Nicole Clear
Jeremiah Chapter 36 is a chapter in which God is issuing a warning and trying to bring back His people. God is not without mercy. He was extending His hand to bring back those people who were living evil. God would forgive them of their sins if they repented. Jeremiah was given instructions (vs. 2 & 3) to take a roll of a book and to write down everything that was given to him from God.
Jeremiah 36:2-3
2 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.
3 It 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.
Jeremiah called for Baruch (v. 4) to write down what the Lord had given to him. Jeremiah was confined to the house and could not enter the temple of the Lord (v. 5), which is another thing that Baruch helped with. Jeremiah (vs. 6 & 7) instructed Baruch in where and who he needed to present and read the message to.
Jeremiah 36:4-7
4 Then 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.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the LORD:
6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD’S house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.
7 It 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 hath pronounced against this people.
So Baruch did exactly what was instructed of him (v. 8). God’s timing is so amazing and on time. Jehoiakim proclaims a fast which ensures the people to be gathered together and Baruch would be able to deliver the reading / message. (v. 9) As Baruch read to all the people in the Lord’s house (v.10), Michaiah had also heard the words spoken (v.11). He returned to the scribe’s chamber in the king’s house. Some of the king’s princes were there with the other scribes when Michaiah told them (vs. 12-13) what Baruch had read from the roll. The princes sent Jehudi to Baruch (vs. 14-15) to have him come read the roll to them. So Baruch did. After he was done reading the roll to them (v. 16), they were afraid and declared they would tell the king of the words from the roll. When asked how he came to write the words in the roll (vs. 17-18), Baruch explained how Jeremiah spoke them and he wrote them. The princes told Baruch to go and Jeremiah and him needed to hide and tell no one where they would be (v. 19).
Jeremiah 36:8-19
8 And 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 LORD’S house.
9 And 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 that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.
10 Then 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 LORD’S house, in the ears of all the people.
11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the LORD,
12 Then he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s 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.
13 Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.
14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast 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.
15 And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.
16 Now 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.
17 And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?
18 Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.
19 Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
As we continue to read Baruch leaves the scroll with the princes and takes his leave. The princes leave the scroll with Elishama the scribe and they go to see the king, and tell him everything (v.20). The king sent Jehudi to get the roll and read it to him and the princes around him. (v.21) It must have been winter time as the king was in his winterhouse. There was a fire in the fireplace. (v.22) After Jehudi had read a few pages the roll was cut and thrown into the fire and burned up.(v.23) Noone was afraid, nor seemed to react at all. (v.24) Accept Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah did try to intercede that the king would not burn the roll, but they availed not. (v.25) Instead the king commanded Jerahmeel, Seraiah, and Shelemiah to get Baruch and Jeremiah, but the Lord hid them. (v.26)
Jeremiah 36:20-26
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 winterhouse 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.
The Lord instructed Jeremiah to write another roll because the king of Judah had burnt the previous one. The Lord gave a specific message for Jehoiakim. Which then Jeremiah spoke and Baruch wrote, the words from the first roll and also the direct message to the king (vs. 27-32).
Jeremiah 36:27-32
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.
I wasn’t sure at first what the Lord was trying to convey to me when I woke up this morning on got this study. I believe now it is quite simple. The Lord wishes none to perish. He sent Jesus to be that intercessor that would allow us to have everlasting life. Sin and un-repentance will bring death.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Timothy 2:2-4
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance
John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
The Lord extends his hand out to us thru Jesus and delights when we are found or even realigned (when we go astray). Think about the parable of the lost sheep.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
Matthew 18:10-14
10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
Of course if you are hardened and refuse to hear/ accept the Lord’s call or extended hand there are consequences that will not only affect you but also those around you. Examples of this can be found throughout the bible. Look at Pharaoh in Exodus with Moses, those 10 plagues didn’t just affect him but his whole kingdom. However we read where some of those Egyptians did leave with the children of Israel. The children in the wilderness, Korah for example. His whole family perished from not heeding the words of the Lord. There are many more, but I am not saying the Lord is some awful mean non understanding God, but He is holy. His ways are above are ways. He loved us so much He sent His only begotten Son to save us.
John 3:16 & 17
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
So Please seek the Lord and trust in Him. He will guide and direct us.
Proverbs 3:5-7
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
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