Jeremiah 36:27 After the king burned the scroll containing the words that Baruch had written at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28 “Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up.
It took Jeremiah approximately 1 year to 2 years to write down the message that God had given him for the stubborn people of Israel. Jeremiah and Baruch were committed to this toilsome task with the hope that perhaps when the people hear, they will repent from their rebellious ways. Nevertheless, when the words of this book Jeremiah had written by the hand of Baruch were read on a day of fast, it only attracted defiance led by state actors that had grown insensitive hearts.
It is a shame that on the day of fasting, there was still no one ready to hear what the Lord had to say.
The officials of the royal palace notified the king about all that had been read at the temple by Baruch who was Jeremiah’s scribe. Obviously, Jeremiah could not make to read the scroll himself because he was in jail. It can be seen the king was not interested with the fast. He was missing at the temple as this came as news to him while he was at his winter house.
At the king’s request, the scroll was brought and read to him. But see how he responded:
Jeremiah 36:22 It was the ninth month and the king was sitting in the winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. 23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. 24 The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. 25 Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.
And yet the people were not moved! And to make matters worse, the king cut the scroll and burned it!
Maybe this is your story in some way.
You started a business. You started school. You started a family. You started work. You started ministry. You started constructing a house. You migrated to another city or country. And all that you started has failed or turned to ashes. You wonder, “where is the impact of my labour or dedication?”
You have been parenting those kids with the hope they will change the world but the world has ganged against them and changed them. You look at your age and feel as if your days have been cut down and burned down. You miscarried. Your promotions was cut down and burned down after all the years of putting your best foot forward.
Your boss has written you off. Your relationships have burned down. Your deteriorating health makes you endure like you are in the middle of the fire. Worse still, you feel your hope and strength is cut down piece by piece like that scroll Jeremiah wrote. Your life's dreams are in the fire and the anguish of your loss and sorrow are only known by you.
Let me take you to the beginning:
Jeremiah 36:1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till now.
It was not Jeremiah’s own idea to write the scroll. It was God’s idea to start with.
One may wonder, “why then did God allow the scroll to burn with all the work Jeremiah had done?” I do not intend to answer this question in this article.
But I would like to invite you to think what it may have felt for Jeremiah to know that God told him to write the scroll and now it was all burned. This may sound like a good opportunity to give up and be depressed while complaining endlessly - right?
Despite all that had happened and who was involved, after the scroll was all burned down, it was not the end of the story. Nowhere, does God’s story end in defeat. Similarly, your story will not end in defeat. Neither does it end by the knife nor the fire of the king.
He who began the good work in you is faithful and will carry it to completion.
That is why, God is calling you today and saying, “Do it again!”
Take another scroll and write on it.
Jeremiah 36:32 So Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and as Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.
Go back to school. Send a new job application. Rekindle that relationship again. Start a new relationship. Call your mother or father. Reconnect with your children. Minister again. Start a business again. Go back to work. Sing again. Rebuild that house again. Pray again. Believe again for the impossible. Do it again.
This time you will exceed expectations. The last part of verse 32 in New Living Translation records "Only this time he added much more!" May you receive the grace to start again!
Do it again.
PS: All the scripture in this article is quoted from NIV
