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Prophets and Kings
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.”
Jeremiah 36:30, 31
.
The burning of the roll was not the end of the matter. The written
words were more easily disposed of than the reproof and warning
they contained and the swift-coming punishment God had pronounced
against rebellious Israel. But even the written roll was reproduced.
“Take thee again another roll,” the Lord commanded His servant,
“and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which
Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.” The record of the prophecies
concerning Judah and Jerusalem had been reduced to ashes; but the
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words were still living in the heart of Jeremiah, “as a burning fire,” and
the prophet was permitted to reproduce that which the wrath of man
would fain have destroyed.
Taking another roll, Jeremiah gave it to Baruch, “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.”
Verses 28, 32
. The wrath of man had
sought to prevent the labors of the prophet of God; but the very means
by which Jehoiakim had endeavored to limit the influence of the ser-
vant of Jehovah, gave further opportunity for making plain the divine
requirements.
The spirit of opposition to reproof, that led to the persecution and
imprisonment of Jeremiah, exists today. Many refuse to heed repeated
warnings, preferring rather to listen to false teachers who flatter their
vanity and overlook their evil-doing. In the day of trouble such will
have no sure refuge, no help from heaven. God’s chosen servants
should meet with courage and patience the trials and sufferings that
befall them through reproach, neglect, and misrepresentation. They
should continue to discharge faithfully the work God has given them
to do, ever remembering that the prophets of old and the Saviour of
mankind and His apostles also endured abuse and persecution for the
Word’s sake.
It was God’s purpose that Jehoiakim should heed the counsels of
Jeremiah and thus win favor in the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar and save
himself much sorrow. The youthful king had sworn allegiance to the
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Babylonian ruler, and had he remained true to his promise he would