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As a five-year-old, I watched episodes of Superman and then asked my mom to help me don a cape. I dreamed of flying and being a superhero.
At 10, the TV programs changed, and the dreams morphed as well. Adam-12 put me in a police car, doing battle with bad guys. Emergency made me want to be a paramedic, saving lives while experiencing a life of unpredictable adventure. Of course, a Pirate baseball game put me on the diamond with Roberto Clemente (I'm showing my age here!)
Teenagers grow more realistic as graduation approaches. They dream of finding a wonderful someone with whom to share life, of making a good living as a doctor, accountant, or factory worker, of filling a niche in society, having good friends, and perhaps dabbling in politics or volunteering as a church leader.
Teenagers don't contemplate mortality, so they envision a full life and dying -- a long time from now -- at a good old age.
But dreams don't always come true.
In 604 B.C., Baruch was frustrated because his dreams weren't coming true.
It's easy to imagine Baruch's dreams. Baruch, obviously intelligent, had been educated as a scribe. Where others read a little Torah and knew enough basic math to conduct business in the market, Baruch's skills placed him among the elite. Since his brother, Seraiah, was a trusted officer in the King's court, Baruch might easily imagine himself being invited to serve the King, taking his proper place among the movers and shakers of Jewish society. "Secretary to the King" was within reach.
But God had other plans. Instead of "Secretary to the King," Baruch found himself employed by God's prophet, Jeremiah. The position was definitely high-profile, but it wasn't popular. Rather than hobnobbing with the king, Baruch found himself delivering messages of doom and gloom and then running away from angry royal officials. When Jeremiah's message was rejected, Baruch felt the sting!
In Jeremiah 45, God (through Jeremiah) addressed Baruch's unfulfilled dreams: "You said, 'Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.' But the LORD has told me to say to you, 'This is what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the earth. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life."
Sobering truths emerge from Baruch's story.
First, it's obvious that God is aware of Baruch's lofty dreams and knows of Baruch's disappointment and frustration. Life isn't turning out the way Baruch planned it and God cares about Baruch's pain.
Still, God's message to Baruch amounts to "Get over yourself!
It's not about you." Baruch plays an important role as Jeremiah's assistant, but that doesn't exempt him from the turmoil and anguish of his time. As the nation of Judah suffers through God's rejection and punishment, Baruch, and even Jeremiah himself, become targets as the king and his royal officials blame the messenger for the message. "Should you seek great things for yourself?" God asked Baruch. God then responded to his rhetorical question: "Do not seek them." Doing God's work doesn't free God's messengers from the pain and trials of life in this world.
But there's still more to learn: Chronologically, God's message to Baruch belongs with the events recorded in Jeremiah 36, but it doesn't appear in Jeremiah's narrative until chapter 45 -- somewhere around twenty years AFTER God actually spoke to Baruch. The Bible student has 2 choices. We can see the message of chapter 45 thrown in as an afterthought as Jeremiah draws his narrative to a close or, more likely, we can understand that Jeremiah intentionally withheld Baruch's story until he could point to the fulfillment of God's promise: Baruch survived when others died.
By chapter 45, the king has been carried away into captivity in Babylon. Jerusalem lays in ruins, destroyed by the Babylonian army.
The king's officials have become slaves, their time in the limelight gone forever. But Baruch escapes with his life. Baruch's faithful service to God and Jeremiah means that he stands while everyone around him falls. By withholding Baruch's story until this time in the narrative, Jeremiah makes the point: God kept His promises. Baruch's life might not have fulfilled his dreams, but life was still good!
Mark Wilmoth
Pinehurst Christian Church