nights nor a cool tomb during the hot days. There would be no kind of decent burial. Jeremiah also fore told that not even his own family would weep over his death (22:18). Jehoiakim was burned like a beast and buried like an animal. He was not fit to receive the burial of a man. His body was dragged out side the gates of the city of Jeru salem and cast down as food for the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field. This was the doom of the man who boldly cut and burned the Word of God. Such a fruitless wasted life. This is a warning to every man who would tamper with the Word of the living God. Walter Knight has penned, "Other books were given for our information, but the Bible was for our transforma tion." Samuel Rutherford testified, "The chief treasure of the Con gressional Library is the Gutenberg Bible." This was the first book printed in Europe in 1455 from moveable type. For this copy of Scripture Congress paid about $325,000.00. Mark Twain quaintly commented, "It is not the parts of the Bible I cannot understand that bother me; it is the parts that I do understand that give me great trouble." Yes, certainly the Word of God is nothing to trifle with. It is the Book of life and truth.
curse would be complete. There would be no one to sit on the throne of David. Jehoiakim's dead body would be cast aside, left to the destruction of the elements. You can imagine how King Jehoia- kim hated Jeremiah because of the message. When a man has nothing but contempt for Cod's Word and God's messengers he can only ex pect calamitous trouble and diffi culty (Luke 10:16). The Lord hid Jeremiah and Bar uch who had read the messages from the angry king. He was unable to find them. The Lord hides His own children in the day of trouble. He frustrates the enemies who are against them. The scroll was re written even though the king had burned it. In the Protestant Refor mation the printers purposely per mitted their Bibles to be bought and burned. With the money they were able to finance a much better edition of the Scriptures. Some people have seen a contradiction between this prophecy of no one to "sit" on David's throne and II Kings 24:6 which says, "So Jehoia- kim slept with his fathers: and Je- hoiachin his son reigned in his stead." The answer is that the He brew word "sit" implies perma nence. The three months of the latter's reign is certainly not per manent. So Jehoiakim's lineage was set aside as prophesied. The curse was upon the lineage of Joseph, who was the foster father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ's claim to the throne of David is through His mother who was from David's son Nathan and not through King Sol omon. In Jeremiah 36:30 it was prophesied that there would be no sepulcher. Jehoiakim's body would have no warm tomb during the cold
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