Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the
scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the
firepot (Jeremiah 36:23).
It was a fasting day
when many of the faithful would flock to the temple for worship and prayer, yet
Jeremiah had been barred from that sacred place. So Jeremiah instructed Baruch,
his secretary, to write down his prophecies on a scroll and then read them to
the people of Judah who had traveled to Jerusalem for the fast. This was likely
after the first exiles were transported to Babylon but prior to the taking of
the second group. People could still travel and there was probably little if
any Babylonian military presence [12].
Baruch complied with
Jeremiah’s instructions, but when palace officials heard him reading from the
scroll, they were alarmed, knowing they would have to report these events to
the king. Still, being sympathetic to Jeremiah, they sent both Baruch and the
prophet into hiding before making their report.
Seated before the
fire in his winter quarters, the king demanded the scroll be read in his
presence. As three or four columns were read, Jehoiakim took a knife and cut
that portion from the scroll and burned it in his firepot. By the time the
assistant was finished reading, the entire scroll had been burned to ashes.
It’s probably a good thing that neither Jeremiah nor Baruch were present –
could have been hazardous to their health.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
How do you respond to
Scripture that makes you uncomfortable? Wouldn’t it be a waste of time if it
never did?
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