“Take again another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned,” (36:28).
It’s another glimpse of His unfathomable mercy and grace. The people had repeatedly turned a deaf ear to His Words of Instruction spoken by His prophets again and again. And now, God commands Jeremiah to write everything He has spoken to him on a scroll. And here’s the truly amazing part, it’s the why behind His command to Jeremiah.
“Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin,” (36:3).
How can such grace be continually rejected? And why does He continue to extend His offer of forgiveness to a people so hell bent on refusing His mercy? It’s beyond our ability to ever understand. But God makes certain that everyone will hear His Word as the people make their way to the temple in Jerusalem for one of the required annual fasts.
And some who hear have the good sense to be afraid for themselves, and for the messengers of God.
When they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another and said to Baruch, “We will surely report all these words to the king.” 17 And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” 18 Then Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are,” (36:16-19).
But others convince themselves they have more power than Almighty God and can somehow stop His Word, deluded in their finite understanding. Oh, but His Word is Unstoppable and it will never be thwarted or destroyed. His Unstoppable Word will be accomplished.
Consider His Unstoppable Word
As God is Unstoppable so also is His Word, for what He speaks is in perfect keeping with His Name; all of His Word is spoken according to all that He Is, Unstoppable.
For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name, (Psalm 138:2c).
- His Word will not be frustrated; It is Unstoppable.
- “For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:27).
- His Word will not return empty; It is Unstoppable
- “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it,” (Isaiah 55:11).
- “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
- His Word will not be abolished; It is Unstoppable.
- “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished,” (Matthew 5:17-18).
- His Word will not pass away; It is Unstoppable.
- “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away,” (Matthew 24:35).
And as if all of His creation and all of His miraculous signs and wonders were not enough to establish faith in His Unstoppable Word, He did the unthinkable, and sent His Son to become a Man and suffer and die for the sins of the world.
- Jesus, the Living Word, became flesh and came to earth as a Man.
- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth, (John 1:1, 14).
- Jesus, the Living Word, came to earth to die for our sins.
- For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15:3).
- Jesus, the Living Word, was persecuted and killed for the sins of man, but death could not Stop Him, He Is Unstoppable.
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- this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24 But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power, (Acts 2:23-24).
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How do we respond to His Unstoppable Word?
Oh, let us learn well from the account of King Jehoiakim and his servants. The Lord’s Word is Unstoppable. Cutting it into shreds will Not Stop It. Throwing it into fire will Not Stop It. Boldface disrespect will Not Stop It. And brazen misplaced courage will Not Stop It.
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.24 Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments, (36:23-24).
And though some would beg the king not to proceed with his foolishness, all would learn that even a king, in his stubborn pride, could Not Stop His Unstoppable Word.
Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them, (36:25-26).
God protected Baruch and Jeremiah. But even if His children are persecuted and killed, His Word will prevail, for His Word Is Unstoppable.
“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day,” (John 6:40).
When trials and afflictions come, and they will, when persecution becomes our lot in life, and it may, our assurance and victory for today and tomorrow is rooted in trusting His Unstoppable Word.
Today, let us remember that His Word is Unstoppable and let us believe what He says. And while every other thing may wither away, we can have His assurance that every one of His promises will come to pass, for His Unstoppable Word stands forever.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever, (Isaiah 40:8).
His Word is Unstoppable and every promise spoken by God is Unstoppable in Christ Jesus and guaranteed in His Holy Spirit.
For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes in Him. 20 For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge, (2 Corinthians 1:19-22).
Jesus, the Living Word, prayed for us, asking the Father to sanctify us, to set us apart for His glory in His Unstoppable Word.
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth,” (John 17:17).
Oh, that we would cooperate with His sanctifying work as we seek to know Him in His Unstoppable Word.
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead, (Philippians 3:10-11).
And as we seek to know Jesus more, let us trust that He will do what only He can do. Oh, that He would do His Unstoppable Work to conform us to the image of His Son by His Unstoppable Word as He divides and judges the thoughts and intentions of our heart.
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son… (Romans 8:29).
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart, (Hebrews 4:12).
And let us ask the Lord to use us to tell others of His unfathomable mercy and grace demonstrated in the Living Word and revealed in His Written Word, that perhaps they would turn from their sin and be forgiven as they place their faith in His Unstoppable Word.
“Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin,” (36:3).
…“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household,” (Acts 16:30-31).