July 12

Jeremiah 36
With the exceptions of Satan, Adam and Judas, in my opinion, this is one of the most flagrant acts of rebellion recorded in Scripture. A day of fasting had been called by someone. The people were gathered in Jerusalem to fast over their national crisis (under the thumb first of Egypt and now of Babylon). It was day of fasting or humiliation when one humbles one’s self before the Mighty God to seek His forgiveness for one sin. A public day of fasting is for public repentance. Jehoiakim had been repeatedly warned by Jeremiah. Remember 22:13-23? Jehoiakim was specifically warned about abusing the poor, but he would not listen. Jeremiah was detained by authorities at the court, probably because of his warnings against Jehoiakim. Now was the time for Jehoiakim to repent. It was appropriate for the day of fasting. If this whole day were not just a pretense, now was the time for Jehoiakim to publicly humble himself. Jeremiah dictated the prophecies given to date to Baruch. He had them delivered to the public celebration. Note that the king was not in attendance. After the reading, the officials warned Baruch and Jeremiah to go hide while they took the message to Jehoiakim.
It was a moment of great tension. Everyone present knew what was at stake. Would the king humble himself, or would he respond inappropriately. Everyone sensed what would happen and no one really wanted to oppose the king. The king listened intently; at some point, he rose and took the scroll. It was evident what he was about to do. Three men implored him not to, but their pleas were not strong enough. The king took the very words of God in his hands and threw them in the fire! And yet, no one expressed dismay at such flagrant disrespect against the Lord! There was not enough passion with in their lives to drive them to fall to their knees and cry for mercy for themselves and their nation when such pride had filled the leadership.
Our country writhes in the filth of our pride. Our president has declared that we are not a Christian nation. You know what? He is descriptively correct. Maybe our nation was once founded upon Christian principles, but the issue is that we no longer function that way! And none of us really has the passion to cry out before God and beg His forgiveness for our sin! Why? The fault is not the presidents; it is ours! Look at our churches! We are more concerned about running our programs in a way that is more attractive to people than we are about gathering together to humble ourselves before God to listen to what He has to say about us, repent and proclaim His glory! Why would we want to attract more people rather than call them to repentance? Even if we did gather to listen, would we truly hear His voice, or would we be like Jehoiakim and burn the word of the Lord in the nearest fire? I fear that the glory of the Lord has become so sullied among us that all the world can see is our sin. Why would the world want our Lord, when all that they can see is our sin, our lack of passion for Him? That is all that could be seen of Jehoiakim. Lord, uncover our sin! Bring a spirit of repentance upon us! Remove our sin as far as the east is from the west! Humble us! Unveil your glory once again! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john