{"id":72352,"date":"2020-03-25T18:33:42","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T16:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=72352"},"modified":"2020-03-25T18:33:42","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T16:33:42","slug":"you-too-baruch-communal-catastrophe-affects-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/you-too-baruch-communal-catastrophe-affects-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"You Too, Baruch: Communal Catastrophe Affects Everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"72352","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":66417,"related_cahpter":"445","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Sound familiar?\r\n\r\n","content":"

Jeremiah 45 opens by referencing the events of Chapter 36. There Jeremiah dictated a scroll containing prophecies of Judah\u2019s destruction to Baruch son of Nuriah, but when Baruch tried to read the scroll in public, it was confiscated by officials and brought before King Jehoiakim. The king found the contents of the scroll so unacceptable that he cut up the scroll and burned it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We do not know the specific contents of the scroll in Chapter 36. However, in Chapter 45, we get a hint. Verse 1 explains: \u201cThe <\/span>word<\/span><\/i> which the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, when he was writing <\/span>these words<\/span><\/i> in a scroll at Jeremiah\u2019s dictation\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The wording here is ambiguous. Do the rest of the verses of the chapter (2-5) comprise the entirety of the prophecy that Jeremiah dictated to Baruch? This seems unlikely. Instead, the rest of the contents of the scroll seem to be found in chapters that follow, including Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies against the nations. This raises an important question \u2013 why would these long prophecies foretelling the doom of Judah begin with a personal prophecy regarding Baruch?<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer to this question may lie in the contents of this prophecy. In verse 4, God says, \u201cI am going to overthrow what I have built, and uproot what I have planted\u2014this applies to the whole land.\u201d The language of destruction echoes that found in Jeremiah 1:10 and throughout the book. However, the emphasis that this destruction applies to the whole land hints at something new.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

God continues in verse 5, \u201cAnd do you expect great things for yourself? Don\u2019t expect them. For I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh\u2014declares the LORD\u2014but I will at least grant you your life in all the places where you may go.\u201d Baruch might have thought that because he was working for Jeremiah that he would be spared from the impending destruction. He was wrong. The destruction will affect everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

King Jehoiakim\u2019s response of denial is very human, if counterproductive. He hopes that Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies will not be fulfilled, averting disaster for his people. His denial of reality prevents him from taking steps that would have mitigated some of their suffering.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, Baruch\u2019s initial stance is also very human. While he seems to have accepted that Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies would come true, he still expects that his own personal fate will be different. He doesn\u2019t seem to understand that when communal calamity strikes, it affects everyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many communal challenges facing our world today. Although some of these challenges may not appear to affect our lives directly, we should not expect that we can escape their negative effects indefinitely. We may not be able to solve communal problems on our own, but we can mitigate some of the damage. If we work together, we may even avert disaster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Note: I wrote this reflection Feb 23rd, 2020. In the last month as Covid-19 has spread worldwide, Jeremiah\u2019s warning has become even more pressing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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