Year 3, Day 89: Jeremiah 36

Historical Anomaly, Part Two

Jeremiah 36 is also slightly out of chronology.  The fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign was from 605-604 BC.  This means that this did happen after Jeremiah 35, but still prior to the messages given to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 33-34.

What is really interesting is how long this oracle goes on.  The Lord comes to Jeremiah in the fourth year.  Jeremiah calls Baruch and together they begin assembling a scroll full of the Lord’s prophecies to Jeremiah.  But it isn’t until the ninth month of the fifth year of the king that Baruch actually gets up to fulfill the word of the Lord.  Somewhere between 22 and 10 months go by as this demonstration of the word of the Lord takes place!  Think of all the planning and prayer and preparation that went on during this time.

This is good to realize today.  Sometimes we think that we get a word from the Lord and we have to act now.  Sometimes we do.  But other times God gives us a plan well enough in advance that we can plan and prepare before acting upon it.  It is good to remember that God often moves very slowly, giving us plenty of time to prepare if we are willing to take advantage of it.

God’s Omniscience

Verses like verse 3 often cause me some inner angst.  God says to Jeremiah, “Maybe if the people hear the words they will repent and I can forgive them.”  {Note the emphasis on grace and forgiveness as a condition of the heart, not as a condition of external sacrificing.}  At the same time, though, does not God know the future?  Does not God know that the people will not hear?  Does not God know that they will not repent?  So what is really going on here?

Yes, God knows what will happen.  But that doesn’t mean that God isn’t willing to try.  God wants to be fair.  God is a God of opportunity.  God wants everyone to at least have a chance.

Think about it.  How does it make you feel when someone comes up to you and says, “I didn’t tell you about this thing I was doing because I knew you wouldn’t want to do it anyway.”  Don’t you feel ripped off and cheated of your opportunity to accept or decline?  Isn’t it dissatisfying when people take choices out of our hands?  God knows this about us.  God knows how we will respond, but He still wants to put the opportunity in front of us.  This way, we can at least say, “I had my opportunity and I missed it.”  It is far more constructive to say, “I screwed up my opportunity,” than it is to say, “God assumed my nature and I had no chance.”

The Reading of the Scroll

This is where the story gets interesting.  Baruch – Jeremiah’s scribe – goes out to read.  Apparently he does a really good job at reading them, too.  Because soon Baruch is invited into a room with some people who are favorable to hearing the message of Jeremiah.

However, the son of Gemariah – Micaiah – hears what Baruch is saying so he goes and reports it to the king’s officers.  They are fairly disturbed, so they send out a team to talk to Baruch and hear the message for themselves.  Upon hearing the message, they are shaken with fear.  They tell Baruch to give them the scroll and hide for their lives.  Letting Baruch go, they take the scroll back to the king and read it before him.  As the scroll is read, the king cuts off the end of the scroll and burns it.

God sees Jehoakim’s response and tells Jeremiah to write up another scroll.  In addition to this second scroll, Jeremiah is told that Jehoiakim won’t have a permanent heir on the throne.  This comes true.  Jehoiakim’s son only reigns for three months prior to being taken by the king of Babylon.  It is under Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin, that Nebuchadnezzar takes the glory of the temple and all of its furnishings back to Babylon.  Jehoiakim’s brother, Zedekiah (Mattaniah), becomes king.  The Davidic line then passed through Zedekiah.

Consequences

This chapter really makes me think about life.  Here we clearly see how the arrogance of one’s leaders can bring down a society.  There were those who heard the words of the scroll favorably.  They just weren’t in power.  Jehoiakim was not favorable to the message and in spite of the pleading of a few righteous people he angered the Lord.  Because he did not humble himself before the Lord, he set a culture in Jerusalem that nobody needed to humble themselves.  It is true what they say, leadership dictates culture.  I think we would be wise to look at this dynamic when it comes to leaders of churches, denominations, state governments, and local governments.  I think this is even an important lesson to ponder for people who are considering marriage and family.  Leaders of a space – regardless of how big or small that space is – will always dictate the culture to be found within.

I would, however, also like to end on the consequences for Jeremiah and Baruch.  Here we see faithful leaders.  God found a way to protect them.  God put a buffer of friendly faithful people between them and Jehoiakim.  God hid them when the king searched for them.  The consequence for Jeremiah’s and Baruch’s faithfulness was favor in the sight of the Lord.

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