Jeremiah 36 puts God’s written word right in front of a king who wants nothing to do with it. The image of burned Bibles at the Museum of the Bible makes the scene feel close, because persecuted believers still watch Scripture taken from them and destroyed. The greater tragedy, though, is not only that Bibles get burned, but that open Bibles often sit unopened.
God tells Jeremiah to write down everything spoken through twenty-three years of ministry, from warnings to Judah and the nations to the coming judgment. Jeremiah’s words are truly Jeremiah’s words, yet they are also God’s words, because God put his words in Jeremiah’s mouth. Scripture comes through real human authors, across centuries and continents, but all Scripture is God-breathed. Baruch becomes the faithful scribe who puts the words on the scroll, and his work shows the power of the written word: Jeremiah cannot enter the temple, but Jeremiah’s words can still be read there.
God gives the scroll with a heart of mercy. The repeated word “perhaps” reveals that judgment is not God’s first desire for Judah. God wants the people to hear, turn from wickedness, bring their petition before him, and receive forgiveness. The cross shows that same heart in full, because Christ’s death and resurrection remain God’s invitation for sinners to turn and live.
The scroll then reaches three audiences. The people hear it during a crisis fast, yet nothing happens because religious activity can exist alongside spiritual deafness. The officials hear it and fear, enough to protect Jeremiah and Baruch because they know the king will not welcome God’s word. Jehoiakim hears three or four columns at a time, cuts them with a scribe’s knife, and throws them into the fire pot.
Jehoiakim refuses the path of his father Josiah, who tore his clothes in grief and repentance when he heard God’s law. Jehoiakim tears nothing, fears nothing, and tries to arrest the men connected to the scroll. The king can burn the scroll, but he cannot burn the word. God speaks again, commands another scroll, confirms the judgment Jehoiakim tried to erase, and adds “many similar words” to the replacement copy.
The word of God stands when kings, empires, and regimes try to destroy it. The word also calls for more than admiration. The five fingers give five ways to hold it: hear it, read it, study it, memorize it, and meditate on it. God’s word becomes a fire in the bones when it is received, hidden in the heart, and allowed to call sinners back to the God who speaks.
Key Takeaways
- 1. God wrote his word down
God did not leave his people with vague spiritual impressions or a message that disappeared when a prophet died. Jeremiah and Baruch show how God’s words came through human voices, hands, ink, and history without becoming merely human words. Scripture is a gift of divine nearness, given because God wants sinners to hear him and return. [45:23]
- 2. Religious activity can remain spiritually deaf
The people gather for a crisis fast while Babylon is closing in, yet the reading of God’s word produces a “big nothing burger.” The outward posture of seeking God does not automatically mean the heart is ready to obey him. Fasting, church attendance, and Bible ownership become empty when God’s voice is treated as background noise. [55:37]
- 3. You can burn the scroll
Jehoiakim cuts up the physical scroll, but his knife cannot cut away God’s truth or cancel God’s judgment. God immediately speaks again and orders another scroll to be written. Human resistance may destroy copies, silence voices, or mock the Bible, but it cannot make God’s word untrue. [1:00:28]
- 4. Hide the word in your heart
A scroll can be burned, but a word memorized and believed cannot be taken away so easily. Jeremiah carried God’s word before Baruch ever wrote it down, and God’s people are called to carry that same word into fear, anxiety, temptation, and suffering. Memorization is not collecting verses; it is making room for God’s truth to live deep within the heart. [1:05:13]
- 5. Hold God’s word with intention
Hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating give practical shape to a life that receives Scripture instead of merely possessing it. Reading builds a personal relationship with the Lord, study digs deeper, memorization stores truth, and meditation slows down long enough to listen. God’s word becomes fire in the bones when it moves from the shelf into the life. [1:05:33]
Youtube Chapters
