Jeremiah 36:30
Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
A special message from God was sent to be read in the hearing of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and after Jehudi had read three or four pages the king cut it with a penknife and burned it in the fire in the winter house. He showed no fear, and refused the intercession of Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah, while he and his lords in arrogance and pride would not repent. The warning he thus rejected was that the king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy the land and cause man and beast to cease from it.
As sentence for that rejection, he shall have none, no heir or successor, to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out and left exposed to the heat by day and to the frost by night. The punishment for iniquity falls on Jehoiakim and his seed and his servants, and brings on them and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the evil pronounced against them because they did not listen. This is final judgment on Judah, with special wrath on Jehoiakim for proudly lifting himself against the Almighty.
The time of the burning of the sacred roll was the last gracious opportunity to hear God's voice, and arrogant refusal to repent then brought fearful retribution. Rejecting God's light in this way brings judgment. Destroying the scroll did not destroy or cancel the message, for God's Word will never return void. The same Holy Spirit who gave the first testimony caused the rejected message to be written again by the same servant, repeated the very message that had been rejected, added a great deal more to it including this sentence, and the warning remained in force.
Cutting up and burning God's straight, plain message to consume it and get it out of sight did not end it or destroy its influence, but only gave it increased publicity and confirmation. When God sends a correcting message and it is refused, the whole transaction is recorded, refusal does not allow escape from consequences, and by refusing to receive it and be corrected the one corrected pronounces his own sentence and condemnation against himself. Those who justify and sustain the one God corrected and build him up in injustice and unrighteousness will suffer with the transgressor unless they humble themselves with repentance that need not be repented of. God will be vindicated in His merciful effort to bring men to see their crooked ways and turn and be converted that their sins may be blotted out.
The verse warns the present day, as to Battle Creek, against acting as Jehoiakim did when he heard God's message and rejected it. That act is virtually repeated by burning the messages of the Spirit of God, trifling with the Lord, spending the time for repentance and reform in criticism and man-formed opinions and selfish devisings, and passing the boundary line while warnings are repeated as of old. It is also repeated by those acting under Satan's influence who walk in darkness and trust their own greatness and wisdom.