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King Jehoiakim burns Jeremiah's scroll

Baruch, Jeremiah and the scroll King Jehoiakim burnt.
Contributed by Sweet Publishing
Story also available on our translated websites: Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, German, French, Simplified Chinese
1
After the wicked reign of King Amon, King Josiah was crowned king. He loved and obeyed the Lord. – Slide 1
2
During his reign the book of God’s law which was thought to have been lost, was found in the temple. Josiah made sure it was read to the people of Judah. – Slide 2
3
God raised a prophet called Jeremiah to preach that unless they repented and obeyed then God would send the Babylonians to take them as captives. – Slide 3
4
Urged on by Josiah, Jeremiah and others, false idols and places of occult worship were smashed but the people did not turn back to God with all their hearts. – Slide 4
5
Josiah went into battle against Pharaoh Necho II and was fatally wounded by Egyptian archers. – Slide 5
6
He was brought back to Jerusalem to die. – Slide 6
7
Pharaoh Necho II intervened to put Eliakim on the throne in his place and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He would act as a puppet king to do what the Egyptians wanted and the people of Judah would pay the Egyptians tribute money. – Slide 7
8
Jehoiakim worshipped false gods and became a godless tyrant who committed atrocious sins and crimes. – Slide 8
9
The nation turned away from God and the prophet Jeremiah warned it was foolish to trust in the Egyptians to defend them. He preached that unless they repented, the Baylonians would invade and take them captive. – Slide 9
10
Three years after becoming king, Jehoiakim heard the news that the Egyptians had been defeated by the Babylonians at the Battle of Carchemish in 605BC. – Slide 10
11
God told Jeremiah to write down all the prophecies He had given him over many years. A scribe called Baruch wrote down God’s words on a scroll as Jeremiah dictated them to him. – Slide 11
12
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar swooped down the coast near Jerusalem to capture the Philistine cities controlled by Egypt. – Slide 12
13
When Baruch had finished writing the scroll Jeremiah said, ‘I am forbidden to go into the temple. On the next day of fasting when the people of Judah are in the temple, read the words of this scroll to them.’ Baruch went into a room just off the upper assembly hall of the Temple and read God’s word to the crowd. Baruch was then invited to read the scroll to some of the top leaders. By the time he finished the leaders were severely frightened. ‘We must tell the king,’ they said. But they told Baruch and Jeremiah to go into hiding as they knew the king would not be pleased. – Slide 13
14
The scroll was taken to King Jehoiakim in the winter apartment of his palace. He had a fire burning to keep him warm. Jehudi began reading the scroll to the king. – Slide 14
15
As Jehudi read each section the King cut that section off the scroll. – Slide 15
16
King Jehoiakim then burnt that section in the fire. He repeated this until the whole scroll was burnt to cinders. Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, but he wouldn’t listen to them. He had nothing but contempt for God’s warnings. Two men were sent to arrest Jeremiah and Baruch but God had hidden them. – Slide 16
17
King Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Philistine city of Ashkelon and then headed towards Jerusalem. – Slide 17
18
Jehoiakim decided to surrender to King Nebuchadnezzar rather than see the Babylonians destroy the city. He changed his allegiance from the Egyptians to the Babylonians. – Slide 18
19
He paid the Babylonians tribute from the treasury and gave them valuable artifacts from the temple. Some of the royal family and nobility were handed over to the Babylonians as hostages. – Slide 19
20
Jehoiakim continued to reign for another three years as a vassal king to the Babylonians. God told Jeremiah to dictate the words of the burnt scroll to Baruch again. A second scroll was written (which is in our Bible today in the Book of Jeremiah). – Slide 20
21
In 601 BC the Babylonians tried to invade Egypt and were beaten back. Against all the warnings of Jeremiah, King Jehoiakim switched allegiance back to the Egyptians. For three years the Babylonians did nothing – Slide 21
22
Then in 598BC they moved in to deal with the rebellious king. Jerusalem was surrounded and people inside trapped. The siege went on for three months. – Slide 22
23
During the siege King Jehoiakim died. The people inside the city threw the king’s dead body over the city wall hoping the Babylonians would show them mercy. Jehoiakim’s body lay on the ground until the siege ended. – Slide 23
24
Jehoiakim’s son Jeconiah (also known as Jehoiachin) was crowned king but once the city fell the Babylonian’s deposed him and took him prisoner. – Slide 24
25
King Nebuchadnezzar took ten thousand captives from Jerusalem, including all the princes and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and smiths. So only the poorest and least skilled people were left in the land. – Slide 25
26
The king of Babylon appointed King Jehoiachin’s great-uncle Mattaniah, to be the next king and he changed his name to Zedekiah. – Slide 26
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Slide 27