With instruction to record some 23 years of God’s messages given through him prior to the siege of Jerusalem, Jeremiah secured the service of Baruch. Baruch was the prophet’s scribe much like a secretary to him. So Jeremiah dictates all the words of the Lord that God has spoken through him. With that much worth of material, it must have taken a while to have them recorded.
Having had the messages recorded, Baruch was then sent to read what
was written on the scroll in the temple, publicly to the people. Jeremiah 36:5 said the prophet did not do it himself because
he was restricted and cannot go to the house of the Lord. It meant that he was barred
from going to the temple for reasons not specified. What was specified was the
day Baruch was to read it. He was to read it on a day of fast. Besides he was
to read it to all the people of Judah who came from the cities. It was done with
the hope that the people who hear it would be motivated to pray and that their supplication would reach the ear of God.
He had hope that the people would repent and turn from their wicked ways. It
was hoped that when they had done so, the wrath of God that was about to come upon
Jerusalem could be averted. All that Jeremiah told Baruch to do, the latter did as he was instructed.
The most critical part of God’s Word is the Gospel. We may not all
be called into full-time ministry as a vocation, but we are all called to preach
the Gospel. In Mark 16:15, Jesus said, “Go
into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation.” The Word of God must not just be read, it must also be spread. We thank
God that His Written Word, the Bible is
readily available to us. The question is:
are we reading it? More importantly, after reading and understanding it, are
we sharing and spreading it. The command God, Paul gave in 2 Timothy 4:2 can be
taken as God’s injunction to us disciples of Christ too. He said, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”
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