SCRIPTURE:
"The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi brought it from Elishama’s room and read it to the king as all his officials stood by.
Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king took a knife and cut off that section of the scroll. He then threw it into the fire, section by section, until the whole scroll was burned up.
Neither the king nor his attendants showed any signs of fear or repentance at what they heard."
Jeremiah 36:21, 23-24
OBSERVATION:
Jeremiah obediently prophesied against Judah, from the reign of King Josiah, and now under the rule of King Jehoiakim, who "did evil in the presence of the LORD."
This time, four years into Jehoiakim's reign, the LORD instructed Jeremiah to record all the prophecies, the sermons against Judah, Jerusalem, and the people...all of them, on a scroll, to be read in the temple.
That must've been some scroll!
But skimming back, I've seen that the messages time and time again, had the same basic foundations; repent, stop sinning, turn away from false gods, and turn your hearts back to God. Or else...
Twenty plus years of prophetic messages from the LORD, through Jeremiah, to Judah and Israel. When Baruch, who diligently transcribed all that Jeremiah recalled, read these messages back, the officials were alarmed, and wanted the King to hear them too.
What did the King do when Jehudi read the scroll to him? Did he tear his robes, put on sackcloth, bow down low and repent before God?
No. He cut and burned each section as it were being read.
It was as though he thought that cut and burn would mean the end of it...out of sight, out of mind, never to be dealt with again. Here's the clincher; neither the King, nor any of the leaders, showed ANY sign of fear, nor repentance for this. Zero.
Oh, what a mistake, and what consequences to come; not just for the king, but for all of Judah.
APPLICATION:
While it's easy for me to be shocked and wave a convicting finger at this story and say, "shame on you!"...how many times do I hear a convicting word from my time in God’s word, and in my mind and heart "cut and burn" it, thinking that I'm exempt.
God's law is complete and holistic; there are no "worse sins" than any other. We are all guilty with no excuse.
But isn't it true that we ourselves do a "cut and burn"; not necessarily physically, but we tend to think that certain parts of Scripture are for "those people" and someway, somehow, it won't apply to me...
...How foolish of us, and how we pay the price of disobedience in the consequences! We are hurt BY our sins, not because of them.
God's law has no edit feature. Jesus Christ stands as our advocate in our sinfulness, and it is ONLY by His grace that we stand, redeemed, restored and ready for His good work.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, may I learn from the foolishness and lack of fear of the kings of the past.
Forgive my foolish times where I try to ignore the parts of Your word that challenge me. Amen.
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