In Jeremiah 36, we read about God commanding his words to be written down, how they were written down, what God wants done with his written word, and how God preserved his word even though men destroyed it.

1. God commanded his word to be written down.

Jeremiah 36:1-3 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, 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. 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.

God commands Jeremiah to get a roll of a book and write down all the words that God has spoken to him concerning Israel, Judah, and the nations from the days of Josiah to the present day. First thing we notice is that God desires his word to be written down.

God desires his word to be written so that a wider audience can hear what he has to say. And there is a threefold purpose for putting God’s word in writing that we find in this passage. 1) It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; 2) that they may return every man from his evil way, 3) that I may forgive them.

God wants people to hear his word. If you were not around Jeremiah, you wouldn’t hear the word of the Lord. But if the word of the Lord was written down, men could hear the words of the Lord whether Jeremiah was around or not, or alive or not. Notice the nature of the contents of the word that was to be written. It was a book AGAINST Israel, AGAINST Judah, and AGAINST the nations (verse 2). God said his word would testify against the people and they ought to realize that they are at variance with God. God wants people to realize that they have sinned against him.

The LORD said in Deuteronomy 31:26 to take the book of the law and put it in the side of the ark FOR A WITNESS AGAINST THEE. The book is a witness against man. It testifies against man. It declares plainly right from wrong, good from evil, and what God requires from his creation. The Lord lays it down clearly in writing for man so there is no excuse. God knowing man’s heart and ways tells us it is a book that we will not like in our flesh: because it is against us. It is a book of conviction, a book that declares unto us our sins against our Maker. The Bible is against man because his deeds are evil and it points that out through that whole book.

God wants them to know of the evil that God purposes to do unto them because of their sin. Why? That they may repent from their evil ways. God wants men to hear God’s word and to know that they are condemned by God’s word. He hopes that when the people hear these words from God they would repent of their wickedness. Notice God wants “every man” to turn from his evil way. God is looking for any man anywhere that will repent. God is hoping for anticipating a sinner to repent at the hearing of the words of the Lord. Why? That he might forgive their iniquity and sin.

Jeremiah 36:3 reveals a lot about the written word of God and what the purpose is behind it. It is written down that God’s word might find a wider audience; that they would understand that God purposes to do evil to them because of their sin. That God expects repentance from every man at the hearing of his word that he might forgive them of their sin. God wants people to hear his word, repent at the hearing of the word, that God might forgive them of their sin.

2. How God’s word was written down.

Jeremiah 36:4 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.

In this instance, Jeremiah told Baruch to write down the words of the LORD at Jeremiah’s mouth. So Jeremiah spoke the words and Baruch recorded them in the book. Jeremiah was not the only one told to write down God’s words: Moses was (Exodus 17:14, 24:3-8) Isaiah was (Isaiah 30:8-13) John was (Revelation 1:11). All these men were specifically told by God to write down his word.