Jeremiah 36

Jeremiah 36:1

3. King Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll of Jeremiah (Chap. 36)36:1-10 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the Lord commanded Jeremiah to write down all the prophecies which he had delivered; these were dictated to Baruch and read by him publicly at the temple a year later. No explanation is given why Jeremiah was prevented from going. He was not imprisoned at this time, but was certainly a hunted man. 36:11-19 When Michaiah . . . heard the prophecies, he reported immediately to the princes. They in turn called for Baruch and asked him to read the prophecies to them. Then they told Baruch that he and Jeremiah should go and hide and let no one know where they were. 36:20-26 When the princes reported the matter to the king (Jehoiakim) at court, he sent for the scroll. As Jehudi read to him, the king cut off portions of the scroll (God’s Word) and threw them into the fire, a perfect picture of what liberals and rationalists have been doing with the Word of God ever since. Eventually, all the scroll was consumed, although against the protests of three of the princes. The king looked for Baruch . . . and Jeremiah . . . , but the LORD hid them. 36:27-32 After the king had burned the scroll, Jeremiah rewrote the prophecies, adding an appropriate section concerning the fearful doom of Jehoiakim! The fact that Jehoiachin was Jehoiakim’s son and his successor (2Ki_24:6) seems to invalidate the curse of verse 30a. The usual explanation is that Jehoiachin reigned for only three months, not long enough to be of significance.