Jeremiah 45

[Damon]

Hi everyone! I am relatively new to the whole message board thing...including my own! I was reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer and he wrote something from his cell in Nazi Germany..."I cannot get away from Jeremiah 45." I wasn't familiar with this passage...so I read it. For some reason, I haven't been able to "get away" from it either! I was wondering what this scripture says to others.

 

[SeRapH&CheRi]

Originally posted by Damon
Hi everyone! I am relatively new to the whole message board thing...including my own! I was reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer and he wrote something from his cell in Nazi Germany..."I cannot get away from Jeremiah 45." I wasn't familiar with this passage...so I read it. For some reason, I haven't been able to "get away" from it either! I was wondering what this scripture says to others.

Hey Damon! Welcome to the wonderful world of posting! I'm pretty new to this as well. I've only been here for about a month and have discovered some pretty incredible people!

As for Jeremiah 45, I just finished reading it. It just seems strange that this tiny little chapter was added in between Jeremiah chastising Judah and God's judgment on the nations. Is that random or what? Hmmmm.....why is that? There must be some reason why this particular passage is in here.

My first response to this passage was "what on earth?" However I read it a second time and surprisingly enough I can identify with passage and Baruch's attitude towards his job. Wow! At this moment a light bulb just lit up! Seriously!

In vs.3, Baruch was upset "Woe to me!" He was feeling sorry for himself and was obviously upset. (I mean, who wouldn't be if you had to scribe for an unpopular and depressing prophet? ) Obviously the in the second part of the passage the Lord told him to smarten up and take take his eyes off himself. The Lord promised to protect him, vs. 4, "I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land.....but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life." Baruch obviously lost the joy in serving God thereby taking his eyes off HIM. What I'm getting from this is that if we look away from God's purposes and focus on ourselves the more frustrated we become. Just like what happened with Baruch. It's interesting because I can identify with this passage. I've been struggling with what I am doing right now, and have been crying out like Baruch "Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest." Wow! I really need to focus more on God's purposes and not on my own! :o

 

[BigEd]

damon thanks for bringing up this scripture. I was feeling sorry for myself today and have been in a really cranky mood. My life is a breeze compared to the stuff baruch and jeremiah had to go through.
I sometimes wonder how jeremiah and baruch carried on. Life must have been very frustrating for them always teaching but no one learning, always give the people the world of the Lord but always being ignored.