Of Rolls and Rulers

{Jeremiah 36}

Yet another chance, another token of mercy, another gift of grace, another opportunity for forgivenness. How many times can God show His longsuffering? I am filled with awe and amazement at such a God. Humanly, I know I couldn’t bear with such blunt defiance of laws and love. But He delights to show mercy…

It was a roll this time, a scroll containing all that God had declared to Jeremiah, yet another strategy to try to arouse the little bit of piety that might be residing in some hearts. When the king heard, he was driven into satanic fury, cutting the roll into pieces and throwing it into the fire.

But there were a few who were still seeking, a few whose hearts were still open. They pled with the king not to burn the scroll, but his heart was so hardened that he would not listen to them. His life was a sad tale of continued disregard of God’s law.

In fact, the king was not content to just destroy the roll; he determined to destroy Baruch and Jeremiah too. And suddenly we see the hand of God saying, “Here, but no further.” I love this phrase…

“But the Lord hid them.”

And no action of the king could quench the flame kindled in the hearts of these men. They wrote yet another scroll; this one was even deeper and more complete than the last. The enemy can never prevail.

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This is not just a story from ages past. It is going to happen again, soon. Yes, we will have persecution, but the hand of God will be there saying, “Here, but no further.” Nothing the devil can do will quench our fire.

Nothing.