Day 168: Jeremiah 44-46

What “great things” did Baruch seek for himself? (Jeremiah 45:5) I think about this little passage a lot, compared to its size, and I don’t know the answer. I suspect Baruch expected to be vindicated after having been faithful as the scribe of Jeremiah. Maybe more than that, he expected to hold some position of high honor or material reward when Jeremiah’s predictions were all proven right. God’s word to him here reminds us all that we are creatures of our own times, and though we may be faithful to our calling, if that calling is during a time of decline or chastisement, we can expect only preservation for the purposes of God. (Romana 8:36) Not an earthly destiny conformed to our own selfish ambitions.

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