Jeremiah;- The stubborn king (ch36), page 1

“In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah” (Jeremiah ch36 v1).

These chapter-heading clues suggest that Jeremiah’s public activity in Jehoiakim’s time was concentrated in the earliest part of his reign. He had been reaching in the temple precincts from time to time, and in ch26 he nearly got lynched there. However, he had now been banned from going to the house of the Lord. His enemies among the priesthood were in control.

Jeremiah now received command from the Lord to record on one scroll “all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today” (v2). He fulfilled this command by dictating the words to Baruch. He then instructed Baruch to read aloud the entire scroll in the house of the Lord on a fast day. The fast day would bring people to the temple, so that the words would be heard by all the people and “all the men of Judah who come out of their cities”.

Baruch found no opportunity to do this until the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim. Even then, he compromised a little. Instead of giving his public reading in the open court of the temple, he went to the chamber assigned to Gemariah the son of Shaphan and read it in the hearing of “all the people” assembled there. The family of Shaphan were faithful supporters of the reform movement and helped Jeremiah on other occasions.

Gemariah himself was not present during the reading, but he had a son, Micaiah, who was listening avidly. Finally Micaiah went down to the secretary’s chamber in the king’s house, where his father and the other “princes” (or senior civil servants) were sitting at their work. When they heard his report, they sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah to say to Baruch “Take in your hand the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come”. This must have been a nervous moment for Baruch. For all he knew, he might have been facing arrest and interrogation or worse.

In fact these princes, who feared their God as well as their king, were not at all sure what they were going to do. They made Baruch read the scroll again, all the way through. Then they “turned to one another in fear”, and said to Baruch “We must report all these words to the king”. What they feared, I believe, was the danger to the kingdom and to themselves if the warnings of the Lord were ignored. They questioned him again about the way the scroll came to be written; a confirmation that all the words had been dictated by Jeremiah would make it more probable that they truly came from God. They told Baruch that he and Jeremiah should go into hiding in case the king took the report the wrong way. After which, they went down the corridor, as it were, to the chamber in the “winter house” where the king was sitting. They prudently left the scroll itself behind. Once the king heard their story, though, he sent Jehudi to fetch it.

It was an extraordinary scene. The king was sitting close to the fire burning in a brazier, holding a pen-knife in his hand. All the princes were standing around him (nobody sits in the presence of the king, except another king). Jehudi was made to read out what was written on the scroll, unrolling it and reading three or four columns at a time. As he read each portion, the king would take the scroll and cut out that section, throwing it onto the fire. It would have been quicker just to burn the whole scroll forthwith, but the king evidently wanted to hear the message which he was rejecting.
Otherwise he showed no sign of interest. He ignored the protests of the men who had brought the message to his attention. He and his immediate servants were not moved by the Lord’s rebukes, and did not “rend their garments” as a sign of remorse. Indeed, he sent officers to arrest both Baruch and Jeremiah, but they were already well-hidden.

The information on the scroll was not lost. We are told twice (vv27-28 and v32) that Jeremiah got all the prophecies written out again on a new scroll. Apart from the prophecies which the Lord preserved in Jeremiah’s memory, it’s possible that many of them had already been recorded on individual scrolls.

Many similar words were added (v32), which may refer to the fresh prophecy addressed to Jehoiakim about the act of burning the first scroll (vv29-31). “He shall have [no descendants] to sit on the throne of David”, and his body would be cast out into the open air instead being buried decently as any Israelites expected. The warning about the treatment of his body had already been given in ch22 vv18-19. The punishment would extend to his offspring and servants and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah.

We can see this prophecy as being fulfilled by the final siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. In effect, this chapter, or at least the attitude illustrated by this chapter (the blatant unwillingness to hear the Lord) is the reason why Jerusalem was allowed to fall to the Babylonians. That would explain why this chapter and the Rechabite chapter (which makes the same point) are interrupting the story of the final siege. They are an explanatory flashback.

It does not appear that Jeremiah spoke publicly again as along as Jehoiakim was alive. He seems to have gone “underground” for the rest of the reign, judging by the chronological notes that remain.