Jeremiah 45

A short word from the LORD to Baruch, Jeremiah’s faithful scribe, given in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Baruch was weary and discouraged. God gently corrects his ambitions and promises to keep him alive through the coming judgment.

Jeremiah 45:1

This word is dated to the fourth year of Jehoiakim, when Baruch wrote down Jeremiah’s messages on a scroll. Baruch was no bystander. He carried the prophet’s words to the people, and that put him in danger. God now speaks to him personally.

BSA: dictation (“mouth, command”): Baruch wrote what came from Jeremiah’s own mouth, so the scroll carried the LORD’s words faithfully.

See also: Jeremiah 36:1-4.

Jeremiah 45:2

God speaks directly to one ordinary man. The Lord of all Israel has noticed Baruch’s private complaint and addresses him by name. The Almighty is not too great to care about a discouraged helper.

BSA: LORD (“Yehovah, the God of covenant”): The covenant Name reminds Baruch that the God speaking to him is the One who keeps his promises.

Jeremiah 45:3

Baruch had been crying out in exhaustion. His sorrow was piled on top of pain, and he found no rest. The LORD does not scold him for feeling this, but repeats his words back, showing he has heard them. Serving God in hard times can wear a person out.

BSA: worn out (“exhausted, weary”): Baruch was spent, drained by the long strain of writing and delivering hard messages. rest (“peace, quietness”): What he lacked was more than sleep. He lacked an inner peace.

Jeremiah 45:4

God answers by showing the bigger picture. He himself is about to tear down what he built and uproot what he planted, meaning Judah. If God is grieving over this judgment, Baruch’s sorrow must be seen beside God’s own. The whole land will be affected.

BSA: uproot (“pluck up, destroy”): The picture is of a gardener pulling a plant out by its roots, as God had warned at Jeremiah’s calling.

See also: Jeremiah 1:10.

Jeremiah 45:5

God asks Baruch if he is seeking great things for himself, and tells him to stop. When God is judging a nation, personal ambition is out of place. Baruch will not get greatness, but he is promised his life, taken safely out of danger like a prize carried from a battle.

BSA: seek (“pursue, strive for”): Baruch was chasing something, perhaps status or comfort, and God tells him to give up the chase. spoil of war (“a prey, a treasure”): In war a soldier barely escapes with his life, and that is the only reward Baruch is promised.

Hebrew: לְשָׁלָל (leshalal, H7998) — “as plunder, as a prize of war.” The word pictures a survivor who walks out of defeat with nothing but his life. God promises that much, and counts it enough.

See also: Jeremiah 21:9; Matthew 6:33.