Corona Devo 1770
The Scriptures before us today remind me of a choose-your-own-adventure book. The characters are all different, and in some ways, I can see a little of me in all of them. But some of the characters have good endings, and some of them have bad endings. That choice is up to us too.
Will we listen-to and obey what God says?
Choose your own adventure today: with God, or without Him?
~~~
The first person we meet is Jeremiah. He was a prophet of God. He believed in the Lord and lived for Him, and the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. God told him things to tell the people. The main theme of God's messages to Jeremiah was for the people to stop sinning and to come back to following God and His ways.
Applying "Jeremiah" to ourselves today: are we teaching/mentoring/discipling/leading anyone closer to Christ? Can we be? Should we be? If we believe in the Lord and live for Him, then there is someone that could grow in their faith by us building-in to them.
Who is it?
Whoever just popped into our minds: let's connect and share God's message with them.
~~~
The next person we meet is Baruch. He is like an apprentice to Jeremiah, and I see Baruch as a dutiful, obedient, courageous, workhorse for God.
First, Jeremiah tells Baruch to write down the message that God has given him, and although the Bible doesn't elaborate about that process, there were no computers and spell-check back then and Baruch would have hand-written (word-for-word) a long scroll containing God's messages to Jeremiah. That would have been patient work.
And then Jeremiah sends Baruch to church (on a busy/populated festival day) to stand at the front of the Temple and read God's (heavy) message of "straighten up or my consequences are coming against you" to all of the people.
And Baruch does.
Then, because people's hearts were pricked by God's prompting, they asked Baruch to go and read the scroll all over again to the administrative officials of the Temple, who were all gathered in another room.
And Baruch does.
Are we a "Baruch" today? Are we about-the-Lord's-work? Are we serving, working, quietly obeying the orders of the Kingdom as they have been presented to us?
Baruch never complained or protested, and (instead) we see him dutifully accept each task assigned to him, from dictation (twice) to public speaking.
Baruch fulfilled a noble role, and if we are doing the same, or if we feel called to similar stuff: keep it up, and Go for it!
~~~
During the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king in Judah, the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: (2) “Get a scroll, and write down all my messages against Israel, Judah, and the other nations. Begin with the first message back in the days of Josiah, and write down every message, right up to the present time. (3) Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings.”
(4) So Jeremiah sent for Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated all the prophecies that the Lord had given him, Baruch wrote them on a scroll. (5) Then Jeremiah said to Baruch, “I am a prisoner here and unable to go to the Temple. (6) So you go to the Temple on the next day of fasting, and read the messages from the Lord that I have had you write on this scroll. Read them so the people who are there from all over Judah will hear them.
(7) Perhaps even yet they will turn from their evil ways and ask the Lord’s forgiveness before it is too late. For the Lord has threatened them with his terrible anger.”
(8) Baruch did as Jeremiah told him and read these messages from the Lord to the people at the Temple. (9) He did this on a day of sacred fasting held in late autumn, during the fifth year of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah.
People from all over Judah had come to Jerusalem to attend the services at the Temple on that day. (10) Baruch read Jeremiah’s words on the scroll to all the people. He stood in front of the Temple room of Gemariah, son of Shaphan the secretary. This room was just off the upper courtyard of the Temple, near the New Gate entrance.
(11) When Micaiah son of Gemariah and grandson of Shaphan heard the messages from the Lord, (12) he went down to the secretary’s room in the palace where the administrative officials were meeting.
Elishama the secretary was there, along with Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Acbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. (13) When Micaiah told them about the messages Baruch was reading to the people, (14) the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, grandson of Shelemiah and great-grandson of Cushi, to ask Baruch to come and read the messages to them, too. ~Jeremiah 36:1-14
~~~
Now we meet some new characters in this account.
Baruch read the scroll first to the public people, and then (by request), he headed down to the administrative officials of the church. They had respect and belief in the Lord, and they were affected by the message coming from Jeremiah and Baruch:
So Baruch took the scroll and went to them. (15) “Sit down and read the scroll to us,” the officials said, and Baruch did as they requested.
(16) When they heard all the messages, they looked at one another in alarm. “We must tell the king what we have heard,” they said to Baruch. (17) “But first, tell us how you got these messages. Did they come directly from Jeremiah?”
(18) So Baruch explained, “Jeremiah dictated them, and I wrote them down in ink, word for word, on this scroll.” ~Jermeiah 36:14-18
News this big also had to go to Jehoiakim son of Josiah, who was king in Judah, but when it did...Neither the king nor his attendants showed any signs of fear or repentance at what they heard (Jeremiah 36:34).
~~~
“You and Jeremiah should both hide,” the officials told Baruch. “Don’t tell anyone where you are!” (20) Then the officials left the scroll for safekeeping in the room of Elishama the secretary and went to tell the king what had happened.
(21) The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi brought it from Elishama’s room and read it to the king as all his officials stood by.
(22) It was late autumn, and the king was in a winterized part of the palace, sitting in front of a fire to keep warm. (23) Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king took a knife and cut off that section of the scroll. He then threw it into the fire, section by section, until the whole scroll was burned up.
(24) Neither the king nor his attendants showed any signs of fear or repentance at what they heard. (25) Even when Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, he wouldn’t listen.
(26) Then the king commanded his son Jerahmeel, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah. But the Lord had hidden them. ~Jeremiah 36:19-26
~~~
Isn't this exciting and suspenseful? I love God's Word!
I don't love how King Jehoiakim reacted to the reading of the scroll. (The guy ripped up God's message and burned it all up in the fire!)
But I also am honest enough to admit that there have been times in my life when I have played a character close to Jehoiakim. ...When I have chosen not to listen to God or His Word. When I wanted nothing to do with God's ways, and I was dead-set on proceeding with my way.
This selfish-attitude and our choices associated with it will never end well.
After the king had burned the scroll on which Baruch had written Jeremiah’s words, the Lord gave Jeremiah another message. He said, (28) “Get another scroll, and write everything again just as you did on the scroll King Jehoiakim burned.
(29) Then say to the king, ‘This is what the Lord says: You burned the scroll because it said the king of Babylon would destroy this land and empty it of people and animals. (30) Now this is what the Lord says about King Jehoiakim of Judah: He will have no heirs to sit on the throne of David. His dead body will be thrown out to lie unburied—exposed to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.
(31) I will punish him and his family and his attendants for their sins. I will pour out on them and on all the people of Jerusalem and Judah all the disasters I promised, for they would not listen to my warnings.’”
(32) So Jeremiah took another scroll and dictated again to his secretary, Baruch. He wrote everything that had been on the scroll King Jehoiakim had burned in the fire. Only this time he added much more! ~Jeremiah 36:1-32
~~~
Jehoiakim is a good example of what not to do. We cannot dishonor and stiff-arm God without (one day) reaping consequence.
If we are currently living for ourselves instead of our Heavenly King, let's make a heart-change today because God has a surprise ending (just) waiting for us if we do: forgiveness.
Verse 3 is my favorite verse in these exciting Scriptures, because it clarifies that (even when we have been in sin) we can choose our own adventure with God, and He is waiting to forgive us.
"Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings.” ~Jeremiah 36:3
The role that we live for the Lord can change.
~~~
Are we a Jeremiah today? Can we share God's message with someone?
Are we Baruch today? Is there work-for-the-Kingdom to be done that we can dutifully do?
Are we the people in the Temple or the administrative officials today? Has God pricked our hearts through His Word today? What will we do in response?
Are we Jehoiakim or his attendants today? (I sincerely hope and pray not...and if yes: then may our hearts be softened and our faith be affected by the truth and consequence of God's Word.)
~~~
Will we listen-to and obey what God says?
Choose your own adventure today: with God, or without Him?
sarah
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