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Jeremiah 36 – Burning Books
In the early to middle 1980’s, I was in a health food shop – why, I do not know – buying some papaya juice – again, why I do not know. This very tall, older man, tapped me on the shoulder. As I turned around he asked, “Excuse me, are you intelligent?” All I could answer was, “Uh…” (which is only slightly more intelligent than saying, “Duh….”).
Before I could utter any more eloquent monosyllabic grunts, he protested about churches burning books and requested I read, AGE OF REASON, by Thomas Paine. I promised to read it.
Never again did I hear from that man. But before he left, I told him my church does not engage in book burning.
But I know of a man in the Bible who did.
History is replete with “book burnings” which, if like most things, contained some right and wrong attitudes. What is our attitude toward “The Book?” A childhood friend of mine – Paul – belonged to the denomination, The Church of the Nazarene. His family believed it almost blasphemous to lay another book atop of the Bible. I appreciate their appreciation, but that is an extreme not requested by God. It is the words that are holy, not the paper, ink and binding. It is the God of the Bible—and His words—that we are not to be anything “on top” of.
Let’s look at another extreme.
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah (i.e. 605 B.C), Yahweh God commanded Jeremiah to write down “all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel, and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day” (Jeremiah 36:2).
In this chapter (Jeremiah 36) we see different attitudes towards God’s Book:
God’s attitude:
- Needed by man – v.2
- Punishment if disrespected – v.30
- Desire to perpetuate – vv.27-32
Jeremiah and Baruch’s Attitude:
- Powerful to produce repentance – v.7
- Powerful to sway God’s wrath – v.7
- Worthy of being read in God’s house – vv.5-8
Jehoiakim’s Officials’ Attitude:
- Turned in fear one to another – v.16
- Desired to report to the king – v.16
- Desired to know the source – vv.17,18 [here the prophet’s message was considered the same as God’s (Ex.4:16)]
- Desired to protect it – v.25
Jehoiakim and his Servants’ Attitude:
- Curiosity to hear – v.21
- Anger upon hearing – v.23
- Desire to destroy – v.23
- Unafraid and unrepentant – v.24
We owe a grateful prayer and thankful attitude to God and to His servants for preserving, not only Jeremiah’s book, but many others as well. Men have given their lives, literally and physically, for the preservation of God’s book.
Its important to see God’s reaction to Jehoiakim’s desecration—Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll and the words which Baruch had written at the dictation of Jeremiah, saying, “Take again another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah had burned (Jeremiah 36:27-28).
And almost as if God is saying “Take that, Jehoiakim” we read this—Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the son of Neraiah, the scribe, and he wrote on it at the dictation 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 (Jeremiah 36:32) – including the story of Jehoiakim burning God’s book.
Shockingly, many so-called “Christian” Churches have been guilty of trying to destroy, through book-burning and other methods, what God instructed His servants the prophets and other inspired writers to preserve.
History has recorded, ironically in books, “modern” attempts to destroy the book of God. As we can see, there are different methods of destroying the Bible.
Catholic Attempts:
First of all, let me make two statements. One, this is not an indictment against all Catholics – although I disagree with them spiritually. But rather it is a review of the actions of Catholic leaders through the centuries. Second, considering the following information, it is ironic that the Roman Catholic Church claims to have given the Bible to the world.
- 1229 AD, the Catholic Council of Toulouse forbade any but the clergy to read the Bible.
- 1408 AD, the Oxford synod condemned the translation of the Bible into English without prior consent by the church.
- 1414 AD, the reading of the English Scriptures was forbidden upon punishment.
- 1415 Wycliffe’s bones were exhumed and burned to discourage native tongue translations because he had dared to translate the Bible.
- Cir.1526 AD all of Tyndale’s copies that could be found were burned in England because he put them into the native tongue.
- Advice to Pope Pius III:
“Of all the advice that we can offer your holiness we must open your eyes well and use all possible force in the matter, namely, to permit the reading of the gospel as little as possible in all the countries under your jurisdiction. Let the very little part of the gospel suffice which is usually read in mass, and let no one be permitted to read more. So long as people will be content with the small amount, your interest will prosper; but as soon as the people want to read more, your interest will fail. The Bible is the book, which more than any other, has raised against us the tumults and tempests by which we have almost perished. In fact, if one compares the teaching of the bible with what takes place in our churches, he will soon find discord, and will realize that our teachings are often different from the bible, and oftener still, contrary to it.” (This is an excerpt from an address by the cardinals in the Roman Church to Pope Pius III, which is preserved in the National Library of Paris, folio No. 1068, vol.2, pp.650-651)
- Handbook for Today’s Catholic, p.41 when listing the Ten Commandments, this little handbook leaves out “graven images” and splits the last commandment into two making up for the missing commandment.
Instead of trying to keep the Bible from others, another way of “burning” the Bible is to give it to people so dramatically changed that is destroys God’s words by either removing them or changing them.
Translation Attempts:
- Thomas Jefferson compiled an edition and excised many, if not all, of the references to the miraculous – including the resurrection.
- Some Modern Versions: The Jehovah Witness version has Jesus as a created being.
- Paraphrases are often so loose with their wording that it is nothing comparable to what God intended.
- Inclusive Bible (A Politically Correct “Translation”): Introduction: “…replace or rephrase all gender-specific language not referring to particular historical individuals, all pejorative references to race, color, or religion, and all identifications of persons by their physical disability alone, by means of paraphrase, alternative renderings, and other acceptable means of conforming the language of the work to an inclusive idea.”
- Acts 7:55 – instead of having “Jesus standing at the right hand of God,” the editors have changed it to read “Jesus standing in the place of majesty” to avoid offending left-handed people.
- References to God the Father have been changed to read “Father/Mother.” The Lord’s Prayer now reads, “Our Father/Mother who is in heaven.”
- It turns the Son of Man into “the human one.”
- The new translation says children should not ‘obey’ their parents but heed them.
- Wives are no longer `subject’ to their husbands but committed to them.
- `Darkness’ is no longer equated with evil because of perceived racist overtones.
- It removes accusations that Jews killed Christ. “Thislethwaite said the editors were proud of the way they had handled part of the New Testament that some critics have called anti-Semitic. For example 1 Thessalonians 2:24-25, which in standard translations says: `…for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets.’ “ That becomes in the new translation: `…for you suffered the same from your own compatriots as they did from those who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets.”
First of all, some Jews did kill Jesus as did some Gentiles! A comedian chided this version by saying it reads that Jesus died from second-hand smoke so as not to offend! This type of Bible misses the point. God is the one most offended, not by politically incorrect speech, but by the sins of the world. The Bible is designed to offend the sinner, for until one is offended, no response to the gospel can be made. The Bible was not designed to simply be great literature, although it is the greatest literary work in recorded history. The Bible was not designed to simply be entertainment, although it is clearly a book fueled by the excitement of great people accomplishing incredible things through the work of their awesome God (see Joshua, Judges, David, etc.) The Bible was not designed to simply be a set of rules and laws, although in its pages are contained instruction and rule for the very fabric of life (see the Beatitudes). The Bible was designed by God to bring men to Christ, to renew them in their relationship to God, once destroyed by sin and the work of Satan. We cannot reach the sinner without offending his pride. One reason God is not concerned with what is politically correct, is that those things mean nothing to Him. Paul said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all on in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). He could have just as easily have said, “There is neither black nor white, disabled nor able-bodied, right-handed nor left-hand.” Paul’s point is that none of those things matter, because what matters to God is only that there are two kinds of people, lost or saved.
False Teaching Attempts:
False teaching, whether Denominational, or from myself, figuratively cuts out part of God’s word.
- Mark 16:16 – “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. (NAS95)
A friend’s relative actually cut out that part of his Bible. When told what Mk.16:16 said, he responded, “It doesn’t say that in my Bible.” Another lady had heard that verse misquoted so many times that when asked to read Mk.16:16, she unconsciously kept verbally cutting out “and is baptized”.
- 1 Peter 3:21 – Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you–not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience–through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (NAS95)
A friend in High School said that he would believe the Bible if I found the verse which says, “baptism now saves you.” I did. He didn’t.
We could go on and on, combating teachings by both denominationalists and Christians.
False Living Attempts:
Maybe one of the most damaging methods of destroying God’s word is when we do not live according to its wisdom and dictates. As an old song says, “We are the only Bible the careless world will read, we are the sinner’s gospel, we are the scoffers’ creed; we are the Lord’s last message given in deed and word, what if the type is crooked? What if the print is blurred?
What are some of the Conditions which cause people to destroy all, or part of God’s book?
- FEAR of what it says.
- LOVE of the world.
- PRIDE in who we are.
- FAMILY devotion.
- APATHY towards God’s authority.
- HARDNESS OF HEART to change.
History is replete with people literally and spiritually burning the Book, the Bible. If we are truly intelligent, we will allow God to instruct us so that we do not burn ourselves in hell.
Would you be shocked if I advocated burning books? If so, there is scriptural precedent for such a dramatic and drastic deed.
Acts 19:18-19 – [18] Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. [19] And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. (NAS95)
Instead of burning books that were sacred, these people burned books that were sacrilegious: books of witchcraft and magic – books of Satan.
What is a book of Satan? While there is the very blasphemous “Satanic Bible,” for most of us, the application would be anything which would cause us to lose our soul due to our devotion to it instead of to God. From these new believers we can learn what true repentance is.
True Repentance Involves Words
These new Christians came forward and confessed and disclosed their practices. “The two words denote the fullest and most open confession. They openly (ἐξ) confessed (i.e., to confess means literally “to say the same thing”), and declared thoroughly (ἀνά, from top to bottom) their deeds.” (Vincent Word Studies). While any sinner should rightfully be ashamed of their past, these new believers were not ashamed to announce their repentance.
New Christians can often teach older Christians when it comes to confession. Oftentimes, their tender hearts have not yet built up a self-defense mechanism to keep them from being strong enough to confess. They don’t care what others might think – they only care about what God thinks. This reminds me of the prophecy, “and a child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). Also in Psalms we see, From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. (Psalm 8:2). It is probably from this last one we get the phrase, “out of the mouth of babes” because children say whatever is on their mind, oftentimes cutting through any self-consciousness, and simply and purely telling the truth. No wonder Jesus said we must be converted and become like children (Matthew 18:3). Like children, the new believers from Ephesus were willing to bare their soul by opening themselves up clearly and definitively. Sounds far stronger than the generic confessions so many of us hear and say today, “Pray for me for I have sinned.”
True Repentance Involves Actions
He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. (Proverbs 28:13) (NAS95)
We see two actions of these former magicians. First, they burned their books. Second, they burned their books in the sight of all. Their sin had been public, and their conversion would be just as public.
Let’s consider the cost of their discipleship. These new believers were, prior to their baptism, Ephesian magicians (male witches) who used their evil works in both sickness and wars. But they gave this up. When the Ephesian magicians burned their books, they were burning, not just a financial investment, but their livelihood. In other words, they had to give up their jobs. Do some new believers need to change jobs after coming to Christ? If their new job causes them to engage in sin, then YES! If their new job causes them to put it before Christ, then YES!
Consider with me another way that their discipleship cost these new believers The cost of the burned books was 50,000 pieces of silver (Acts 19:19) which was probably 50,000 Greek drachmas, that is, 50,000 days of wages. Not knowing how many former magicians forsook their livelihood, makes it impossible for us to know exactly how much each new disciple burned. But to give us some perspective, notice the following:
PEOPLE YEARS TO EARN 50,000
1 140
5 28
10 14
20 7
40 3 yrs. 6 months
80 1 yr. 9 months
140 1 month
Another valuable lesson we can learn about their action in burning the books, is that after we forsake our sins, we cannot pass it on to someone else. When someone comes out of the world, most likely they will have possessions that believers should not have, whether it be C.D.’s, clothes, posters, books, etc. What should the new Christian do with these old possessions? What about giving them away? Wouldn’t that just encourage others to sin? What about selling them in a yard sale? Again, isn’t that encouraging others to sin?
What we learn from their conversion, confession, and change of life is:
1. Christ has power to break the hold of sinners on unjust and dishonest means of living.
2. Sinners will abandon their practices and become Christians.
3. Confession should be as public as the horrid sin.
4. That evil practice will be abandoned at all costs no matter how great.
Now that you see the application, would you be shocked if I didn’t advocate burning books?
By the way, I read that book that strange man asked me to – because I promised.
Questions:
- Have you ever not studied a subject for fear of what you might learn?
- Do you think we too easily take for granted having the printed word of God?
Prayer: Ask of God the right attitude in reading and studying, and thank God for His work and that of others in preserving the Scriptures.
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