“And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’”
““But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.”
“Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left.”
Zechariah 5:1 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll! And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.” Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. I will send it out, declares the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. And it shall remain in his house and consume it, both timber and stones.”
Jeremiah 36:1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
Jeremiah 36:20 So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. It was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments.
It is not a good thing to get a scroll written from God and read to you if you are not going to take care to what is being communicated. I wonder if this might be the same as what is written in the bible and we do not open our heart, mind, or eyes to what is being communicated. Being aware of what God is saying and then turning away from it or hardening our heart to it, or stiffening our neck against it can only end in judgment. Look at what is said here “Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, nor did they tear their garments.” And “all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’” Do we actually think it will end well for us in light of what God says He will do to those who neglect to hear, act and obey His word? How much warning must be given? Do we think God will count to 10 and we have until then to react, repent, and turn away? Now is the time to take His word serious. Now is the time to commit to humbly serve, honor, follow, and obey Him. Spend time in His word and live in true peace trusting in Him and not on our own understanding and wishfully thinking we can coast through life without commitment to our heavenly Father.