CHAPTER 36

(607 B.C.)

JEREMIAHS WORD FROM GOD OF JUDGMENTS WRITTEN DOWN BY BARUCH

¹And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this Word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying (The fourth year of Jehoiakim, takes us back to about 18 years before the destruction of Jerusalem),

²Take you a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke unto you, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. (This refers to the Prophecies of some 23 years. It actually formed the part of our Bible that we know as the Book of Jeremiah, at least up to this point, with the balance added as time went by.)

³It may be that the House of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. (It may be, does not imply a lack of knowledge on Gods part, for He is Omniscient, meaning all-knowing. It does imply that God, in His Love to sinners, warns them beforehand of their danger, even though He knows they will not repent.)

⁴Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the Words of the LORD, which He had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book. (Baruch was Jeremiahs faithful attendant [32:12]. Josephus, the Jewish historian, said that he was of high rank in the government of Judah. Baruch served as a Scribe for Jeremiah.)

THE BOOK OF JUDGMENTS READ TO JUDAH

⁵And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the House of the LORD (some have claimed that the words, I am shut up, referred to him being in prison, as described in 33:1; however, that imprisonment was under Zedekiah, which would have been some years later. So, if this meant that he actually was now in prison, the incident was not recorded):

⁶Therefore go you, and read in the roll, which you have written from my mouth, the Words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORDs House upon the fasting day: and also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities. (One of Gods objects in writing the Bible is that it should be read to the people and by the people, and that the moral effect of reading it should be amendment of life, and consequently an escape from the Wrath to come.)

⁷It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people. (This Verse is very similar to Verse 3 in that the Holy Spirit through the Prophet earnestly solicits the Repentance of Judah and Jerusalem, but to no avail!)

⁸And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the Prophet commanded him, reading in the Book the Words of the LORD in the LORDs House. (Baruch was faithful in doing that which was commanded of the Lord, in reading the Words of the LORD in the LORDs House. It was demanded that the people hear, even though they did not receive it favorably.)

⁹And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem. (The Lord had repeatedly demanded Repentance, and the people responded with a fast. However, it was a mere religious ordinance; it was not accompanied by Repentance and, therefore, it was of no consequence to God and did not turn away the Anger of God.)

¹⁰Then read Baruch in the Book the words of Jeremiah in the House of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the Scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORDs House, in the ears of all the people. (Some think that Gemariah was a friend to Jeremiah and allowed Baruch to read the words of Jeremiah at the entry of the new gate of the LORDs House, in the ears of all the people.)

EFFECT ON MICHAIAH AND THE PRINCES

¹¹When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the Book all the Words of the LORD,

¹²Then he went down into the kings house, into the Scribes chamber: and, lo, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the Scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. (All these individuals listed in this Scripture are called princes; they were, no doubt, a part of the ruling aristocracy of Judah and Jerusalem.)

¹³Then Michaiah declared unto them all the Words that he had heard, when Baruch read the Book in the ears of the people. (Michaiah was the son of Gemariah. The Book referred to was that which we now know as the Book of Jeremiah, at least almost the first half.)

¹⁴Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in your hand the Roll wherein you have read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the Roll in his hand, and came unto them. (This refers to the Prophecies ultimately being read to the king of Judah.)

¹⁵And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears. (That which the princes were hearing could save their souls, their lives, their city, and their country, but most of them would little heed its words.)

¹⁶Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the Words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these Words. (They were afraid both one and other, means rather they turned shudderingly one to another.)

¹⁷And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How did you write all these Words at his mouth? (Tell us now, implies their natural curiosity as to how these Prophecies came, and how Baruch had them all in one large Scroll.)

¹⁸Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these Words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the Book. (This implies that Jeremiah read them, no doubt, from existing parchments, with Baruch writing them down with ink in the Book, actually on one long Scroll.)

¹⁹Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide you, you and Jeremiah; and let no man know where you be. (The Prophecies were so startling, pronouncing the doom of both Judah and Jerusalem if they did not repent, that these princes felt that, upon hearing such pronouncements, some might try to do the Prophet and his Scribe bodily harm.)

JEHOIAKIM BURNS THE SCROLL

²⁰And 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. (The princes did not, at least not at the first, take the Scroll with them when they went into the presence of the king, but rather left it in a safe place. They then told all the Words in the ears of the king, which he met with sarcasm.)

²¹So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the Roll: and he took it out of Elishama the Scribes chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes who stood beside the king. (Now the Prophecies will be read to the king by an individual named Jehudi.)

²²Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. (This was December. Jerusalem, being nearly a half mile above sea level, can get quite cool in the winter months.)

²³And 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. (The entirety of the scenario implies that as the Scroll was read by Jehudi, certain parts would infuriate the king, who, therefore, out of contempt, commanded that it be cut and thrown into the fire. How many presently, in one way or the other, are doing the same thing with the Word of God? They ignore what they dont like.)

²⁴Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these Words. (These individuals showed no fear of God, only contempt. There was no evidence of Repentance, only rebellion!)

²⁵Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the Roll: but he would not hear them. (Regrettably, the greater majority of the human family falls into the same category; they will not hear!)

²⁶But 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. (The LORD hid them, is interesting indeed! Jeremiah and Baruch had already been told by the three in Verse 25 and by others to hide themselves and let no man know where you be. No doubt, these individuals had the Mind of the Lord when this was done.)

THE BOOK REWRITTEN; JUDGMENTS ADDED; JEHOIAKIM SENTENCED

²⁷Then 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 (even after the Holy Spirit had been insulted and degraded, still, He would make another attempt to reach this wicked king),

²⁸Take you again another roll, and write in it all the former Words that were in the first Roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. (The Holy Spirit denotes the seriousness of the kings act by saying, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.)

²⁹And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus says the LORD; You have burned this roll, saying, Why have you written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? (The king is to be made to know that the very reason for the coming destruction is the rebellion and wickedness registered by Jehoiakim. His was a representative rebellion of all the people!)

³⁰Therefore thus says 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. (Jehoiakim was only 36 years old when he died on December 6th, 598 B.C. It seems that his death occurred on the way to captivity [II Chron. 36:6], apparently at the instigation of Nebuchadnezzar, who, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, had his body thrown outside the city wall, as prophesied by Jeremiah [22:18]. Evidently, he was not buried, but allowed to be prey for beasts and vultures.

Such is the ultimate end of Christ-rejecters, and they have no one but themselves to blame!)

³¹And 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. (All the evil that I have pronounced against them came to pass exactly as the Lord said it would. Few were spared, because few repented!)

³²Then 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. (Whether Jehoiakim was given the pronouncement of this second Scroll is not known! Nevertheless, his sinful actions did not stop the Word of God, because another roll was written containing all that had been, and more was added. As stated, this was the very Book in your Bible called the Book of Jeremiah.)