Jeremiah 36:27-32 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll… I. THE WORD OF GOD IS IMPERISHABLE. The truth is not pen and ink, parchment and words, but a force of an unchangeable character. It borrows material forms for garments, and uses outward methods for expression; these change, but truth never. Changes are observable in nature, but its laws remain firm. The process of destruction and restitution is ever on the march. The lily will fade, and the rose will perish, but the law of their life will say to the elements, "Take thee another roll," and write another lily and another rose. The pattern is never destroyed. Truth, law, symmetry, beauty, and life are emanations from the Eternal Mind, abiding immutable in the midst of change. Revelation has assumed aspects, many of which have passed away. The centre of all religious truth is the Saviour — "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Whatever talents we possess, or whatever circumstances affect us, if there is a straight line from the heart to Jesus — if we are bound to Him by the radius of love — our lives will express the old truths, and present the old faith which animated patriarch, prophet, priest, apostle, and martyr. II. OPPOSITION TO THE WORD OF GOD WILL NOT AVERT THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN. Why did the king precipitate the destruction of the Book before its contents were examined? If the moral condition of the people was wrongly described, facts would have disproved the fiction; if the threatened invasion by the King of Babylon was a myth, time would have revealed it. Evidently Jehoiakim found that the entrance of God's Word brought with it light, and that the spectacle it discovered was too frightful to contemplate. Either he must burn the roll, or the roll would burn him. Sin prevailed, and the roll was burnt. Was it a victory? Three months before the destruction of the city, Jehoiakim died a miserable death. The Florentine philosopher declined to look through Galileo's telescope, fearing he might see in the heavens some movement which would contradict his old view that the sun revolved, and the earth stood still Sinners fear to look at themselves through the Word of God. Dr. South wrote many years ago those words, "Truth is so connatural to the mind of man, that it would certainly be entertained by all men, did it not by accident contradict some beloved interest or other. The thief hates the break of day; not hut that he naturally loves the light as well as other men, but his condition makes him dread and abhor that which, of all things, he knows to be the likeliest means of his discovery." God is not in all the thoughts of the wicked, but there is another roll, and God is there. Impressions of sin, of death, and of a judgment to come have suffered violence, and have been wiped off human recollection, at least for a time, but they are written in the other roll. The last vision which terrified the soul of Jehoiakim was the other roll The authority of truth is inviolable, which no penknife can cut, and no fire burn. Let the Word of God shine into our heart, expose its follies and impurities, and the blush on the cheek will be the dawn of a better day. III. THERE IS A GRACIOUS PURPOSE IN THE REITERATION OF THE WORD OF GOD. Jeremiah and Baruch retired to re-commit to writing the contents of the first roll This was done to give Judah another chance of escape from the impending storm. Although the roll was fun of denunciation and warning, yet the terms of peace are included in the declaration of war. Prophet after prophet brought to Israel the re-written message. This is set forth in the parable of the barren fig-tree; the end of all God's dealings is fruit unto life everlasting. What have we done with the second roll? Nature has re-written her message. Providence speaks again in terms of mercy. Gospel truths come up afresh, like the flowers in the garden. True, we have turned a deaf ear; but is it so still? Do we persist in unbelief? IV. ALL ATTEMPTS TO FRUSTRATE THE WORD OF THE LORD MUST IGNOMINIOUSLY FAIL. The Word of God has been assailed by every conceivable opposition. The learned, with the sharp penknife of criticism, and the unlearned, with the fire of raillery, have made the attempt to destroy the authority of God's written Word, but they no more succeeded than if they had dug a grave in which to bury the law of gravitation. Julian the apostate, and Gibbon the historian, cut and burnt the roll, but they were as grass, "The grass withereth," &c. There was once a printing-press used solely to manufacture penknives to cut the roll; that press was afterwards used to print Bibles. The house in which Hume wrote against miracles was converted into a committee-room for the promotion of religious truth. Conviction of sin is the voice of God in the soul. Drown it you never can. Close the covers of the Bible, and fasten them with a clasp, but its very silence is louder than thunder. Messages and messengers come anew to remind us of our duty towards God and man. Let us bear in mind that the Word of the Lord is a hammer to break the rock; a fire to consume the stubble. Its wisdom is unbounded, backed by infinite power. Heaven and earth will dissolve before one iota of the Word will fail. Let us surrender our hearts to its power. (T. Davies, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, |
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