TREASURE - NOT TRASH THE WORD OF GOD. Jeremiah 36

The Lord selected the ideal time to speak to Jeremiah the prophet (v1), which was the fourth year of the reign of the rebellious Jehoiakim. In the experience of each nation, there are moments when God’s voice should clearly sound. And we must listen.

God’s Word was explicit: ‘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. God set out the time span, namely ’From the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day.’ God’s serious charge was directed to Israel, Judah and all nations: and therefore must be heeded - and obeyed. Our nations should urgently listen to the voice of our God.

The Lord yearned that these peoples should respond to His overtures, ’That everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.’ (v3 ) Our Lord longs that nations should apologize for their wicked ways and turn unto Him. He waits for the prodigal nation as well as the prodigal sinner to come home.

Jeremiah called the godly scribe Baruch, which means ‘blessed ‘ and the son of Neriah, meaning ‘Jehovah is my lamp’, implying that he had known the Lord was his light and his salvation. In every generation, men and women of integrity do the will of God. Baruch wrote it on a scroll.; either parchment from the papyrus or on the coat of a lamb, slain for that purpose. How infinitely valuable!

Bruch wrote on the scroll at Jeremiah’s direction.’ Not a word was missed for God had spoken to the prophet, who determined that no word should fall to the ground. Scripture told us ’How Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.’ This was a beautiful example of heavenly truth, spoken by the prophet and recorded by the scribe. Every word was prized, ‘ All the words of the Lord which he had spoken’, even though so somber. Our all-wise God gave us ears to hear His word, eyes to read it and appreciate it; and a brain to register its previous truth; and a heart to accept it fully.

Scripture repeated that valuable phrase ’ All these words’ many times in this chapter, actually, 14 times! No man has the right to interfere by substitution, addition or subtraction, with the eternal truth of our great God. Moses stated it forcefully in Deuteronomy 4:2, ’ You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take anything from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I COMMAND you.‘

God reinforced this truth in the ministry of His dear Son when satan tempted HIM in the desert to distrust the Word of God Our Lord rebuffed him, ’Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) How dare mortal Man intrude on holy territory. John, the beloved disciple of our Lord, defended the integrity of God’s word in the concluding chapter of the Revelation. ‘If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him all the plagues that are written in this book. He persisted, ‘If anyone takes away from the words of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the holy city (22;18,19) We must uphold the invaluable Word of God.

In an ungodly spiritual climate, Jeremiah went into seclusion,. ‘I am confined, I cannot go into the house of he Lord.’ (v5 ) God’s marvellous foresight gave the bible in the written form. All people should possess and cherish God’s word in their mother tongue. Satan may destroy the servant of the Lord; and the escalating martyrdom of evangelists in this generation underlines the urgency of providing the written word, Jeremiah inferred that saying, ‘You, Baruch can carry and read the written word, while I hide: and my voice is silenced. We must give God’s Word to the waiting nations; who will treasure its truth.

As the Lord Jesus commanded his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel, so Jeremiah commanded, ‘Go therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written at my instruction, the word of the Lord , in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house on the day of fasting.’ God’s house was set apart for the teaching of the eternal word. No room was devoted to the wisdom of man or science. When deeply motivated people fast, they are more inclined to absorb the solemn message that God had given to Jeremiah.

‘You shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who came from their cities.’ God’s word was broader, deeper, more fulfilling than the local need, lest they limit the effectiveness of the blessed gospel. Anticipate this response when those of different cultures respond to the precious life-giving word. The Holy Spirit adapts the truth of Christ to them in their different systems. During bible studies at home with an African vascular surgeon and his dental-lecturer wife, I would listen, astonished, when Edda would give a resume, followed by exquisite thoughts from an African viewpoint.

God showed hope, expressing ‘ It may be that they will present their supplications before the Lord, and everyone will turn from their evil ways.’ God made possible a return to HIM, lest His judgment fall on His own beloved. ‘He has stretched forth His hands all day to them. ‘It was not His will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance

Jeremiah reminded them that ‘great is the anger and the fury that the Lord has pronounced against the people.’ They could no longer be casual, nor apathetic, symptomatic of many believers in our nation: laid-back, uncaring, reckless. We must remedy this !

Baruch, the son of Neriah ( Jehovah is my lamp ), fully obeyed his master - and his Lord, as ‘He did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord‘s house‘ How did Baruch feel voicing the truth that heaven had given to the prophet. We should preach the eternal truths of our majestic Lord exactly like that. God forbid that we should teach in a mundane, expressionless manner, when we enjoy priceless, glorious realities of our holy GOD and royal Saviour.

The nation responded ‘when 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.’ God longs to do mighty things for us, when our once-godly nations return to their moorings.

This study on Treasure not trash the Word of God will be continued.