Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 45-48.

The passage tells us that Jeremiah made his prophecy against Egypt while Jehoiakim was king in Jerusalem, and the prophecy against the Philistines when Pharaoh was about to attack Gaza, but the passage contains no information about when he prophesied against Moab.  I find it interesting that these three prophecies are here at the end of the Book of Jeremiah, not where they fit into the book chronologically.  It seems to me that the Book of Jeremiah started out as the second scroll which Jeremiah dictated to Baruch, with some of Jeremiah’s other prophecies added on later.  The initial scroll was just prophecies against the people of Judah, because its purpose was to try to turn them back to God.  But Jeremiah had not just prophesied against the people of Judah.  God had given him messages concerning others as well.  We can learn a lot about how God speaks in this world from looking at the prophecies of Jeremiah.  Most of God’s messages are directed to those who claim to be His people, but He also sends messages and warnings to those who do not seek Him.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 45-48.

There are two parts to today’s passage.  The first, and shorter, portion, is Jeremiah’s prophecy to his assistant and scribe, Baruch.  Baruch apparently had ambitions to do great things, as he came from the aristocracy of Judah.  Jeremiah gave him a prophecy from God telling him that such things were not a possibility in his time on this earth, but that God would ensure that he escaped with his life from the various situations in which he found himself (this was apparently a reference to the persecution Baruch and Jeremiah faced, the fall of Jerusalem, and the murder of the Babylonian governor).

The rest of the passage consists of various prophecies against Judah’s neighbors.  When I have thought about it, I have always thought of these prophecies as being made after Jeremiah was taken to Egypt.  As I read today, I realized that these were probably prophecies made earlier in Jeremiah’s career.  For example, it strikes me that the prophecy regarding Egypt was likely made before the Battle of Carchemish.  I realized that the reference made to the Battle of Carchemish here was an editorial comment by the scribe (probably Baruch) telling us that this prophecy started to be fulfilled with Pharaoh’s loss at Carchemish.  Secular biblical scholars often point to Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning Nebuchadnezzar invading Egypt and state that they were not fulfilled.  Interestingly, I discovered over the last few days that Nebuchadnezzar, despite being the longest reigning king of Babylon is also the least documented of Babylonian kings.  This lack of Babylonian documentation about Nebuchadnezzar’s reign means that all we know about his military exploits is that the Babylonian Empire at the end of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign was no larger than during the reign of his father.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 45-48.

One of the things which one needs to remember about the Book of Jeremiah is that the prophecies in it were primarily recorded long after the fact and are not in chronological order.  For example, the message to Baruch was given before the fall of Jerusalem when Jeremiah was dictating his prophecies for Baruch to write them down, and the prophecy concerning Egypt occurred years earlier. I think the prophecy against the Philistines was given before the prophecy against Egypt, even though it follows it here.  As for the prophecy against Moab, we are given no clues as to when Jeremiah made that prophecy.  I like to note that this passage makes it clear that Jeremiah did not prophecy just against the Kingdom of Judah.  Additionally, we learn here that when God brought judgement against Judah, the destruction spread to the wicked nations around her as well.  We should remember that when God’s judgement comes, it comes to all who embrace wickedness.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 45-48.

Baruch acted as a scribe and assistant for Jeremiah and we learn here that he desired to accomplish great things.  It appears that around the time that he wrote down Jeremiah’s prophecies to read on the Temple he realized that he would never accomplish the great things of which he dreamed.  Jeremiah tells him that he should not be upset by this because God was about to destroy all of the accomplishments of great men.  Instead Jeremiah told Baruch that God would reward him for his service by allowing him to escape with his life when destruction arrived at each of the places to which he would go.  This prophecy to Baruch always seems slightly out of place to me.  While there is the message for us to be satisfied with the level of accomplishment to which God calls us, there always seems to be a little more to it than that.  It occurred to me today that its presence here may be related to another passage concerning Baruch which always seemed strange: in yesterday’s passage, the leaders of the Israelites after the death of Gedaliah accused Jeremiah of lying at the behest of Baruch when Jeremiah told them God had said for them not to go to Egypt.    I have never read anything that adequately explains why they thought Baruch would benefit from the people staying in Judah, nor why they would think that Jeremiah was influenced by Baruch.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 45-48.

I want to focus on Jeremiah’s message to Baruch this morning.  It struck me immediately when I read the passage, but it is such a small portion of today’s passage that I tried to find something else to write about. However, none of the rest of the passage connected for me today.   From the passage we realize that Baruch was ambitious.  His brother was chamberlain to King Zedekiah, which suggests that Baruch was of noble birth.  Baruch wished to be someone of note, and complained that all of his efforts had gotten him nowhere.  Jeremiah advised him to accept never being a person of clout because those who attained great positions in the Kingdom of Judah would suffer disaster.  Baruch should accept his lot as “just another guy” as far as most people were concerned.  God promised Baruch that, while he would never be what people considered to be a great person, he would be safe wherever he went as his life went on.  We should take this message to heart.  Not everyone who does as God directs will become a “great” person.  Each of us should strive to do God’s will to the best of our ability and to the fullest of our strength while accepting that God’s plan for us may not include recognition from others.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 45-48.

Today’s passage contains a short message from God to Baruch, Jeremiah’s loyal assistant and scribe.  The message suggests that Baruch was an ambitious man, which may explain the suspicion that those remaining in Judah had towards him.  God said to Baruch through Jeremiah that he should give up on his ambitions because they would only lead him to greater sorrow.  However, God promised to preserve his life despite the destruction that so many around him would experience.   Baruch’s faithfulness did not gain him the reward for which he had hoped, but gained him a valuable reward nonetheless.  This message was delivered to Baruch before the fall of Jerusalem, but is recorded here after the accounts of he and Jeremiah being forced to join those who fled to Egypt.   Jeremiah had told those who fled to Egypt that neither they nor their children would see their homeland again.  However, not all of those who went to Egypt did so voluntarily and I think this message to Baruch is recorded here as a reminder that Jeremiah’s prophecy did not apply to them.