Jeremiah 36:1-4

II. THE INDESTRUCTIBLE WORD Jeremiah 36:1-32

As has been repeatedly emphasized thus far, the fourth year of Jehoiakim was a turning point both in the political world and in the ministry of Jeremiah the prophet. This was the year in which the famous battle of Carchemish determined Which power would rule the world for the next half-century or so. It was in this same year that Jeremiah was commissioned by the Lord to permanently record the messages which he had been preaching for the past twenty-three years. It is difficult to determine which came first, the battle or the writing. Jeremiah 36:29 has been submitted as proving that Nebuchadnezzar had not yet won at Carchemish, had not yet swept down through Syria-Palestine. But since Nebuchadnezzar invaded this area so many times it is hardly possible to dogmatically insist that Jeremiah 36:29 must refer to the first invasion. On the other hand, while the battle of Carchemish seems to have occurred early in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the scroll was not read publicly until the ninth month of the fifth year of his reign (Jeremiah 36:9). One must of course allow for a slow process of writing in those days. But even so it is difficult to see how the beginning of the writing could be pushed back prior to Carchemish in the early part of the preceding year.

Chapter 36 is instructive from several standpoints. First, it throws considerable light upon the history of the Book of Jeremiah. The scroll produced at the dictation of Jeremiah was the first edition of the book. That book was destined to undergo two and possibly three subsequent editions before it finally reached the form in which it is found in the English Bible today. Secondly, this chapter provides a wealth of information about the mechanics of producing a Biblical book. Involved in the process were a roll-book, pen, ink, the selection of a scribe, and the actual dictation. It is not unlikely that the procedures followed here were followed in the case of many other books of the Old Testament, Then too this chapter marks a turning point in the career of Jeremiah. mile he was only a preacher, Jeremiah's influence was limited by and large to his native land. But when he committed his sermons to writing he was destined to influence the world for generations to come.

A. The Word Written Jeremiah 36:1-4

TRANSLATION

(1) And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, (2) Take for yourself a book-scroll and write in it all the words which I have spoken unto you concerning Israel, and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I spoke unto you in the days of Josiah even unto this day. (3) Per haps the house of Judah will hear of all the calamity which I am planning to do to them, in order that they might turn each man from his evil way, that I might forgive their iniquity and their sin. (4) And Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he spoke unto him, upon the book-scroll.

COMMENTS

The first paragraph of chapter 36 relates how Jeremiah received a commandment from the Lord to commit his messages to writing and how the prophet executed that command.