Jeremiah 36:26, commentary and pictures

Jeremiah 36:26 belongs to the account of the Lord's reproofs to ancient Israel, which the people would not receive, including Jeremiah's scroll given to Baruch to read to the king. That scroll was a special message from God sent to be read in the hearing of Jehoiakim king of Judah.

After listening to three or four pages, the king cut the roll out with a penknife and cast it into the fire, burned in the winter fire before his princes. Neither he nor his princes were afraid nor tore their garments, and though certain princes warned and pleaded with him not to burn the roll, he would not listen. In cutting up and burning the message he acted as do those whose characters stand in contrast to the binding claims of the law of God and the enjoined obedience to His commandments.

After burning the prophetic scroll his wrath turned against Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the scribe, and he commanded Jerahmeel, Seraiah, Shelemiah and other officials to seize and take them. But the Lord protected Jeremiah and Baruch by hiding them and keeping them from being captured, so they could not be taken. Burning the roll could not destroy the message, for the Word of God will never return void unto Him.

The rejection did not stop the work, for the same Holy Spirit who gave the first refused and burned testimony repeated the very rejected message through the same servant who had caused the first to be written, and Jeremiah was told to write the former words again with many like words and a great deal more added. Willingness to have God's straight, plain message of correction consumed and put out of sight does not end the message but only gives increased publicity to and confirmation of the message dismissed and repulsed. When God sends a corrective message to turn the heart to repentance and change principles, and men refuse to be corrected and pursue a course to make the message of no effect and destroy its influence while justifying and vindicating the one corrected, wickedness and deceit remain in him and sin in deception, falsehood, unprincipled working, and underhand dealing becomes current.

When the Lord sends correction to any man or woman and it is refused and repulsed, the whole transaction is recorded, and those who refuse to be corrected pronounce their own sentence against themselves. It would be better for those destroyers if they had never been born, and every soul who builds the transgressor up in his crooked course which is not justice and righteousness will suffer with him unless they humble themselves before God with repentance that need not be repented of. For God will be vindicated in His interest to bring men to see their crooked ways and turn and be converted, that their sins registered in the books of heaven may be blotted out. The episode warns that similar rejection of God's messages and efforts against His messengers would occur in a later day and generation.