was being destroyed before their very eyes (Jer. 36:24). In spite of the pleas of Elnathan,[318] Delaiah and Gemariah the king persisted in burning the scroll until not a shred remained (Jer. 36:25). Having destroyed the written word Jehoiakim gave orders that Baruch and Jeremiah be arrested.[319] The king planned to silence Jeremiah as he earlier had silenced Uriah the prophet (Jer. 26:20-24). But the Lord hid His faithful servants and thus frustrated the plans of Jehoiakim (Jer. 36:26).
[315] The Hebrew literally says three or four doors. The writing on ancient scrolls was done in the form of columns of prescribed width and height called doors because of their resemblance to small doors.
[316] That it was Jehoiakim who actually burned the scroll and not Jehudi is made clear by Jer. 36:25; Jer. 36:27-28; Jer. 36:32.
[317] This probably does not include the princes who had earlier listened so attentively to the reading of the scroll. They were not of the same mind as the king.
[318] If this is the same Elnathan as is mentioned in Jer. 26:22 he certainly seems to have had a change of heart regarding the prophet of God.
[319] Jehameel the son of Hammelech is thought by some to be the son of Jehoiakim since the word Hammelech might be translated the son of the king. However it is best to regard it as a proper name as in the KJV.
The document which Jehoiakim destroyed would not have been very long since it was read three times in one day. No doubt the scroll was made of papyrus (paper) since a document of animal skins would have been very difficult to cut with a knife and burn on a small brazier. A number of passages in the present Book of Jeremiah come from before the time when the scroll was written.[320] Not all of these passages however were part of that first edition of Jeremiah (see Jer. 36:32). Certainly chapters 3031 were not in it for they form a sepher (book) in themselves. It seems likely that this scroll consisted only of minatory prophecies. It did contain prophecies concerning foreign nations (Jer. 36:2), but probably not the lengthy oracles which appear toward the end of the present Book of Jeremiah. The scroll doubtlessly included chapter 25 which contains threats against numerous neighboring nations. As for the oracles concerning Israel and Judah it is impossible to identify specifically which chapters were part of that early book.
[320] Chapters 218; Jer. 21:11-14; Jer. 22:1-23; Jeremiah 23; Jeremiah 25; 26:3031; Jer. 46:1-12; probably most of Jer. 47:1 to Jer. 49:33.
This is the first recorded effort to systematically destroy the word of God. Jehoiakim was the first of a long line of emperors and kings who thought that they would banish the word of God from their realm. Jehoiakim has rightly been called the first Higher Critic of the Bible. He did not like what he heard in the word and therefore he sought to destroy it. An ever increasing number of scholars within theological circles today have dedicated themselves to undermining the confidence of the people of God in their Scriptures. With the penknife of rationalism they have cut out from the Scriptures those passages which describe the mighty acts of God in human history. Without one shred of manuscript evidenceone shed of objective proofthey will label one passage as unauthentic and another as uninspired. They do so without fear in spite of the repeated warnings concerning those who would add to or take away from the word of God.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(20) They laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama . . .The step was a material one, from the official standpoint. If either the prophet or the disciple were to be prosecuted for what had been spoken, it was important that the corpus delicti should itself be ready for reference, whether on behalf of the accusers or accused. The precaution taken by the princes of lodging it with Elishama, as the scribe or keeper of the archives, indicates an apprehension that the king, in his passionate waywardness, might act as he actually did. They accordingly content themselves with reporting from memory the substance of what they had heard.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
The Scroll Is Brought To The King And Is Read Before Him And On Hearing Each Section He Cuts It Up With A Knife And Burns It After Which He Calls For The Arrest Of Jeremiah And Baruch Who Are, However, In Hiding And Cannot Be Found ( Jer 36:20-25 ).
When the king learned about the scroll he commanded that it be brought to him, and called on Jehudi to read it out before him and his courtiers, many of whom had little sympathy with Jeremiah for on the whole they made no protest when Jehoiakim burned the scroll. And while the reading was in process, every time Jehudi had read four columns Jehoiakim cut them off and burned them. His intention may well have been in order to nullify the prophecy. He then called for the arrest of Jeremiah and Baruch, but they could not be found because ‘YHWH hid them’.
Jer 36:20
‘And they went in to the king into the court, but they had laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they told all the words in the ears of the king.’
Having safely deposited the scroll in the room of Elishama the Scribe, a room which would contain many official documents, they went before the king and informed him about the scroll and what it contained.
Jer 36:21
‘So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who stood beside the king.’
The king was impressed enough to send Jehudi for the scroll, and called on him to read it out before himself and the courtiers, which, of course, he did. Again we are not told how much he read of it.
Jer 36:22
Now the king was sitting in the winter-accommodation (house) in the ninth month, and there was a brazier burning before him.’
An explanation is then given of how he had a fire available. It was because he was sitting in his winter accommodation where there was a brazier (a vessel containing burning charcoal, or a hearth containing the same) alight in the room in which there would be a charcoal fire which was there in order to provide warmth (compare Joh 18:18). Whilst the climate was mild, it was cool in contrast to the hot summers (and there was, of course, no glass in the windows).
Jer 36:23
‘And it came about, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves (or ‘columns’, literally ‘doors’), that he (the king?) cut it with the penknife, and threw it into the fire which was in the brazier, until all the roll was consumed in the fire which was in the brazier.’
This can be taken in one of two ways.
1. It may indicate that the whole scroll was burned once Jehudi had read three or four columns, with that being enough to antagonise Jehoiakim who would know what was coming.
2. It may indicate that he read the whole scroll with a portion of it being destroyed piece by piece as it was read.
The former would indicate acting in a fit of rage, the latter, which may be suggested by the ‘until’, would indicate a slow and calculated insult to Jeremiah, and of course to YHWH.
The scroll may well, when opened, have revealed three or four columns which the reader could read before twisting the rollers to reveal the next three or four columns. This might serve to explain why the king acted after every three or four columns. The word for columns is literally ‘doors’ indicating its oblong nature. And, if this is how we read it, then after the reading of the columns the king (or Jehudi at his command) cut the columns off from the scroll with a ‘pen-knife’ (a sharp instrument normally used for sharpening or splitting the stylus or reed used in writing) and threw them into the charcoal fire where they were burned up. And this continued until the whole scroll had been consumed by the fire.
The aim would be to nullify the prophecy in the same way as Hananiah had broken the symbolic yoke around Jeremiah’s shoulders. But it was not to be nullified so easily. On the other hand, to have left it in written form would have seemed to the king and his courtiers, and to all who heard of it, to be an acceptance of the prophecy. It would also have meant that others could have read it and been influenced by it. Thus the king acted in order to rid himself of the hated Jeremiah’s influence.
Jer 36:24
‘And they were not afraid, nor tore their robes, neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words.’
Meanwhile neither the king nor the courtiers reacted in their hearts to the prophecy. They neither ‘feared’ (unlike those who had been gathered in the scribes’ room who had more confidence in Jeremiah) nor indicated a reaction by tearing their clothes. In other words they did not respond to the prophecy, but mainly (at least outwardly) treated it with contempt, many partly, no doubt, being influenced by the king’s presence.
Jer 36:25
‘Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll, but he would not hear them.’
There were, however, three present, who had also been present in the scribes’ room, who pleaded with the king not to destroy the scroll. These were Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah. It was a brave act, and indicated their high standing in that they dared to do it, but the king refused to listen to their pleadings.
Jer 36:26
‘And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but YHWH hid them.’
Then the king sent three of his trusted servants to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah. Arresting important people may well have been one of their duties. ‘The king’s son’ would probably not have literally been the king’s son for Jehoiakim was about twenty nine and any son would therefore have been fairly young, (although in those days it is always possible that such a young person acted). It may rather indicate a member of the royal house, a relative of the king. A slab of clay bearing the name ‘Jerahmeel son of the king’, who was presumably the same man, has in fact been excavated. Shelamiah’s son later called for the arrest of Jeremiah under Zedekiah (Jer 38:1-6).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 36:20 And they went in to 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.
Ver. 20. And they went in to the king. ] God by his providence so disposed it, that both king and princes, whether they would or not, should hear their doom; and as for some of the princes, they seem to have some good affections wrought in them, but too weak to work unto true “repentance to salvation.”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 36:20-26
20So they went to the king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they reported all the words to the king. 21Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king. 22Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. 23When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. 24Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments. 25Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them.
Jer 36:22 winter house This was not a separate structure but a two story dwelling. In the summer the ancients lived on the second story which had many open windows, and in the winter on the first floor which had few windows.
Jer 36:23 read three or four columns Remember this was a scroll written in columns on rolled material. As the scroll was unrolled several columns would appear. The king would cut off the columns that had just been read and burn them. Thus, bit by bit the whole scroll was destroyed!
The word translated columns is literally doors (BDB 195). It is used in this sense only here. The columns of the scroll would be the same dimensions (i.e., rectangular) as a door.
a scribe’s knife This was a small penknife used to sharpen quills for writing. This word is found only here (BDB 789 CONSTRUCT 707).
Jer 36:24 What a contrast between the leaders’ hearing of the prophecy (cf. Jer 36:16) and the king’s (cf. Psa 36:1).
For the phrase rend their garments see Special Topic: Grieving Rites .
Jer 36:26 the king’s son This was probably not a true son of the king but a title for a member of the royal family or even possibly an official at court (cf. Jer 38:6; 1Ki 22:26; 2Ch 28:7).
but the LORD hid them This is similar to YHWH’s protection of Elijah from King Ahab in 1Ki 17:3-7. As Hebrews 11 shows, some prophets are killed and some are spared! Either way, YHWH is in control. Circumstances do not affect the love and presence of YHWH.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Jer 36:20-26
Jer 36:20-26
THE READING OF THE BOOK BEFORE THE KING
And they went in to the king into the court; but they had laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king. So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll; and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes that stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter-house in the ninth month: and [there was a fire in] the brazier burning before him. And it came to pass, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, that [the king] cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. And they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll; but he would not hear them. And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Jehovah hid them.
Three or four leaves…
(Jer 36:23). The roll of the book did not have leaves, so what is meant is that after reading three or four prophecies, the king refused to hear any more.
The king cut it with the penknife…
(Jer 36:23). According to Keil, the tenses used here indicate that the king repeatedly cut the book, casting it into the fire until all of it was burned.
As a number of commentators have pointed out, hardly any explanation is needed for this whole chapter.
The Word Attacked Jer 36:20-26
After depositing the scroll in the office of Elishama the scribe for safekeeping, the princes hastened immediately to royal court to report the matter to king Jehoiakim (Jer 36:20). Why did not the princes take the scroll with them into the presence of the king? Perhaps they feared what the king might do to the scroll and wished to delay as long as possible that violent reaction. Perhaps they reasoned that if the king himself ordered the scroll brought into his presence that they would no longer be responsible for what he did with it. It may be too that they hoped the king would not wish to be bothered by the scroll and would not wish to waste his time having it brought to him and read. The king however was very interested and dispatched Jehudi, who is not further identified, to get the scroll. Then Jehudi is ordered to read the scroll in the presence of the king, the princes mentioned in Jer 36:12, and other princes of the realm (Jer 36:21). Since the temperature was chilly, the king was holding court that day in the winter house, the inner portion of the palace which was shielded from the winter winds. In order to keep warm the king was sitting beside a brazier filled with live coals. Jehudi began to read the scroll. But before he could read three or four columns (not leaves as in KJV). The Hebrew literally says three or four doors. The writing on ancient scrolls was done in the form of columns of prescribed width and height called doors because of their resemblance to small doors. Jehoiakim jumped from his throne, tore the book from the hand of the reader, slashed it to pieces with his penknife, and threw the fragments into the fire (Jer 36:23). That it was Jehoiakim who actually burned the scroll and not Jehudi is made clear by Jer 36:25; Jer 36:27-28; Jer 36:32. The king and his ministers were so calloused that they manifested neither sorrow nor fear that the word of God was being destroyed before their very eyes (Jer 36:24). This probably does not include the princes who had earlier listened so attentively to the reading of the scroll. They were not of the same mind as the king. In spite of the pleas of Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah the king persisted in burning the scroll until not a shred remained (Jer 36:25). If this is the same Elnathan as is mentioned in Jer 26:22 he certainly seems to have had a change of heart regarding the prophet of God. Having destroyed the written word Jehoiakim gave orders that Baruch and Jeremiah be arrested. Jehameel the son of Hammelech is thought by some to be the son of Jehoiakim since the word Hammelech might be translated the son of the king. However it is best to regard it as a proper name as in the KJV. The king planned to silence Jeremiah as he earlier had silenced Uriah the prophet (Jer 26:20-24). But the Lord hid His faithful servants and thus frustrated the plans of Jehoiakim (Jer 36:26).
The document which Jehoiakim destroyed would not have been very long since it was read three times in one day. No doubt the scroll was made of papyrus (paper) since a document of animal skins would have been very difficult to cut with a knife and burn on a small brazier. A number of passages in the present Book of Jeremiah come from before the time when the scroll was written. See Chapters 2-18; Jer 21:11-14; Jer 22:1-23; Jeremiah 23; Jeremiah 25; Jeremiah 26; Jer 46:1-12; probably most of Jer 47:1 to Jer 49:33. Not all of these passages however were part of that first edition of Jeremiah (see Jer 36:32). Certainly chapters 30-31 were not in it for they form a sepher (book) in themselves. It seems likely that this scroll consisted only of minatory prophecies. It did contain prophecies concerning foreign nations (Jer 36:2), but probably not the lengthy oracles which appear toward the end of the present Book of Jeremiah. The scroll doubtlessly included chapter 25 which contains threats against numerous neighboring nations. As for the oracles concerning Israel and Judah it is impossible to identify specifically which chapters were part of that early book.
This is the first recorded effort to systematically destroy the word of God. Jehoiakim was the first of a long line of emperors and kings who thought that they would banish the word of God from their realm. Jehoiakim has rightly been called the first Higher Critic of the Bible. He did not like what he heard in the word and therefore he sought to destroy it. An ever increasing number of scholars within theological circles today have dedicated themselves to undermining the confidence of the people of God in their Scriptures. With the penknife of rationalism they have cut out from the Scriptures those passages which describe the mighty acts of God in human history. Without one shred of manuscript evidence-one shed of objective proof-they will label one passage as unauthentic and another as uninspired. They do so without fear in spite of the repeated warnings concerning those who would add to or take away from the word of God.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Jer 36:12, Jer 36:21
Reciprocal: 2Ki 9:37 – the carcase 2Ch 34:16 – Shaphan 2Ch 34:18 – And Shaphan read Ezr 6:1 – rolls Jer 41:1 – Elishama Zec 5:1 – roll
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 36:20. Jehudi and the princes laid the roll aside in a safe place, but they went to the king and related the circumstances to him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 36:20. And they went in to the king into the court They were before, it is said, Jer 36:12, in the kings house, that is, in the exterior precincts of the palace, where were apartments and offices fitted up for the principal officers of state, and for the attendants of the court. But, from what is here said, there was an interior body of building for the kings personal residence, ranged, as is the fashion of the great houses of the East at this day, round an open court, or quadrangle, and containing apartments separately appropriated for summer and winter use. Blaney. But they laid up the roll, &c. They were obliged by their office, as counsellors to the king, to acquaint him with what they heard, which might be prejudicial to him and his nation; and indeed this was the very end for which God commanded the enrolling of these prophecies, that both the king and his counsellors, together with all the people, might take notice of them; but they did not carry the book with them, but laid it up in the secretarys chamber.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The officials first deposited Jeremiah’s scroll in the room where they were, for safe keeping, and then went and told Jehoiakim what the scroll contained.