During the reign of King Josiah, the Book of the Law was found in the house of the Lord (2 Kgs. 22:8). The book was brought and read before the king (22:10). “When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law” (and realized that its commandments had not been kept), he “tore his clothes” (22:11), in grief and shame over the disobedience of God’s people.
Less than 20 years later, there was a new king on the throne named Jehoiakim. The Lord told Jeremiah to “take a scroll” and “write…all the words that I have spoken to you” (Jer. 36:1-2). The scroll was read “in the hearing of the king” (36:20-21), and after “three or four columns” had been read, “the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire” (36:23).
There are two reactions to God’s Word. It can grieve you to the point that you tear your own clothes (and heart) in repentance or it can convict you to the point that you tear it up to get rid of it. Which one are you?