Jeremiah 36:21

 Jeremiah 36:21 says, So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.  The king had Jehudi to get the scroll and read it to all the princes and him.  He did not have Baruch to come and read it, though he would have been better able to read it and even explain it if asked.  Matthew Henry says that Jehudi was a page of the king.  Verse twenty-two states,, Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.  The king was in his  winter home with a fire burning.  Verse twenty-three adds,  And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.  Jehudi had only read a part of the book before the king cut part of it off and began burning it.  He obviously did not like what was being said.  The king cut it and threw it piece by piece into the fire.  People may think that they can destroy God's word by physically burning His written word, the Bible, but it will never be destroyed.  Verse twenty-four declares, Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.  None of his princes nor the king were affected by what they heard.  God's word should have caused them to repent and turn away from their sins in true remorse, but they were not afraid of what His word had to say, nor were they afraid for having destroyed it.  God's word today has no impact on more people than it has impact on, but it is the truth none the less.  Verse twenty-five adds, Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.  Three of the princes tried to stop the king from burning the book or scroll, but the king would not listen to them.  Whether they believed what was being read or not is not clear, but they at least recognized that the written word of God should not be destroyed.  Verse twenty-six says, But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.  The king was going to have Baruch and Jeremiah arrested, but God hid them.  The king maty have burned the scroll, but he was not allowed to seize those who God had used to write His word down.  As long as we are doing God's work and following His will we will always be secure in His hands.  Verse twenty-seven declares, 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,  Then verse twenty-eight adds, Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.  The word of God came to Jeremiah telling him to write the scroll again.  God's word cannot be destroyed by man.  Verse twenty-nine states, And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?  Not only was Jeremiah to write the scroll again, but he was to go to the king and answer his question as to why Jeremiah had said that Judah was going to be defeated by Babylon.  The king did not want to hear God's word, but he could not stop it from being proclaimed.  People today may not want to her the word of God, but they cannot stop it from being the truth no matter how hard they try.  Verse thirty declares, Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.  God said that Jehoiakim would have no descendant to sit on the throne and that he himself would die and his body would be left in the street.  Verse thirty-one adds, And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.  God said that He was going to bring the judgment for their sins upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah, as well as upon the king.  Verse thirty-two states, Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.  Jeremiah with Baruch not only rewrote the scroll, but even more was added to it.  These added words were not Jeremiah's but were additions made by God.  We cannot add to or take away from God's written word today.