20 So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22 It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. 23 As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. 24 Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments. 25 Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.
27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take 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 concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘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 will cut off from it man and beast?” 30 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31 And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’”
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.

The first part of Jeremiah 36 provides the warning God delivered to his people through Jeremiah. And for a time, it looked as though this final appeal by God would be heeded. But the king, Jehoiakim, rejected it – and in the most dramatic way possible.

He cut it up with his knife and threw the lot into the fire. Thus the king finally turned his back on God, and the nation fell with him.

(Let that be a clear message to all of us as Christians that we must pray faithfully for our rulers and all who are in authority – see 1 Tim. 2.1,2.)

But what a terrible thing had happened! The only copy of a portion of holy Scripture, the words which God had given to Jeremiah from the beginning, had gone up in flames.

The work of a lifetime lay in ashes, but God’s purposes will not be frustrated.

God’s message would be fulfilled, as the story continues. And in the same way, God has promised that his words will be preserved forever (Psalm 12.6,7). Jesus said that heaven and earth would pass away, ‘but my words shall not pass away’ (Matt. 24.35).

No attempt to destroy the Word of God, however dramatic, could possibly succeed. Burn the scroll, torch the book — but the Word of God never fails, and remains forever.

And so Jeremiah and his faithful scribe Baruch sit down again in the prison. Maybe the king thought he had power to destroy the Word of the Lord. But God gave again ‘all the former words’ (v.28) – but more than that: he added many more words (v.32).

Trust God’s written Word fully – it will never fail.

Editor’s note: The above is taken from the ‘Daily Readings,’ printed weekly for the Dumbarton Free Sunday School by Tommy MacKay, elder. Each entry is edited lightly for the blog post.

Excerpt from Reading Notes Week 101, Wednesday. Copyright Tommy MacKay, used by permission.