Jeremiah 45

Jeremiah 45:1

D. The Lord’s Message to Baruch (Chap. 45)This chapter was written in the reign of Jehoiakim and thus precedes chapter 44 chronologically. Perhaps it follows Jer_36:1-8. It is a message of comfort to Baruch, who was clearly discouraged because of the threatened judgments on Judah. Perhaps he was also frustrated because his aspirations for a high position were thwarted. God has a right to build up and to tear down. Baruch should not seek great things for himself or for Judah, but should be content to escape with his life and do whatever task was assigned to him, no matter how lowly. Kelly comments: The great lesson for Baruch was that in a day of judgment the proper feeling for a saint and servant of God is an absence of self-seeking . . . . Lowliness of mind always becomes the saint, but in an evil day, it is the only safety. Humility is always morally right, but it is also the only thing that preserves from judgment. I am speaking now not of God’s final judgment, but of that which is executed in this world. Now it seems to me plain that Baruch had not learned this lesson. He had now to learn it. This was the word of the prophet to him at an earlier datethe fourth year of Jehoiakim.