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A theme that hung in the background yesterday will be brought to the fore today, as the LORD assures multiple people that He is dealing with them justly according to their own deeds… everyone shall die for his own sin.

In the opening chapter the LORD sends Jeremiah to King Zedekiah, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities… The LORD promises Zedekiah that He shall not escape, but shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye… and will go to Babylon. Everyone shall die for his own sin.

Later in the chapter the king and his subjects bring disaster upon themselves by first releasing their slaves and then re-enslaving them. It’s unclear why they made such a move, but it’s identical to that which the Egyptians attempted during the Exodus. The LORD calls them to account twice: for how they profaned His name in taking back their slaves, and for holding them for so long – in violation of His law in Leviticus – in the first place. Everyone shall die for his own sin.

Chapter 35 has a flashback to a visit from the Rechabites, a nomadic tribe whose ancestors had vowed “to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, and our daughters…” Even when offered wine by Jeremiah, in the LORD’s house, they refused. The LORD promises to honor their vow, but holds them up before the people of Judah as a contrast to their own unfaithfulness, and rejection of the prophets. Everyone shall die for his own sin.

Another flashback in chapter 36 shows Jeremiah sending Baruch, his scribe, to read in the LORD’s house a scroll prophesying “that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land…” The king burns the scroll, and fails to lament its contents. Therefore the king, Jehoiakim, “shall have none to sit on the throne of David…” Everyone shall die for his own sin.

Throughout today’s reading, listen for the repeated refrain, “…but they would not hear.” Though the chronology skips around, the theme is resoundingly clear: Judah, Jerusalem, and her kings, have been fairly warned, yet they would not hear… Everyone shall die for his own sin.

Our verse for this week is Hebrews 8:10: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jeremiah 34 through 36. Now let’s read it!

Jeremiah 34 - 36

The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, with all his army, all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and against all its cities, saying: "Jehovah, the God of Israel, says, 'Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Jehovah says, "Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire. You won't escape out of his hand, but will surely be taken and delivered into his hand. Your eyes will see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he will speak with you mouth to mouth. You will go to Babylon."' "Yet hear Jehovah's word, O Zedekiah king of Judah. Jehovah says concerning you, 'You won't die by the sword. You will die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will make a burning for you. They will lament you, saying, "Ah Lord!" for I have spoken the word,' says Jehovah." Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, when the king of Babylon's army was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities. The word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them, that every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free, that no one should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother. All the princes and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant and everyone his female servant go free, that no one should make bondservants of them any more. They obeyed and let them go, but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids whom they had let go free to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. Therefore Jehovah's word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, "Jehovah, the God of Israel, says: 'I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: At the end of seven years, every man of you shall release his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years. You shall let him go free from you. But your fathers didn't listen to me, and didn't incline their ear. You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor. You had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name; but you turned and profaned my name, and every man caused his servant and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return. You brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.'" Therefore Jehovah says: "You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty," says Jehovah, "to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts: the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf. I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth. "I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those who seek their life and into the hands of the king of Babylon's army, who has gone away from you. Behold, I will command," says Jehovah, "and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it, take it, and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant." The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, "Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into Jehovah's house, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink." Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, with his brothers, all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; and I brought them into Jehovah's house, into the room of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, the man of God, which was by the room of the princes, which was above the room of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the threshold. I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, "Drink wine!" But they said, "We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, 'You shall drink no wine, neither you nor your children, forever. You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, or have any; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land in which you live as nomads.' We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters; and not to build houses for ourselves to dwell in. We have no vineyard, field, or seed; but we have lived in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, we said, 'Come! Let's go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians; so we will dwell at Jerusalem.'" Then Jehovah's word came to Jeremiah, saying, "Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "Will you not receive instruction to listen to my words?" says Jehovah. "The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father's commandment; but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, and you have not listened to me. I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, 'Every one of you must return now from his evil way, amend your doings, and don't go after other gods to serve them. Then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers;' but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me. The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me."' "Therefore Jehovah, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.'" Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, "Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you,' therefore Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'Jonadab the son of Rechab will not lack a man to stand before me forever.'" In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, "Take a scroll of a book, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah even to this day. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I intend to do to them, that they may each return from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin." Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all Jehovah's words, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book. Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, "I am restricted. I can't go into Jehovah's house. Therefore you go, and read from the scroll which you have written from my mouth, Jehovah's words, in the ears of the people in Jehovah's house on the fast day. Also you shall read them in the ears of all Judah who come out of their cities. It may be they will present their supplication before Jehovah, and will each return from his evil way; for Jehovah has pronounced great anger and wrath against this people." Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book Jehovah's words in Jehovah's house. Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before Jehovah. Then Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the book in Jehovah's house, in the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of Jehovah's house, in the ears of all the people. When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all Jehovah's words, he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's room; and behold, all the princes were sitting there, Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people. Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, "Take in your hand the scroll in which you have read in the ears of the people, and come." So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them. They said to him, "Sit down now, and read it in our hearing." So Baruch read it in their hearing. Now when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said to Baruch, "We will surely tell the king of all these words." They asked Baruch, saying, "Tell us now, how did you write all these words at his mouth?" Then Baruch answered them, "He dictated all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book." Then the princes said to Baruch, "You and Jeremiah go hide. Don't let anyone know where you are." They went in to the king into the court, but they had laid up the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe. Then they told all the words in the hearing of the king. So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the room of Elishama the scribe. Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king, and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him. When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. The king and his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and didn't tear their garments. Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them. The king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Jehovah hid them. Then Jehovah's word came to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the scroll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, "Take again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. Concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, 'Jehovah says: "You have burned this scroll, saying, 'Why have you written therein, saying, "The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cause to cease from there man and animal"?'" Therefore Jehovah says concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: "He will have no one to sit on David's throne. His dead body will be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. I will punish him, his offspring, and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they didn't listen."'" Then Jeremiah took another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.

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