Articles
Burning the Book
Burning the Book
Jeremiah 36 records the story of king Jehoiakim burning the writing of Jeremiah. Often God's message to the people was called 'the burden of the LORD'. God's word not only gives hope and promises, it also includes warnings and threats. The reaction of the ungodly to such warnings and threats is varied. Sometimes is pricks their hearts and brings about repentance and forgiveness. Often it stabs the heart and produces anger and obstinacy. In such cases people have chosen to rail against God, kill the messenger, and burn the Message. Do what they will, God's word is as eternal as God. The message is not the messenger's but God's. The message is NOT the writing but what the writing SAYS. No matter what they do, God must be dealt with.
Attempts at destroying God's word have been legion. While Jehoiakim may have been the first (I don't know of others) to actually burn the physical writing, he was not the first or only to try to destroy the message. During the protestant reformation period it was fairly common for the Catholic church to burn all the copies of the Bible they could get their hands on. It was also fairly routine for them to burn the translators of such copies! Yet they could not stop the proliferation of God's message.
Through the years there have been many false prophets who would have destroyed the message by replacing it with a counterfeit. People then were destroyed for believing a lie. Sometimes the destruction can be as simple as changing one word in the message. There was the early KJ version which was called 'The Adulterer's Bible' for it had 'Thou shalt commit adultery' in Exodus 20:14. The of course reminds us of Satan's lie in the beginning: "Thou shalt NOT die." Yes, changing one word can completely destroy the meaning of the message.
Often it is those who claim to be friends of the Bible who have destroyed the effect of the message by not preaching it. Fear of persecution and being the messenger who is burned brought about their silence. We can rejoice that while the apostles were threatened, beaten, and imprisoned in an attempt to silence the message, every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ" (Acts 5:42). Persecution had at is aim the destruction of the message of God but it failed.
Many have destroyed the effect of the message simply by disobedience. The Hebrew writer wrote of the children of Israel that good news came "to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened" (Hebrews 4:2). When a message is not believed it is rendered impotent.
In the end though, the Word of God will prevail. God says through Isaiah: "My word shall not return void. "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it" (Isa. 55:10-11). God will fulfill His word. "My word shall judge them in the last day" (John 12:48). Are you letting the Word have its effect in your life? It WILL have an effect on the day of judgment.
