Bitter Sweet.

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” – Revelation 10:8-11 ESV

From the moment John was transported to the throne room of God in chapter one, he has experienced a virtual assault on his senses. The sights and sounds have come at him in relentless succession. He has repeatedly stated, “And then I saw” or “then I heard” as yet another heavenly insight has been revealed to him. But in this chapter, John will be required to use his sense of taste for the first time. The little scroll or book he saw in the hand of the mighty angel now comes into play. If you recall, verse two revealed that the diminutive scroll was open. It was not sealed like the first scroll. And while John has been commanded to seal up what the seven thunders said and not to reveal the content of their messages, the same will not be true of the scroll. In fact, he hears a voice from heaven commanding to take the scroll from the angel’s hand and eat it.

“Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” – Revelation 10:9 ESV

This is a new experience for John. Rather than acting as a spectator, silently taking dictation and taking in all that is being revealed to him, he becomes an active participant. And this scene is reminiscent of one found in the book of Ezekiel.

1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.

4 And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. – Ezekiel 3:1-4 ESV

Like Ezekiel, John was to consume the scroll and then divulge its contents. And also like Ezekiel, John would find the contents of the scroll to be as sweet as honey. But he is warned that it will not set well with him. It will upset his stomach. John will find the words pleasant, because they come from God. But their ultimate outcome will leave him upset. Perhaps the imagery of an upset stomach conveys the idea of John needing to vomit up its content, spewing it out in an uncontrollable, reflexive manner. He will not be able to keep it inside. The message contained in the scroll is intended to be dispersed abroad so that others can know it.

“You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.” – Revelation 10:11 ESV

The mighty angel had come from heaven, carrying a small scroll in his hand. That scroll contained a message from God and John was commanded to consume that message. In the Bible, the word of God is often referred to as sweet. Consider Psalm 19:9-11:

9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

But while God’s Word is sweet to consume, it can be difficult to hear at times. If we meditate on its content and consider what its truths say to us about our lives, we can find it convicting or to put it another way, bitter to the taste. Paul reminded Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV). Sometimes, we can find what God has to say difficult to hear. And as a prophet for God, John was going to discover the bitterness that comes with speaking the truth of God and finding no one willing to listen. And he would not be alone. All of the prophets of God had experienced that disappointing realization. They willingly proclaimed God’s revealed will only to find the people unwilling to hear and heed what they had to say. In fact, God had warned Ezekiel that the people to whom he would speak, would refuse to listen

“But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.” – Ezekiel 3:7 ESV

John, like Ezekiel, had an obligation to share what he had been “fed” by God. He was not to keep it to himself. The content, while sweet going down, because it came from God, John would find impossible to keep down. And it would be anything but sweet to those who heard it from John’s lips. But John had a God-ordained obligation to share what he had been given. And as God had told Ezekiel, John was to warn the world of what was to come.

“…if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.” – Ezekiel 3:19 ESV

The book of Revelation is a book that is sweet to some and bitter to others. Some read its content and find their faith in God stirred and enhanced. Others read it and come away questioning the love of God and wondering how He could perpetrate such heinous acts against His own creation. And still others write it off as nothing but fantasy and nonsense. But John’s job was to tell. He is not told to convince or convict. That is the role of the Word of God with the help of the Spirit of God.

We are never told what the exact content of the scroll was. It could be that it contained the rest of the message revealed in the remaining pages of John’s book. Some have conjectured that it was the Word of God in its entirety. But whatever it was, John found it sweet to the taste. It contained the grace and mercy of God. It revealed the divine will of God. Because it was from God, it was deliciously received by the servant of God. But to those apart from God, it would be repugnant. The Word of God is full of difficult-to-digest statements about sin and God’s judgment. It contains words of warning and calls to repentance. It is intended to reprove sinful men and to call them to repentance. But there will always be those who reject what God has to say. Jesus told His disciples, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Luke 10:16 ESV). We have already seen that, even the judgments of God, were insufficient to turn the hearts of the people to God. His punishment for their sin made them desire death, but not Him. Their pain and agony, brought on them by the sovereign hand of God, drove them to consider suicide, but not to consider turning to God. 

John was eventually going to write down all that he saw and heard. Even that which he had tasted. We find it all in the book of Revelation. And over the centuries, millions upon millions of people have read its content. Some have been driven to the cross by what they have read. They have been convicted and called to turn to the offer of forgiveness made available through the sacrificial death of the Lamb of God. Yet, others have heard the warnings found in John’s book and, while intrigued by its message, have remained unmoved and have refused its call to “keep what is written in it, for the time is near” (Revelation 1:4 ESV). And yet, the apostle John, like the prophet Ezekiel, is given the responsibility to take what he has heard and to share it with any an all.

“Thus says the Lord God. ‘He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house’” – Ezekiel 3:27 ESV

John will not be held accountable for the response of his audience. They will be free to do with the message of God as they see fit. And many who hear it will rebel against it. Others will simply ignore it or write it off as unimportant or non-applicable to them. But there will be some who hear and who heed the warnings found in God’s Word. They will repent and return to the Lord in humble submission to His will and in gratitude to His gracious offer of salvation from the judgment to come.

The scroll was small, but the message it contained was massive in terms of its importance. The remainder of the book of Revelation will reveal all that is yet to take place before the second coming of Jesus Christ. The stage has been set. The grand play that tells the story of man’s existence is coming to a close. The final act is about to begin and as it unfolds, God will still be offering those who are willing to hear, one last chance to heed His call to repent and return.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)  Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

He is Worthy.

1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” – Revelation 5:1-5 ESV

John has somehow been transported by the Spirit of God into heaven, where he is being given an unprecedented glimpse into the very throne room of God. It is an incredible scene, one which John has difficulty putting into words. His descriptions can only allude to the grandeur and glory of all that he sees. It is a scene filled with brilliant light, vivid colors, incredible sights and sounds and the very presence of the trinity. Seated on the throne is God the Father, and standing before Him are the Spirit and the Son. Seated before him are the 24 elders and around the throne are the four beasts who constantly sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8 ESV). We can only imagine what this must have been like for John. His emotions must have run the gamut, from awestruck wonder to abject fear. He was actually seeing the God of the universe with his own eyes and living to tell about it. This is significant, because God had warned Moses, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20 ESV). And Paul had told Timothy, “He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen” (1 Timothy 6:16 NLT). And yet, we know that there was at least one other occasion when 74 others had the unique opportunity of seeing God and living to tell about it. It is recorded in the book of Exodus.

9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. 10 There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. 11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence! – Exodus 24:9-10 NLT

This privilege bestowed upon Moses and his companions was never before repeated. At least until John stepped into the throne room in heaven. And unlike Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel, John wasn’t going to enjoy a mean with God. He was going to witness the unveiling of God’s future plans for the judgment of the world – the “the things that must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1 ESV). And as John took in that incredible scene before him, he noticed that God was holding in His right hand “a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals” (Revelation 5:1 ESV). This scene is reminiscent of one recorded in the book of Ezekiel. There we see the prophet Ezekiel miraculously transported into heaven where he finds himself standing before the very presence of God. And he describes seeing the very same thing John saw.

9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. – Ezekiel 2:9-10 ESV

This scroll will play a significant part in the rest of John’s book. As we will see, it contains the judgments that God is going to release upon the earth. And it may be the same scroll mentioned in the book of Daniel, that he was commanded to seal until the end of time (Daniel 12:4, 9). John has no idea what this scroll signifies, but he can’t help but notice that it is sealed with seven seals and that it has writing on both sides of its parchment. Both of these features would have been out of the ordinary. The number of the seals obviously stood out to John, and probably appeared to be a bit of over-the-top and unnecessary. But as we will see with everything John witnesses, they have significance and meaning. The seals must have been affixed in such a way that as each one was broken, the scroll was allowed to be partially unrolled, exposing only a portion of its content. The next seal would have to be broken before the next section of judgments could be revealed. There is a sequential nature to the content of the scroll.  And the fact that the scroll contained writing on both sides would have been another odd feature, probably signifying the sheer volume of judgments to come.

The next thing John saw was someone who he describes as a powerful angel, declaring, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” (Revelation 5:2 ESV). Here was God, holding in His hand a sealed scroll containing all that was to come in terms of His future plans for the world. And the angel’s question creates a tension, revealing that there is only one who is worthy to break the seals and expose the scroll’s contents. The individual who would take the scroll from the hand of God had already been predetermined. But John was not yet aware of who that individual might be. He simply records that “no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it” (Revelation 5:3 ESV). No one was worthy of the honor or met the prescribed criteria. And this sad state of affairs left John in tears, “because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it” (Revelation 5:4 ESV). The scroll remained in the right hand of the Father, and the contents of the scroll remained hidden. As far as John could tell, the divine plan of God was left unfulfilled because no one had the authority to bring about its fulfillment.

There is a tension in this scene. It is as if all motion has ceased. The Father sits on His throne, scroll in hand. The 24 elders remain seated in their 24 thrones. The four beasts have stopped their singing and praising. The powerful angel has called out, seeking for someone to take the scroll from God’s hand and begin the breaking of the seals. But no one steps forward. John watches, waits and weeps. But then, the silence is broken. One of the 24 elders steps up and comforts John, telling him:

“Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” – Revelation 5:5 ESV

Remember, John is having a vision of heaven. He has been transported into God’s presence where he is being provided a glimpse into things that no man has been privileged to see. It is as if this scene has been going on since the beginning of time. God has been holding that scroll from before the foundation of the world. It has long contained His plans for the world and He has been waiting for the one who would be worthy to take it from His hand and begin the process of breaking its seals and revealing its content. And while John noticed that no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, that was about to change. There was someone, and He is described to John as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, and the one who has conquered. It is Jesus. These titles describe Jesus’ qualifications or credentials that make Him the only worthy candidate to open the scroll. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This is a direct reference to the blessing Jacob gave to his son, Judah.

9 Judah is a lion's cub;
    from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
    and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
    and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. – Genesis 49:9-10 ESV

Jesus was descended from the tribe of Judah. He is the one who holds the scepter and the ruler’s staff in His hand. And Jesus is the Root of David, another indication that He was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy concerning the coming Messiah.

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. – Isaiah 11:1-2 ESV

Jesse was the father of King David, and Jesus was a descendant of David. He was the one worthy to be the King of Israel, the successor to the throne of David. These titles are meant to declare Jesus’ right to rule and reign. And to further assert Jesus’ impeccable qualifications, the elder declares that Jesus has conquered. He has been victorious. The Greek word used here is nikaō and it can actually be translated as “overcome.” That very same word was used repeatedly in chapters 2 and 3, where Jesus addressed the seven churches=

“To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” – Revelation 2:7 ESV

“The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” – Revelation 2:11 ESV

“To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” – Revelation 2:17 ESV

“The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations…” – Revelation 2:26 ESV

“The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life.” – Revelation 3:5 ESV

“The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.” – Revelation 3:12 ESV

“The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” – Revelation 3:21 ESV

Jesus has conquered. He told His disciples, even before His death, that they could have peace because He had already overcome the world.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 ESV

He used that very same Greek word, nikaō. And Paul reminds us that, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37 ESV). He uses the Greek word, hypernikaō, which conveys the idea of being super-conquerors. Christ has defeated death and grave. Paul reminds us of this incredible fact in his letter to the Corinthian believers.

56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 ESV

Jesus is worthy. He is fully qualified to take the scroll from the hand of His Father and open its seals. And He is the only one worthy. Had Jesus not come to earth as a child, lived a sinless life, sacrificed Himself for the sins of man, and been raised back to life by the power of the Spirit of God, He would not have met the demanding requirements of God Almighty. But He was faithful. He was fully obedient. He conquered sin and death.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)  Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Read It and Weep.

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “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. It 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.”

Then 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. And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, “I am banned from going to the house of the Lord, so 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. It 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.” And 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.

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 the Lord. Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.

When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber, and all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials. And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. And they said to him, “Sit down and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, “We must report all these words to the king.” Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, while I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.” – Jeremiah 36:1-19 ESV

It has been about 22 years since Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry in Judah. He started when Josiah was king in Judah. Now Jehoiakim sits on the throne. In the two decades he has been acting as God’s spokesman, he has said many things. He has provided the people of Judah with many warnings and pleaded with them repeatedly to return to God and find grace, mercy and forgiveness. But there has been little to no positive response to his messages. The people remain stubbornly opposed to any form of repentance. They refuse to change their ways. So, God instructs Jeremiah to put it all in writing on a scroll. This would create a permanent record of God’s words and a tangible reminder of just how many times He has patiently pleaded with His people to change their ways.

Jeremiah enlisted the aid of Baruch, who carefully recorded on the scroll all that Jeremiah dictated to him. When this process was complete, Jeremiah instructed Baruch to take the scroll and read it in the presence of all the people at the temple on a fast day. It seems that Jeremiah was under some sort of civil restriction that prevented him from going to the temple himself, which is why he sent Baruch. And when the day came, Baruch did as instructed and read from the scroll. The text tells us, “People from all over Judah had come to Jerusalem to attend the services at the Temple on that day” (Jeremiah 36:9 NLT). It was a full house. We’re told that Baruch “stood in front of the Temple room of Gemariah, son of Shaphan the secretary. This room was just off the upper courtyard of the Temple, near the New Gate entrance” (Jeremiah 36:10 NLT). This is an important point of interest, because Gemariah’s father, Shaphan, was the one who had read the rediscovered book of the Law to King Josiah. During Josiah’s reign, he had committed himself to restoring and revitalizing Judah’s spiritual heritage. He instituted a wide range of reforms, including making much-needed repairs to the temple of God. In the process, they discovered the book of the Law.

And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. – 2 Kings 22:8-10 NLT

Now, nearly two decade later, Baruch is reading the scroll containing God’s pronouncements against Judah from the room that belonged to the secretary for the temple, Gemariah, son of Shaphan. This note provides a tangible link back to the days when the book of the Law had been rediscovered and read to the king. And when King Josiah had heard what was written in the book of the Law, he had responded in fear and remorse. He told his spiritual advisors:

“Go, seek an oracle from the Lord for me and the people—for all Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.” – 2 Kings 22:13 NLT

These men ended up seeking the help of a woman known as Huldah the prophetess. And she gave them a word from God.

Say this to the man who sent you to me: “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which the king of Judah has read. This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made. My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’” – 2 Kings 22:15-17 NLT

Fast-forward twenty years later and you have Baruch reading a scroll containing the words of God given to Jeremiah. Nothing had changed. The reforms of Josiah had failed to change the hearts of the people. They had continued to abandon God and follow after false gods. Their wickedness had increased rather than diminish.

And when Micaiah, the son of Gemariah and grandson of Shaphan, heard the words that Baruch read, he went immediately to the palace and reported what he had heard to a group of administrative officials who in the midst of a meeting. Notice that these men were not attending the fast day at the temple. They were too busy working. But when Micaiah told them what was happening at the temple, they immediately sent for Baruch and, when he arrived, they had him read the contents of the scroll to them. Upon hearing the words read by Baruch and, after having determined that they were from Jeremiah himself, they decided that this news needed to get to the king. And knowing that this news was not going to be received well, they instructed Baruch:

“You and Jeremiah should both hide,” the officials told Baruch. “Don’t tell anyone where you are!” – Jeremiah 36:19 NLT

They told Baruch and Jeremiah to go into hiding and then they secreted the scroll itself in the secretary’s office in the palace. Once again, it is interesting to note that there had been a group of men gathered for a meeting in the secretary’s office. One of them was Elnathan son of Acbor. Elnathan’s father had been present at the reading of the law scroll in Josiah’s day, and he had been one of the men sent to seek an omen from the prophetess. So, there is another detail provided that forms a generational link between the days of King Josiah to those of King Jehoiakim. Twenty years had passed, but no read change had taken place, except that the people had actually become worse, not better. The sins of Judah had increased, not decreased. The book of 2 Kings tells us that King Josiah, “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2 ESV). But of Jehoaikim it says: “he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done” (2 Kings 23:37 ESV).

Two decades had passed. Three different kings had reigned in Judah. And during that time, God had spoken time and time again through Jeremiah, calling the people of Judah to repentance. But no one would listen. And yet, God had told Jeremiah, “Perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings” (Jeremiah 36:3 NLT). That was not to be the case. And God was not surprised by their response. He knew the condition of their hearts. They were incapable of turning from their sins. They were addicted to their spiritual adultery and apostasy. So, judgment was inevitable.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)

Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson≠≠