11 Now when Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the book, 12 he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber. And behold, all the officials were sitting there—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 other officials. 13 Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the book to the people. 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them. 15 They said to him, “Sit down, please, and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them. 16 When they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another and said to Baruch, “We will surely report all these words to the king.” 17 And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it [i]at his dictation?” 18 Then Baruch said to them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the book.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go, hide yourself, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.”
When Baruch read all the words written at Jeremiah’s direction, he got Micaiah’s attention. So Micaiah goes down to where the king’s scribes were working, alongside various other officials. On of the main reasons to be a scribe was to record the king’s actions, so here they were in the king’s house. They also likely sent various letters at the king’s direction or for other officials of the land.
At any rate, anything that was worth noting went through this place, and Micaiah gives a report of what Baruch had read (v. 13). They summon Baruch with the scroll, and he reads it to the scribes and officials who were gathered there. Their response? Fear, but was it fear of God, for the things that were written in Jeremiah’s scroll? Or was it fear of the king, and what he might say when they reported it to him?
We have to give them some credit for not just ignoring the whole thing, as they had generally done so far. But even if there was some good and healthy fear of God inspired by the message, certainly they were afraid of how the king might react. Indeed, they told Baruch and Jeremiah to go hide and tell no one where they were going. It does seem that their fear of God gave them enough boldness to take the message to the king, so that’s worth noting.
In fact, that’s the biggest takeaway here for us I think. We sometimes find ourselves having to make a choice between what God asks us to do, or yielding to how we think other people might react. In the same way as these officials did, we have to make a choice between the fear of God and the fear of men. Ultimately, we cannot let the fear of men keep us from obeying God’s commands, but that’s not always an easy task.
Jesus told His followers (and us), “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:18) And it’s interesting that Jesus followed that up with an encouragement about how God even knows when a sparrow falls, and then says, “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”
The three Hebrews faced an even starker dilemma with the fiery furnace that they were about to be thrown into. They told the king–the very king who was going to conquer Judah in a few years– (paraphrasing) “The God we serve is able to deliver us from the fire. But even if He does not, we will not bow to you or your gods.” (Daniel 3)
Ultimately, God’s plan is going to be best, even if He does not save us from physical death. And He doesn’t always, as we saw of late even in our country, but as one can see all over the world as believers are martyred. Yet they stand firm, and so we ought to stand also, in whatever role and calling God asks of us. Don’t let fear drag you down, but may the fear of God give you boldness that comes from His Spirit to follow Him faithfully. Whether the task is big or small, we are always in need of His strength, and He does not leave us to do it alone–not in Jeremiah’s day, not today, not ever are we alone when we follow God.