ANGLICAN COMMUNION DAILY FOUNTAIN DEVOTIONAL Date: 2023-Aug- 28 TOPIC: THE COST OF DISRESPECTING GOD'S WORD

ANGLICAN COMMUNION

DAILY FOUNTAIN DEVOTIONAL

Date: 2023-Aug- 28

TOPIC: THE COST OF DISRESPECTING GOD'S WORD

TEXT: Jeremiah 36:14-32(NKJV)

36:14. Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, "Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read in the hearing of the people, and come." So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them.

36:15. And they said to him, "Sit down now, and read it in our hearing." So Baruch read [it] in their hearing.

36:16. Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, that they looked in fear from one to another, and said to Baruch, "We will surely tell the king of all these words."

36:17. And they asked Baruch, saying, "Tell us now, how did you write all these words -- at his instruction?"

36:18. So Baruch answered them, "He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote [them] with ink in the book."

36:19. Then the princes said to Baruch, "Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are."

36:20. And they went to the king, into the court; but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king.

36:21. So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king.

36:22. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with [a fire] burning on the hearth before him.

36:23. And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, [that the king] cut it with the scribe's knife and cast [it] into the fire that [was] on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that [was] on the hearth.

36:24. Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words.

36:25. Nevertheless Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them.

36:26. And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them.

36:27. Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch had written at the instruction of Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying:

36:28. "Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.

36:29. "And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, 'Thus says the LORD: "You have burned this scroll, saying, 'Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to cease from here?' "

36:30. 'Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: "He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.

36:31. "I will punish him, his family, and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them; but they did not heed." ' "

36:32. Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And besides, there were added to them many similar words.

STUDY: The case of Jehoiakim, king of Judah in today’s passage calls for our attention. He was concerned with the evil declarations prophesied by Jeremiah than genuine repentance of God’s people. Instead of allowing God’s Word to spread to all inhabitants of Judah and call for repentance, and by so doing, God would also repent of His pronounced judgment (vv. 5-7), he chose to burn the written Word of God. In addition to the prior judgment, God cursed Jehoiakim - “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David… I will punish him, his family and his servants for their iniquity…” (vv. 30-31)

Today’s message is apt and relevant to all and sundry, especially to people who are fond of disrespecting God’s Word. We should learn from Jehoiakim who paid dearly for neglecting God’s word. The Word of God is powerful and more active than a two-edged sword. God would not take lightly anyone who despises His word. No matter how little it is, such person will surely pay for it. 

THOUGHT: The Word of God is Yea and Amen.