Jeremiah 36
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
[CONTEXT] In Jeremiah 34, it was only a matter of days before Babylon took complete control of Judah during the reign of Zedekiah.
In Jeremiah 35-36, we go back to the time of Jehoiakim’s reign; a time when Judah still had a chance.
We met the Rechabites in chapter 35. These people listened to their forefather, obeyed his commands, and were rewarded.
God’s people were different by comparison.
They didn’t listen to their Father in Heaven.
They didn’t obey Him.
So, they would be punished.
We see in chapter 36 just how stubborn they were in their refusal to listen and just how stubborn God was in making sure His Word was heard.
[READING - Jeremiah 36]
1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. 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.” 4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him. 5 Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted; I cannot go into the house of the Lord. 6 “So you go and read from the scroll which you have written at my dictation the words of the Lord to the people in the Lord’s house on a fast day. And also you shall read them to all the people of Judah who come from their cities. 7 “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.” 8 Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house. 9 Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord. 10 Then Baruch read from 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 upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, to all the people. 11 Now when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the book, 12 he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—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 other officials. 13 Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people. 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them. 15 They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another and said to Baruch, “We will surely report all these words to the king.” 17 And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” 18 Then Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.” 20 So they went to the king in the court, but they had deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they reported all the words to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king. 22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. 23 When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe’s knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. 24 Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments. 25 Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them. 27 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying, 28 “Take again another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned. 29 “And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will make man and beast to cease from it?’ ” 30 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. 31 “I will also punish him and his descendants and his servants for their iniquity, and I will bring on them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the calamity that I have declared to them—but they did not listen.” ’ ” 32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.
[TS]
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
#1: The Word Read to the People (vv. 1-8)
#1: The Word Read to the People (vv. 1-8)
[EXP]
v. 2 = the complete works of Jeremiah (i.e., YHWH through Jeremiah)
v. 3 = purpose of having Jeremiah write everything down; the merciful opportunity to repent
“hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them” = motivation to consider repentance (i.e., turning from his evil way)
words to look up
turn
13 O Lord, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord.
8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.
11 “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.” ’
5 saying, ‘Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell on the land which the Lord has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever;
3 ‘Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.’
15 “Also I have sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them again and again, saying: ‘Turn now every man from his evil way and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to worship them. Then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your forefathers; but you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.
evil
play on words, “hear all the (evil, ra’ah) which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his (evil, ra) way”
Raʾ describes the violence associated with sin.
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.
wickedness, wicked ways
terrors, terrible way
disasters, disastrous way
way
singular; although there may seem to be varieties in sin, they are ultimately only different scenes only the same road to destruction
forgive
pardon
iniquity
???
Aven describes the crooked or perverse spirit associated with sin.
???
sin
Chataʾ means “to miss the mark,” as does the Greek hamartia. The word could be used to describe a person shooting a bow and arrow and missing the target with the arrow. When it is used to describe sin, it means that the person has missed the mark that God has established for the person’s life.
v. 7 = reiteration of the purpose as Jeremiah tells Baruch; the merciful opportunity to repent
[ILLUS]
10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.
God is abundantly merciful, so merciful that He offered wicked Nineveh the opportunity to repent and be spared.
Wisely, they took seriously the opportunity to repent.
[APP] We should take seriously the opportunity to repent.
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; 13 And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.
Yet even now…
God has extended to us a great mercy in calling us to repent.
30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
Overlooked…
God has told us why we need to repent: We have turned to evil.
Acts 8:22 (NASB95)
22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours...
Wickedness…
God has told us what will happen to us if we don’t repent: all the calamitous terror of hell awaits us.
3 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Perish…
God has told us what will happen to us if we do repent: In Jesus, He will forgive our sins and remember them no more.
Acts 2:38 (NASB95)
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…
Forgiveness…
[TS]…
#2: The Word Rejected by the King (vv. 9-26)
#2: The Word Rejected by the King (vv. 9-26)
[EXP]
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 6: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel 3. Jehoiakim’s Penknife and God’s Word (36:1–32)
605 B.C. This was a year of highly significant events: the Battle of Carchemish, the defeat of Pharaoh Neco, the subjugation of Jehoiakim to Nebuchadnezzar
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 6: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel a. The Dictation of the Scroll (36:1–8)
Some public calamity, perhaps a drought, had occasioned this fast. Internationally, it was a most opportune time for a fast because Jeremiah saw the significance of Egypt’s defeat by the Babylonians at Carchemish in 605 B.C. There was a feeling that turning to the Lord (v.7) in a public fast might avert the judgment that had been conditionally predicted (v.8).
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 36
In one of the four-room domestic buildings from the seventh–sixth centuries B.C. a cache of 50 bullae (round seals, often made of clay) for sealing documents was found. One of the bullae included the seal impression of Gemaryahu (a variant spelling of Gemariah), the son of Shaphan.
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 36
36:11 Micaiah the son of Gemariah. Gemariah was probably the brother of Ahikam, who defended Jeremiah in 26:24, and the uncle of Gedaliah, who guarded Jeremiah in 39:14.
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 36
36:22 ninth month. See v. 9. winter house. Rooms set aside in the inner house that retained heat (it was December; cf. vv. 8–10). See Amos 3:15. fire pot. Either a portable fire pan or a fixed hearth.
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 36
36:25 Elnathan. See 26:22–23. Gemariah. See 29:3.
[ILLUS]
[APP]
[TS]…
#3: The Word Replaced by the Lord (vv. 27-32)
#3: The Word Replaced by the Lord (vv. 27-32)
[EXP]
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 36
36:29 Jehoiakim burned the scroll because he did not believe Babylon’s invasion would succeed (7:1–15; 26:9).
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 36
36:30 Because of his disregard for God’s word, Jehoiakim will have no heir to succeed him and will not receive a respectable burial (22:18–19). This judgment is fulfilled in 37:1.
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 36
36:31 would not hear. Would not obey (cf. Deut. 6:4–9).
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 36
36:32 Jeremiah obeys God’s command to make a second papyrus scroll (vv. 27–28). many similar words. Jeremiah expanded his messages, but the manner in which he did so is unstated.
[ILLUS]
[APP] Flowers fade and kings fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.
[TS]…
Conclusion
Conclusion
[PRAYER]