A.Those who embrace evil and wickedness would be pleased to eliminate the word of God from the world.
1.The word of God provokes the wicked in one way or another.Some are provoked to the repentance that leads them to life, but others are provoked to anger that leads them to further wickedness.
2.Many times, those who are provoked to anger seek to eliminate God’s word by one means or another (persecution of the messengers, oppressive laws against God’s word, etc.).
B.One such man who attempted to destroy God’s word was Jehoiakim, king of Judah.
1.Jehoiakim was one of the last kings of Judah before Judah was carried away into Babylonian captivity.He did evil in the sight of the Lord (2Ki. 23:37; 2Chron. 36:5).
2.Before, during, and after Jehoiakim’s reign, Jeremiah prophesied in a final attempt from God to prevent Judah’s sad fate.Jehoiakim sealed Judah’s destiny by rejecting the words of Jeremiah.
C.Presently, let us consider the story of Jehoiakim and the prophecy of Jeremiah as recorded in Jeremiah chapter 36.
II.JEHOIAKIM AND THE SCROLL
A.The purpose of God’s message through Jeremiah was mercy (Jer. 36:1-7).
1.In the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign, God called upon Jeremiah to write his entire prophecy upon a scroll, and so Jeremiah dictated the message to Baruch the scribe.
2.Notice God’s stated purpose in verse 3: “Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
3.When Jeremiah commanded Baruch to go and read the scroll to the people, he said, “Perhaps their supplication will come before the LORD, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people” (v. 7).
B.Consider the responses of the people and the officials of Jehoiakim to the word of God (Jer. 36:8-19).
1.Approximately one year after Baruch had begun reading the scroll in the Lord’s house (compare v. 1 to v. 9), the people in Jerusalem proclaimed a fast presumably in response to the scroll (vv. 8-9).
2.When the king’s officials heard the words of the scroll, they were afraid (vv. 10-19).
a.When the report of Jeremiah’s scroll reached the officials, they summoned Baruch to read it to them.When they heard the words, “they turned in fear on to another and said to Baruch, ‘We will surely report all these words to the king’” (v. 16).
b.The Scripture does not say at this point whether they feared the message, the king’s reaction to the message, or both. They certainly anticipated the king’s wrath, for they commanded Baruch to go and hide with Jeremiah.
C.When Jehoiakim heard the word of God, he destroyed the scroll and sought to destroy the men who were responsible for it (Jer. 36:21-26).
1.The king’s officials reported the words of the scroll to Jehoiakim, but he demanded to hear it for himself.The scroll, which had been kept by the king’s officials, was then read to the king and the officials by a man named Jehudi (v. 21).
2.After a brief hearing of God’s word, Jehoiakim destroyed the scroll (vv. 22-25).
a.Very little had been read when the king cut the scroll with a scribe’s knife.Certainly, the message angered the king (consider Jer. 22:13-23).
b.Because it was winter time (the ninth month of the year – same as our December), the king sat before a fire.He took the pieces of the scroll and threw them into the fire despite the pleading of certain officials.
c.The words of the scroll did not cause the king to fear at all.Notice verse 24: “Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments.”
3.After destroying the scroll, Jehoiakim called for the arrest of Jeremiah and Baruch (v. 26).
a.Presumably, the king desired to have them killed for their part in the scroll.
b.However, God hid them from the king’s men, protecting them from the king’s intentions.
D.Although Jehoiakim destroyed the scroll, he was unable to overcome the word of God (Jer. 36:27-32).
1.God commanded Jeremiah to recreate the scroll, but He added several messages that were specifically for Jehoiakim because of his rejection of the first scroll (vv. 27-32).
a.Jehoiakim was told that his lineage was cut off from the throne.
b.He was also told that his “dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.”
c.Finally, he was told that every calamity that God had declared would be brought upon him, Jerusalem, and Judah.
d.Therefore, Jeremiah once again dictated to Baruch, and he wrote another scroll (v. 32).
2.Just as God foretold, great calamities came upon Jehoiakim and Judah.
a.Notice 2Kings 24:2 – “The LORD sent against (Jehoiakim) bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken through His servants the prophets.”Compare to Jeremiah 6.
b.As for Jehoiakim himself, 2Chronicles 36:6 says that Nebuchadnezzar “bound him with bronze chains to take him to Babylon.”
III.APPLICATIONS
A.God’s word will not be destroyed.
1.Even if every Bible on earth was destroyed, the word of God would still endure.
a.Even though Jehoiakim destroyed the scroll, he could not destroy the truth it contained.
b.Some people have cut out portions of their Bibles because they will not accept the message.However, removing the pages does not change God’s truth.
2.Consider Isaiah 40:6-8 – “A voice says, ‘Call out.’Then he answered, ‘What shall I call out?’All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass.The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”
B.Nations and rulers may deny God and His word, but God’s truth is ultimately irresistible.
1.Notice Jeremiah 5:20-31.
a.The entire nation of Judah was condemned for their “stubborn and rebellious heart” (v. 23).They were called a “foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not; who have ears, but hear not” (v. 21).
b.Judah refused to fear God, but instead they embraced wickedness and oppression.
c.For this, God said, “Shall I not punish these people...On a nation such as this, shall I not avenge Myself?” (v. 29).
d.The rulers of Judah acted wickedly, and the people loved to have it so (vv. 30-31).
2.Judah is an example to all nations that God will do what He says.
a.God has said, “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11).
b.A nation can ignore, oppress, and counteract God’s word, but no nation can resist Him.To Him, “the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales” (Isa. 40:15).
c.If God did not spare Jehoiakim and Judah for their disregard of His will, then He will not spare any other nation for the same offense.
C.The purpose of God’s message to man has always been mercy.
1.God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1Tim. 2:4).He is “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2Pet. 3:9).His word serves to fulfill His merciful desire toward us.
2.The preaching of Christ’s gospel is not intended to anger, embarrass, or condemn anybody.It is intended to provoke fear, repentance, obedience, and salvation through faith in Christ.
3.Rather than recoiling at the rebukes of God, every individual and nation should embrace the message and thank God for His kindness, forbearance, and patience that leads to repentance (Rom. 2:4-10).
