Jeremiah · chapter 36 of 52
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Jeremiah 36 tells how, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, God tells Jeremiah to write down all his words. Baruch writes the scroll and reads it in the temple. The officials listen with fear, but King Jehoiakim cuts it up and burns it in the brazier. God protects Jeremiah and Baruch and orders a second scroll with more words, and announces judgment on Jehoiakim.
This chapter goes back to the fourth year of Jehoiakim, before the siege of Jerusalem, so it steps back in time from the previous chapters. It is one of the clearest scenes in the book about how Jeremiah's text came to be: the prophetic word is written down, read aloud and set before the authorities. Jehoiakim's reaction shows the difference between hearing and obeying.
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the Lord tells Jeremiah to write on a scroll all he has spoken against Israel, Judah and the nations since the days of Josiah, so that perhaps Judah will repent when they hear the disaster God plans for them. Jeremiah dictates the words to Baruch son of Neriah, who writes them. Because Jeremiah is barred from the temple, Baruch reads the scroll in the temple on a day of fasting, in front of all the people, from the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan.
Micaiah, son of Gemariah, hears what is read and tells the officials, who send for Baruch and ask him to read it to them. When they hear it, they are afraid and decide to tell the king. They tell Baruch that he and Jeremiah must hide, and that no one should know where they are. They store the scroll in the chamber of Elishama and report everything to the king.
Jehoiakim sends Jehudi to fetch the scroll, and as it is read to him in the winter house, with the fire burning in the brazier before him, the king cuts off every three or four columns with a knife and throws them into the fire until the whole scroll is consumed. Neither the king nor his servants are afraid or tear their garments. Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urge him not to burn it, but he will not listen. He orders the arrest of Baruch and Jeremiah, but the Lord hides them.
The Lord tells Jeremiah to write another scroll with all the words of the first, and adds that Jehoiakim will have no one to sit on the throne of David and that his body will be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. Jeremiah dictates again to Baruch, and many similar words are added.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord wants the scroll written so that Judah may hear all the disaster he plans for them and perhaps turn from their evil ways and be forgiven. Even in judgment, the door of repentance is still open.
The officials are afraid when they hear the words and say they must tell the king. Their fear is the expected reaction, and it contrasts with the king, who has more power but is not moved.
Jehoiakim cuts the scroll in pieces and throws it in the fire, and is neither afraid nor tears his clothes. His act seems to destroy God's word, but the text stresses that he had no fear of the judgment it announces.
Jeremiah dictates another scroll to Baruch with the same words and adds many more. God's word cannot be destroyed: the king can burn the paper but cannot cancel what the Lord has said.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: All the words he had spoken against Israel, Judah and the nations since the days of Josiah. — Jeremiah 36:2
Answer: Baruch son of Neriah, as Jeremiah dictated them. — Jeremiah 36:4
Answer: On a day of fasting, in front of all the people. — Jeremiah 36:9-10
Answer: That he and Jeremiah should hide, and that no one should know where they were. — Jeremiah 36:19
Answer: He cut it in pieces and threw it into the brazier fire until it was consumed. — Jeremiah 36:23
Answer: That Jeremiah write another scroll with all the words of the first. — Jeremiah 36:27-28
Jeremiah 36 asks how we receive the word of God. The officials were afraid and the king burned it, and the difference was not in the message but in the heart of the hearer. In a small group you can ask whether you read the Bible to be informed or to be corrected, and whether there are passages you would prefer to cut out.
The chapter also shows the value of working together: Jeremiah needed Baruch and Baruch needed courage. Much church work seems quiet, such as copying, teaching children or serving, and God uses it to preserve and share his word. Thank those who do it without being seen.
Jehoiakim burned a scroll, but God's word survived and grew. In chapter 37 the narrative moves to the reign of Zedekiah, with Jerusalem besieged and Jeremiah imprisoned for saying what God had told him.
Jehoiakim burned it, but the Lord ordered a new one written with all that was in the first and more besides. So the book preserves what was spoken in the days of Josiah and Jehoiakim. Many scholars see in this chapter a clue to how the text of the book was formed.
A scribe, the son of Neriah, who was Jeremiah's secretary and faithful companion. He wrote down his words, read them in public and accompanied him in dangerous times. In chapter 45 God also speaks directly to him.