Jehoiakim’s Reaction to Jeremiah’s Written Messages Part 2 (Jeremiah 36:1–32)

I. Reading of the Scroll Before the Officials (36:11–19)

11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the book, 12 he then went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and there all the princes were sitting—Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. 13 Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people. 14 Therefore all the princes 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 in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. 15 And they said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.16 Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, that they looked in fear from one to another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.” 17 And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words—at his instruction?”18 So Baruch answered them, “He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”19 Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are.”

A. Micaiah acknowledges the importance of the scroll’s contents and warns the officials.

It’s interesting to see how different people responded to the Word of God. There were three public readings of the book, and the first one was to the people in the temple. There’s no record that the crowd responded in any special way.

One man, Micaiah, however, became concerned because of what he had heard. Micaiah told the princes about the book, and they asked to hear it, so Baruch read it to them. Along with Micaiah, the officials trembled when they heard the Word they knew that the nation was in great danger.

B. The reaction of the officials upon hearing Baruch read the scroll was one of fear.

Their response seems unexpected because it could not have been the first time in twenty-three years they had heard Jeremiah’s warnings. Apparently, however, the impact of his messages touched them for the first time.

Whether the words were from the prophet or were composed by the scribe, the inquiry suggests that many recognize Jeremiah’s divine gift and authority. Baruch’s contribution was to write the messages on the scroll “in ink.” Out of concern for the safety of Jeremiah and Baruch and in anticipation of the king’s response, the officials urged Baruch and Jeremiah to hide themselves. The courtesy of the officials and their concern for the two men indicate their sympathy for Jeremiah and his messages.

II. Reading of the Scroll to the King (36:20–26)

20 And they went to the king, into the court; but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. 22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning on the hearth before him. 23 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. 24 Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. 25 Nevertheless Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but 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.

III. Rewriting of the Destroyed Scroll (36:27–32)

27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch had written at the instruction of Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying: 28 “Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29 And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘Thus says the LORD: “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to cease from here?’ ” 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 punish him, his family, and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them; but they did not heed.” ’ ”32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And besides, there were added to them many similar words.