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The Word of God The Russian poet, Irina Ratushinskaya, speaking at a conference a few years ago, pointed out that there is a thirst for spiritual literature in what was then still the Soviet Union. Here in the West, she noticed that there was a Bible in every hotel bedroom – untouched. “We Russians would steal it.” She said. “Which is the worse crime? Not to read it, or to steal it?” We know that the Bible is God’s word, that it is God-inspired and that it is ‘useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness’. (2 Timothy 3: 16.) Of the prophets, Peter wrote that ‘men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit’. (2 Peter 1: 21.) Jeremiah was one such prophet. He received this message from God: “Get a scroll and write down everything I’ve told you regarding Israel and Judah and all the other nations from the time I first started speaking to you in Josiah’s reign right up to the present day. Maybe Judah will understand the catastrophe that I’m planning for them. Maybe they will let me forgive their perversity and sin.” So all the sermons and warnings, God-given words that Jeremiah had spoken, were written down on a scroll by his secretary. For people unwilling to turn from their sin, they were hard words. Eventually Jeremiah’s message reached king Jehoiakim, sitting in his winter quarters in front of the fire. (Jeremiah and his assistant had been persuaded to go into hiding.) The king had Jehudi fetch the scroll and read it to him and his officials. After Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with his pocket-knife and throw them in the fire until the entire scroll had been burned up. After that God told Jeremiah to get another blank scroll and write it all over again. A king chosen by the king of Babylon replaced Jehoiakim. God’s word through Jeremiah was proved to be true. You can read the whole story in your Bible in Jeremiah chapter 36. We wouldn’t think of using pages from the Bible as fire-lighters, and we probably wouldn’t steal a copy. The Bible has a message which is relevant to our lives but, as the Russian poet pointed out, we too often leave it un-read. John Goodacre Published in the October 2004 edition of the Church Magazine
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