King Jehoiakim’s Defiance

April 27, 2026 at 10:42 AM Leave a comment

Today, we are covering Jeremiah 36, 37, and 38. We will see some interesting things and some of the application these chapters convey for believers.

Jeremiah 36 unfolds a situation for us where we see the king of Judah acting defiantly toward God and His Word. Again, consider that this king – Josiah’s own son – projects unmitigated DEFIANCE to the God of Israel.

It all starts when God comes to Jeremiah and says to take a scroll. Jeremiah was to write on it all that God had said regarding Israel, Judah and all the nations.

Why did God take the time to initiate this? Because there was some hope of Judah repenting (v3). This tells us that God provides every chance a person/nation needs to repent and turn to Him.

Jeremiah called Baruch to write the words on a scroll and take it to the king to be read since Jeremiah was confined and was not free to go and do this himself. V7 shows us Jeremiah’s understanding of the situation in which he states that God’s anger (FURY) was great! (v7)

In the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, a fast was proclaimed. It was during this fast that Baruch read the words of the scroll in the house of the Lord.

The men who heard Baruch read the contents of the scroll realized how important the words on the scroll were and went to others to tell them about it.

From the first group, Michaiah then read the scroll to these other men. Baruch also read to those men and others. The men asked how he got the scroll and he told them of the situation. Because of the content, the men warned Baruch to flee and hide. What they heard (from the reading of the scroll), filled them with fear and they chose to tell the king (Jehoiakim). They went to the king and told him of the scroll’s contents.

The king seemed interested and wanted to see the scroll so he sent for it. The contents of the scroll was read before the king and all the princes gathered. After 3-4 columns of the scroll were read, the king took a knife and cut off what had been read and tossed the words in the fire near him. Eventually, the entire scroll was burned up after it had been read.

This act was one that showed King Jehoiakim’s view of God and His Word. He didn’t care. He resisted God. V24 tells us that neither the king or princes were afraid at all. They were defiant in their rebellion of God!

What we are seeing here is a complete lack of fear or respect for God and the supremacy of His Word. We are seeing this more and more throughout the world today.

As just one example, a Lutheran minister recently said the Bible does not speak against abortion because the child is not “alive” since it has not taken its first breath. He quoted Genesis 2:7 to “prove” this

“Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

Of course, what this minister fails to realize is that God only breathed into Adam, the first human being. After this, breathing at birth is normally automatic. But even here, it does not mean that no actual life exists. If that was the case, the baby being formed in the womb would not grow or survive so clearly, the baby is alive and growing in spite of the fact that it doesn’t breathe oxygen. The level of stupidity and rebellion against God’s Word is growing throughout the world.

Jeremiah 36 highlights two specific applications for the believer:

the absolute sacred permanence of God’s Word, and
the urgency of repentance

Believers must place a high value on His Word. We must respect it, read it, think upon it and endeavor to grow because of the truth it houses. There is no higher authority than God and His Word.

Christians must also keep short lists of our sin, to be quick to acknowledge our sin and submit to Him. We must grow in our realization that we do sin but we have an advocate in Jesus. We must also live with a true urgency of repentance because it is impossible to go through a day without sin.

King Jehoiakim did not live in fear of God. He did not care about pleasing God. He thought he was “all that” and was his own highest authority. He cared only for himself and he was the son of Josiah! Josiah was one of the few good kings over Judah, yet this did not pass down to this particular son.

Jeremiah 37 tells us the difference between trusting false prophets or God’s prophets. Jeremiah 37 takes place about 13 years +/- after Jehoiakim’s reign. Nebuchadnezzar had already come through Jerusalem once and placed Zedekiah on the throne there as regent. Zedekiah outwardly seems to want to please the Lord, however, it becomes clear that this is just lip service. What he really wants is to be out from under Nebuchadnezzar’s rule.

But God deliberately placed Judah under Nebuchadnezzar because of Judah’s continued sin and rebellion against Him. Yet even in this, God showed His mercy to Judahites.

Because of Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning Judah, the prophet was arrested. The people did not want to hear God’s Word and preferred the lies of false prophets that said Judah would not be captured.

We see this same type of thing occurring today where false prophets say one thing, but the Bible appears to indicate something else. Too many people today want to hear only what tickles their ears. Yet, it seems the world is approaching a terrible time that will culminate in the seven year Tribulation. Jesus points out in Matthew 24 that this will be the worst time this world will ever see and experience. It is uncanny though how many “prophets” of today deny this.

King Zedekiah sought out Jeremiah and asked him if there was any word from the Lord. You have to wonder how many times Jeremiah has to repeat himself here. Seems as though Zedekiah was hoping for a different explanation every time he went to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah’s response was again, that Judah would go into captivity. The reasons were clear. Judah’s rebellious ways and defiance against God had brought them to this point and Judah had shown no repentance as they continued to worship foreign gods and treat each other shamefully.

During this discussion, Jeremiah also pled his case before the King asking why had he been arrested and tossed in the dungeon? Zedekiah moved him out of the dungeon to the court of the prison and made sure he was fed daily. This gave Jeremiah a bit more freedom but he was still imprisoned. It seems Zedekiah did not believe he had the authority to fully release Jeremiah.

There are several points of application for us from Jeremiah 37.

First, we need to ask ourselves if we are trusting in false prophets or trusting in God’s Word? It cannot be both. It is one or the other. In Zedekiah’s case, it seems clear he feared other men. We have a tendency to do the same but we must reject fearing men. If we do this, we will also be guarding ourselves against self-deception. Today, too many want to hear pleasantries and things that make them feel good. This denies the reality of God’s Word and we must be careful about that.

We also must learn to stay faithful in adversity. One of the best ways to do this is by memorizing Scripture and repeating to ourselves often. If God’s Word is alive and full of truth, then it will impact us in our spirits and will help us live the way God wants us to live and grow because of that. If we fail to do this, we will grow away from God.

We also must prioritize obedience over comfort. This is not easy but God desires us to obey Him. He will provide the unction to do this if we rely on Him and His love for us. Again, memorizing and slowly repeating Scripture to ourselves helps flesh these truths and realities out.

Clearly, Zedekiah (and before him, Jehoiakim), did not rely on God’s Word and Jehoiakim literally stood against God’s Word in favor of how he felt about things. Jehoiakim was his highest authority, not God.

Zedekiah wavered back and forth. At times he seemed to want to please God, but in the end, he ultimately only wanted to hear what he wanted to hear and when he did not get that from Jeremiah, it bothered him a good deal. Never mind that Judah had brought this on itself because of their abject rebellion against God.

If/when Christians fall into that same trap, God has every right to discipline us and that could easily include taking us out of this life early as Paul notes to the Corinthian believers. We cannot/should not trifle with God and His love for us. Understanding His love for us should make us want to love and obey Him more, not less.

Jeremiah offers a final appeal to Zedekiah as he again tells the king/people what God told him would happen to Judah. The people reject his message and put him in the miry pit. Eventually, an Ethiopian, with the king’s permission, rescued Jeremiah from the pit or he would have died.

King Zedekiah again asks Jeremiah what would happen to Judah? This is ridiculous! How many times does Jeremiah have to tell the king what God said would clearly happen to Judah before Zedekiah would believe him? It seems Zedekiah believed if he asked him a million times, the answer would be favorable to Zedekiah.

Do we do this? Do we implore God to give us a favorable response because we don’t like what’s happening in our lives sometimes? We need to be careful. Are we are own person or do we belong to God?

Jeremiah tells Zedekiah that if he surrenders to Nebuchadnezzar, he will live (and the people). It’s really a simple proposition exposing the graciousness of God for His people even though they don’t deserve it at all. King Zedekiah was having a difficult time believing Jeremiah and desperately wanted to hear good news.

Jeremiah 38 has some interesting application for Christians today. Jeremiah 38 help us understand:

We should prioritize God over people
As difficult as it may be we need to place trust in God and His divine sovereignty
Like Ebed-Melech, an Ethiopian eunuch, who helped save Jeremiah, God will often provide help in difficult times through unlikely sources
To reject God’s clear guidance will often lead to severe consequences
Surrendering to God’s will offers path to life and preservation

These are not necessarily easy things for Christians to do, but as we learn through life’s circumstances to trust Him, our trust and devotion to God will increase because of the pressures of life that God allows/sends into our daily lives.

Our priority in life should be pleasing God and that comes through heartfelt obedience, wanting to do what He wants us to do. Rejecting the truth of God’s Word because we don’t want to do something His way often means severe consequences. These occur because God loves us and wants what is best for us.

The Judahites were wayward. God wanted to straighten them out and knew what was best for them. His reaction to their rebellion was filled with grace, not hate. This is designed to cause His people to surrender to His will, which leads to life and preservation.

This is our sanctification and it will continue until God takes us home.

Entry filed under: Demonic, israel, Judaism, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, sanctification.

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