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Jeremiah 45:5  (A Faithful Version)
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<< Jeremiah 45:4   Jeremiah 46:1 >>


Jeremiah 45:5

What was Baruch doing that elicited such a terse rebuke from God? Driven by covetousness, he was seeking great things for himself. In Jeremiah 45:4, God reminds Baruch that He is in the process of judging the people of Judah: "Behold, what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will pluck up, that is, this whole land." God was about to carry out what He promised through the prophet Isaiah decades earlier, as recorded in Isaiah 5:5. There, He likens His people to a choice vineyard. He was about to "take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down."

As Jeremiah's scribe, Baruch was aware of God's promised protection to the prophet during those turbulent times, recorded in Jeremiah 1:17-19. Baruch mistakenly thought he could leverage his position as Jeremiah's scribe to aggrandize himself. He imagined he could use God's promised protection of Jeremiah as an "insurance policy," all the while taking advantage of insecure times to find "great things," maybe wealth and power, for himself. Baruch's priorities in this time of trouble were wrongly oriented.

In His mercy, God rebukes Baruch to set him on the right path, one of service to Him as Jeremiah's assistant. Essentially, He tells him to abandon his desires for "great things" as he refocuses his life on God's work. He does not promise Baruch "great things" but only protection "in all places, wherever you go."

In this is a lesson for us, Christians approaching the end of the age. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ aims at reorienting our focus as well, urging us to develop right priorities. His instruction in Matthew 6:31-33 echoes His comments to Baruch hundreds of years earlier:

Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Like Jeremiah and Baruch, we face desperately trying times, times of ending. It will take great spiritual focus and perseverance to endure to the end, as we are urged to do. We would do well to take to heart Paul's words, recorded in I Timothy 6:6-9:

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

God's admonition in Hebrews 13:5 could apply to Baruch as much as it does to us: "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" When our minds are fixed on getting for ourselves, our orientation is completely wrong in relation to the Kingdom of God. Jesus teaches in Mark 8:35-36: "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?"

Traditional Irish history indicates that God indeed preserved Baruch through not just the harrowing years of Judah's fall to Babylon but also through a long journey with Jeremiah to the British Isles, accompanying the king's daughters to safety with another branch of the House of Judah, healing the breach (Genesis 38:27-30). Just as He promised, God did not forsake him, bringing him safely to a kind of Promised Land. If our priorities are right, He will do the same for us.

Charles Whitaker
Baruch and His Wrong Priorities



Jeremiah 45:3-5

God puts things into perspective for Baruch by making clear His intention and purpose. He has set His hand to bring about a major change in “this whole land.” However, God had taken action to protect Jeremiah and Baruch, hiding them away as the sun was setting on Judah. The catastrophe to come was immense in scope: All the civilizations of that time were in various stages of unraveling, being uprooted by God Himself.

God cuts through the smoke, that is, through any excuse Baruch may offer for wishing to end his service to Jeremiah and, through him, to God. Jeremiah 45:5: “But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking!” (Holman Christian Standard Bible [HCSB]).

We may surmise why Baruch sought “great things” for himself. First, he may have considered himself well-positioned to take advantage of unstable times, times of war. Having come from a prominent—or perhaps, once-prominent—family, he may have had the capital with which he could fund significant investments. He may have been well-connected in the society of his day.

He was obviously educated. He understood that knowledge, properly leveraged, becomes power. And knowledge he had, in spades. As the secretary of God's prophet, he was an insider's insider. He knew what God was doing. A significant piece of that knowledge was that God had committed himself to protect Jeremiah in troubled times. After all, had he not himself transcribed God's words, recorded in Jeremiah 1:17-19?

What an insurance policy—underwritten by God Himself! Baruch well may have thought that, if he did not seek to use the unstable situation to his benefit, he did not deserve greatness. Add a little ambition to the mix, and you have a recipe for covetousness.

While we do not know the specifics, Baruch apparently sought to take advantage of highly turbulent times, leveraging the knowledge he had to turn a profit. God did not mince words: “Stop seeking.” He urges Baruch to read the words he had transcribed for Jeremiah and to heed their warning, not underestimating the enormity of the changes that were in the wings. Jeremiah would shortly see Jerusalem in flames; Baruch would see it in ashes. Great things—fame, notoriety, and money—would do Baruch no good in circumstances totally unlike the days of the fathers, when God had uprooted everything.

Baruch appears focused—maybe even fixated—on himself. He wants to aggrandize himself, bestowing “great things” on himself. In this regard, it is interesting to note the promise that God issues to Baruch: His life. That is all—just his life.

Jeremiah 45:5 reads, “. . . I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go.” The HCSB renders it as, “. . . grant you your life like the spoils of war.” The Common English Bible states it as, “I will let you escape with your life.”

The implication of God's promise to Baruch is twofold. First, God connects Baruch's life with war. War and struggle would characterize his life. Baruch would continue to live as a blessing of God in the midst of a highly unstable environment, not apart from that environment, not in a state of immunity from its hardships. While many others would lose their lives, property, or freedom in the troubles that lay just ahead, God promises that He will preserve Baruch's life.

Second, the clause “wherever you go” hints that Baruch's would be a life “on the move.” Perhaps he would even be fleeing for his life at times. His life would not be a settled one behind a white picket fence in suburban Jerusalem. The rest that Baruch wanted, mentioned in Jeremiah 45:3, would not come in this life: It would come later.

It was the worst of times. The winter of despair chilled Baruch. Yet, God promises him his life, if he will refocus his priorities on God's work, not on seeking fame for himself. It is motivation that Baruch seems to have taken to heart.

Charles Whitaker
Baruch's Complaint (Part Two)




Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Jeremiah 45:5:

Jeremiah 45:3-5
Jeremiah 45:3-5

 

<< Jeremiah 45:4   Jeremiah 46:1 >>



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