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©Michael Player

Chapter 36:1-19 (ESV)

Posted on October 12, 2024  - By Chris LaBelle  

Chapter 36:1-19 (ESV) - In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD that he had spoken to him. And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, “I am banned from going to the house of the LORD, so you are to go, and on a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the LORD's house you shall read the words of the LORD from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. It may be that their plea for mercy will come before the LORD, and that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the LORD has pronounced against this people.” And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the LORD in the LORD's house.

In the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the LORD. Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD's house.

When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll, he went down to the king's house, into the secretary's chamber, and all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials. And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you 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. And they said to him, “Sit down and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, while I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”

Question to consider: Why do you think Jeremiah was banned from the assembly?

There’s something to be said about seeing things written down rather than just hearing a message. If you have ever read the transcript to a speech after listening to it, you may have noticed that it captures your attention in a different way. Also, many of the oracles given to Jeremiah were done in poetic format so that people could memorize them and recite them while exiled in Babylon.

Jeremiah had Baruch write down the words the LORD gave to him and deliver them to the people because at this point, Jeremiah was banned from speaking in the assembly. A corporate fast was called during the fifth year of Jehoiakim’s reign which would have been around 605 BC when Babylon had started capturing people along the countryside of Judah (Daniel would have been among them).

The people gathered in Jerusalem for the fast in order to plead with the LORD for mercy to protect the city from Babylon. Imagine if you were among the people who had been given a steady diet of assurances from the false prophets that the LORD loved Judah and would protect the people only to find out that one town after another was surrendering to Nebuchadnezzar. So you organized a fast thinking that the LORD might take mercy on Jerusalem if you did so even though the fast was not called by king Jehoiakim nor included him.

Think about how you would feel about crying out to the LORD in mercy and then being interrupted by the voice of Baruch reading the judgments of the LORD that were coming upon Jerusalem. The mere fact that they were written down and read at that moment would have given them a shocking realization that the LORD knew this assembly would happen and had a message prepared for them.

It is not a surprise that it concerned some in the assembly enough that they would have Baruch read the words again to those who directly consulted the king. When they realized that Jeremiah dictated all these words to Baruch who wrote them down ahead of their assembly, they must have known that these were indeed the words of the LORD. This put Jeremiah and Baruch in a dangerous situation, for those among the false prophets would surely seek to kill them and suppress their message. 

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, we pray that You protect those who are willing to speak the truth of Your word even when there are those who desperately want to shut down the message. Please protect us from harm in doing so and let the purity of the Gospel defeat the strongholds of the enemy in our culture and beyond. Amen.