Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Take a scroll of a book and write on it"
Text: Jeremiah 36:2
THE WORD OF GOD WRITTEN DOWN
The LORD adopted many means to reach out to Judah and to Jerusalem. He sent prophet after prophet. But few if any heeded them. This time round, Jeremiah was told to write to King Jehoiakim instead.
“Now it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah,
king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:
‘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,
from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day.
It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities
which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way,
that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.'”
Jeremiah 36:1-3
1. “Now it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah,
king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying”
a) Four years had passed.
b) Jehoiakim the son of Josiah had not repented nor considered turning to God at all.
c) Jeremiah was given another message from God
2. “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,
from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day”
a) Jeremiah was instructed to write down all that the LORD had spoken to him.
b) This piece of work would cover all that God had against:
i) Israel
ii) Judah
iii) All the nations
c) From the time God spoke to Jeremiah:
i) From the days of King Josiah (Jeremiah 1:1-3).
ii) Till the present day.
3. “It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities
which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way,
that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin”
a) Hope was still held out to Judah.
b) The adversities that God forewarned may cause Judah to turn from evil.
c) If this happened, then God would forgive their iniquity and sin.
d) The LORD continued to show great compassion and mercy to Judah.