T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S word in vain if this point is not gained with them.— Henry. v. 5. I am shut up. Literally, “I am prevented,” i. e., by some hindrance or -through fear of the king to whose anger Baruch was less exposed as not being the author of the prophecy.— J. F. & B. v. 7. Will present their supplication. Literally, “ Supplication shall fall,” al luding to the. prostrate attitude of the supplicants (Deut. 9:25; Matt. 26:39) as petitioners fall at the feet of a king in the East.— Brown. v. 14. ' The princes sent Jehudi. In stead of requiring Baruch to come to them they ought to have gone to the temple themselves and there professed their penitence, but pride forbade it.— Calvin. v. 16. They were afraid, both one and other. Hebrew, “ Fear-stricken, they turned to one another.” This showed on their part hesitancy and some degree of fear of God. but not enough to make them willing to sacrifice the favor of an earthly king.— Jamieson. v. 21. So the king sent. Note how unbelievers flee from God and yet seek Him through some kind of involuntary impulse.— Calvin. v. 2 2 . Fire on the hearth. Rather, “ The stove was burning before him.” In the East neither chimneys nor ovens are used, but in cold weather, a brazen vessel containing burning charcoal. When the wood is burned to embers a Cover is placed over the pot to make it retain the heat.— Thompson. v. 23. Cut it with a penknife. Thus he foolishly thought he had provided that the things contained in the Word of God should spread no further. Cf. Acts 4:17. What an enmity there is against the things of God in the carnal mind. What patience of God that He bears with such indignities done to Him, —Henry. What Jehoiakim did has been done over and over again. It is being done today as never before in the his tory of Christendom. It is being done by the destructive critics in colleges and universities. It is done by men who have produced “ The Shorter Bible,” by those who advocate an abridged Bible, by those who, like the English writer, Wells, want a new Bible. The same power of darkness is behind all these wicked attempts to mutilate the Word of God. Jehoiakim’s work is nothing in comparison with these twentieth cen tury infidels, because they aim at the most precious, the most blessed revela tion of God— the doctrine of Christ.
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Their condemnation will be far greater than that of the Jewish king. — Our Hope. The words of Jehovah are cut up today, not so much with the scribes’ knife as the scribes’ pens in the hands of modern critics. Yet they are not afraid. -—Bullinger. The roll was consumed. Many will say, “ I can find God without the help of the Bible.” Very well, do it if you can. The ferry company would feel no jealousy of a man should he prefer to swim to New York. Let him do so if he is able, but probably trying to swim would be the thing that would bring him quickest to the boat. So God would have no jealousy of a man going to heaven without the aid of the Bible, but let him try to do so and it will be the surest way to bring him to realize that he must come back to it for assistance.jjf-Beecher. They who are not induced to accept the Scriptures and live by them, would stand out against any evidence whatever, even that of a messenger from the other world.— At- terbury. - • v. 24. Yet they were not afraid. Contrast with this the conduct of the king’s father, Josiah, when the newly discovered book of the law was read to him (2 Kings 22:11).—Duihmelow. v. 25. Nevertheless. These three tried to keep the king from doing this evil deed but he refused to listen to them. They had at least some rever ence for the Word of God and there fore the Holy Spirit records their names. —Anno. Bible. He would not hear them. The Scripture doctrine of pun ishment always rouses antagonism and in this day revolts men. There is much in present tendencies to weaken the idea of future punishment. Modern philan thropy makes it hard sometimes to ad minister even human laws.—Maclaren. v. 26. The Lord hid them. How the Lord may have hid them is not revealed, but the fact recalls how Martin Luther was protected by God through the friendly and powerful elector in the Wartburg.— Gray. v. 27. Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. Did the king destroy the Word of God? One might just as well speak of destroying God Himself. Neither God nor His Word can be af fected by the efforts of men inspired by the enemy of the truth of God. In these days the devil, camouflaged as an angel of light in the guise of “ devout scholarship” and “ reverent criticism,” tries it again. His Word lives on.—#'■ Gaebelein.
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