It was a “But God” moment

Jeremiah 36:9-18

As the King, you had the authority to imprison God’s spokesman, but you did not have the power to restrict the message God had for a nation.  I am a great believer that history keeps repeating, in that we as a people never seem to learn from it.  The power brokers of today want an open society with no spiritual authority, free to do as one desires.  What must happen for such to happen is you must silence all voices that are reminding the leadership and the people that God has spoken, and they are on the wrong side.

That was Jeremiah’s role, and that is the role of many in the Church today, but as in the day of Paul we also have false teachers and preachers doing the work of the evil one.  Their goal is not Christ but personal gain, and they do great harm to Christ’s Church.  Jeremiah is imprisoned, but it did not stop God’s message from being delivered to both the people and the leaders of that day.

It was a “But God” moment, He called forth a scribe, Baruch who was the son of Neriah, and the family was well known and respected in Jerusalem.  A lesson we should understand is that no King has authority over God’s message, you may lock up His spokesperson, but the Word of the LORD will go where it was intended.

9 In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting before the LORD was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah.

10 From the room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper courtyard at the entrance of the New Gate of the temple, Baruch read to all the people at the LORD’s temple the words of Jeremiah from the scroll.

11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the LORD from the scroll,

12 he went down to the secretary’s room in the royal palace, where all the officials were sitting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials.

13 After Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll,

14 all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah went to them with the scroll in his hand.

15 They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.

16 When they heard all these words, they looked at each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.”

17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all this? Did Jeremiah dictate it?”

18 “Yes,” Baruch replied, “he dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them in ink on the scroll.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice