Jeremiah 36:23

THE INDESTRUCTIBLE BOOK

‘All the roll was consumed.’

Jeremiah 36:23

We often think the books of the prophets very dry reading; if we studied them more we should find in them incidents and scenes as interesting and suggestive as this. One point only I remind you of now.

I. This is the first instance of burning the sacred Book.—Begin by picture of the scene, Jeremiah’s book read by the officers, and making quite an excitement among them. Observe what the book contains, prophecies of national woe because of national sins. At last they feel that it must be read to the king. At first they tell him of the contents of the roll, evidently afraid to show the roll itself to him. He angrily orders it to be fetched; they dare not disobey. The king listens to a few lines, then passionately snatches it out of the hands of Jehudi, and begins to cut it up into strips with his knife. Three of the councillors are brave enough to plead with him not to burn the roll; he will not heed them, utterly refusing to receive the Divine truth and message; putting insult on God by his treatment of His Word, the king goes on cutting up the roll, and dropping piece after piece into the flames, until the whole is burnt up. And to the evident surprise of the writer it is added, ‘Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king nor any of his servants.’ The sacred Word has been destroyed or burnt many a time since then. Illustrate by Diocletian, finding it impossible by persecutions to root out all the Christians and destroy Christianity, endeavouring to get possession of all the Christian books; many suffered death for refusing to give them up. Antiochus attempted to destroy the Jewish scriptures. Illustrations also found in martyr ages.

II. Reasons for burning the Book.—Jehoiakim’s reason. (1) It testifies against men’s wrongdoing, and points out their danger. Describe how anxious the wreckers who wanted to plunder shipwrecked vessels would be to get the light in the lighthouse put out. (2) It sets men free—from superstition, from error, from bonds, from priests. ‘Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’

III. The wickedness of burning the Book.—We can see the wickedness of setting fire to the tabernacle, or temple, or a church, because each is God’s house. Show why the Word is even more sacred. In it more of God and less of man. We can see how wicked it would be to burn all the barns which stored a nation’s food: how much worse to destroy the truth, which is the food of souls. The reason for killing Jesus is the reason for burning the Bible, ‘men hate the light, and love darkness rather.’

IV. The uselessness of burning the Book.—Some Baruch will be set writing another. The true Phœnix tale; from the ashes of burnt Bibles new editions have sprung. Illustrated by Professor Rogers’ dream of the ‘blank Bible’ in Eclipse of Faith. He beautifully shows how every part of it could be fetched back again out of Christian memories. Men may snatch the Bible from our hands, as the king did; they cannot take it out of our hearts.

Illustration

‘As a contrast, the case of Josiah may be recalled. When the lost Book of the Law had been found, Josiah rent his garments in great distress, because he now saw how he had sinned and that wrath was hanging over his head. Instead of repentance in Jehoiakim, we have defiance and presumption. Instead of listening reverently to the Divine words, he tore the roll in pieces and threw it into the fire.’