Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Jeremiah Chapter 36
Metaphysically Interpreting Jeremiah 36:1-10
36:1And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, 36:2Take 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. 36:3It 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.
36:4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book. 36:5And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of Jehovah: 36:6therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah in the ears of the people in Jehovah's house upon the fast-day; and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. 36:7It may be they will present their supplication before Jehovah, and will return every one from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that Jehovah hath pronounced against this people. 36:8And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of Jehovah in Jehovah's house.
36:9Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem, proclaimed a fast before Jehovah. 36:10Then read Baruch in the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan, the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of Jehovah's house, in the ears of all the people.
June 4, 1922: Jeremiah 36:4-8
What does Jehoiakim, the king, represent? The king always represents the will; and Jehoiakim, the name of the king in this lesson, means the capacity to establish God in consciousness.
What does Jeremiah represent? Jeremiah represents that exalted state of consciousness which connects us with Divine Mind. He is that in us which intuitively discerns the Divine Law and seeks to impress it upon the will (the king).
What is the meaning of Jeremiah’s being “shut up” or in prison, so that he himself cannot go with his message into the house of Jehovah (the Ever-living)? It means that a separation in consciousness has been built up between the wisdom, and the life, and the will; the will has taken possession of the life in the organism, and excluded the wisdom.
What is the meaning of Baruch? Baruch means one upon whom blessings are poured. In this lesson, he is the messenger of Jeremiah to the king. In man’s consciousness, Baruch represents the thought or inner word of the Spirit, which is transmitted from the spiritual consciousness, through the nerves to sense consciousness.
June 15, 1947: Jeremiah 36:2-3
In the lesson text for today what does Jeremiah represent? He represents the exalted consciousness that connects man with Divine Mind. This consciousness in us intuitively discerns the divine law and seeks to impress it on the will (the king).
August 1, 1948: Jeremiah 36:4-8
What is the significance of the name Baruch in conjunction with the name Jeremiah in this lesson? The name Baruch means “blessed” or “prospered,” and the name Jeremiah means “exaltation of Jehovah.” Baruch represents the inner word of Spirit coming forth into expression in consciousness; Jeremiah represents spiritual faith holding all religious thoughts in line with divine law.
How is intuitive perception represented in this lesson? By “a roll of a book” that Baruch wrote at the dictation of Jeremiah.
When intuitive perception of Truth is lost, what is left to us? No standard of right remains except that which is furnished by the race consciousness or the personal will.
Metaphysically Interpreting Jeremiah 36:11-19
36:11And when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of Jehovah, 36:12he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber: and, lo, all the princes were sitting there, to wit, Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. 36:13Then Micaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people. 36:14Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thy hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them. 36:15And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears. 36:16Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one toward another, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words. 36:17And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth? 36:18Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. 36:19Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye are.
Metaphysically Interpreting Jeremiah 36:20-26
36:20And they went in to the king into the court; but they had laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; and they told all the words in the ears of the king. 36:21So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll; and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes that stood beside the king. 36:22Now the king was sitting in the winter-house in the ninth month: and there was a fire in the brazier burning before him. 36:23And it came to pass, when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, that the king cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. 36:24And they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. 36:25Moreover Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll; but he would not hear them. 36:26And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king's son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet; but Jehovah hid them.
June 4, 1922: Jeremiah 36:20-24
Why is not the will always guided by the inner word? Because of the many distractions of sense.
Should we rest in the security and the comfort of sense life, when there is a call to higher things? No. If we do, we become indifferent to the word of Spirit, when we should be attentive and receptive to its monitions.
August 1, 1948: Jeremiah 36:17-24
How is the personal will represented in this lesson? By King Jehoiakim, who burned the roll a few pages at a time. In the personal consciousness the will quenches intuitive perception, as soon as it becomes evident.
How do we keep the higher law of life? By reforming our habits of thinking, and living in harmony with the reformation.
What in this lesson represents the denial by us of our spiritual ideas? The burning of the roll by the king.
Metaphysically Interpreting Jeremiah 36:27-32
36:27Then the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 36:28Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. 36:29And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah thou shalt say, Thus saith Jehovah: Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? 36:30Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning 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. 36:31And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, but they hearkened not.
36:32Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and there were added besides unto them many like words.
December 11, 1898: Jeremiah 36:20-32
In the last lesson we saw that the Law of the Lord, which, though unwritten, exists in the nature of things, is perpetually a terror to evil doers, that is, when “the law is found in the house of the Lord,” when in the Spiritual consciousness the nature of this law is comprehended. For it is the law of mind that thought should express itself. Not only will true thoughts express themselves in true conditions, but by the same righteous law error thoughts must tend to express themselves in corresponding bodily conditions. Every thought will “bring forth after its kind,” according to this law. And so it transpires that the making known of this unfailing law strikes terror to the evil doer, as he contemplates the judgment awaiting him. Not that by an arbitrary degree God pronounces judgment upon the evil doer, but rather that in the very nature of the law of existence, judgment exists in the law, as effect exists in cause, so that the judgment is the inevitable effect.
Therefore the evil doer will not welcome such a law; its terrors may lead him to deny its power and its existence. He may consider himself without law; he does not want law, and vainly seeks to destroy it by his cutting denial. Yet law remains undestroyed. It is the prophet within, Intuitive Perception, that discerns the law, and declares its righteous judgment. This inner prophet warns every evil doer of coming retribution as the inevitable working of the law.
– UNITY magazine.
August 20, 1905: Jeremiah 36:21-32
Jehoiakim the king represents a ruling state of mind that does not reverence or obey the higher law. When we reach a point in our ongoing where there is necessity of greater spirituality, our meditations reveal to us that the way is through reforming our methods of thought and life. This is the intuitive perception of the progressive trend of all things, which is the Book of the Law, or the “roll” which the king burned.
The burning of the roll represents a denial of the Spiritual thought working in consciousness. We know that to go forward to more advanced demonstrations, we must give up the present ruling ideas. These, however, constitute our king and his kingdom, and it looks from a temporal viewpoint as if we were giving up our all when we relinquish these, and we do not entertain the proposition for a moment, but promptly burn or deny it away. We have no compunctions in so doing and there are no regrets. “They were not afraid, nor rent their garments.”
This tendency of establishing one's self in a mental kingdom with certain ruling ideas is strikingly illustrated in the crystallization of metaphysical teachers in that particular form and statement of the doctrine in which it was first revealed to them. No matter how often the prophets and scribes of the Lord, both within and without, present them with the “ roll” of the progressive Law, they are so saturated with the first revelation that they can see no forward step, nor the inevitable consequences of such ignorance, which are chains and Babylon (ultimate mental confusion).
The lesson is that we shall read out of the “roll” of the higher Wisdom the new revelations of Truth which are being constantly presented to us, and be open and receptive to Divine Evolution. It is a dangerous thing to set up a religious kingdom and gather about you a personal following. In a very short time you find yourself in the clutches of the “servants,” who are the people and the thoughts of the world. They bind you to the “system,” and ere you are aware you are part of a worldly institution called a church.
But our temporary denial of the Divine Law does not relieve us from its final establishment. It runs deep in the Divine plan and we cannot escape its ultimate outworking. You may evade its fulfillment in this phase of existence, but “another roll” is given by the prophet of the Lord, and his scribe, your inner memory, has written upon it all that was in the first roll, and “added besides unto them many like words.”
– UNITY magazine.
January 30, 1916: Jeremiah 36:21-28
What is the meaning of Jehoiakim? Jehoiakim, the king, represents a ruling state of mind that is not obedient to the Divine Law.
What does the burning of the book of the Law represent? The rejection of new and advanced ideas.
Why are new ideas rejected? Because of the tendency of mortal thought to become fixed and crystallized.
How may one keep his mind open to new revelations of Truth? By denying the right and power of mortal mind to hold old ideas, and affirming the receptivity of the Christ Mind.
What is the meaning of the giving of “another roll”? The persistence of the Law writes again in consciousness the Words of Truth that were rejected. No one can escape the Law, although he may resist it temporarily.
June 4, 1922: Jeremiah 36:32
When the call to observe the higher law comes to one, and is disregarded, does it ever come again? Yes, as shown in this lesson: “Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, ... and there were added besides unto them many like words.”
June 15, 1947: Jeremiah 36:28-31
Can our intuitive perception of the progressive trend of all things be destroyed? Our perception may seem to have failed completely, but such is not the case. It may become dormant, but it can be aroused and can function again under proper stimulus. King Jehoiakim burned the “roll” of the book, but Jeremiah wrote another and a fuller book to take its place.
How do we attain to greater spirituality? By reforming our methods of thinking and living.
When a person stifles his spiritual perceptions by living altogether in sense consciousness, is he disturbed by fear of consequences? No, for he does not foresee the consequences. The materialist does not believe in or perceive the reaction of the divine law. He sees only material consequences.
Can we become so “set” in our ways of thinking that it is impossible to change them? To change may seem impossible, but where the will to learn the truth is functioning there is no impossibility. We may, by resisting all new ideas, limit ourselves and hinder our further progress in enlightenment, but whenever we tire of resisting we can change our mind and accept new aspects of Truth.
August 1, 1948: Jeremiah 36:32
Can truth be entirely eliminated from consciousness? No. The law of life rests on truth, and sooner or later spiritual ideas reappear in consciousness. Jeremiah dictated anew to Baruch all the contents of the roll that had been destroyed and added to it further perceptions.
What follows efforts to defeat the divine law in its operation? Bondage to sense consciousness and the mental confusion that accompanies it. In the Bible account this state is represented by chains and Babylon. The will becomes powerless. Nebuchadnezzar bound Jehoiakim with fetters to carry him to Babylon.
Should we “publish” our intuitive perceptions or keep them to ourselves? We should “publish” our intuitive perceptions, and we do so by expressing our highest perceptions of Truth in actions as well as in words. When we do this we enlighten our will and keep our faculties in harmony under divine law.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 01-30-2014
