You Can Burn the Scroll, But Not God’s Word (Jeremiah 36:1–32)
Have you ever tried to avoid something you didn’t want to hear? Maybe it was news you didn’t like, advice you didn’t agree with, or a warning you chose to ignore. In Jeremiah 36, we see a king do exactly that—he literally burns God’s message because he doesn’t want to listen.
But this story shows something powerful: even if people reject or try to destroy God’s word, it still stands.
Let’s take a closer look at what happened.
God Tells Jeremiah to Write It All Down
Jeremiah was a prophet—a messenger for God—during a time when the people of Judah were ignoring God and living in disobedience. In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim’s reign, God told Jeremiah:
“Write on a scroll all the words I have spoken to you… perhaps the people will turn from their wicked ways.” (Jeremiah 36:2–3)
God wanted to give the people one more chance to listen, change, and be saved from disaster.
Baruch Writes and Reads the Scroll
Since Jeremiah couldn’t go to the temple (possibly because he wasn’t welcome), he asked his assistant, Baruch, to write down God’s words and read them to the people.
Baruch went to the temple during a special day of fasting, when crowds were gathered. He stood in a public place and read God’s message—hoping people would hear and respond.
The Scroll Reaches the King
Some government officials heard the message and were concerned. They took Baruch aside to hear more and asked how he and Jeremiah got the scroll. Then they brought the scroll to King Jehoiakim.
At this point, the king had a chance to listen—to take God’s warning seriously and lead the people in turning back to God.
But that’s not what happened.
The King Burns the Scroll
As the scroll was read aloud to him, King Jehoiakim took a knife, cut off pieces of the scroll, and threw them into a fire—one section at a time—until the entire message was gone.
He wasn’t afraid. He wasn’t sorry. He simply didn’t care.
He even ordered that Jeremiah and Baruch be arrested. But God kept them safe.
God Responds with More Words
God didn’t let that be the end of the story. He told Jeremiah:
“Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll…” (v. 28)
And He added even more—to show the seriousness of what the king had done. The message wasn’t lost. God’s word came back—stronger than before.
What This Story Teaches Us
This chapter offers several important lessons:
-
God’s word can’t be destroyed. People can reject it, tear it up, or burn it—but they can’t stop it from being true.
-
God is patient and gives people chances to turn back to Him.
-
Ignoring God’s message doesn’t make it go away.
-
Faithful people like Jeremiah and Baruch remind us that doing the right thing takes courage—but it’s worth it.
Final Thoughts
Jeremiah 36 shows us what happens when people don’t want to hear the truth. But it also shows us that God’s word is powerful, lasting, and unshakable.
The real question is: How do we respond when we hear God’s message?
Do we ignore it, like King Jehoiakim? Or do we listen and allow it to shape our lives?
God is still speaking—and He’s still offering grace. Let’s not toss it aside.
Jeremiah 36:1-32 (WEB)
36:1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 “Take a scroll of a book, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day. 3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I intend to do to them, that they may each return from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the LORD’s words, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book. 5 Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am restricted. I can’t go into the LORD’s house. 6 Therefore you go, and read from the scroll which you have written from my mouth, the LORD’s words, in the ears of the people in the LORD’s house on the fast day. Also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities. 7 It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will each return from his evil way; for the LORD has pronounced great anger and wrath against this people.”8 Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the LORD’s words in the LORD’s house. 9 Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before the LORD. 10 Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the book in the LORD’s house, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD’s house, in the ears of all the people.11 When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the LORD’s words, 12 he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s room; and behold, all the princes were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. 13 Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people. 14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come.”So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them. 15 They said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.”So Baruch read it in their hearing.16 Now when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.” 17 They asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words at his mouth?”18 Then Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”19 Then the princes said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah go hide. Don’t let anyone know where you are.”20 They went in to the king into the court, but they had laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe. Then they told all the words in the hearing of the king. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king, and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. 22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him. 23 When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. 24 The king and his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and didn’t tear their garments. 25 Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them. 26 The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but the LORD hid them.27 Then the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 28 “Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29 Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘The LORD says: “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written therein, saying, “The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cause to cease from there man and animal”?’ ” 30 Therefore the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He will have no one to sit on David’s throne. His dead body will be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. 31 I will punish him, his offspring, and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they didn’t listen.” ’ ”32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll, 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 many similar words were added to them.