Read: Jeremiah 40:1-6; Jeremiah 42-45
Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: You said, “Woe is me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.” Thus you shall say to him, “Thus says the LORD: I am going to break down what I have built, and pluck up what I have planted—that is, the whole land. And you do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh, says the LORD; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in every place to which you may go” (Jeremiah 45:2-5, NRSV).
My name is Baruch.
Admit it. You’ve never heard of me.
There was a time when that would have bothered me. After all, nobody would remember much about my boss, Jeremiah, if I hadn’t been there to preserve his words for future generations. Now, however, I’m grateful for the opportunity to have served him—and God—all these years. As I look back on the first time he asked me to take dictation, I realize that it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Yes, he is my boss. But he’s also my teacher and my friend. I wouldn’t exchange that for the world.
Not that it’s been easy, mind you. Even now, as I sit in our modest apartment in Tahpanhes, Egypt, I’m amazed I’m still alive to tell the tale. Guilt by association is a “thing,” and even Jeremiah’s family tried to kill him at one point. Then there was the small matter of surviving the siege of Jerusalem. Jeremiah spent most of that confined in the court of the guard for undermining morale among other things. (King Zedekiah didn’t respond well to Jeremiah’s prophecies about Babylon winning.) And when the Babylonians finally took the city, it wasn’t at all clear where we’d end up. The Babylonians finally gave Jeremiah a choice: come to Babylon with the rest of the exiles or go your own way.
Jeremiah’s heart will always be in Judah, so he opted to stay. I opted to stay with him, but we ended up forced to follow a small remnant of the people into Egypt. This was NOT Jeremiah’s choice, I might add—and against the word he’d received from the LORD on the subject. But in spite of the people’s promises to abide by that word, here we are in Egypt. Ironically, we’re not far from the cities of Pithom and Ramses where our ancestors were enslaved so many years ago.
I’d hope for a personal exodus if it weren’t for a little prophecy that Jeremiah delivered just for me. He gave it to me back during the reign of Jehoiakim (of scroll-burning fame—don’t get me started on that particular memory!). But I’ve cherished it ever since. Every time all seems lost—both for the nation and for us as individuals—I recall those “tough love” words: “O Baruch…do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh, says the LORD; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in every place to which you may go.”
Strange words to treasure, you might say. I suppose. But as time goes by, I’ve learned that the problems of two little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. So, I’m grateful for God giving me that little personal promise.
As for Jeremiah, he hasn’t lost his gift for alienating everyone around him in the name of the LORD. He’s going to get himself killed one of these days. But I suppose that’s often the way when people insist on speaking truth to power.
So, I raise my glass to you, Jeremiah. Here’s looking at you, kid!
Ponder: How do Baruch’s imagined words strike you as you contemplate your own life in light of world events? How do his words about Jeremiah strike you as you remember contemporary prophets like Martin Luther King, Jr.?
Pray: Thank you for sending us prophets who speak truth to power. Give us the courage to listen to them.