Sermon Cloud

Your Will at the Crossroads: Time for a Strategic U-turn
    Jeremiah 36
    FCOCLH – 10/11/09
    The handwriting was on the wall describing the fate of Judah.  Unfortunately, only a few faithful people bothered to read it.  King Jehoiakim was especially blind to the warnings, even though they were fairly clear – not just in Jeremiah’s prophecies, but in the events of the day.
    Jehoiakim’s father, Josiah, had done many good things for Judah, but his biggest mistake proved fatal.  He leaned on Egypt instead of on God and died in battle fighting next to Egypt against the powerful Assyrians.  The war continued between the Assyrians and the Egyptians with the Assyrians holding the upper hand.  Jehoiakim used Egypt’s vulnerability as an opportunity to assert himself among his own people.  He was feeling pretty comfortable; meanwhile,  Assyria methodically moved southwest into Syria and even into Palestine.  Maybe 10 or 15 years earlier, God had shown Jeremiah an image of a boiling pot from the north tilting towards Judah.  He told Jeremiah: “From the North disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land.  I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms.”  As the events of Jeremiah 36 occurred, the water was boiling and the pot was tipping.  Judah was about to be the recipient of the wrath of God, but Jehoiakim would have nothing of any of it.  He was oblivious to the danger, blinded by God’s promises to David of protection of Jerusalem and the continuation of the Davidic line on the throne in Judah.  He forgot the conditions of those promises – that Judah and her kings would remain faithful to God.  Jehoiakim was unfaithful to God, and it kept him and the nation of Judah in the unenviable position of receiving God’s wrath.
    God had not written Jehoiakim and Judah completely off though.  He would give them one more opportunity.  That is where we are when the events of Jeremiah 36 happen.  Up to this point Jeremiah’s ministry was the spoken word.  That is fine, but it seems Jehoiakim & the nation weren’t listening, so God instructed Jeremiah to write down his prophecies.  Jeremiah’s faithful protégé was Baruch and now he became his secretary.  He wrote down everything that Jeremiah dictated, led by the Holy Spirit.  Since Jeremiah was restricted from the temple, he sent Baruch to read the contents of the scroll at the gate of the temple.  Jeremiah echoes God’s motivation in doing this: “Read them to all the people of Judah who come in from their town.  Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD and each will turn from his wicked ways, for the anger and wrath pronounced against this people by the LORD are great.”  (36:6-7) Through the scroll Baruch read at the temple God is giving Judah & Jehoiakim a chance to repent.  
    I am fairly certain that God knew that Jeremiah’s message wouldn’t be heeded; yet, he gave the people of Judah the chance to repent.  Why does he do that?  Maybe there were individuals who heard the message and repented.  Their repentance didn’t change the fate of the nation, but it did change their fate. Isaiah tells us that he word of God is like rain.  Rain never falls to the earth without bringing life.  God says through Isaiah: so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11 God reminds us that there is never a time when someone is beyond the power of his word.  If God is willing to go after Judah & their self-centered king who in our life is beyond our reaching out to?  No one.  God knew what Judah’s fate would be, but he gave Judah the chance to repent.  We think we know what someone’s response will be to the gospel and that keeps us from offering it to them.  If our desire is to be like God, we will offer the opportunity for repentance even when we are sure it won’t be taken.    
    So following God’s unlikely command and Jeremiah’s obedient instruction, Baruch takes the scroll of Jeremiah’s dictation to the temple.  He doesn’t read in out in the open where he will be subject to abuse & even violence.  He goes to the room of Gemariah and reads the scroll from there.  Why there?  There he has some sympathetic ears.  They are men who had been active in the reforms of a generation ago under Josiah.  In the midst of that reform Hilkiah, the High Priest found the Book of the Law which had been lost for sometime.  He took it to and read it to Shaphan, Josiah’s secretary.  Shaphan made sure King Josiah heard it as well.  Gemariah in whose house Baruch went for safety was Shaphan’s son.  Baruch was hoping for a sympathetic ear and he knew where to go find one.  Gemariah’s son, Micaiah took word of the scroll to some of the Kings advisors.  When they heard what was in the scroll, they acted quickly.  They sent word to Baruch to bring them the scroll and read it to them.  Having heard it, they knew the King needed to hear the words of the scroll: When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.”  (16) The officials warned Baruch and Jeremiah to go into hiding, but they hid the scroll so no one could harm it.
    Immediately they gave the king word of the new scroll written under the dictation of the prophet Jeremiah.  King Jehoiakim sent for the scroll and had Jehudi read it.  
    It was the ninth month of the year.  I think that is roughly equivalent to December.  It was cold.  Jehoiakim was in an inner room designed for warmth during the winter months.  It had a fire pot in it.  I think of one of those patio fire rings.  Maybe that is what it was, maybe not.  Nevertheless, when Jehudi had read there or four columns of the scroll, the King would take a knife and cut off what had just been read.  Against the protestations of his advisors, he would throw it into the fire. Picture this if you can.  The scroll would look like a long blueprint the way it was rolled up.  Normally there would be a roll on the left and a roll on the right and the scribe would read in the middle of those two rolls.  He would be very adept at turning the rolls so that he could progress through the scroll, but King Jehoiakim saved him the trouble of rolling with his left hand.  Instead of rolling the scroll back up, he simply cut it off.  What sacrilege for the word of God!
    So far everyone had handled God’s word with the utmost care and respect.  Jeremiah dictated it faithfully to Baruch who wrote it down meticulously.  The officials who first heard the scroll read were struck by its significance, so much so that they stored it where it wouldn’t be hurt and told the King about it immediately.  The king listened to it, but then made light of it, completely disrespected it.
    Have you ever known someone who has absolutely no respect for God’s word?  Maybe it is an atheist who mocks people for believing in what he calls myths – creation or Noah or the resurrection.  Maybe it is a young person who lives his or her life as though God doesn’t exist, making whatever decisions he or she wants without regard for God or man.  There are those who belittle the word of God, as if it is a good source of knowledge, but no better than any other book or teaching.  Perhaps the way to disrespect God’s word that causes God the most grief is when we hear it, but don’t allow it to change us.  James, the half-brother of Jesus wrote these words long after Jehoiakim had gone the way of all earthly kings, but it could have been addressed directly to Jehoiakim:  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. --James 1:23-25 Could those words be directed at you?  I wonder if we could stop when we are about to disobey God’s word and think about Jehoiakim in that winter room, but instead of Jehoiakim it would be you or I cutting God’s word to shreds and using it for fuel in our fire.  When we purposely choose not to heed God’s word, we are no better off than Jehoiakim.  That is not a good thought, let’s see what happened to Jehoiakim.
    God, of course, knew what he had done.  He told Jeremiah to dictate another scroll with all the things he told Baruch the first time and to add a little more.  He added at least the words found in vv. 29-31.  (READ) Jehoiakim was the last King of Judah who was not appointed by a foreign leader.  His son Jehoiachin reigned for  a few months before he was deposed and replaced by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  I have to wonder if God’s wrath could have been delayed or avoided altogether had Jehoiakim heeded Jeremiah’s word that winter.
    I am reminded though that it is not I nor any other person who determines the truth of God’s word.  Not even the King could mitigate the truth of God’s word.  It is always the other way around. God’s word becomes the standard by which I and every other person is judged.  You cannot out smart God’s word.  The truth of it will always be evident.  For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. --Hebrews 4:12