Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan"
Text: Jeremiah 36:11
THE READING OF JEREMIAH’S TEXT
The words that Jeremiah wrote were words of stern warning to Judah and Jerusalem. They were words that would provoke the enemies of Jeremiah to great anger.
“When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan,
heard all the words of the LORD from the book,
he then went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber;
and there all the princes were sitting —
Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor,
Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.
Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard
when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people.”
Jeremiah 36:11-13
1. “When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan,
heard all the words of the LORD from the book”
a) Shaphan was a scribe in the reign of King Josiah.
b) He was a trusted scribe sent to assist Hilkiah the chief priest.
c) The task was to restore the badly neglected Temple.
d) Micaiah was the grandson of Shaphan.
e) He heard all the words spoken by Baruch.
2. “He then went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber;
and there all the princes were sitting —
Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor,
Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes”
a) “The king’s house”
The kings of Judah had more than one residence.
b) In this house, Micaiah sought out “the scribe’s chamber”.
c) The princes were gathered there rather than at the Temple.
d) There were scribes and there were princes gathered together.
3. “Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people”
a) Micaiah addressed the assembly of scribes, princes and others of some note.
b) He declared to all present the words that Baruch spoke
as he read from the book that Jeremiah had written.