Daily Devotions For the week of November 23-November 28, 2020 Monday, November 23 Jeremiah 36: 1-4 God Promises a New Covenant In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2”Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. 3It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” 4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him. Our patient and loving God wanted the house of Judah to listen to Him, to come to their senses and once again turn from their evil ways so that He could forgive them. To help his people, the Lord directed Jeremiah to put His messages in written form, the better to facilitate their communication, and to assist the people in studying and meditating on His words. The Lord could also foresee the disaster and destruction that would accompany a Babylonian takeover, should the king and people fail to heed His warnings. Having His messages in written form would help preserve the word He had given to Israel and Judah through Jeremiah. We are also introduced to Baruch, long-serving secretary and assistant to Jeremiah, who will serve as Jeremiah’s scribe and mouthpiece in writing and then reading the scroll to the people. With this portion of Jeremiah we have another example of the people having turned from God and stubbornly not listening to God’s warnings of the consequences. The Bible is replete with references to Israel being “stiff-necked”. For instance, “And the Lord said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.” (Exodus 32:9) Stiff-necked = stubborn, intractable, not to be led. We’ll revisit and pray on this ‘stiff-necked’ theme as we move through the week. Would you pray with me, ‘Lord, help us to relax our own stiff-neckness so that we might fully embrace the covenant you desire with us.’ Tuesday, November 24 Jeremiah 36: 5-8 5And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, “I am banned from going to the house of the Lord, 6so you are to go, and on a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. 7It may be that their plea for mercy will come before the Lord, and that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people. 8And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house. First, Baruch writes the scroll and now Jeremiah orders him to go and read from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house. Baruch serves as the hands and then the voice of Jeremiah. We don’t know if Baruch was adept at public speaking (like Aaron in Exodus was noted to be), but we do know God is not limited to choosing the equipped but can equip the chosen. Baruch was no doubt aware of why Jeremiah was banned from the temple, apparently because of Jeremiah’s outspoken retelling of God’s messages, warnings really. Baruch must have felt some trepidation in taking on this assignment to carry what had been a not well-received message and present it once again to the people. Yet, scripture notes that Baruch carried out his assignment. No response from the people is recorded, which may indicate the reading fell on unreceptive hearts, at the time. I wonder if we sometimes hesitate to share the word of the Lord with people, not sure how the message will be received and how we will be perceived. Hopefully, like Baruch, when presented with the opportunity, we would press forward and regardless of the immediate response, know that the purpose of the Word will ultimately be fulfilled. Deuteronomy 9:6 “Understand this, therefore: it is not because of your merits that the Lord, your God, is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-neck people.” ‘Lord, help us to relax our own stiff-neckness, so that in our chaotic, divided world where factions are yelling but seem not to be listening, we might acknowledge and demonstrate your gifts of grace, mercy and love, and in doing so, show others that there is another way, that we can have hope.’ Wednesday, November 25 Jeremiah 36: 21-23 21Then the King sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. 22It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. 23As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. The image that forms in my mind’s eye is an editor reviewing a manuscript, red pencil in hand to line out sentences, thoughts and ideas that don’t ‘fit’ with a desired narrative. Maybe it is for a research paper, perhaps a submittal for a magazine or an article for a newspaper. In this case, king Jehoiakim is using a penknife, listening to the words on the scroll and ‘cutting away’ that which he doesn’t like. Unfortunately for him, there is nothing that fits his narrative and the entire scroll wings up cut away and thrown in the fire. We spoke on Tuesday that the reading of the scroll to the people apparently fell on unreceptive hearts and certainly Jehoiakim was unreceptive. Contrast this to the reaction of king Josiah who, with a receptive heart, wept and repented at the hearing of the Lord’s message on a scroll (2 Kings 22:10-11). May we pray for receptive, inquisitive hearts, eager and searching for what God has to say to us throughout His scriptures, not only in those parts that we like and readily comprehend. The stiff-necked, godless Jehoiakim sought to destroy the word of God and certainly wanted to ignore the warnings they contained. Although the ink and the scroll could be burned, God’s word cannot be destroyed. “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). Deuteronomy 9:13 “I have seen now how stiff-necked this people is, the Lord said to me.” ‘Lord, help us to relax our own stiff- neckness, so that as your children we can become beacons of light in our suffering, divided world.’ Thursday, November 26 Jeremiah 36: 27-28 27Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 28”Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned.” I have come to know that if I want to remember something, I have to write it down. The Lord wanted his people to remember him, to hear, pray and repent. The first scroll of God’s messages to Jeremiah was burned by King Jehoiakim of Judah. Yet God’s plans will not be thwarted. God directed Jeremiah to do it again, and to include a personal message to the king, saying in essence that you had the gall to burn my scroll, so you will be conquered, your corpse will be thrown in the street and all the evils that went unheeded will come about (Jeremiah 29, 30, 31). We see again that the Lord keeps His promises and that He is a loving and patient God, for even after the scroll burning the Lord gave the people another twenty years to return to him before Babylon laid waste to the land. Isaiah 48:4 “Because I know that you are stubborn and that your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead bronze …”. ‘Lord, help us to relax the iron sinew in our neck and our forehead of bronze, so that as your children we can more readily see the people ‘on the other side’ as you see them, with no divisions and all loved by you.’ Friday, November 27 Jeremiah 31: 31-34 31”Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.