Jeremiah 36:1-19

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we are at Jeremiah chapter 36. God's going to tell Jeremiah something to write. He's going to read it in a couple places, but tomorrow we'll find out what some people's reactions are to it. So let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and find out what in the world God has Jeremiah write.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the blessing it is to get to come to you, to hear from the book that you've given us, a book that reveals amazing things, tells us of things that are true that happened in the past. But Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit might help us understand why you've given this to us and know how we're supposed to live it in our lives. Help us, God, we pray in Jesus's name. Amen.
Jeremiah chapter 36, and we'll read the first 19 verses. Now it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Take a scroll of a book, and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. that it may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin."
Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Nariah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which he had spoken to him. And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am confined. I cannot go into the house of the Lord. You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written at my instruction, the words of the Lord in the hearing of the people in the Lord's house on the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities. It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people.
and Baruch, the son of Nariah, did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house. Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the chambers of Jeremiah the son of Sapphan the scribe, in the upper court at the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house, in the hearing of all the people.
When Micaiah, the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the book, he then went down to the king's house into the scribe's chamber, and there all the princes were sitting. Elishamah, the scribe, Deliah, the son of Shemiah, Elnathan, the son of Achbor, Jeremiah the son of Shefan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people. Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shalamiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read in the hearing of the people, and come. So Baruch, the son of Neriah, took the scroll in his hand and came to them. And they said to him, Sit down now and read it in our hearing. So Baruch read it in their hearing.
Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, that they looked in fear from one to another, and said to Baruch, We will surely tell the king all these words. And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, how did you write all these words? At his instruction? So Baruch answered them, He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book. Then the princess said to Baruch, go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.
Well, we need to ask ourselves our three questions. A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do?
Well, God tells Jeremiah, essentially, you're going to summarize everything that I've been telling you. Call the secretary, call Baruch, call your Immanuensis. You're stuck in jail. You can't do most of the stuff. You're going to write out what I've been Revealing to you and telling you all this time
But notice there's a purpose for it That it may Or it may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring on them that everyone may turn from his evil way and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin
and God isn't just saying all these things. Having Jeremiah speak them to Baruch and Baruch write them down on the scroll like a book, right? Well, it's not actually a book like we think of it. That's a codex. It wouldn't be developed until later. But the point is, that's going to come later. But God is right having Baruch write these things through the prophet Jeremiah's dictation so that the people might hear be cut to the heart and repent.
God has a purpose for all of this. And so Baruch goes and he reads it into the house of the Lord, just like Jeremiah told him to do. And there's important people in the palace. They hear about it. They run down. They say, hey, this guy is saying this stuff. So Baruch gets summoned over and he reads it all to them.
They say, how did you get this? And he says, well, Jeremiah said it all to me. And what's their advice? We've got to go tell the king about this, but you better go hide. You and Jeremiah, you better go find a safe place, because I don't think the king's going to like hearing that Jerusalem's going to be given over, that all these horrible things are about to happen.
And so they know how the king may respond to this. He started giving Jeremiah these prophecies during the time of Josiah, it said. And now the kings are wicked. Now things are bad. And now, how's the king going to treat them? not well and they know it. So we'll find out what happens to Jeremiah and Baruch as we get into tomorrow with the next section.
But we need to ask ourselves, okay, so we've summarized this, what it was about, Jeremiah speaking all the oracles that God had given him to Baruch, Baruch reading them in the temple, and then to the palace officials, and now he has to hide as they're about to take it to the king. So what's the best verse to summarize this? Well, I've already alluded to that. I think verse three is the best verse, maybe two and three, right? Cause this is a word that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah and against all the nations. And so that's kind of both the, what he's supposed to do and why God's having him do it. So I think two and three are good for that.
Let's go ahead and talk about C calling. What are we called to do? Well, I know for me, maybe this doesn't apply to everyone, but I'm a pastor. I preach. And it can be really easy. to downplay the hard things that God says. It can be really easy to just say the wonderful things that people like about God's love and about, you know, God wants your crops to prosper and we wanna sing the Psalms that seem to indicate that all things are gonna go well, but people often don't like to hear everything God has to say. I know there's sometimes I don't like to read things in God's Word because they smack me in the face. And yet do we take God's Word as God's Word? Do we listen? Do we hear it? It cuts the heart. And do we repent? Do you have a grief and hatred for your sin? Do you have the same type of hatred for your sin that God has for sin?
We love John 3.16. For John 3.16, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever should believe in Him might not perish but have everlasting life. And that's great. We love that part. But why did God send His Son? To die for my sins. God sent His only begotten Son because my sins were that odious, so noxious, so detestable, so deserving of condemnation and hell forever, that the only way to satisfy His justice would be for His Son to pay for my sins, to pay for your sins. So we come to the list of things about those who will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. We can talk about the adulterer. We can talk about the drunkard. We can talk about the swindler. We can talk about those given over to fits of rage. We can talk about the sexually immoral. We can talk about all sorts of greedy and covetousness and all that type of stuff that the New Testament points out as sin and we ought not to walk in the ways that lead unto destruction. And we may not like that. The world certainly doesn't like that and yet We cannot be ashamed of the gospel. A part of the gospel is that the wages of sin is death. So we ought not to be ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.
We are all under the curse, but thanks be to God if we take his word and we're cut to the heart His Holy Spirit can call us and change us and make us new. So that's what Jeremiah is doing. That's what God's doing. That's what He does in His Word. It's a wonderful thing. Do you listen? That though your sins may be as scarlet, you can be made as white as snow. For if we confess our sins with our mouths, He is faithful and He is just to forgive us all of our sins and cleanse us of all of our transgressions. Will you come and be washed in the blood of the Lamb? That's the question today. That's what you're called. God wrote the book. that we might repent, turn unto Him, and be saved.
God, we thank you so much for giving us your word. And Father, we pray that we might trust you, hold on to you, cling to you, and only you for our salvation. You are good, Lord. Your ways are perfect. Help us to walk in your ways. We pray that sin would become exceedingly sinful to us, and that we would have a grief and a hatred of our sin. Lord, we pray that it would be like vomit, that we would turn away and turn to you, for you are good. Help us, God, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Well, may the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus. And I'll see you next time, bye.