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 scornful2 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.
