Day 143 · Part 8: Two Kingdoms
The Scroll in the Fire
In the Story
In context
After Josiah’s death, his son Jehoahaz reigns three months before Pharaoh Necoh takes him to Egypt and makes his brother Eliakim king, renaming him Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:31–34). At the temple gate Jeremiah warns those who trust in the words “Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple” and asks whether the house has “become a den of robbers in your eyes” (Jeremiah 7:4, 11), words Jesus spoke when he drove the sellers out of the temple (Matthew 21:13).
When Jeremiah says the temple will become like Shiloh, the priests and prophets seize him and say he must die, but elders recall that Hezekiah did not kill Micah for such words, and Ahikam son of Shaphan protects him (Jeremiah 26:6–24). It is a hard reading: King Jehoiakim has the prophet Uriah brought back from Egypt and killed (26:20–23). Baruch writes Jeremiah’s words on a scroll; the king cuts it with a penknife and burns it in his brazier, and Jeremiah has it all written again (36:4, 22–32).
About 597 BC Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon carries King Jehoiachin, the temple’s treasures and ten thousand captives to Babylon and makes Zedekiah king (2 Kings 24:10–17). Habakkuk hears that the Lord is raising up the Chaldeans, the people of Babylon, and that “the righteous will live by his faith,” words Paul quotes (Habakkuk 1:6; 2:4; Romans 1:17).
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls; but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.
1 Peter 1:24–25 · The king burned Jeremiah’s scroll, and its words were written again; Peter, quoting Isaiah, says, “the Lord’s word endures forever.”
For families
Shaphan was the scribe who read the book of the law to King Josiah (2 Kings 22:10). In today’s reading his son Ahikam protects Jeremiah, Baruch reads the scroll in the room of his son Gemariah, and his grandson Micaiah carries its words to the princes (Jeremiah 26:24; 36:10–13).
Three generations of Shaphan’s family helped God’s words be heard. What has your family done together across the generations?
In the Bible
World English Bible, as published by eBible.org (public domain).
2 Kings 23:31–37
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2 Kings 24:1–17
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2 Chronicles 36:1–10
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Jeremiah 7:1–15
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Jeremiah 26
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Jeremiah 36
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Habakkuk 1:1–2
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Habakkuk 1:6
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Habakkuk 2:2
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Habakkuk 2:4
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Habakkuk 3:1
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Habakkuk 3:17–18
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A hymn for today
Standing on the Promises · words by R. Kelso Carter
- Standing on the promises of Christ my King,Through eternal ages let His praises ring;Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,Standing on the promises of God.RefrainStanding, standing,Standing on the promises of God my Savior;Standing, standing,I'm standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises that cannot fail,When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,By the living Word of God I shall prevail,Standing on the promises of God.RefrainStanding, standing,Standing on the promises of God my Savior;Standing, standing,I'm standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises I now can seePerfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,Standing on the promises of God.RefrainStanding, standing,Standing on the promises of God my Savior;Standing, standing,I'm standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,Bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord,Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword,Standing on the promises of God.RefrainStanding, standing,Standing on the promises of God my Savior;Standing, standing,I'm standing on the promises of God.
- Standing on the promises I cannot fall,List'ning every moment to the Spirit's call,Resting in my Savior as my all in all,Standing on the promises of God.RefrainStanding, standing,Standing on the promises of God my Savior;Standing, standing,I'm standing on the promises of God.