The Scroll
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 5 viewsNotes
Transcript
Now it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:
“Take a scroll of a book and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day.
It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
Jeremiah turned from being a speaking prophet to becoming a writing prophet when God commanded him to take a scroll and record all of his prophecies from the time he first spoke to him during Josiah’s reign until that day.
This was the twenty-third year of Jeremiah’s ministry.
The Lord instructed Jeremiah to write on a scroll all the words he had spoken to the prophet since the beginning of his ministry to the present time (627–605 B.C.). 22- 23 years of ministry
Scrolls back then were made of papyrus or leather sheets sewn together with the writing placed in columns. A typical scroll measured thirty feet by ten inches. It was wrapped on wooden rollers and rolled from one side to the other as it was read.
God told Jeremiah to begin with the first message of Josiah and write down every message, right up to the present time.
The hope was that the people would hear about every disaster threatened by God and would turn from their wicked way. If the people would repent, God promised to forgive their wickedness.
The Lord hoped that when the people were reminded of every disaster He was going to inflict on them, they would abandon their wicked ways and be forgiven (cf. 26:3 with 36:3 for similar words).
This is the burden and desire of God. That the people would turn back to Him.
if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.
Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’
Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive.
Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
Pivot
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
John seen the Pharisees and Sadducees who were two of the main religious sects in Jewish society functioning as a cross between political parties and religious factions.
The Sadducees where the highest form of priest who were wealthy, politically connected with Rome, highly influential with people who are in power.
They believed only in the written Scriptures (specifically the five books of Moses), and consequently rejected concepts like angels and resurrection.
But the Sadducess didn’t get widespread support like the Pharisees.
The Pharisees, by contrast, were more numerous and powerful, they representative religious leaders in their ranks.
They were “separatists” who were patriotic and fervent in their faith, emphasizing strict adherence to both the Mosaic law and oral traditions. They believed in divine providence, resurrection, and angels, and were generally respected by the Jewish people.
What made the Pharisees so bad?
The Pharisees claimed to have high moral standards but actually distorted religious laws to suit their own selfish interests.
They interpreted religious laws in ways that primarily benefited themselves,
For example they narrowly defined “loving one’s neighbor” to only include fellow Jews and considering all other people as enemies.
Jesus found them problematic because they:
- Prioritized ceremonial laws over moral principles. They prioritize activity over spirituality.
They made the activity larger then people
- they Disregarded mercy and compassion
- They Were obsessed with wealth and status
- Sought public recognition for their supposed holiness
- Looked down on “sinners” and refused to associate with them
They cared more about the instuition then people.
- Made proselytes who often became more corrupt than before
I think God is more concerned about the systems, the walls we build emotionally, these defense mechanisms, other ways to justify sin apart from allowing Christ to define what sin is, these premeditated sins. These are the things that spreads sin and allow sin to thrive.
Johns makes it clear that ones life proves whether or not one truly has repented.
John challenged the people to bring forth fruit as an indication of their belief.
John’s message to the Pharisee and the Sadducees were harsh: You brood of vipers!
Meaning they were offspring of vipers.
John was saying they are dangerous snakes and condemned to hell.
These weren’t garden snakes or the harmless variety of snakes these are deadly snakes.
Brood of vipers or offspring of vipers emphasizes their wicked character and likely associates them with with the serpent of Eden (satan) saying they are evil men with evil hearts.
John is calling them the Sons of the Devil.
Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Just like in Jeremiah, God wanted him to write down on these scrolls all that he had concerning Israel, Judah and the nations. So the people can be reminded about the wrath to come.
Jesus also called them brood of vipers in Matt. 23:33
Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
This is a rhetorical questions, essentially theres no escape for you. The implied answer is that they cannot escape the condemnation that was awaiting for them.
The reason why the gospel is so important because it reaching the heart of a matter. Its not surface stuff.
A food bank could be surface stuff without the gospel.
Prayer could be surface stuff but the gospel cuts to the heart
They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah
They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Lets go back to Jeremiah,
So Jeremiah told Buruch to go to the house of the Lord and to read the scrolls.
It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people.”
And 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.
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, in the hearing of all the people.
He reading 22-23 years of ministry hes just unloading.
3 times in one day was this scroll read (verses 10, 15, 21)., and they people where getting stirred up about it.
So now its time for King Jehoiakim to read the scroll!
Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning on the hearth before him.
The king was in a winterized part of the place and he was in front of a fire to keep warm
And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
The king heard the word he took it and cut it with scribes knife and tossed it in the fire.
Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States, literally cut passages out of the Bible and pasted together his own version.
✔ What he created:
“The Jefferson Bible”
(official title: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth)
✔ What he removed:
Jefferson cut out:
All miracles
All references to Jesus’ divinity
The resurrection
Prophecies
Anything supernatural
✔ What he kept:
Only:
Jesus’ teachings
Moral sayings
Ethical lessons
Jefferson believed Jesus was a great moral teacher but did not accept His divinity or miracles.
23 Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king took a knife and cut off that section of the scroll. He then threw it into the fire, section by section, until the whole scroll was burned up.
