773_When there is no fear of God’s Word (Jeremiah 36)
Jeremiah 36:20-25 So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22 It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. 23 As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. 24 Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments. 25 Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.
Imagine a doctor discovering a serious condition in a patient and gently saying, “You need to make some changes immediately.” The patient has two choices. He can listen carefully, take the diagnosis seriously, and change his habits—or he can tear up the medical report and throw it away. Destroying the report may make him feel better for a moment, but it does nothing to change the reality described in it. The truth has not been destroyed simply because the paper has been torn.
Something remarkably similar happened in Jeremiah 36. God had spoken to His people through the prophet Jeremiah, warning them about the consequences of their sin and calling them to repentance. But when the king heard God’s Word, he did something astonishing. He took a knife, cut the scroll into pieces, and threw it into the fire. He could destroy the scroll, but he could not destroy the Word. And his response raises a searching question for every one of us: What happens when God’s Word confronts us?
To understand this chapter, we first need to notice why God gave His Word. Jeremiah 36:3 says, “It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that everyone may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” What a remarkable purpose! God’s message of coming judgment was not simply a declaration of doom. It was an invitation to repentance. God was warning them because He wanted them to turn. He was confronting them because He desired to forgive them.
That reminds us that God’s Word often makes us uncomfortable for a gracious reason. Scripture exposes our attitudes, corrects our priorities, challenges our habits, and reveals our sin—not because God delights in condemning us, but because He desires to restore us. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.” God’s Word does not merely inform us; it searches us. It reaches places we might prefer to keep hidden.
And when God’s Word searches us, our response matters. Jeremiah 36 gives us a beautiful contrast. When Baruch read the scroll before the officials, verse 16 says, “When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear.” They heard God’s message, and they were afraid. Their fear was not simply panic. It was the recognition that they were hearing the Word of the living God and therefore could not treat it casually. God’s Word had weight. It demanded a response.
That kind of holy fear is something we desperately need today. We can read Scripture so frequently that the words become familiar without remaining powerful. We can listen to sermons every week, attend Bible studies, underline verses, quote Scripture, and even explain biblical truths to others, while becoming increasingly resistant to the Word when it speaks personally to us. Familiarity with Scripture is not the same as submission to Scripture.
Then comes the shocking contrast. When the scroll was brought before King Jehoiakim, Jehudi read three or four columns at a time. As soon as they were read, the king cut them with a knife and threw them into the fire. The officials had heard God’s Word and trembled. The king heard God’s Word and attacked the scroll.
And perhaps this is the most searching picture in the chapter. The king did not merely ignore God’s Word. He treated it with contempt. He did not tear his garments in repentance; he tore the scroll in rejection. Jeremiah 36:24 says, “Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments.” The absence of fear revealed the condition of their hearts.
In Scripture, tearing one’s garments could express deep grief, repentance, or distress before God. But Jehoiakim’s response was the opposite. He was unwilling to allow God’s Word to tear his heart, so he tore the Word instead. There is a profound spiritual lesson here: a heart that fears God’s Word is willing to be corrected by it, while a heart that refuses correction will often try to dismiss, reinterpret, silence, or attack the Word.
So the important question is not merely, “Do I read the Bible?” The deeper question is, “What happens inside me when the Bible confronts me?” When Scripture exposes my pride, what do I do? When it challenges my relationships, my ambitions, my spending, my words, my entertainment, my private thoughts, or my treatment of others, how do I respond? Do I allow the Word to correct me, or do I look for ways to explain it away?
Moreover, Jeremiah 36 reminds us that we can be surrounded by God’s Word and still have no fear of God’s Word. Jehoiakim did not lack exposure. He heard the message being read aloud. His problem was not that he had never encountered God’s truth. His problem was that he refused to bow before it. That is a warning for those of us who have grown up hearing Scripture. We can become so accustomed to biblical language that we stop being amazed that God has spoken.
Yet there is another encouraging truth in this chapter. When Jehoiakim burned the scroll, God told Jeremiah, “Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll.” The king burned the scroll, but God’s Word continued. Human hands could destroy parchment, but they could not silence God.
Isaiah 40:8 declares, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” And Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” God’s Word does not depend upon our acceptance to become true. We can reject it, but we cannot overthrow it. We can ignore its warnings, but we cannot escape their reality. We can refuse its invitation, but we cannot make the invitation disappear.
Finally, Jeremiah 36 gives us the quiet example of Baruch. Jeremiah dictated the words, Baruch wrote them, Baruch read them, the officials heard them, the king burned them—and then Baruch wrote them again. There is something deeply encouraging about that faithfulness. Baruch could not control how people responded to God’s Word. His responsibility was to faithfully communicate what God had given him.
That is an important lesson for us too. Sometimes we share God’s truth and see lives changed. At other times, we may encounter indifference, resistance, or even rejection. Our calling is not to control people’s response to God’s Word. Our calling is to remain faithful to it. We are called to believe it, obey it, live it, and faithfully share it.
So as we come to the end of Jeremiah 36, perhaps the greatest danger is not that we will openly burn a Bible or physically tear its pages. The greater danger is something much quieter: that we will hear God’s Word without allowing it to change us. We may never take a knife to the scroll, yet we can reject its message through our choices. We can silence God’s Word by refusing to obey what we already know.
Therefore, let us come to Scripture with a different heart. Let us pray with the spirit of Psalm 139:23–24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart… and lead me in the way everlasting.” Let us not merely ask, “What does this passage mean?” but also, “What is God asking me to do with what I have heard?”
When we fear God’s Word, we do not run away from it. We run toward it, because we know that the God who speaks is also the God who forgives, restores, and leads us. Let us therefore allow God’s Word to correct us before circumstances have to correct us, to turn us before judgment overtakes us, and to shape us before the world shapes us. God bless.
As you reflect on Jeremiah 36 today, consider these questions:
What are some ways God’s Word has recently confronted or challenged your attitudes, decisions, or priorities, and how did you respond?
Why do you think familiarity with Scripture can sometimes reduce our sense of reverence for the God who speaks through it?
How can you cultivate a heart that welcomes God’s correction rather than resisting it?
What would it look like in your daily life to allow God’s Word not merely to inform your thinking, but to change your choices and direction?
Let us pray
Heavenly Father, help me to understand the truths You have spoken through Your Word. Enlighten my heart so that I may see what You want me to see, and give me the humility to receive Your correction. Teach me to fear Your Word, to trust Your promises, to heed Your warnings, and to respond faithfully to Your invitations. Give me strength to believe what You have said and courage to put Your truth into practice in my daily life. May Your Word change my heart and guide my steps. In Lord Jesus’ name. Amen