The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Nerijah, when he wrote these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying,
Jeremiah 45 opens with a message aimed not at a nation or a king, but at the man who had just laid down his pen after writing out the prophet's words. Two questions follow: why does God speak to a secretary by name, and why does this old word sit so late in the book?
The verse names the scribe and his father. One reference work fills in the rest: Baruch was the "son of Neriah, and faithful secretary to Jeremiah," later "carried with Jeremiah into Egypt" (Morrish Bible Dictionary). Writing "these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah" was slow work:
The work clearly took a long time: the book was not read out to the people until the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim. You can picture the two men in the house where Jeremiah lived. The Spirit of God guides the prophet as he carefully dictates the words of the Lord, and Baruch bends to the task of writing on the scroll. All the while both men know they are passing on the very words of God to everyone who would read the message.
The date is "the fourth year of Jehoiakim" — years before the scenes in Egypt that come just before it in the book. One writer sees a lesson in that order:
Why does it stand here, when it was spoken as far back as the fourth year of Jehoiakim — which the Spirit pointedly tells us in verse 1? Surely to teach us this lesson: our true wisdom is to act on the Word of God without question. By the time this word was written down, Baruch had no chance left to win any greatness for himself. Things were very different when the word first came to him. Princes and nobles were then in Jerusalem. Now the city lay in ruins, and he was with the miserable remnant in Egypt.
The gap is wide: chapter 45 gives "the latest notice of his friend and scribe Baruch, though in fact the message placed here was given some twenty years earlier" (William Kelly).
Baruch was no detached clerk.
Most of the people were indifferent to everything Jeremiah said, if not hostile to it — but not Baruch. He not only wrote down the prophecies of judgment, he felt their weight and sorrow... The woe was pronounced on the people, but he felt it for himself, saying, "Woe is me!" ... He at least believed what he had written, and he knew the final crash was still coming, and coming soon.
The Lord did not overlook the man with the pen, and He knew what was in his heart.
When Baruch laid down his pen, the work finished, the Lord sent him a special message, showing that He had not forgotten the faithful scribe. But there must have been some disappointment in Baruch's heart. Had he expected some special recognition? Was he seeking something for himself, expecting great things? ... It is the very heart of the old nature to seek great things, to be ambitious for earthly possessions and honours, to please oneself. God's people need to watch against this more than against anything else.
William Kelly draws out how a servant should feel when everything is collapsing:
The great lesson for Baruch was this: in a day of judgment, the right feeling for a saint and servant of God is to stop seeking anything for himself... A lowly mind always suits a saint, but in an evil day it is the only safety. Humility is always right, but it is also the one thing that keeps a man from judgment. I am speaking now not of God's final judgment, but of the judgment carried out in this world.
God refused him greatness, not safety. His name carries the irony: "Baruch — the man worn out with sighing — means 'blessed,' and in spite of his sorrow that is what he was" (J. Wilson Smith).
He was to know himself small; he would be marked by sorrow and sighing; he would be little in his own eyes. The one thing he could always count on was his life; that was secured. It would be handed to him as a prize — always safe. His own interests stayed safe, whatever else broke down.
The chapter leaves every reader one question: "Am I after great things here, or am I after the Lord? ... Let us learn to trust the blessed Lord, and so be free to grow in grace and in the most excellent knowledge of Himself" (H. J. Vine).
- Small and named. God gives a whole chapter to the man who only held the pen. Writing another man's words did not hide Baruch from Him.
- Small and grieving. Baruch believed what he copied, and he grieved over it. God answered that sorrow with a message for him alone.
- Small and searched. Under the grief lay a wish to be noticed. God dealt with the hidden motive, not the visible tears.
- Small and safe. When everything is collapsing, humility is not only right. Commentators call it the one thing that keeps a servant safe.
- Small and blessed. God refused him advancement and promised him his life. The man whose name means "blessed" kept the blessing by staying small.
Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, concerning thee, Baruch
Jeremiah 45 is the shortest chapter in the book. It speaks to one man, not to a nation or a king. That man is Baruch, the scribe who wrote Jeremiah's words down. Verse 2 opens that message. Three things carry its weight: who speaks, that He speaks to one person, and that He speaks that person's name.
Who was he? One short summary of his life answers in a line, and lists where his name appears:
Son of Neriah, and faithful secretary to Jeremiah. He was eventually carried with Jeremiah into Egypt. Jer. 32:12-16; Jer. 36:4-32; Jer. 43:3, 6; Jer. 45:1-2.
His work put him beside the prophet while the nation slid toward ruin:
In the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, things in Judah and Jerusalem were growing worse fast. Jeremiah was the prophet. God raised him up and sent him to proclaim the word of the Lord, and to expose with courage the state of things that was leading to the final disaster. Baruch was the scribe. His work was to write in a book the solemn words Jeremiah had to speak.
Baruch's task was to write down words about everyone else. This message came when that task was finished, and it was about him:
Note that this did not take place in Egypt, where the prophet and his friend were now staying. It happened in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Baruch had just finished writing the words Jeremiah dictated. It was no doubt a hard task. When Baruch laid down his pen, the work finished, the Lord sent him a special message. It showed that He had not forgotten the faithful scribe.
The title used here belongs to the God whose own nation was about to be pulled down. Jeremiah's own habit of speech shows how freely God allows His servants to name Him and be named by Him:
Like every real servant of the Lord, Jeremiah laboured in the awareness that there was one true God. The truth of Deuteronomy 6:4 was laid deep within him. "Jehovah our Elohim is one Jehovah." He knew Him. He used many names and titles to speak of Him, singular and plural too… The name "Jehovah" is used over six hundred times, as if he would hold the people by that name of relationship and covenant. And despite their turning away, he speaks of "Jehovah Elohim" over fifty times, clinging to the fact that Jehovah was their one true God.
Jehovah and Elohim are Hebrew names for God; the ESV prints them as "the LORD" and "God."
Commentators also trace a pattern. Once a nation's turning away is complete, God addresses one faithful servant:
The children of Israel had betrayed the Lord beyond hope. Their departure was complete before His eyes. It was not only the first part torn away, the ten tribes of Israel, but the remaining two as well… Not only Judah failed, but even the house of David, the anointed king, the last regular link between God and His people. Then we find that God addressed not His people, but one chosen faithful servant as His witness.
The message came years before the point in the story where it appears. That placement teaches something:
Why should it be put here, when it was spoken as far back as the fourth year of Jehoiakim, as the Spirit is careful to tell us in verse 1? It is surely to teach us this lesson: our true wisdom is to act on the Word of God without question. By the time this was recorded, Baruch had no chance to gain any greatness for himself. Things were very different when the word first came to him. Princes and nobles were then in Jerusalem. Now the city lay in ruins, and he was with the wretched remnant in Egypt.
Baruch's case still holds for us, but with a limit:
We can count on the Lord's personal interest and care, as Baruch could. But it would have been pride on his part to try to rebuild the city and the nation… Do not let proud thoughts about the church turn the heart from the Lord Himself. What governs us? Great things, or the Lord?
And his name carried a verdict his feelings did not match:
Baruch — the man who fainted in sighing — means "blessed," and such, in spite of his sorrow, he was.
- Named. God speaks here to one man, Baruch, whose name means "blessed" — and the name held true while everything around him fell apart.
- Noticed. The message reached him the moment he laid down his pen. The Lord had not forgotten His faithful scribe.
- Spoken. The God of Israel speaks — the God who held His people by His covenant name even while they turned away.
- Timed. The word came long before the book records it. Our wisdom is to act on God's word without question, before events force the lesson.
- Ours. We can still count on that same personal interest and care, as long as the Lord governs the heart and not the pull of great things.