Baruch and Jeremiah

Today we look at Baruch, the scribe of Jeremiah. We will see that God will reward your faithful service.

According to Josephus, Baruch was a Jewish aristocrat, a son of Neriah and brother of Seraiah ben Neriah, chamberlain of King Zedekiah of Judah.  Baruch became the scribe of the prophet and wrote down the first and second editions of his prophecies as they were dictated to him.

Baruch remained true to the teachings and ideals of the great prophet though he was at times almost overwhelmed with despondency. We see today that while Jeremiah was in hiding to avoid the wrath of King Jehoakim, he commanded Baruch to read his prophecies of warning to the people gathered in the Temple in Jerusalem on a day of fasting. The task was both difficult and dangerous, but Baruch performed it without flinching and it was probably on this occasion that the prophet gave him the personal message that we will read of at the end of the lesson.

Both Baruch and Jeremiah witnessed the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem of 587–586 BC. As an indication of his faith in the eventual restoration of Jerusalem, in the middle of the siege of Jerusalem, Jeremiah purchased an estate in Anathoth on which the Babylonian armies had encamped. 

Today we look at Jeremiah 36:4-8,16-18; 45:1-5. 

Life can be challenging. Jobs can feel like drudgery. Service can often feel unending or unproductive. We can be easily discouraged, and it would be discouraging if this were all there is. While we can be thankful for those times when we seethe fruit of our labors, we can be assured that, as we serve in the way God has called us to serve, He will reward us.

The Lord called Jeremiah to service in the thirteenth year of the reign of King Josiah (627 or 626 BC) and Jeremiah remained active under several kings, and would continue his wearisome ministry until after the siege and fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 BC over 40 years later. Let's first look at the introduction of Baruch

Jeremiah 36:4-8

4 So Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neriah. At Jeremiah’s dictation, Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah. 5 Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the temple of the Lord, 6 so you must go and read from the scroll—which you wrote at my dictation—the words of the Lord in the hearing of the people at the temple of the Lord on a day of fasting. Read his words in the hearing of all the Judeans who are coming from their cities. 7 Perhaps their petition will come before the Lord, and each one will turn from his evil way, for the anger and fury that the Lord has pronounced against this people are intense.” 8 So Baruch son of Neriah did everything the prophet Jeremiah had commanded him. At the Lord’s temple he read the Lord’s words from the scroll.

So Jeremiah summoned Baruch and dictated the Lords words to Baruch. Occuring near the time of the first Babylonian invasion (605 BC) when Daniel and other captives were taken to Babylon during the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign. God commanded Jeremiah to record the words He had spoken to him from the beginning of his ministry during the reign of Josiah and spanning some twenty-three years. Baruch worked as Jeremiah’s scribe from at least 605 BC until after the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Apparently the grandson of a governor of Jerusalem during the Josiah’s reign, Baruch hailed from a noble family. Yet he willingly served in a secondary yet influential role in Jeremiah’s ministry. 

God had miraculously guided the prophet’s thoughts and words as Jeremiah had proclaimed God’s messages and these words he dictated to Baruch. God’s Spirit inspired Jeremiah as he spoke the words of the messages to Baruch while the prophet’s own personality, thought patterns, and vocabulary came through his choice of words. Baruch wrote on the scroll what Jeremiah spoke.

Jeremiah called the attention of Baruch to Jeremiah's prohibition to go to the temple. Certainly the increased animosity between the temple officials and the prophet, whom they considered a troublemaker explains the reason. One seldomopens a closed mind. While Jeremiah could not go to the temple, he could still hear from God and record it through Baruch and Baruch could go and read Jeremiah's words to the people. God's message would still get through. Baruch would have known that he risked his career, and possibly his life, by reading publicly what he had written from Jeremiah’s dictation. 

At this time of Judah’s history, there were no standing fast days other than the one associated with the Day of Atonement. With the Babylonian army marching against the city, Jehoiakim likely had called for a day of fasting to rouse the people to prepare for war against their enemies. God purposed that the words of the scroll be heard on this day of fasting when people would have a more teachable heart and might acknowledge their sins and submit to Him. If the people ever needed to hear from God, the timing could not have been more appropriate. By the time Baruch delivered Jeremiah's message the Babylonian army had captured the nearby Philistine city of Ashkelon, raising the fears of the people in Jerusalem. Baruch faithfully delivered the message exactly as Jeremiah had told him to.

The next passage shows us the effect of this reading.

Jeremiah 36:16-18

16 When they had heard all the words, they turned to each other in fear and said to Baruch, “We must surely tell the king all these things.” 17 Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you write all these words? At his dictation?” 18 Baruch said to them, “At his dictation. He recited all these words to me while I was writing on the scroll in ink.”

With the scroll in hand, Baruch made his way into the temple on the day of fasting. An official named Gemariahson of Shaphanthe scribe allowed Baruch to use his room, located in the upper courtyard at the entrance to the New Gate of the temple. Gemariah supported Jeremiah. His sympathies for the Lord’s work went back to the work of rebuilding the temple. Having access to Gemariah’s chamber gave Baruch an ideal location to address people who gathered in the outer court as well as those who had squeezed their way in through the gate. When Gemariah’s son, Micaiah, heard Jeremiah’s message, he dashed off to the scribe’s chamber in the royal palace where all the officials had gathered. He reported everything he had heard Baruch read to the people at the temple. The king’s counselors immediately sent Jehudi to fetch Baruch and the scroll so he could read it to them. Having come from nobility, the officials received Baruch politely and asked him to read it. Baruch read everything to them, not just a portion of the prophecy read at the temple. The king’s cabinet riveted their attention on Baruch as they listened to the message in its entirety.  

While Jeremiah had declared similar messages for the past twenty-three years, this time something clicked. They heard Jeremiah’s warning and trembled in fear as they looked to see how the others reacted. They knew Judah faced the impending wrath of God. After the public reading in the temple and now their private audience with Baruch, these officials dared not keep this matter concealed from the king.

Knowing the deep-seated hatred the king had for Jeremiah, the cabinet officials asked if he wrote from his own memory after hearing the prophet repeatedly for years, or if he had recorded accurately what God's prophet had spoken through dictation. Baruch acknowledged his role as Jeremiah’s scribe. He recorded exactly what came from Jeremiah’s mouth (literally, what “he spoke from his mouth”). By specifying in ink, Baruch implied he added nothing to the process except writing down what the prophet said. This marks the only Old Testament mention of the use of ink. God's words went to and through Jeremiah into words, and in ink on to paper. No "editing or improving" were done. These were GOD'S words.

Fearing the greater danger Jeremiah and Baruch faced, the king’s scribes advised them to hide and not to tell anyone where they hid while the scribes stored the scroll for safekeeping. Then they reported the incident to Jehoiakim who sent Jehudi to fetch the scroll. As Jehudi read to the king and his officials, Jehoiakim stopped the reading every three to four columns, slashed the scroll, and tossed it into the fire until the entire scroll burned. How much guts does it take to be told "these are God's words" and then close your ears to them, tear them up and destroy them?! Political religion is often a closed minded thing. The king shut his ears to the scribes who pleaded with him to stop. He also commanded the immediate arrest of Jeremiah and Baruch. 

The Lord instructed Jeremiah to write another copy of His words and proclaimed that Jehoiakim would face severe punishment for his disrespect. No king nor anyone else can eliminate God’s Word. Because the king refused to believe God’s warning of coming judgment through Babylon, Jeremiah pronounced a threefold judgment on Jehoiakim. First, the king’s sons would not succeed him to rule Judah. Second, his body would be thrown out just as he had cast away the scroll into the fire. Finally, his descendants, his court officials, and the people of Jerusalem and Judah would suffer all the disaster of God’s judgment due to their refusal to listen to God.

Wishful thinking never overcomes the Word of God! Near the end of Jeremiah we read what God did for Baruch.

Jeremiah 45:1-5

1 This is the word that the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: 3 ‘You have said, “Woe is me, because the Lord has added misery to my pain! I am worn out with groaning and have found no rest.”’ 4 “This is what you are to say to him: ‘This is what the Lord says: “What I have built I am about to demolish, and what I have planted I am about to uproot—the whole land! 5 But as for you, do you pursue great things for yourself? Stop pursuing! For I am about to bring disaster on all humanity”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“but I will grant you your life like the spoils of war wherever you go.”’”

Jeremiah spoke these words to Baruch after he had written down Jeremiah’s prophetic message of judgment to the people of Jerusalem. This faithful layman who served the Lord as Jeremiah’s scribe needed encouragement. Baruch had every reason to be deeply discouraged because of the depravity and evil influence leaders of Judah had upon the people. Jeremiah had repeatedly warned judgment would come unless they repented and returned to the Lord. People often mistreated Jeremiah and Baruch. While nothing in the text hints at Baruch’s misery, he had endured a lot of stress, opposition and abuse. He must have expressed some of his grief and frustration to the prophet. With his world falling apart, he faced exhaustion, physically and spiritually.The present and the future seemed dark and foreboding. 

Normally Baruch wrote to others what the Lord spoke through Jeremiah, but now God instructed the prophet to deliver a strong word for his discouraged and exhausted servant. The message to Baruch began with a reiteration of one of the central themes of the book—the Lord builds and plants but He also breaks down and uproots. God cautioned him not to set his sights on high personal accomplishments and on making a great name for himself. God reminded Baruch that He would bring judgment on all flesh and sweep away all worldly power, popularity, and prestige. No one can avert the natural results of the supernature motivation of God’s hand. 

The Lord made a promise to Baruch by assuring him that He would protect him through the disaster. In the coming judgment of Israel, God would give Baruch his life an image of a soldier barely escaping with his life after a defeat in battle. While he might not attain his worldly dreams, Baruch had assurance God would not forsake him.

In this series of studies on sidekicks we see in Baruch that even sidekicks get worn out too. We also see that God does not forget what those who serve him have done. Some do great and tremendous things, some do things just by being alive, but God remembers and does not forsake, deny, refuse, reject or renounce us. 

If we faithfully serve, God will faithfully serve us.