CONFRONTED BY GOD'S WORD (BIBLE PASSAGE: JEREMIAH 36: 1-32)

 

WHEN CONFRONTED BY GOD’S WORD…

BIBLE PASSAGE: JEREMIAH 36: 1-32

Picture taken from Google

Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page

Lesson ideas taken from: https://www.ssbc.org/sermons/burning-scrolls

OCTOBER 10, 2021

 

MEMORY VERSE

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

ISAIAH 40:8

 INTRODUCTION:

What would be your feeling when your children don’t follow the spiritual path that you have started for the family? (Ask for audience response)  

In the passage that we have read, we have seen that it’s all about the king of Judah named Jehoiakim. Who is this king? He was an evil king according to the book of 2 Kings 23:37. Who is his father? His father is King Josiah. Are you familiar with the king’s name? Yes, He is familiar but before we continue we’ll just have a short recall of King Josiah. The Hebrew Bible states that the priest Hilkiah found a "Book of the Law" in the temple during the early stages of Josiah's temple renovation. Hilkiah then gave the scroll to his secretary Shaphan, who took it to King Josiah. According to the Bible, King Josiah then changed his form of leadership entirely, entering into a new form of covenant with the Lord. He wiped out all of the pagan cults that had formed within his land. He, along with his people, then entered into this new covenant with the Lord to keep the commandments of the Lord. Let’s put our attention to the response of the king when confronted by God’s word. Let’s read 2 Kings 22:11 -12, “And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying, Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.” And He set a
“Day of Repentance.” In verses 1-3 of chapter 23 say, “And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.”  In this chapter he did great things to obey the Lord according to the Scripture they had found: He asked to take all the idols in every places and burned, he broke down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove and the high priests of the high places were not allowed to come up to the altar of the Lord. In verse 25, “And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.” His reign stopped when the Egyptians attacked some part of Assyria under the reign of the king of Egypt, Pharaoh Necho; King Josiah was killed.

Josiah’s successor was his son Jehoahaz and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, (2 Kings 23:32). He reigned only three months. In verse 34 says, “And Pharaoh nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.”

The successor of King Josiah, his son Jehoahaz, though he reigned only three months, he did evil in God’s sight in a span of three months. Now we go to the next, his another son named Jehoiakim. Our lesson for today focuses on the second successor, ELiakim or Jehoiakim. Did King Jehoiakim followed his father’s footsteps? No, based from we have read that when the scripture was read in front of him, he cut with his penknife and burned it. Let’s read Jeremiah 36:23, “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.” We have seen from the Bible how the two kings responded when they were confronted by God’s Word. The father repented and humbled before the Lord and his son was different. Let’s open it in Jeremiah 36: 24-26 and follow me; I’ll read in Tagalog.

Gayunman, hindi natakot o nagpamalas ng anumang tanda ng pagsisi ang hari, ni sinuman sa mga pinuno niya. Bagamat nakiusap sa hari sina Elnatan, Delaya at Gemarias, na huwag sunugin ang kasulatan, sila’y hindi pinansin. Pagkatapos, inuutos niya kay Prinsipe Jeremeel na isama si Azriel na anak ni Seraya at si Abdeel na anak ni Selemias, upang dakpin si Propeta Jeremias at ang kalihim nitong si Baruc. Subalit sila’y ikinubli ni Yahweh.

The two kings responded differently. Why the son, King Jehoiakim responded this way upon hearing God’s Word?

LESSON OUTLINE:

1.  THE BIBLE CONDEMNED HIS LIFESTYLE (JEREMIAH 22: 13-16)

Remember King Josiah during the preparations in repairing the temple? I know most of us here know the background of this king. In 2 Kings 22: 3 – 7,

 

³ And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying, ⁴ Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: ⁵ And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house, ⁶ Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. ⁷ Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully.

 

King Jehoiakim’s priority was not spiritual. Let’s read Jeremiah 22: 13-16. His priority was to build a lavish palace for himself. Not like his father, he did force labor. He made decisions not according to God’s will, he made alliance to the King of Egypt. He became under the authority of this king. He also imposed taxes to God’s people in order to give to the King of Egypt.

We can see here that without God, decisions, priorities are wrongs, right? I remember when I was young and I had feelings before that even though I’m a Christian I didn’t belong to a group or circle of Christian friends. I felt out of place; why? If you remember Young People before, correct me if I’m wrong, there were different cliques. There were just like social Christian friends and low class. They didn’t do it intentionally; it was like normal. One time I needed to ask something important to one of the young people. I went to their house and said, “Puwede po makausap si _____.” The woman told me who is also a Christian, “Tingnan ko ha kung kakausapin ka ha.” That moment made me to think, “why?” It’s because I didn’t play a major role in the church? When I got home, I prayed to feel better; I just ignored and continue serving. Remember our lifestyles speak a lot and we need to be careful; it’s our testimony. There’s should have a difference between a Christian and not. Before, some were proud to say I didn’t go to church because we had an event here or there. I know there are some we think valid reasons but being proud about it and it’s not a big deal anymore, BE CAREFUL! We always hear from our pastor that whatever we do without God in it, it won’t be successful.

 

Another bad decision King Jehoiakim made was when he made an alliance to the king of Egypt instead of following the prophet’s warnings & commands. Follow in Jeremiah 2:36; I’ll read in Tagalog, “Bakit kay dali mong magpalit ng kaibigan? Bibiguin ka ng Egipto, iiwan mo siyang taglay ang pagkapahiya. Sapagkat itinakwil ni Yahweh ang iyong pinagkakatiwalaan, at hindi ka nila mabibigyan ng tagumpay.” Wow! What can you say in these verses? Do we have something or someone we put our trust or lean on? One of the young people told me before during the team building that one of the greatest fear that she had was “losing their resources” she answered that way because they are in the middle class. That’s true, that the common fear of people but the scripture reminds us to TRUST HIM. WE may lose our resources but the GREATEST SOURCE is GOD.

2.  GOD’S WORD EXPOSED HIS SINS (JEREMIAH 22:17)

But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

In Jeremiah 26:20-23, prophet Urijah was killed in the command of King Jehoiakim. Like Jeremiah, he prophesied in the name of the Lord. When the king heard it, he sought him to put him to death. He escaped and went to Egypt but the king sent men to Egypt and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.

 

In Jeremiah 36: 23 says, “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.”

 

What lesson we could get from this attitude of the king? Imagine a member walks out from the congregation because he thinks that the sermon is intended for him only. Are there parts of the scripture you want to avoid?  I have read a testimony of a man who had hidden sins and he said every time he was reminded by the sermon, he just kept quiet and no had no response at all. Also he didn’t choose verses that might remind him of his sins; he became selective. So you see, sometimes we think that God’s Word controls our privacy. Sin leads you to separate from spiritual matters because you are always reminded, right? So before we come to that point, include in prayer that we would not ignore the warnings of God; be attentive and listen carefully. Also, when we are confronted by God’s Word, we’ll have the right response.  

 

3.  GOD’S WORD ANNOUNCED HIS FUTURE JUDGEMENT (JEREMIAH 22:18-19).

¹⁸ Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!

¹⁹ He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

Sometimes we fight God’s Word; we whisper “That won’t happen to me” especially if we are stable in our job, our resources are good, relationship are quite okay and everything goes smoothly. There are no reasons that these things we hold on would not go beyond our control. We’re wrong because the evidences are clear, beside God’s Word, the pandemic is a strong evidence that we can’t control our lives. We have seen lot of interviews of famous artist who have been suffering from depression because they can’t imagine that the work they’ve trusted are temporarily closed. It’s already two years but the others jobs like bars and other entertainment companies are still not open until now.  

There are lot of warnings from the word of God for example in Malachi 3:10-11 if you give your tithes, God will rebuke the devourer but if you don’t, of course that’s the opposite outcome. Another in Psalms 1:1-4, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful ² But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.” These are just two examples and there are a lot more. May this lesson point make us aware of the warnings from the Bible and be attentive.

CONCLUSION:

Let’s read Jeremiah 36:1-2, “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 unto this day. 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.”

We can see that the word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord and asked him to write the words to the people of Judah that they might return from their evils ways and God will forgive them; God gave chances. Because Jeremiah was shut up from the temple, he asked Baruch helped to proclaimed it to the people in the temple. We have read previously that the scrolls were burned in the fireplace by king Jehoiakim. After burning the scrolls, in verses 27-28, then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah and asked him to take another scroll and rewrite again. What’s your feeling when you are asked to write again? Is it tiring or wearisome? Jeremiah didn’t mention any complain but he also reached the point of saying to God all his concerns and sufferings. It is mentioned in Jeremiah chapter 20. He suffered greatly in the hand of Pashur, the son of Imer the priest, the governor in the house of the Lord. When he heard Jeremiah prophesied, smote him, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord. In verses 7 – 10, he told God all the things he suffered from proclaiming His Word to the people. Did Jeremiah get weary or intimidate in carrying God’s Word? Did he stop? In verse 9 says, “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” Therefore, to all pastors and preachers don’t stop proclaiming and also to all of us, don’t stop sharing the Gospel.

If we have questions in mind how the word of the Lord, the Scripture, came to us, one of the good answers was when God spoke to Jeremiah and wrote the things God has spoken. Remember the scrolls were burned but it won’t stop there, the scrolls were rewritten. Eugene Peterson said, “Scripture can be burned but God’s Word cannot be destroyed. It’s been burned many times but no one has yet successfully suppressed.” Bible says in Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” God’s Word will prevail.