As 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.
– Jeremiah 36:23
So here’s a little setup for this verse. Jeremiah has been forbidden to go to the house of the Lord and proclaim the Word of God. So he dictates God’s Word about coming judgment upon God’s people to Baruch. And Baruch takes that scroll and goes into the house of the Lord. People fast and they gather and they listen to what it says, and they’re terrified as they hear it. They take the scroll to different officials so they can hear it. And eventually, the scroll makes its way to the king.
What happens here in verse 23 is that Jehudi reads columns from the scroll. And as he does, the king cuts them off from the scroll and throws them into the fire. He does not want to hear the Word of God. Others who had heard this Word were terrified. The king though, experienced no fear. The next verse, verse 24, says, “Neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words were afraid, nor did they tear their garments. They were totally hard toward the Word of God.”
Jeremiah 36:23 reminds us to respond with humility toward God’s Word.
And there’s a lot of ways we could pray based on this picture. But I’m guessing, you know, people who seem to be hard toward God’s Word. It doesn’t affect them, they don’t want to hear it. When they do, they don’t respond humbly before it, but pridefully discard it. And I want to lead us to pray for those people who we know. At the same time to pray that just like Jeremiah was faithful to share God’s Word, even when it was not being received, I want to pray for us that we would faithfully, wisely, and compassionately share God’s Word even when people don’t receive it, even when we are rejected for sharing it.
I remember just recently spending time with a bunch of teenagers in our church. And that was one of the biggest questions they had. “How do I keep sharing the gospel with my friends who reject the gospel over and over and over again?” And I was so encouraged that they were even asking that question. They want to share the gospel. They needed encouragement to continue doing that and to be wise in how they do that when people’s hearts seem hard with confidence that as we pray and as people hear God’s Word, it has the power to soften people’s hearts. But only God can do that.
Jeremiah 36:23 reminds us to be faithful stewards of God’s Word.
And so we pray, God, people coming to my mind right now and trust people coming to others’ minds, we pray, oh God, for softening of their hearts toward your Word. We think about family members, we think about friends. God, we pray for a receptivity to your Word. God, we pray for humility before you. Lord, we pray that they would receive your Word and receive your love for them. God, we pray that you would help us to love them well. Help us to faithfully share your Word with others, even when it brings rejection, even when it seems like our words are just bouncing off a brick wall. God, please help us to stay faithful and share your Word and to be wise and how best to do that.
Oh God, I praise you as I think about people who I’ve prayed for years and finally their hearts soften to your Word. Oh God, we believe in the power of your Word and your power of your spirit to bring about salvation. Please do it in the lives of the people who are coming to our minds right now. Please, oh God, we pray.
Prayer for the Dungan People
And God, as we pray for unreached people, we know that’s not an easy task for people who’ve never heard the gospel, who have a whole different belief system, to turn from even what their ancestors have believed and to trust in you, to trust in Jesus for salvation. So, God, we pray specifically over the Dungan people of Kyrgyzstan, China, and Mongolia. God, we pray for this group of 150,000 people, God, that you would soften their hearts and the gospel would spread to them and they would receive it. God, we pray for spiritual sensitivity among the Dungan people of Kyrgyzstan, China, Mongolia, and all these people groups we pray for, God, please create spiritual sensitivity among them.
We pray that over all kinds of people around us today, and we pray that you’d help us to be faithful to share the gospel no matter how many times we might be rejected. We pray all this according to your Word in Jeremiah 36. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
