And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, [that] this word came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
A single date opens this chapter: the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Why does God tie His word to that year, and why is this the moment He tells Jeremiah to write it all down?
Jeremiah dates this word by a king in Jerusalem. The same year carries another name in Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, comes into God-given prominence in Jeremiah's time. With him the times of the Gentiles began. God gives him dominion, and takes it away from Israel. In connection with this, Jeremiah gives a remarkable date. It is likely the most important date known to anyone who puts the records of the ancient world in order. Jeremiah mentions it no less than four times: in 25:1; 36:1; 45:1; and 46:2. "The fourth year of Jehoiakim" is the "first year of Nebuchadnezzar." The Holy Spirit preserved these dates so exactly, and records recovered from the dust of ages have confirmed them. That has great significance for the thoughtful believer, especially since they mark the beginning of the times of the Gentiles, which are now swiftly coming to their close.
The verse names the king: Jehoiakim, son of Josiah. Father and son could not have been less alike.
Josiah, the father of Jehoiakim, was one of the best kings that sat upon the throne of David. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord. When he died, the prophet Jeremiah and the people mourned him deeply. Sadly, Jehoiakim did not follow in the steps of his godly father, for "he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God." If the king had paid attention to the word of God, he would have understood one thing. God had decreed judgment against Judah for its idolatry. In His patience He had put it off, to give them an opportunity to repent.
Jeremiah himself was under restraint when this word came.
The prophet was bound, but the word of God was not. He is always above the changing circumstances of man. He is above the obstacles that seem to block the testimony of His servants.
Why write the messages down at all? And how could one man recall years of preaching?
Once more we are back in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. The Lord now commands Jeremiah to write down all the words He had spoken to him. It was so that the people might hear of all the evil, and that they might yet think about it and turn to the Lord to be forgiven. How gracious and merciful He is! He then dictated all the words to Baruch, who wrote them down. But, asks a critic, how could he remember all he had spoken? The same Spirit who communicated the messages to him re-communicated them to the prophet.
Written down, the message reached men the prophet's own voice had not reached.
We may be surprised. Jeremiah had declared these prophecies many times, yet this reading seems to be something entirely new to the princes. Perhaps they had seldom heard the prophet in person. In any case, this incident shows the power of the written Word of God. The gospel may be preached, but only the Word of God is "living and active." The Lord Jesus called it "the seed." It was this Word that confronted the princes of Judah that day.
Jehoiakim later burned the scroll. That was not the end of it.
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, who wrote on it, at the dictation of Jeremiah, all the words of the book that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them. This is God's answer. None of His words shall perish. They increase and prosper in what they are sent to do.
- Dated — The fourth year of Jehoiakim is also the first year of Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah marks this year four times. Rule was passing from Israel to the nations.
- Warned — Jehoiakim had a godly father, and a judgment God had held back. He made nothing of either. The word came to him anyway.
- Written — The command to write was mercy. God wanted the people to hear, repent and be forgiven. The Spirit gave Jeremiah back every word he had spoken.
- Released — Jeremiah was bound, but the word of God was not. He is above every obstacle that seems to silence His servants.
- Preserved — The written Word confronted princes the prophet's voice had not reached. The king burned it. It came back longer than before.
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 spoke unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign, God tells Jeremiah to stop speaking and start writing. Everything he has said against Israel, Judah and the nations must go onto one scroll. Why write it down now? Why include all the words? And what did God hope the writing would do?
Nothing in this scroll was new. Judah had already heard every warning in it, and had brushed each one aside. That is what makes the order to write so striking.
Jeremiah had proclaimed his prophecies for twenty-three years, and people ignored them. The Lord commands him to write "all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations." Maybe Judah will pay attention to these warnings when they hear them read.
(Older translations call it "a roll of a book"; the ESV renders it "a scroll.")
Jeremiah himself was tied down. That limit on the man was no limit on the message.
The prophet was bound, but the word of God was not. He is always above the changing circumstances of man. He is greater than the obstacles that seem to block the testimony of His servants.
The scroll announced disaster. But God ordered it in the hope of preventing disaster. Verse 3 states the aim outright.
At the Lord's instruction, His servant Jeremiah wrote down in a book the judgments God pronounced against Israel, Judah and the nations. He wrote them with this desire: "It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin" (verse 3). Jehoiakim had already reigned four years. He had been given time to turn to God, but wickedness had increased. So God sent a further warning, hoping that the king and his people would repent of their sins and return to the Lord their God.
Why writing, and not more preaching? Commentators point to what writing does that speech cannot.
There is a great advantage in having what is written. You can come back to it again and again. Even if you listened to an apostle, or to the Lord, you might forget. You might slip away from His words and put in some of your own. This happens every day, even with very careful people. They do not carry away every single word.
Jeremiah dictated and Baruch wrote. The obvious objection — that no man could recall two decades of preaching — has an answer.
Jeremiah is now commanded to put in writing all the words the Lord had spoken to him. The purpose was that the people might hear of all the evil, think it over, and turn to the Lord to be forgiven. How gracious and merciful He is! He then dictated all the words to Baruch, who wrote them down. But, asks a critic, how could he remember all he had spoken? The same Spirit who first gave him the messages gave them to the prophet again.
Jehoiakim cut the scroll up and burned it. God had it written again, longer.
The old scroll was written out again with many similar words, and more were added, in keeping with God's unchanging way. Unbelief never hinders but rather accomplishes the judgments of God. It may add to them but it never diminishes them.
The long view is sharper still. The king burned a scroll. He could not stop people reading it.
The foolish king had no idea what would follow. The judgment of God that Jeremiah announced was carried out to the letter. Then, many centuries later, millions would still be reading the very words Jeremiah wrote. His own wicked and foolish act would be written down and read too, to instruct the people of God.
- Ignored words. Judah shrugged off twenty-three years of spoken warning. So God said: write it down.
- Given words. Jeremiah could dictate years of prophecy because the Spirit gave him the messages again.
- Merciful words. The scroll spelled out coming evil so that people might turn and be forgiven. The warning aimed at rescue.
- Unstoppable words. The prophet was shut up; the word was not. God's message rises above the circumstances that block His servants.
- Surviving words. A king burned it. God had it written again, longer. Unbelief never reduces God's judgments, and millions now read the words the king destroyed.
It may be the house of Judah will hear all the evil that I purpose to do unto them, that they may return every man from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
Jeremiah 36 opens in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim, with judgment on Judah already announced and already ignored. God now tells the prophet to write it all down in one roll, so that people may hear, turn, and receive forgiveness.
Nothing new was to go into the roll.
Jeremiah had proclaimed his prophecies for twenty-three years, and they had been ignored. The Lord commands him to write down all the words He had spoken against Israel, against Judah, and against all the nations. It was to include everything from the days of Josiah up to that day (Jer. 36:2). Perhaps Judah will pay attention when these warnings are read out.
after
That "perhaps" matches how verse 3 opens. God states the hope, not the outcome.
God states what He intends to do, and He states it in advance. That is the point: a sentence announced ahead of time is one God would rather not carry out.
Now, if God threatens, it is in order that man may turn from his sin and be spared. Why else should He warn the sinner? Why not leave him to ripen unwarned for judgment? But these are not the ways of God.
The threat and the offer are not at odds. The threat is how the offer arrives.
The chain in the verse runs from hearing, to turning, to pardon. Each link exists for the sake of the last one.
Jeremiah is now commanded to put into writing all the words the LORD had spoken to him. The purpose was that the people might hear of all the evil. They might still think it over, turn to the Lord, and be forgiven. How gracious and merciful He is!
Notice how personal it is. The verse does not ask for a national reform. It asks "every one" to turn from his own evil way.
This was not a first notice.
On the instruction of the LORD, His servant Jeremiah wrote down in a book the judgments God had pronounced against Israel, Judah and the nations. Jehoiakim had already reigned four years. God had given him time to turn, but sin had increased. So a further warning came, in the hope that the king and his people would repent of their sins and return to the LORD their God.
The prophet's own movements were restricted. What he wrote was not.
The prophet was bound, but the word of God was not. He is always above man's changing circumstances. He is greater than any obstacle that seems to block the testimony of His servants.
So what carries weight: the preaching, or the words themselves?
This incident shows the power of the written Word of God. The gospel may be preached. But only the Word of God is "living and powerful" — "the seed," as the Lord Jesus called it. This Word confronted the princes of Judah that day.
Jehoiakim's answer was to cut the roll and burn it. A second roll followed.
The old roll was repeated with many like words, and more were added, in keeping with the unchanging way of God. Unbelief never hinders but rather brings on the judgments of God. It may add to them, but it never lessens them.
- Patience first. Judah had ignored twenty-three years of spoken warning. Jehoiakim had already had four years on the throne to turn. The roll was mercy offered again, not a first notice.
- Warning is mercy. God announces the disaster He intends so that people may turn and He may spare them. He does not leave sinners to ripen unwarned.
- Personal turning. God is not asking for a national programme. Each person is to leave his own evil way.
- Forgiveness is the goal. Hearing leads to turning, and turning leads to pardon. Pardon is what the whole verse aims at.
- The word outlasts refusal. The prophet could be bound; his words could not. Refusing them never lessened the judgment they announced.
And Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Nerijah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
The scene is the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the people have stopped listening to Jeremiah. The prophet himself is bound, so he calls for a man with a pen, and a lifetime of spoken warnings becomes a book.
Jeremiah could not move freely. One writer draws the contrast that shapes the chapter:
The prophet was bound, but the word of God was not. He is always above the shifting circumstances of man. He is greater than the obstacles that seem to shut out the testimony of His servants.
God had a reason for putting the warnings in writing:
On the instruction of the Lord, His servant Jeremiah wrote down in a book the judgments God had pronounced against Israel, Judah and the nations. His desire was that "the house of Judah will hear all the evil I intend to do to them, and they may return every man from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin" (verse 3). Jehoiakim had already reigned four years, and God had given him time to turn. But wickedness had increased, so God sent a further warning, in the hope that the king and his people would repent of their sins and return to the Lord their God.
How could one man recall years of messages word for word? One commentator raises the objection and answers it:
He then dictated all the words to Baruch, who wrote them down. But, asks a critic, how could he remember all he had spoken? The same Spirit who first gave him the messages gave them to him again.
The verse says little about how the work was done. One writer fills in the scene:
One can easily picture the two men in the house where Jeremiah lived. Guided by the Spirit of God, the prophet carefully dictates the words of the Lord. Baruch gives himself to the task of writing on the scroll. All the while, both men are fully aware that they are passing on the very words of God to those who would read it.
Baruch himself gave the detail later: a voice speaking, and ink.
When they seek assurance of how the scroll was written, Baruch gives them clear confirmation: "He spoke all these words to me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book."
Baruch, son of Neriah, was the "faithful secretary to Jeremiah," and he later went with the prophet into Egypt (Morrish Bible Dictionary). He was more than a copyist:
The masses of the people were indifferent, if not hostile, to everything Jeremiah had to say: but not Baruch. He not only wrote down the prophecies of judgment, he felt their weight and sorrow... He at least believed the things he had written, and he knew that the final crash was still to come, and near at hand.
The king later burned this scroll. One writer sees in the chapter how God deals with men who handle His word:
God is not mocked! He knows the way men are treating His own God-breathed records, profaning them and making them merely human, and He will treat them accordingly... This is God's answer; none of His words shall perish; they increase and prosper in the purpose for which they are sent.
Jeremiah wrote it again, and the new scroll came back longer than the first. One writer presses the point further:
Unbelief never hinders but rather carries out the judgments of God. It may add to them but it never reduces them.
- Shut in, sent out. Jeremiah himself was bound, but the word of God was not; He rises above the obstacles that seem to shut out His servants.
- Written to spare. The scroll gathered years of warning so that Judah would turn and receive forgiveness — mercy, not a legal record.
- Dictated, not composed. Baruch wrote from Jeremiah's mouth, with ink, in a book; the Spirit who first gave the messages gave them again for writing.
- Believed by the writer. Baruch was no hired pen — he felt the sorrow of what he copied and accepted it from God.
- Burned, yet unbroken. The king burned the scroll and gained nothing: the words came back, with many more added.
And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up, I cannot go into the house of Jehovah; but go thou in,
God tells Jeremiah to write out years of his preaching in a scroll, but he is banned from the house of the LORD and cannot deliver it. What happens next shows that a silenced messenger is not a silenced message.
The chapter turns on a man who cannot move and a word that cannot be stopped:
The prophet was bound, but the word of God was not. He is always above the changing circumstances of man, and greater than the obstacles that seem to block the testimony of His servants.
Another writer applies this to every attempt to escape God's message:
Jeremiah was shut up; but God can never fail in means to address His testimony to man, whatever efforts they may make to escape it.
Commentators differ on the nature of the restriction. Some read it as imprisonment:
God's prophet Jeremiah was in prison when the word of the Lord came to him. That showed the attitude of the king and his subjects towards the Master whom the prophet served. Jeremiah could not read out the words the Lord had given him, so he told Baruch to go to the house of the Lord and read them to the people.
Another writer disagrees, pointing to verse 19:
Jeremiah was "shut in." This does not mean he was a prisoner (see verse 19). It probably means he was not allowed into the LORD's house because of some ceremonial impurity.
Either way, the temple door was closed to him. Older translations read his words as "I am shut up," which is why these writers use that wording.
Here Jeremiah hands his task to another man. The writing had already begun in private, and it went slowly:
So the prophet dictated all the words of the Lord to Baruch his friend, who wrote them down on a scroll. This work clearly took a long time. The people did not hear the book read out in public until the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim... All the while the two men are fully aware that they are passing on the very words of God to those who would read the message.
Baruch did not act at once:
The spirit of obedience before long finds a fitting moment for serving the Lord.
The aim of the scroll was mercy: that the nation might turn and be spared. God had already given the king time:
On the instruction of the Lord, His servant Jeremiah wrote down in a book the judgments God pronounced against Israel, Judah and the nations. The desire was that "the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin" (verse 3). Jehoiakim had already reigned four years, and God had given him time to turn. But wrongdoing had increased, so a further warning came, in the hope that the king and his people would repent.
The reading fell on a fast day, but fasting is not the same as a turned heart:
On the outside there was fasting, but the fast did not show the real heart of the king or the nation... Outward religious ceremonies have no value in God's sight. He wants what is real: a heart that is true before Him, and a life that pleases Him.
Jeremiah asked only for a reading to the people. It went further:
But the ways of God are wise as well as good. Without our own seeking it, He knows how to bring His word before the greatest of men. Paul stood before governors, a king, and an emperor. In the same way, the words of the Lord through Jeremiah reached the council chamber and the court.
God had the last word:
God is not mocked! He knows how men are treating His own God-breathed records, profaning them and making them merely human, and He will treat them accordingly... "Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them" (verse 32). This is God's answer; none of His words shall perish; they increase and prosper in that for which they are sent.
- Bound. The prophet was shut out of the temple. The word he carried was not — God is above every obstacle that blocks His servants' testimony.
- Banned. Commentators differ: prison, or a ceremonial barrier to the temple. Either way, the door Jeremiah needed was closed.
- Handed on. When one servant is stopped, God uses another. Baruch wrote the words, waited for the right day, and read them aloud.
- Aimed at mercy. God gave the scroll so that Judah might hear, turn, and be forgiven. The fast it was read on was outward only, and God looks for reality.
- Carried further. The message meant for the people reached the princes and the king. The king burned it, so Jeremiah wrote it again with more words added — none of God's words perish.
and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in the house of Jehovah upon the fast day; and thou shalt also read them in the ears of all Judah that come from their cities.
Jeremiah cannot enter the temple, so God's message must travel by another pair of hands and another voice. His orders to Baruch — read the scroll out loud, then read it again to the crowds in from the towns — turn one man's restriction into the widest hearing his words had yet received.
Commentators differ on the reason Jeremiah could not go. One writer takes the phrase as something short of imprisonment:
Jeremiah was "shut in." That does not mean he was a prisoner (see verse 19). It probably means he was not allowed to enter the LORD's house because of some ceremonial impurity.
Others take it as real confinement. Either way, the restriction lands on the man, not the message:
The prophet was bound, but the word of God was not. He is always above the changing circumstances of man. He is above the obstacles that seem to shut out the testimony of His servants.
The chapter is read as one long demonstration that a closed door does not close God's mouth. Where the prophet cannot go, a substitute can:
Jeremiah 36 shows us again the stubbornness of the kings of Judah, who despised God's call and testimony. Jeremiah was shut up. But God can always find a way to bring His testimony to man, whatever efforts people make to escape it. Baruch is given the work of writing down the prophecies of Jeremiah and reading them — first to the people, then to the princes, and at last to the king himself.
Jeremiah does not tell Baruch to summarise or explain. He tells him to read what was written from his own mouth. The care behind that scroll is worth picturing:
Guided by the Spirit of God, the prophet carefully dictates the words of the Lord. Baruch applies himself to the task of writing on the scroll. All the while the two men know they are passing on the very words of God to those who would read the message.
A secretary writing down a prophet's words is not a lesser form of revelation. One writer links Baruch to Tertius, who wrote down one of Paul's letters as Paul spoke it:
This is a prophecy of Scripture — the spoken and the written — the same thing. The Epistles were the same — the "I, Tertius," represents Baruch.
God fixes the day for the reading: the fast, when the crowds are in from the towns. One reading could then reach the whole nation. But a national fast is not the same as national repentance:
God's word to Judah was read to the people on a "fasting day," "at the entry of the new gate of the LORD's house." On the surface there was fasting. But the fast did not express the true state of heart of the king or the nation. They were like the disciples of the Pharisees at a later time. Those disciples often fasted (Luke 5:33), but they had no heart for the Son of God who was present among them. Mere outward religious observances are of no value in God's sight. He wants reality: a heart that is true before Him, and a life that gives Him pleasure.
The reading is aimed at repentance. Jeremiah's own reason, given in the next verse, is the hope that they will turn. Behind the catalogue of threatened judgment sits patience already stretched over years:
Jehoiakim had already reigned four years. God had given him time to turn to Him. But wickedness had increased. So God gave a further warning, in the hope that the king and his people would repent of their sins and return to the LORD their God.
Jeremiah aimed the reading at ordinary people in the temple court. It did not stop there:
But God's ways are wise as well as good. Without our seeking it, He knows how to bring His word before the greatest of men. Paul stood before governors, a king, and an emperor. In the same way, the words of the Lord through Jeremiah came into the council chamber and the court.
- Shut up, not shut down. Jeremiah could not enter the temple. Commentators differ on the reason. Either way, the restriction stopped the man, not the message.
- Written, so it travels. Baruch wrote the words down, so they could travel where the prophet's feet could not. The written words carried the same weight as the spoken.
- Read, so it reaches. Baruch read first to the temple crowd and the visitors from the towns. In the end the scroll reached the council chamber and the king himself.
- Fasting is not repenting. The day looked religious. The hearts were not. Outward religion counts for nothing where God looks for reality.
- Warning is mercy. God had already waited years. He sent the words anyway, hoping the king and his people would repent and return to Him.
It may be they will present their supplication before Jehovah, and that they will return every one from his evil way; for great is the anger and the fury that Jehovah hath pronounced against this people.
Jeremiah cannot enter the temple. So he hands his task to his helper Baruch: go and read the scroll aloud on a fast day, when the whole nation is gathered in one place. Everything in the verse hangs on three words — it may be.
The scroll was not an act of God giving up on Judah. One writer links it to the purpose God gave in verse 3, and sees mercy stretched out over years:
The LORD told His servant Jeremiah to write down in a book the judgments God had pronounced against Israel, Judah and the nations. His desire was that "the house of Judah will hear all the evil I purpose to do to them, and they may return every man from his evil way, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin" (verse 3). Jehoiakim had already reigned four years, and had been given time to turn to God. But sin had increased, so God gave a further warning. He hoped that the king and his people would repent of their sins and return to the LORD their God.
A warning announced in public is a judgment God would rather not carry out.
What was all this but a warning of judgment — a judgment that man's repentance would gladly stop? It has always been so, and it is so now. Why does He give such wide and public notice that He is going to carry out judgment? So that people will take the sentence to heart, and the actual execution will not be needed. He speaks it aloud. He says it in men's ears, so that they may turn to Him.
Jeremiah hopes the reading will do two things. One is a plea for mercy brought to the LORD. The other is each man turning from his evil way.
God's prophet Jeremiah was in prison when the word of the Lord came to him. That showed the attitude of the king and his people towards the Master whom the prophet served. Jeremiah could not read out the words the Lord had given him. So he told Baruch to go to the house of the Lord and read them to the people. He hoped they would plead with the Lord and "return every one from his evil way."
The reading did take place, on a fast day, in the temple. But the day came and went without the change Jeremiah hoped for:
God's word to Judah was read to the people on a "fasting day," "at the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house." On the outside there was fasting. But the fast did not express the true state of heart of the king or the nation... Outward religious ceremonies on their own have no value in God's sight. He wants what is real: a heart that is true before Him, and a life that gives Him pleasure.
Commentators differ on what kept Jeremiah out. Some read it as imprisonment. Another writer says being "shut in" does not mean he was a prisoner; it probably means he was not allowed into the LORD's house (Arno Clemens Gaebelein). Either way, the limit falls on the man, not on the message he carries:
after
The prophet was bound, but the word of God was not. He is always above the changing circumstances of man. He stands over the obstacles that seem to block the testimony of His servants.
Jeremiah answers being shut in by sending someone else. The Word, not the man, was what had to keep going:
What was to continue was the Word of the Lord — not Jeremiah himself so much, but what Jeremiah had been entrusted with. The Lord could do very well without any one of us, but He chooses not to do without us. If He entrusts us with His Word, we should seek help to keep going, despite the captive state of the testimony today.
King Jehoiakim later destroyed the scroll. That did not shrink the anger and wrath this verse speaks of. It made it larger.
The old roll was written out again with many similar words, and more were added, as God always works. Unbelief never holds back the judgments of God; it brings them about. It may add to them, but it never makes them less.
- Written — God had the judgments written down so Judah would hear them, turn, and be forgiven. The record was made for mercy.
- Spoken — God says the sentence out loud so people take it to heart, and the judgment never has to be carried out.
- Sent — the prophet was shut in, the word was not. When one messenger is stopped, the message goes by another hand.
- Heard, not felt — the fast day filled the temple, but the outward show did not match the heart. God looks for what is real.
- Refused — unbelief never took away one word of judgment. The destroyed scroll came back longer than before.
And Baruch the son of Nerijah did according to all that the prophet Jeremiah commanded him, reading in the book the words of Jehovah in Jehovah's house.
Jeremiah cannot enter the temple, so his secretary Baruch carries the scroll there and reads it aloud to the people. It is one line of plain obedience, and it raises a question: what can God do through His word when His messenger is shut out?
One writer draws the contrast between the man and the message he carried:
The prophet was bound, but the word of God was not. He is always above the changing circumstances of man, and greater than the obstacles that seem to block the testimony of His servants.
Commentators differ on why Jeremiah could not go himself. Some read it as imprisonment:
God's prophet Jeremiah was in prison when the word of the Lord came to him. This showed the attitude of the king and his subjects towards the Master whom the prophet served.
Another writer says the reason was ceremonial, not a prison sentence:
Jeremiah was "shut in." This does not mean he was a prisoner (see verse 19). It probably means he was not allowed to enter the LORD's house because of some ceremonial impurity. So he sent Baruch, his secretary, to read the scroll to the people on the fasting day.
Either way, the point stands: the prophet stayed outside, and his message went in.
Baruch obeyed, but he did not read the scroll at once. One writer explains why:
The spirit of obedience before long finds a fitting moment for serving the Lord.
When the day came, he used it:
Baruch seizes the opportunity and reads 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 house of the Lord, in the ears of all the people."
The scroll was full of judgment, but the purpose behind reading it was not to crush the hearers. God's stated aim was a change of heart:
On the instruction of the Lord, His servant Jeremiah wrote down in a book the judgments God pronounced against Israel, Judah and the nations. The desire behind it was that "the house of Judah will hear all the evil I purpose to do to them, and they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin" (verse 3). Jehoiakim had already reigned four years, and God had given him time to turn to Him. But wickedness had increased. So God gave further warning, in the hope that the king and his people would repent of their sins and return to the Lord their God.
Baruch was not a neutral clerk delivering someone else's mail. One writer points out how the message had already worked on the man reading it:
The masses of the people were indifferent, if not hostile, to all that Jeremiah had to say — but not so Baruch. He not only wrote down the prophecies of judgment, he felt the weight and sorrow of them... He at least believed the things he had written, and he knew that the final crash was still to come, and near at hand.
Baruch read to ordinary people in the temple. From there the words moved upward — to the officials, and then into the palace itself:
But the ways of God are wise as well as good. Without our own seeking it, He knows how to bring His word before the greatest of men. Paul stood before governors, a king, and an emperor. In the same way, the words of the Lord through Jeremiah came into the council chamber and the court.
One writer reads this chapter as a warning about how people handle God's word:
This chapter records how men treated the writings of God with contempt. It is a solemn lesson. Men cut up and destroyed the prophetic scroll before the destruction of Jerusalem. Man cannot get rid of the Word of God — He knows how to preserve it, just as He did in this case. But by the way he treats it, man shows his guilt and disrespect for God, and brings on himself the judgments that God's word speaks of.
- Bound — Jeremiah could not enter the house of the Lord, yet the word he carried was free. God is never limited by what limits His servants.
- Sent — What the prophet could not do himself, a second man did for him. Baruch did all that Jeremiah ordered him, and waited for the fitting moment.
- Felt — Baruch believed what he had written down and carried the sorrow of it. The word gripped the reader before it reached the hearers.
- Read — The reading aimed at repentance and forgiveness, not despair. The warning itself showed patience towards a king who had already had years to turn.
- Reaching — From common people to princes to the throne, God brought His word before the greatest of men, and His servant never arranged it. Men destroyed the scroll; God preserved His word anyway.