God's Word
The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah was instructed by God to share all of the coming judgments He had set into place on Israel and all the inhabitants of the land for their continued sin and failure to repent after repeated warnings and opportunities. God would use the uprising of the Babylonian Empire and King Nebuchadnezzar to exact this pronounced judgment.
Before the captivity had completely overtaken Israel, God instructed Jeremiah to record on a scroll all the words He had spoken to Jeremiah so that they could be read in the presence of the people at the temple, at the palace, and finally in the presence of King Jehoiakim. It happened, that after the scroll was read in the palace, the scroll was confiscated by a group of princes who then took the scroll and read it to the king. The king's reaction to God's Word is recorded in Jeremiah 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..." What a God-less reaction and by the king of God's people no less!
What's equally appalling is the reaction(s) of those around the king when he did this: "Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. Nevertheless, Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them (v.24)." There was no sign of remorse or guilt or repentance among the nobles, much less the king. A few tried to stop him but to no avail. That sealed the deal on the judgment that was to come.
I was left wondering while reading this historical account in Jeremiah how little we take God's Word seriously at times? Why do we have those periods where we just don't seem to care what God's Word has to say? We fall asleep in church. We don't read the Word regularly on our own (if at all). We allow our Bibles to collect dust. The average American household has something like 4 Bibles in it, yet they remain unopened; often seen as nothing more than decorative props in our homes. Many times we even place other objects on top of our Bibles, never thinking twice about it.
God's Word is a serious matter, a holy book that unfolds the redemptive promise plan of God while revealing aspects of His holy nature and character - yet it's viewed by so many Christians as being far, far less than that. We must first realize and take seriously God first, though. The reason we don't take His Word seriously is because we have far too low a view of our righteous, holy, perfect, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator God. As believers, we must maintain the view of the holiness of God and the importance of His Word. The Word is foundational! Without it, we fall.
Before the captivity had completely overtaken Israel, God instructed Jeremiah to record on a scroll all the words He had spoken to Jeremiah so that they could be read in the presence of the people at the temple, at the palace, and finally in the presence of King Jehoiakim. It happened, that after the scroll was read in the palace, the scroll was confiscated by a group of princes who then took the scroll and read it to the king. The king's reaction to God's Word is recorded in Jeremiah 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..." What a God-less reaction and by the king of God's people no less!
What's equally appalling is the reaction(s) of those around the king when he did this: "Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. Nevertheless, Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them (v.24)." There was no sign of remorse or guilt or repentance among the nobles, much less the king. A few tried to stop him but to no avail. That sealed the deal on the judgment that was to come.
I was left wondering while reading this historical account in Jeremiah how little we take God's Word seriously at times? Why do we have those periods where we just don't seem to care what God's Word has to say? We fall asleep in church. We don't read the Word regularly on our own (if at all). We allow our Bibles to collect dust. The average American household has something like 4 Bibles in it, yet they remain unopened; often seen as nothing more than decorative props in our homes. Many times we even place other objects on top of our Bibles, never thinking twice about it.
God's Word is a serious matter, a holy book that unfolds the redemptive promise plan of God while revealing aspects of His holy nature and character - yet it's viewed by so many Christians as being far, far less than that. We must first realize and take seriously God first, though. The reason we don't take His Word seriously is because we have far too low a view of our righteous, holy, perfect, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Creator God. As believers, we must maintain the view of the holiness of God and the importance of His Word. The Word is foundational! Without it, we fall.
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