Good morning -
Most of us wouldn't dream of burning a Bible but there are those who would consider it a service to mankind to do so. Surely any government leader who would do so would be the recipient of the extreme disfavor of God.
"Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe's knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments." (Jeremiah 36:21-24)
God had directed Jeremiah to write the words that He spoke to him. They were stern words of judgment upon a disobedient people, yet the offer of grace was extended to all who would repent. The narrative of King Jehoikim's actions spiritual condition is evidenced by his actions: he heard the words read and then cut portions of the scroll and threw them into the fire until all was eventually burned up. There is not the slightest hint of repentance or remorse; he simply coldly and callously heard God's word and then chose to destroy it rather than respond to it.
Before we completely dismiss Jehoikim as a totally vile and spiritually dead ruler, we do well to pause and consider the Jehoikim that is potentially within us all. Whenever we choose to be unresponsive to God's word we are a bit of a Jehoikim. James 1:22-24 says,
"But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was."
The Bible demands a response from all who read it. No book is more radical or dangerous. It calls us to die daily to ourselves in order to live. I don't know about you, but that makes me uncomfortable. The choice, then, is to read and heed or neglect and reject. Uncomfortable as it makes me, I would far rather undergo the pain of shaping and molding than to be comfortable on the path to destruction.
Seeking to submit to the shaping of His Word,
Pastor Steve
Most of us wouldn't dream of burning a Bible but there are those who would consider it a service to mankind to do so. Surely any government leader who would do so would be the recipient of the extreme disfavor of God.
"Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king as well as to all the officials who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him. When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe's knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments." (Jeremiah 36:21-24)
God had directed Jeremiah to write the words that He spoke to him. They were stern words of judgment upon a disobedient people, yet the offer of grace was extended to all who would repent. The narrative of King Jehoikim's actions spiritual condition is evidenced by his actions: he heard the words read and then cut portions of the scroll and threw them into the fire until all was eventually burned up. There is not the slightest hint of repentance or remorse; he simply coldly and callously heard God's word and then chose to destroy it rather than respond to it.
Before we completely dismiss Jehoikim as a totally vile and spiritually dead ruler, we do well to pause and consider the Jehoikim that is potentially within us all. Whenever we choose to be unresponsive to God's word we are a bit of a Jehoikim. James 1:22-24 says,
"But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was."
The Bible demands a response from all who read it. No book is more radical or dangerous. It calls us to die daily to ourselves in order to live. I don't know about you, but that makes me uncomfortable. The choice, then, is to read and heed or neglect and reject. Uncomfortable as it makes me, I would far rather undergo the pain of shaping and molding than to be comfortable on the path to destruction.
Seeking to submit to the shaping of His Word,
Pastor Steve
posted by steve @ 10:29 AM
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