Baruch

"The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the instruction of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, 'Thus says the the LORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 'You said, 'Woe is me now! For the LORD has added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.' '

'Thus you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will pluck up, that is, this whole land. And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh,' says the LORD. 'But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.' ' " - Jeremiah 45

This chapter has always fascinated me - partially because of who it is spoken to, and partially because of what God says.

Servants of the prophets were hardly ever addressed in Scripture: the two I can think of in this light are Gehazi, the servant of Elisha (who had a poor ending -2 Kings 5) and Baruch. One can imagine that it would be a heady thing to be servant to a prophet of the Lord, yet at the same time hard - the Lord had words for others, does He have nothing for me?

Did Baruch expect God to answer Him? I'm guessing not - at least, it sounds like the kind of thing that I would say to myself! - that sort of whiny, grumbling, "Woe is me, doesn't anybody care?"

But then the unexpected happens to Baruch - God, through the prophet Jeremiah, directly responds to him. It is always an awesome thing, and often a frightening thing, when God responds directly to us - it suddenly reveals and reminds us that in reality, we are always in the presence of God, that He truly does hear and see all, and that nothing we do is hidden from Him.

And what does God address? Baruch's concern for himself. We don't know what he was thinking. From the date of the prophecy (605 B.C.) and the cross reference in Chapter 36, this may have been around the time when Baruch had read the prophecies of Jeremiah concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and King Jehoiakim, as the prophecy was read to him, cut off bits of the scroll and threw them into the fire, thus insuring the wrath of God upon Him and His house. It may also have been around the time of the first Deportation of the Jews to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24) (including Daniel and his friends - historical note). All of a sudden, gripped by the reality of the current and coming judgement, Baruch bewails his lot: "Woe is me!"

I have had this moment - maybe you have too, where all of a sudden the circumstances change and all your plans and dreams shift radically. Or maybe you wake up one morning, and suddenly realize that your opinion of your own gifts and talents and place in God's economy are wrong. You've been "wasted" or "exiled" to something of seemingly no importance.

How does God respond to Baruch - to us? With grace. He reminds Baruch of what is important. Is he seeking great things for himself? Why? - when the milieu he would seek them in was to be destroyed within 20 years - almost as if to say, don't build your empires on the sand. His great dreams were to come to naught.

But then God comforts him as well. Even though he is going to destroy the world as Baruch knew it, with the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem and the end of the temple system - approximately 800 years of Jewish presence in the Promised Land -God promises Baruch that he will continue live "wherever you go", whether into death, captivity, or exile. It is enough, given the circumstances, to be content to live, knowing that God continues to watch over and protect him, and will continue to hear him, even as he did when Baruch mourned.

John MacArthur says "Baruch had his expectations far too high, and that made the disasters harder to bear." Be assured of God's care, and be careful that we set our hopes, goals, and expectations according to God's plans, not our own.