“Whenever Jehudi read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire” –

Jeremiah 36:23.

He was born Eliakim, son of King Josiah. He became Judah’s king by default, after Pharaoh Necho removed his brother, Jehoahaz, who succeeded their father. Necho changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:34).

He was a terrible king who did detestable things in the eyes of the Lord (37). Jehoiakim’s life so appalled the Lord that He pronounced this judgment against him: ‘This is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’ He will have the burial of a donkey—dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem” (Jer. 22:18-19).

It looks like Jehoiakim’s aversion for God’s word was as strong as that of the Lord for the wicked kings of Israel and Judah. For, when the young king heard about Jeremiah’s prophesy concerning God’s judgment on the wicked kings of Judah and Israel (Jer. 36:2), he ordered that it be read to him (20, 21). The king was sitting in his winter apartment, with a fire burning in the firepot in front of him. “Whenever Jehudi read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire” (23). What impudence! What contempt for the word of God!

God is merciful and gracious. His intended purpose was to incite repentance in the kings of Israel and Judah, that “I will forgive their wickedness and their sin” (3). How magnanimous God is! He is patient with the sinner, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pt. 3:9). That’s the heart of the Gospel. But the human ego delights in position and power above God’s olive branch held out to them in Christ. That was King Jehoiakim’s folly.

What did King Jehoiakim expect from burning the scroll? Did he really think his belligerent action could nullify God’s word? Poor soul! He burned the scroll, but he could not get rid of God’s decree concerning him. The scroll was re-written (Jer. 36:32), and all the disaster it proclaimed came to pass (2 Chron. 36:6-21).

The fact is, people can burn the Bible, but they cannot do away with the word of God. They can make countless arguments against it or theorize to convince themselves of its fallacy, but no one can wish it away. Its authority and judgment rules over every soul. You either believe it and receive life (Jn. 1:12-13; 3:16) or die in your sins and face God’s judgment (Rm. 6:23; Heb. 9:27; Rev. 20:11-12). It is the reality of life; a choice everyone must make while on earth. As Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35).