Jehoiakim’s Reaction to Jeremiah’s Written Messages (Jeremiah 36:1–32)

Chapter 36 is an extremely important chapter in the Book of Jeremiah. It is important for several reasons. It is the only passage in the OT that shows one way a prophet’s oral messages reached their written form. It also reveals the close relationship between Jeremiah and Baruch. Insight is given into the role and influence of scribes and officials in government. Furthermore, it shows that not all the leaders in Judah opposed Jeremiah.

I. The Command to Write the Messages on a Scroll (36:1–3)

1 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: 2 “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. 3 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.”

A. Jeremiah receives God’s command to write on a scroll.

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.). Scrolls were made of papyrus or leather sheets sewn together with the writing placed in columns. Jeremiah’s scroll probably was written on papyrus since it would have been easier to burn than leather.

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. A written message perhaps would have made a more profound impression on an audience than one spoken extemporaneously

B. The messages were “concerning” Israel, Judah, and the other nations.

One purpose for recording these prophecies was so they could be read aloud to the people. 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.

II. Baruch Commanded to Write the Scroll (36:4–7)

4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book, at the instruction of Jeremiah, all the words of the LORD which He had spoken to him. 5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am confined, I cannot go into the house of the LORD. 6 You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written at my instruction, the words of the LORD, in the hearing of the people in the LORD’s house on the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities. 7 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.”

A. Jeremiah summoned Baruch, and dictated to him all the words.

He apparently was a person of high standing, a grandson of Maasaiah , who was ruler of Jerusalem in Josiah’s reign. Baruch was a brother of Seraiah, King Zedekiah’s staff officer (51:59).

Jeremiah requested Baruch to go to the temple on a fast day and read the scroll to the people because he was unable to go himself. The fast day was a time when large crowds would be gathered in the temple.

B. The Lord was reluctant to deliver his people to judgment.

He hoped that the reading of the scroll would convict them so they would turn away from their wickedness before the Lord’s wrath fell on them.

Baruch’s secondary part, therefore, required the same commitment and courage as that of his master when the need arose.

III. Public Reading of the Scroll at the Temple (36:8–10)

8 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.9 Now 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 who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. 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, in the hearing of all the people.

A. Baruch carefully carried out Jeremiah’s instructions.

He read the scroll before the people at the temple in the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim’s reign (November–December 604).

Some time was required for writing the messages, and since there were no stated fast days, he waited for a called fast day. The occasion for one was provided in December 604 when the Babylonian army captured and sacked Ashkelon on the Philistine plain.

B. Baruch is allowed to read from the scroll from the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan.

The position of this room means that Baruch can oversee the crowds in the temple area, and can be heard and seen by everyone.

Gemariah was a brother of Ahikam, Jeremiah’s protector and Gedaliah’s uncle. He must have been favorably inclined toward Jeremiah to allow Baruch to use his room. Their reaction to the reading of the scroll is not recorded .