God’s Word of Judgment is for Repentance

Jeremiah 36:1-19

1 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: 2 "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. 3 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."

4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; 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. 5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, "I am confined, I cannot go into the house of the LORD. 6 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. 7 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." 8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the LORD in the LORD's house.

9 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. 10 Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan 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.

11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the book, 12 he then went down to the king's house, into the scribe's chamber; and there all the princes were sitting—Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. 13 Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people. 14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, 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. 15 And they said to him, "Sit down now, and read it in our hearing." So Baruch read it in their hearing.

16 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 of all these words." 17 And they asked Baruch, saying, "Tell us now, how did you write all these words—at his instruction?"

18 So Baruch answered them, "He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book."

19 Then the princes said to Baruch, "Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are."

The words which God spoke to Jeremiah were against all who had sinned against Him, of Israel, Judah, and all the nations.  God’s word of judgment is for repentance to all, not condemnation (2 Peter 3:9, John 3:17).  Jeremiah was faithful to risk his life in faithfully speaking those words and having them transcribed in case something happen to him and for permanency of the conversation meant for all to hear, read, and take to heart.  God therefore had His word recorded to avoid any doubt and to demonstrate His desire to forgive the sin of their hearts and minds if they turned from sin to follow and worship Him according to His word and not their own definition of what was right in the justifiable rationalization of their hearts and minds for outright disobedience.  Like the apostle Paul centuries later, Jeremiah employed a scribe, Baruch, to capture all that the LORD had been speaking to and through Jeremiah all those years to ensure they would be reminded of what they heard as well as for our learning throughout time.  Because he was in confinement still, he had the scribe also act as his messenger ambassador to take the book into the house of the LORD to be read aloud that there would be no doubt of what God had said.  That is echoed in today’s reading and exposition of scripture in our churches as Ezra also gave example in Nehemiah 8:8.  He had it read on a day of fasting because that is when the people would be reflecting on the LORD and his word in their lives, just as now we attend church with a heightened sense and attentive ear to hear from the Lord in our worship.  God’s intent was that they would hear and be cut to the heart (Acts 2:37) as they considered the evil of their ways and His right wrath on their unconfessed and unrepentant hearts and minds (Romans 2:5-11).  The people then heard God’s judgment and call to repentance to escape His wrath to all who came to Jerusalem for the national day of fasting.  When Michaiah heard these things he went to the king’s house and repeated them to all who were there as well.  They sent for Baruch to bring the scroll of Jeremiah to them and had him read it from the source as we read from scripture now in expository preaching and teaching to avoid human errancy.  They looked at each other most likely in some fear of the LORD, and planned to take the word of God to the king to hear.  They first asked Baruch how he came to write the words and learned they were told directly to him by God’s messenger and were directly transcribed to scroll by him as heard.  Such is the overall method by which we have all of the Bible now from Genesis to Revelation as 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:20-21 remind us.  The message of God’s words to us remains unchanged in the reality of the bad news of His wrath on the sin of us all (Romans 3:20, 23) and the deliver from that just sentence by the forgiveness of the good news of His grace on the cross to atone for us.  The good news is predicated on the acceptance of the bad news and our response by God given faith in repentance to turn from sin to follow and worship Him; there can be no good news (gospel) without understanding the bad news first.  This is the intended result of reading and hearing scripture, for God’s word of judgment is for our repentance from all nations (Galatians 3:28-29).  May all who hear God through His word take heed and respond accordingly!