Jeremiah 36:1 And it came to pass in the fourth year
of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto
Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the
words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and
against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days
of Josiah, even unto this day.
3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the
evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man 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 from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which
he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up;
I cannot go into the house of the LORD:
6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou
hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people
in the LORD'S house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them
in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities....
8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that
Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the
LORD in the LORD'S house....
16 Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words,
they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely
tell the king of all these words.
17 And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst
thou write all these words at his mouth?
18 Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these
words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.
19 Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee,
thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
20 And they went in to the king into the court, but they
laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the
words in the ears of the king.
21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he
took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the
ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside
the king.
22 Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth
month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.
23 And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read
three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the
fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire
that was on the hearth.
24 Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments,
neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
25 Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had
made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would
not hear them.
26 But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech,
and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take
Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.
27 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after
that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at
the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all
the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king
of Judah hath burned.
29 And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus
saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written
therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this
land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?...
32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch
the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah
all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the
fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.
Testimonies for the Church Volume Five
Page 678
The Nature and Influence of the Testimonies
"Many now despise the faithful reproof given of God in testimony. I have been shown that some in these days have even gone so far as to burn the written words of rebuke and warning, as did the wicked king of Israel. But opposition to God's threatenings will not hinder their execution. To defy the words of the Lord, spoken through His chosen instruments, will only provoke His anger and eventually bring certain ruin upon the offender. Indignation often kindles in the heart of the sinner against the agent whom God chooses to deliver His reproofs. It has ever been thus, and the same spirit exists today that persecuted and imprisoned Jeremiah for obeying the word of the Lord."[2 VOL. 4, P. 180 (1876).]
From the beginning of my work, as I have been called to bear a plain, pointed testimony, to reprove wrongs, and to spare not, there have been those who have stood in opposition to my testimony and have followed after to speak smooth things, to daub with untempered mortar, and to destroy the influence of my labors. The Lord would move upon me to bear reproof, and then individuals would step in between me and the people to make my testimony of no effect.
"In almost every case where reproof is necessary, there will be some who entirely overlook the fact that the Spirit of the Lord has been grieved and His cause reproached. These will pity those who deserved reproof, because personal feelings have been hurt. All this unsanctified sympathy places the sympathizers where they are sharers in the guilt of the one reproved. In nine cases out of ten if the one reproved had been left under a sense of his wrongs, he might have been helped to see them and thereby have been reformed. But meddlesome, unsanctified sympathizers place altogether a wrong construction upon the motives of the reprover and the nature of the reproof given, and by sympathizing with the one reproved lead him to feel that he has been really abused; and his feelings rise up in rebellion against the one who has only done his duty. Those who faith fully discharge their unpleasant duties under a sense of their accountability to God will receive His blessing."[1 VOL. 3, P. 359 (1875).]