Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 36-38.

So, God instructed Jeremiah to record all of the prophecies He had given to Jeremiah on a scroll.  Jeremiah’s scribe, Baruch, wrote down what Jeremiah dictated, then went and read it to the people at the temple.  One of the temple officials (or, perhaps a government official) heard what Baruch read and had him read it to a collection of other officials.  When the officials heard the words which God had spoken to Jeremiah they were frightened.  The officials then read the words for the king and his attendants.  The king reacted to hearing Jeremiah’s words with contempt and neither he, nor any of his close associates, were concerned in the least by Jeremiah’s predictions.   Initially I was not sure what frightened the officials: the word Jeremiah had spoken, or the reaction of the king when he heard them.  However, today when I read the king’s reaction I realized that the writer was contrasting the fear which the officials felt to the indifference of the king and his attendants.  We need to ask ourselves which group we fall into: those who were frightened when they heard God’s words condemning evil? Or those who were completely unconcerned and sought to silence those speaking it?  Those who respect and fear God will listen to His words and change.  Those who hold those words in contempt will continue in their wickedness and suffer the consequences.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.