Showing posts with label palace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label palace. Show all posts

Thursday, August 2, 2012

That Everyone may Turn from his Evil way, that I may Forgive their Iniquity and their Sin

The Lord told Jeremiah to write down all the things that He has instructed him to speak. God never cease to give opportunities for people to turn from their evil ways and to forgive them, no matter how imminent the judgment is.
Jeremiah called for Baruch, son of Neriah, to not only write down all the Lord said, but also to read the whole scroll aloud in the Temple. During this time, Jeremiah was imprisoned so he could not speak to the people from the Temple himself. The intention of God is clear, He is still interested in telling everyone so that they may repent and be saved.
During a fasting session, Baruch read the scroll in the Temple. In the presence was Michaiah who heard and was moved by the message. He went back to the palace and told the princes, and they invited Baruch to the palace to read the scroll to them. When they heard the entire scroll, they too were moved, and they wanted to tell the king about this important message. However, when the princes told the king, the king seized the scroll and have it read to him. Despite pleadings from the princes, the king cutup and burnt the scroll. The king then tried to send for Baruch and Jeremiah, but the Lord hid them.
God commissioned Jeremiah to write a second scroll, with the help of Baruch. The second scroll contained all that was in the first and more. God pronounced a curse on the king who questioned God's judgment and refuse to repent. God repeats the judgment on the king, his family and Judah.



Jeremiah 36
The Scroll Read in the Temple

36 Now it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2 “Take a scroll of a book and write on 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. 3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the adversities which I purpose to bring upon them, that everyone may turn from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book, at the instruction of Jeremiah,[a] all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him. 5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am confined, I cannot go into the house of the Lord. 6 You go, therefore, and read from the scroll which you have written at my instruction,[b] the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house on the day of fasting. And you shall also read them in the hearing of all Judah who come from their cities. 7 It may be that they will present their supplication before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” 8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.

9 Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. 10 Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, in the hearing of all the people.

The Scroll Read in the Palace
11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the book, 12 he then went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and there all the princes were sitting—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. 13 Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people. 14 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 from which you have 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. 15 And they said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.

16 Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, that they looked in fear from one to another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.” 17 And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words—at his instruction?”[c]

18 So Baruch answered them, “He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”

19 Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are.”

The King Destroys Jeremiah’s Scroll
20 And they went to the king, into the court; but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. 22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning on the hearth before him. 23 And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. 24 Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. 25 Nevertheless Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s[d] son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

Jeremiah Rewrites the Scroll
27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch had written at the instruction of Jeremiah,[e] the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: 28 “Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29 And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to cease from here?’” 30 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. 31 I will punish him, his family, and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them; but they did not heed.”’”

32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the instruction of Jeremiah[f] all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And besides, there were added to them many similar words.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

O Lord, You Are My God


Amid the prophecies of doom, this chapter praises the Lord God for who He is. It exalts and praises His name, and that He is faithful and truth. Although His judgments involve destroying cities, He is recognize for His care for the poor and needy, providing refuge and shade when required.

The promises include that God will "swallow up death forever" and "wipe away tears from all faces". In terms of His judgment, it names Moab. God is determined to destroy their pride, and no trickery nor fortress will prevent that.


Isaiah 25
Praise to God

1 O Lord, You are my God.
I will exalt You,
I will praise Your name,
For You have done wonderful things;
Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
2 For You have made a city a ruin,
A fortified city a ruin,
A palace of foreigners to be a city no more;
It will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore the strong people will glorify You;
The city of the terrible nations will fear You.
4 For You have been a strength to the poor,
A strength to the needy in his distress,
A refuge from the storm,
A shade from the heat;
For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
5 You will reduce the noise of aliens,
As heat in a dry place;
As heat in the shadow of a cloud,
The song of the terrible ones will be diminished.
6 And in this mountain
The Lord of hosts will make for all people
A feast of choice pieces,
A feast of wines on the lees,
Of fat things full of marrow,
Of well-refined wines on the lees.
7 And He will destroy on this mountain
The surface of the covering cast over all people,
And the veil that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death forever,
And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces;
The rebuke of His people
He will take away from all the earth;
For the Lord has spoken.
9 And it will be said in that day:
“Behold, this is our God;
We have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the Lord;
We have waited for Him;
We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
10 For on this mountain the hand of the Lord will rest,
And Moab shall be trampled down under Him,
As straw is trampled down for the refuse heap.
11 And He will spread out His hands in their midst
As a swimmer reaches out to swim,
And He will bring down their pride
Together with the trickery of their hands.
12 The fortress of the high fort of your walls
He will bring down, lay low,
And bring to the ground, down to the dust.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Great is the LORD

This is another praising psalm but this one revolves around the Temple and the city of the LORD - presumably Jerusalem. Again, certain parts of it seem to indicate it may be the new Jerusalem where the Temple is restored and the kings of the earth come to worship there.
The character of God is repeated here including lovingkindness, righteousness and greatness. References to birth pangs and ships of Tarshish may have been in Isaiah concerning the end times, before the LORD establishes his new Kingdom.

Psalm 48
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

 1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised
         In the city of our God,
         In His holy mountain.
 2 Beautiful in elevation,
         The joy of the whole earth,
         Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
         The city of the great King.
 3 God is in her palaces;
         He is known as her refuge.
        
 4 For behold, the kings assembled,
         They passed by together.
 5 They saw it, and so they marveled;
         They were troubled, they hastened away.
 6 Fear took hold of them there,
         And pain, as of a woman in birth pangs,
 7 As when You break the ships of Tarshish
         With an east wind.
        
 8 As we have heard,
         So we have seen
         In the city of the LORD of hosts,
         In the city of our God:
         God will establish it forever.  Selah 
        
 9 We have thought, O God, on Your lovingkindness,
         In the midst of Your temple.
 10 According to Your name, O God,
         So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
         Your right hand is full of righteousness.
 11 Let Mount Zion rejoice,
         Let the daughters of Judah be glad,
         Because of Your judgments.
        
 12 Walk about Zion,
         And go all around her.
         Count her towers;
 13 Mark well her bulwarks;
         Consider her palaces;
         That you may tell it to the generation following.
 14 For this is God,
         Our God forever and ever;
         He will be our guide
         Even to death.

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