We’re picking up the story a couple of years later, during the reign of King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son.
1. This is actually probably WHY the book of Jeremiah exists–because God told Jeremiah to write the message down. His message is clear. Doom is coming to Judah for their sins, but there will be hope later on down the road.
2. It’s amazing that the Judahites knew what was coming and still didn’t do anything about it. Then again, aren’t there places in your life (I know mine) where you know the consequences but just don’t seem to care about that in light of your immediate desires?
3. Also, notice that God is ready to forgive them, in spite of their bad attitudes.
4. So Baruch did all the writing. He is a scribe. If I’m not mistaken, Baruch is also a book in the Catholic Bible. I grew up Catholic, and that rings a bell in my head.
5. And Baruch thought he was just a secretary. Nope. Jeremiah had already said that things that put him at odds with the powers that be at the temple, so Baruch was going to go and read Jeremiah’s message. Uh oh…
6. Can we even imagine how angry God probably was?
7. Baruch went and declares this solemn fast. Now let’s see how the Judahites received the message…
8. Micaiah heard the message and went to the big religious leaders. They summoned Baruch to read it to them. Uh oh… And they said that the message needed to go straight to the king. Uh oh… There first word of advice to Baruch: you two better hide. Uh oh…
9. The king burned the scroll when he got it. So…I’m guessing that that’s going to be a “no” to the idea of declaring a fast? Uh oh… And now a warrant was issued for the arrest of Baruch and Jeremiah. But God hid them. Whew.
10. God had Jeremiah write another scroll. This one would basically say, “You burned the scroll. Nebuchadnezzar is going to burn Jerusalem. And I’m going to burn out your family.” How’s that for symbolism! Then again, it was all Jehoiakim’s dumb fault for burning the scroll.
I guess we have a glimse of the “we don’t need God” attitude of the Judahites during this time. It’s sad, too, because Jehoiakim’s dad was a good man. Things are not going to be cool…
Just because you ignore the truth, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.
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Baruch is not a book in the Hebrew Bible, but it is a book in the Greek Bible.
You say that “Just because you ignore the truth, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.” There is a movie (The Santa Clause) that says something about “Have you ever seen a million dollars?” “No” “Just because you’ve never seen it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.” Granted, it was a little boy trying to explain that Santa Clause exists, but it really does apply Biblically, too. Just because we have never seen Jesus does not mean that he does not exist. When I saw that part in the movie, it honestly put God in a different perspective for me. I am one of those people who like black and white. I dislike grey areas. I like hard facts (and thus the “research”) so sometimes, reading the Bible is difficult for me and I have to remind my self of that line. It is amazing how a simple dialog in a kid’s movie can have a profound impact on my beliefs and in my life. Then again, it was a CHRISTmas movie…:)
I am, without a doubt, just as guilty as the king. I try to do as I know I should, but sometimes it is easier to ignore what I should do and instead do what I want to do. And then in the evening when I read my Bible, it is like reading yet another scroll…Lucky for me, God is persistent!
Comment by miloisis September 22, 2007 @ 8:10 pmHe he he…yeah, but it was about Satan Claus…woops…I mean Santa Claus.
He he he…I’ve never thought of that parallel between the king reading the scroll and us reading the Bible. Good call. Huge application.
Comment by supermannino September 23, 2007 @ 5:16 pm