CHAPTER 35

1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

Before we continue with this chapter, it is necessary that we realize the writer has stepped back in time. In the previous chapter, Jeremiah recieved a "word" from God for Zedekiah. This "word" (in Chapter 35) was received during the reign of Jehoiakim, who was Zedekiah's predecessor.

2 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. 3 Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; 4 And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door: 5 And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine. 6 But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever: 7 Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers. 8 Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; 9 Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed: 10 But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.

Jeremiah was to take a "test" to the Rechabites. He was to bring them to the house of the Lord, and see if they would take wine if he offered it to them.

This was no ordinary temptation! If any other man had offered them wine, it would have been quite simple for them to refuse. But they were being offered wine from the hand of a man that they revered as a prophet of God!

Notice that they STILL refused! May I say that it is good for ANY man to do the SAME!

"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." (Proverbs 20:1)

They had been told NOT to drink wine. They had received that "word" from Jonadab, son of Rechab, also a revered prophet. They had also been told to remain in their own land and be faithful. However, Nebuchadrezzar had already invaded their land, and they came to Jerusalem for safety.

12 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, 13 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD. 14 The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me. 15 I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me. 16 Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me: 17 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

The temptation of the Rechabites, and their refusal was a lesson God wanted Jeremiah to convey to the people of Judah.

The lesson was that God had commanded through his prophet, and the Rechabites had OBEYED! God had also very often commanded through His prophets for the people of Judah to REPENT (verse 15). But the people would not LISTEN and be OBEDIENT as the Rechabites had done.

Therefore (verse 17), God would indeed bring the ruin and captivity of Judah just as He had promised.

When people claim to be God's people, the "test" is OBEDIENCE! And when God's people dabble in sin, He ALWAYS calls for REPENTANCE!

The Bible says that exhibition of repentance is required in order for sins to be forgiven (Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3, 2Corinthians 7:10, 2Peter 3:9)

Repentance is not a "work" that Christians do in order to receive God's blessings. Repentance is a condition of the heart that keeps the saved sinner OBEDIENT to God's Word and will. This continual condition of the heart keeps the "door open" for God's grace and blessings, even though we are still sinners after salvation.

18 And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: 19 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

God CLOSED the door of blessings and brought DISCIPLINE upon the people of Judah because they did not exhibit repentance and obedience to His Word.

God kept the door OPEN for the Rechabites to receive blessings because of their obedience! He promised there would always be men of that family who would be intercessors with God.

God did NOT promise the Rechabites that they would be kept from difficulty. But He did promise they would always have someone to lead them in a genuine personal relationship with Him.

CHAPTER 36

1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day. 3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. 4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book. 5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the LORD: 6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD's house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. 7 It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people. 8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD's house.

Historically, we are still in the reign of Jehoiakim. And God is STILL saying that He wants the people to REPENT!

God told Jeremiah to write down all the "words" that he had been given. His desire was that the "words" might be HEARD and OBEYED (verse 3).

Jeremiah was in prison, so he called for Baruch his attendant and scribe. Baruch wrote down all that Jeremiah dictated. Then Baruch read aloud the "words" in the temple on a special "fasting day" (verse 6) when all the people would be gathered for worship.

10 Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house, in the ears of all the people. 11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the LORD, 12 Then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber: and, lo, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. 13 Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people. 14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them. 15 And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears. 16 Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words. 17 And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth? 18 Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. 19 Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.

A specific "fast" was called in the "fifth year of Jehoiakim" (verse 9). At this fast, Baruch showed up with the scroll upon which he had written all the "words" God had given Jeremiah. And he READ that scroll to the people in the temple.

Michaiah had been faithful and in attendance when Baruch read the scroll (verse 11). Some of the other leaders had NOT been faithful and in attendance (verse 12). But Michaiah was so touched by the Lord upon hearing the "words," that he went to where all the other leaders were and TOLD them!

OH! That God's people would do the SAME today! Oh! That God's people would be "touched" by the "word" of salvation and judgment and SHARE the Gospel with others!

When Michaiah told the others, they wanted to hear it themselves. That's what hearing ABOUT the Gospel does to people -- it makes them want to hear it straight from the "Word" of God!

So Baruch went and read it to all the leaders. Notice that Baruch did not chastise the leaders for not being faithful. He did not tell them of their disobedience to God and talk about their attitude of self-sufficiency. Baruch simply READ THE WORD! God did the rest!

Friends, all the "finger-pointing" and accusational tones Christians use will not draw one lost sinner close to God, and will not draw one saved sinner closer to God! Only God's WORD and His SPIRIT can accomplish that. Our duty is not to be "finger-pointers" but to be "WORD READERS!"

When the leaders heard the "words" from God, they realized conviction, and were concerned for the safety of Baruch and Jeremiah. But they were also concerned enough about the TRUTH, that they determined to go to the king and TELL him of those "words" from God!!

20 And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.

When they TOLD the king of the "words," he also wanted to hear it from the scrolls. So they went and got the scroll and began to READ it to him aloud.

22 Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. 23 And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. 24 Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. 25 Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them. 26 But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.

Here we have a more decisive date given. It was the "ninth month," therefore it was December of 604BC.

The king was sitting in his "winterhouse," by the fire. When the scroll was read, the king took his knife and cut out that portion which was read and tossed it in the fire!

There was certainly no REPENTANCE in the king! In fact, there was no "fear" (or reverence for God) in the king's heart (verse 24).

Even among the pleading of the leaders to NOT burn the scroll, the king was so hard-hearted that he continued to burn it anyway (verse 25)

Here was a man who was not convicted by God's Word and His Spirit which accompanies the Word. This man's heart was truly COLD!

After he had burned the scroll, the king wanted to find Baruch and Jeremiah to do them harm. But the Bible says that God "hid them" (verse 26).

Friends, when God's people stand up to do what is right, according to His will, God will PROTECT them!

27 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. 29 And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? 30 Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. 31 And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not. 32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.

Jeremiah is instructed to dictate AGAIN the "words" for Baruch to write down (verses 27-28).

He was also to send a message to king Jehoiakim. The message was to ask the king WHY he had such scorn for God's WORD!

And BECAUSE the king scorned God's Word, all the king's descendents (heirs to the throne) would be destroyed.

Jehoiakim could burn the written Word of God, but he certainly would see that God's POWER through His Word was still in force. Just as Jeremiah prophesied, Jehoiakim was led away captive (see 2Kings 24:1-2, and 2Chronicles 36:4-6).

People may scorn the written Word of God today. But God's power to establish the universe is in His WORD. God's power to END time and cause all men to face judgment is in His WORD! Man cannot escape the judgment of God by destroying the written Word.

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.