JEREMIAH 36:19-31
MEMORY VERSE: JEREMIAH 36:2
A man received notices that he owed taxes on his property. Each time he received a notice, he disposed of it. But this didn’t change the fact that he owed the city taxes. In the days of Jeremiah, the king of Judah didn’t like the message that came from God’s prophet. So he tried to dispose of it. But God’s Word could not be destroyed, and the truth it declared could not be avoided. Everything on the earth will wither and pass away at some point. But God’s Word will endure forever.
(In PSG, p. 91)
In the fifth year of Judah’s evil King Jehoiakim, the Lord instructed Jeremiah to record his prophetic words from the previous twenty years (36:1-3). Jeremiah faithfully dictated the words to Baruch, his scribe, who later shared the words with all those who came to the temple (36:4-10).
An official named Micaiah heard the Lord’s words and shared what he had heard with other leaders (36:11-13). Baruch then read the scroll Jeremiah had dictated to these officials. After hearing what God had said through the prophet, the men determined that King Jehoiakim also needed to hear these messages (36:14-18).
Jehoiakim showed contempt for Jeremiah’s message (36:19-26). He burned the scroll piece-by-piece and ordered his officials to arrest Jeremiah and Baruch. The two went into hiding, where God protected them. Later, He instructed Jeremiah to re-dictate the words. He also assured His prophet that Jehoiakim, Jerusalem, and Judah would face judgment (36:27-32).
King Zedekiah, Judah’s last king (597–586 BC), asked Jeremiah to pray for Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege, but Jeremiah told him that Jerusalem would fall (37:1-10). Meanwhile, as Jeremiah went to survey the property he had purchased from his relative (32:6-12), he was thrown in prison on a charge of deserting to the Babylonians (37:11-16). After some time, Zedekiah summoned him and again asked for his help (37:17-21). Jeremiah again assured the king that disaster lay ahead, but Zedekiah refused to heed the warning.
Jeremiah’s proclamation of Jerusalem’s fall led to his imprisonment in a cistern after officials determined that he was weakening the soldiers’ morale (38:1-6). Zedekiah eventually rescued Jeremiah from the cistern, but he confined him to the guard’s courtyard (38:7-13).
Zedekiah spoke with Jeremiah one last time before Jerusalem’s fall (38:14-26). Jeremiah explained that if Zedekiah surrendered, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon would spare the king and the city, but Zedekiah gave in to fear. The prophet remained under house arrest until the day Jerusalem fell (38:27-28).
King Nebuchadnezzar’s army laid siege to Jerusalem and captured it (39:3). The Babylonians also captured Zedekiah and those who had tried to escape with him (39:4-5). Nebuchadnezzar slaughtered the officials, killed Zedekiah’s sons, blinded the king, and led him in chains to Babylon (39:6-7). The invaders also destroyed the palace, broke down Jerusalem’s walls, and exiled all but the poorest people of the land (39:8-10). Nebuchadnezzar allowed Jeremiah to remain in the land (39:11-14). The Lord also revealed that although judgment was now at hand, God’s people would experience restoration one day (39:15-18).
EXPLORE THE TEXT
19 The officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must hide and tell no one where you are.”
Many of the officials mentioned here likely made their first appearance by name in verses 11-12. The name Shaphan occurs elsewhere in Jeremiah as part of an influential family. He also was involved in the discovery of the law during Josiah’s reign (26:24; 2 Kings 22:8-10). This may have been true if Achbor (2 Kings 22:12) was Elnathan’s father (Jer. 36:12). These men suggested •Baruch and Jeremiah hide and tell no one their location.
The officials believed King Jehoiakim needed to hear Jeremiah’s words, but they also knew that he would likely reject the message and come after Jeremiah. Consequently, they advised God’s servants to hide themselves. Verses 21-26 reveal the officials’ suspicions of Jehoiakim were well-founded.
20 Then, after depositing the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, the officials came to the king at the courtyard and reported everything in the hearing of the king.
Judah’s leaders went to the palace after depositing the scroll under the care of Elishama the scribe. They anticipated the negative consequences that might come from Jehoiakim hearing Jeremiah’s words. Therefore, they left the scroll in the temple, perhaps to avoid a rash decision by the king to destroy it. We do not know the location of the chamber where the scroll was kept. Likewise, we don’t know much about Elishama. He is mentioned in the Bible only in this passage, though an ancient seal with this name on it was discovered in the region of Jerusalem. Scribes often used seals to authenticate documents.
The royal officials arrived at the palace’s courtyard and reported everything to Jehoiakim. The term courtyard referred to a palace meeting area where the king might entertain a larger group. Verse 12 names five leaders to whom Micaiah, the original recipient of Jeremiah’s message (v. 11), brought the news. It also mentions “other officials,” so we do not know exactly how large the delegation was.
At any rate, the officials recounted for Jehoiakim the details that led them to request a meeting. Baruch had proclaimed Jeremiah’s words in the temple area and also read them to Micaiah. In turn, Micaiah had shared them with the king’s officials, who had decided the king needed to hear them. Since they did not bring the scroll with them, they likely summarized the essence of Jeremiah’s words.
21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi then read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who were standing by the king.
The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi earlier had relayed the officials’ message to Baruch to bring the scroll he had read publicly (v. 14). Jehoiakim didn’t reveal his intentions for the scroll once he obtained it, though they soon would become apparent. Jehudi retrieved the scroll from Elishama (v. 20) and brought it to the king. Jehudi then read it in Jehoiakim’s hearing, as the other officials stood by.
Jehoiakim’s response was vital because royal support for Jeremiah’s words could turn the country back toward the Lord. On the other hand, the king’s rejection of Jeremiah’s words would lead to God’s judgment.
Believers are called to deliver God’s Word faithfully. That can happen through preaching, teaching, or even a simple conversation. The nature of our delivery will vary, but God invites us to share in delivering His Word wherever and however we can.
(In PSG, p. 94)
22 Since it was the ninth month, the king was sitting in his winter quarters with a fire burning in front of him.
23 As soon as Jehudi would read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut the scroll with a scribe’s knife and throw the columns into the fire in the hearth until the entire scroll was consumed by the fire in the hearth.
The ninth month of the Jewish calendar was Kislev, which normally falls in November–December for us. The term winter quarters comes from a word that refers to the fall harvest. Once the harvest concluded, temperatures normally began to drop across the land. The cooler temperature is noted in the observation that Jehoiakim sat with a fire burning. The fire and hearth were large enough to adequately warm the larger meeting room.
Jehoiakim responded with utter contempt for God’s Word. After Jehudi would read three or four columns, the king would cut the scroll with a scribe’s knife. Then, he proceeded to throw the columns into the fire. The Hebrew wording describes a harsh throwing or flinging. It is used elsewhere of a lion throwing down its victim’s body to the ground (1 Kings 13:24-25).
The manner in which Jehoiakim disposed of the scroll further indicated his disdain for the prophetic message. Jehoiakim continued to cut and burn until the entire scroll was consumed. Burning the scroll in fragments also ensured its total destruction, whereas casting the entire rolled scroll into fire could have resulted in only parts of it being destroyed.
24 As they heard all these words, the king and all his servants did not become terrified or tear their clothes.
The king and his servants had no regard for the message God brought through His prophet. The servants followed the ways of their evil monarch. They heard the message, but they did not become terrified at the king’s actions. The word translated terrified also occurred in verse 16, where it described the other officials’ reverent respect for Jeremiah’s words.
Furthermore, they didn’t tear their clothes—an action of people experiencing great distress or mourning. Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes when they perceived the Hebrews lacked the faith to claim the promised land (Num. 14:6). Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes when they realized the people in Lystra thought they were gods (Acts 14:14). However, Jehoiakim and his officials cared nothing for God’s Word, so destroying it was no cause for concern.
25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah had urged the king not to burn the scroll, he did not listen to them. 26 Then the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to seize the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah, but the LORD hid them.
Three officials—Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah—tried to intervene. Perhaps the other officials
(vv. 11-12,14,20) were afraid to challenge the king, or perhaps these three spoke for everyone. Hoping Jehoiakim would heed the prophetic warning, they urged the king not to burn the scroll. Sadly, he did not listen to them. His mind was closed, and he would not entertain the possibility of Jeremiah’s word being true. Jeremiah and Baruch had invested so much time recording twenty years of prophetic messages, but their work burned up in minutes.
Jehoiakim commanded some of his officials to seize the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. Jehoiakim already had destroyed the scroll. Next, he wanted to destroy its human source.
The officials mentioned in this verse—Jerahmeel, Seraiah, and Shelemiah—are only mentioned here in the Bible. These three men set out to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah; however, the LORD hid them so their pursuers could not find them. The officials had warned Baruch and Jeremiah to hide themselves (v. 19), but God’s protection assured no one would discover them.
Some people will reject God’s Word and try to silence it. As one of my seminary professors pointed out, the Bible challenges people to admit they’re sinners, and most people in this world just don’t want to do that. Consequently, they invest a lot of time and energy into discrediting the Bible—or they persecute the messengers. The longer I live, the more I see the truth of that statement.
(In PSG, p. 96)
27 After the king had burned the scroll and the words Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll, and once again write on it the original words that were on the original scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned.”
After Jehoiakim burned the scroll, Jeremiah and Baruch could have fallen into utter despair. After all, Jeremiah had prophesied for twenty years already and seen little spiritual response. Then, the king had sent his comprehensive record of God’s messages up in flames. Even worse, he knew that if Jehoiakim persisted in leading the nation into evil, only judgment remained for God’s people.
The expression the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah stresses that the message the prophet proclaimed did not originate with him. Jeremiah merely functioned as the messenger for what God wanted to say. The book of Jeremiah includes this expression many times to reinforce this concept (see for example 29:30; 32:26; 33:19,23; 35:12; 37:6).
God instructed Jeremiah to take another scroll and begin the entire process again. The Lord commanded that he dictate the original words that were on the original scroll. God had guided Jeremiah as he and Baruch created the original scroll, and God would guide him again as he produced a new copy. The Lord was determined to show Jehoiakim, Jerusalem, and all Judah that His Word could not be destroyed. It remained true and would come true.
29 “‘You are to proclaim concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah, ‘This is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll, asking, “Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cause it to be without people or animals?”’”
God told Jeremiah the message he was to speak concerning King Jehoiakim. The king’s action would have severe repercussions. He had opposed God’s prophet and had publicly treated God’s Word with contempt.
The words this is what the LORD says emphasize the divine origin of Jeremiah’s words. Jeremiah functioned as God’s mouthpiece, but God was the source of the message Jeremiah proclaimed. Jehoiakim hadn’t merely rejected Jeremiah. He had rejected God!
The Lord also affirmed that He had been watching as Jehoiakim burned the scroll. Jehoiakim’s contempt didn’t escape God’s notice. He also revealed how Jehoiakim questioned why the prophet would say that the king of Babylon was coming and would destroy this land. Babylon’s victory would mean Judah’s defeat, and Judah’s defeat would mean Jehoiakim’s loss of power—or worse. Jehoiakim wanted no part of such a proclamation and tried to erase it by burning the scroll.
Jeremiah repeatedly warned the Jews that God would destroy Jerusalem just as He had destroyed Shiloh, where Joshua had established the tabernacle (Josh. 18:1; Jer. 7:1-15; 26:1-6). Jehoiakim did not want to believe such disaster could happen.
30 “‘Therefore, this is what the LORD says concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his corpse will be thrown out to be exposed to the heat of day and the frost of night.’”
Therefore introduced God’s dramatic conclusion. God’s judgment against Jehoiakim included two aspects. First, Jehoiakim would have no one to sit on David’s throne. Jehoiakim’s royal line ceased shortly after his death. His son, Jehoiachin, inherited a city under Babylonian siege and reigned only three months before he surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:8-12). Zedekiah, Jehoiakim’s brother, became Judah’s last king, and his rebellion led to Jerusalem’s destruction (2 Kings 24:17–25:10).
Second, God said Jehoiakim’s corpse would be thrown out without a proper burial, exposing it to the heat of day and the frost of night. The word thrown out is a different form of the word translated “throw” in verse 23. Jehoiakim had cast aside God’s Word, so God would cast his corpse aside.
Jehoiakim’s dishonorable death may have been executed by the Babylonians when they defeated him in 605 BC (Dan. 1:1-2). It is also possible Jerusalem’s citizens cast his body outside the gate to show they had not supported their dead king’s rebellious plans. As God had proclaimed through Jeremiah, the king’s body was left exposed to the elements, unlike the usual royal burial (2 Chron. 16:14; 20:1).
31 “‘I will punish him, his descendants, and his officers for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah all the disaster, which I warned them about but they did not listen.’”
The Lord also promised to punish Jehoiakim, along with his descendants, and his officers for their iniquity. God’s judgment would begin with the king and those closest to him. First Chronicles 3:16 lists Jehoiakim’s descendants as Jeconiah and Zedekiah. As mentioned above, Jeconiah (also known as Jehoiachin) reigned only three months before he surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar. He remained in a Babylonian prison for thirty-seven years until Nebuchadnezzar’s successor, Evil-merodach, freed him (2 Kings 25:27-30). However, he never returned from exile. The Zedekiah mentioned here is not King Zedekiah, who was Jehoiakim’s brother (1 Chron. 3:15).
The word iniquity denotes serious evil and wickedness. In other words, Judah’s leaders indeed had failed miserably. The word officers likely denotes leaders who served the king.
God also warned that He would send disaster on the people of Jerusalem and Judah. Again, God’s judgment progressed from the leaders to the residents of the capital to the general population. The Lord had repeatedly warned them about this disaster for twenty years through Jeremiah. Tragically, they did not listen to His words. While some of the people eventually returned from exile, the nation, in general, paid a terrible price for their sin.
Believers must share their faith with confidence, knowing God’s Word is truth. Jesus affirmed God’s Word is truth (John 17:17) and that He Himself is the Truth (John 14:6). His Word guides our path as we journey through life (Ps. 119:105). Not everyone will listen when we share the good news of Jesus, but all need to hear. Jeremiah offers an example worth following when it comes to sharing God’s message with others.
(In PSG, p. 98)
The Scriptures
The Bible reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. (See Luke 21:33; 2 Tim. 3:15-17.)
Use a concordance and/or Bible dictionary to learn more about a feature of Israel’s religious life.
Read Jeremiah 36. Use a concordance or Bible dictionary to gather more information on King Jehoiakim. He was the son of Josiah, Judah’s last good king (2 Kings 22–23), but he did not follow his father’s righteous example. What consequences did he and the nation experience as a result of his sin? What steps can we take to leave a better legacy?