Jehoiakim – Jeremiah 36:23
JEHOIAKIM
THE KING WHO CUT UP THE BIBLE
DATE: 5/4/2011 Wed.
TEXT: Jeremiah 36:23
INTRODUCTION
Ill. Oceanography owes a great debt to the books of Matthew Fontaine Maury. His discoveries have been of incalculable help to navigators of the high seas. It is interesting that Maury acknowledged his debt to the Bible for some of his scientific findings. One day when he was ill, his son read Psalm 8 to him. When the boy read the 8th verse, his father asked him to repeat it: “The birds of the air and fish of the sea, and all that swim the paths of the seas” When the boy had finished, the great scientist declared, “If there are paths in the sea, I am going to find them.”Today the great oceangoing vessels follow the paths marked out by Maury, who believed they were there because the Bible said they were.
I hope, that you have found that the Bible is Absolutely Trustworthy and Reliable
It is the one Book that has been proven to be true time and time again
It is the only book true from cover to cover
If it says there are “paths in the sea”, you can be certain there are “paths in the sea”
We don’t have to doubt its Reliability and Truthfulness
Yet, in spite of its Truthfulness and Reliability -
There are those who Question its Truths
There are those who Reject its Teachings
There are those who Deny it,
There are those who Denounce it, (and)
There are those who even try to Destroy it
¶As we continue getting better acquainted with people in the Bible,
I want us to get acquainted with a man by the name of Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim reigned for 11 years as the king of Judah
II Chronicles 36:5 speaks of him as someone who -
“did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God”
His original name was Eliakim, but was renamed Jehoiakim (yeh-ho-yaw-keem') by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt
He was a man whose life was marked by Covetousness and Self-indulgence
He was very Self-opinionated
He was guilty of many acts of Violence and Oppression
Among his various crimes, Jehoiakim is most remembered for is how he cut up the Word of God and threw it into the fire
Let's look at this story in Jeremiah 36 and get better acquainted with The King who cut up the Bible
~~~Prayer~~~
First, we see:
I. THE WORD OF GOD THAT WAS “REVEALED”
We read in vs. 1, 2 – “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,” “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 into this day”
God spoke to Jeremiah the prophet and instructed him to write out His Words (roll-scroll)
The Bible that we have today is the Word of God that has been put into written form
When we look at the scroll of Jeremiah, we are reminded of a couple of truths
First, it is an:
A. ‘Inspired’ Word – v.1
“that this Word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord”
Jeremiah heard God and then had his personal secretary Baruch (Baruk) write down the message he received from God
v.4 – “Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: (nay-ree-yaw') 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”
As Jeremiah dictated it, Baruch wrote the message down on a scroll putting it into written form
The message was put into written form by a man,
But the message Originated with God
It was a word that “came unto Jeremiah from the Lord”
God was the Author
Jeremiah was the Mouthpiece
Baruch was the Transcriber
Jeremiah simply dictated what God said,
And Baruch wrote what God had spoken
The Bible is a book –
Transcribed by human hands,
Translated by human instruments,
And Printed on Presses made by human beings
II Timothy 3:16 – “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
II Peter 1:21 – “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”
We must never forget that it is a book that Originated with God
Without a doubt in my heart,
I can boldly declare that the Bible is the Word of God
It is the Book that God as Authored
It is a book, yes, given through man,
But a Book Originating with God
As I read the OT, I see sections written by Moses and David, I see others written by Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah
As I read the NT, I see Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and many others as the human penmen …
But I know that this Book is in reality the writing of the Living God
Every Letter was penned with His Almighty finger;
Every Word is spoken from His Everlasting lips;
Every Sentence dictated by the Holy Spirit
When we read it pages, we hear God’s voice saying,
“This is My Book”
“These are My writings”
“I’m its Author”
Jeremiah's message was Inspired of God
It was The Word That Came From God
Our Bible is ‘Inspired’ of God
Furthermore, it is an:
B. ‘Informative’ Book – v.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”
We read in Jeremiah 36:2 that the message Jeremiah received was that which God spoke to Israel, Judah, and all nations
It was a word that was Revealing and Informative
The message Jeremiah received was one in which God was informing Israel of impending judgment
God was informing Judah and Israel that He was going to use Babylon as His agent of chastisement – v.29
The Bible is not only God's Revelation of Himself,
But is as well, His Revelation of His Will and Plans
Quote: R.G. Lee said: “It is a living Book and in reading it, we come into contact and communion with Him Who is Lord over all and blessed forever...The Book that unrolls the panorama of creation. The Book that gives the lofty imagery of the prophets. The Book that gives the portrait of Christ. The Book that gives the philosophy of salvation. The Book that gives the facts of sin and the fact of the Saviour. The Book that gives the truth of lost man and man redeemed. The Book that gives the fact of death as ‘the wages of sin.’ And The Book that gives the truth of eternal life as the "gift of God”
Just as God's Word to Jeremiah Informed those Israelites of coming judgment,
The Bible Informs us of sin that condemns and a Saviour that saves
It informs us of a hell to shun and a heaven to seek
It informs us of a God that is holy and what He Desires, Demands, and even Denounces
If you want to know what God thinks about a certain subject,
The Bible will tell you
If you want to know about God, (Himself)
The Bible will tell you about Him also
It is an ‘Inspired’ book and an ‘Informative’ book
Ill. I read about a collector of rare books that ran into an acquaintance of his who had just thrown away an old Bible that had been in his family for generations. He happened to mention Guten someone had printed it. The book collector gasped, “Not Gutenburg?” “Yes, that was the name.” “You idiot! You've thrown away one of the first books ever printed. A copy recently sold at an auction for $400,000.” The friend said, “Really? Mine would not have been worth that much. Some clown by the name of Martin Luther had scribbled all over it”
The worth of the Bible is not that a certain copy would sell for nearly a half million dollars,
But that it came from God and is His Revelation to man
The Word of God is –
A “REVEALING” WORD
Secondly, notice that in the case of Jehoiakim,
We see that:
II. THAT THE WORD OF GOD WAS “REJECTED”
Jeremiah not only had Baruch to write the message down,
But we read in vs. 5-8 that he also had him go to the Temple and deliver the message to the people
He does and the result is No repentance
One year and two months later, Jeremiah has Baruch go and read the message again
This time we read in vs. 11-13 a young man named Michaiah (me-kaw-yeh-hoo') who heard the message, rushed to the king’s house and informed the princes what he had heard
They sent Jehudi (yeh-hoo-dee') in v.14 to bring Baruch to them
And then in vs. 15-19 they had him read the message so they could hear it for themselves
Finally they told Jehoiakim in vs. 20, 21 of the message and he had them bring him the scroll and read it to him
Now notice Jehoiakim's reaction when he hears the Words of the Lord
First, we see:
A. The ‘Destroying’ of the Message
We read in vs. 22, 23 - “Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him”
“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”
It was during the ninth month (Dec.), so it was chilly
Jehoiakim was sitting next to a nice warm fire
I can imagine him sitting in a chair with his feet propped up, a bowl of popcorn on his lap and a big glass of tea in his hand
He sits there gazing into the fire listening to every word
As Jehudi unrolled the scroll and read three or four leaves (columns), Jehoiakim did a strange thing – v.23
He pulled out his knife and cuts sections off the scroll and throws them into the fire
Jehudi read a little more and Jehoiakim cut another section off and throws that into the fire
He did this until he had cut up the whole scroll and burned it
Truth: I am reminded that people have been cutting out and burning portions of the Bible for centuries
Sections, such as the story of Jonah, are dismissed as a fable
The creation account is regarded as myth
The virgin birth is dismissed as unscientific and the resurrection as an impossibility
Jehoiakim is not alone when it comes to trying to destroy the Bible
Centuries after century men have tried to burn and bury it
Crusade after crusade had been organized to remove it
Kings of the earth have set themselves against it
Even rulers of the church have took counsel together to destroy it from off the face of the earth
Psalm 2
Ill. Diocletian, the Roman Emperor in 303 inaugurated the most terrific onslaught that the world has ever known upon the Book. Every Bible possible was destroyed, myriads of Christians perished, and a column of triumph was erected over an exterminated Bible with the inscription: "Extincto nomine Christianorum" (the name of the Christians has been extinguished)
Like Jehoiakim, many have cut up the Bible and threw into the fire seeking to destroy it
But it cannot be destroyed
Jehoiakim tried to ‘Destroy’ the Message
Now let me ask the questions,
Why did Jehoiakim cut up the Word of God and throw it into the fire?
Why did he try to destroy the message of God?
We see that it was:
B. A Message he ‘Disliked’
It was not a message that he appreciated or accepted
It was not what he wanted to hear
He disliked and detested what he heard
What the Bible says is not always appreciated and accepted
There are times that the message of the Bible is offensive
The Bible's teaching on hell is unpopular with some
It is reasoned, how can a God of love send people to hell?
The truth that the remission of sins can only come through the shedding of blood is scorned by some
They call it a bloody religion that is only proclaimed and propagated by unlearned and ignorant men
The Bible's teaching that salvation is only in Jesus Christ is considered narrow-minded and bigoted
Everybody has their own god and regardless of whom we believe in, we are going to same place
After all, we are all the children of God
The thought of judgment, eternal wrath, and punishment is rejected by so many
Again, how could ‘a God of love’ punish anyone?
The Bible is clear and to the point about sin
In our political correct society, telling people that the Bible says homosexuality and abortion is a sin is a “no-no”
Ill. A few years ago when the Southern Baptist Convention acknowledged that the Bible speaks of a wife being submissive to her husband and that the role in life for a woman is different from that of a man, the women's lib groups almost had a coronary and the liberals nearly choked
Like Jehoiakim, many dislike what God says in His Word
Many detest the truth of the Bible
Many dislike its teachings
It is a message that is often rejected by those who hear it
THE WORD OF GOD “REVEALED”
THE WORD OF GOD “REJECTED”
Lastly, notice that:
III. THE WORD OF GOD WAS “REPEATED”
Jehoiakim thought by cutting up and burning the message of God it would be nullified
But oh, how wrong he was
We read in vs. 27, 28 – “Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,” “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 had burned”