FIRST CHAPTER
Firstly: People By The Name Of Baruch
Secondly: The Author Of The Book
Thirdly: The Language In Which The
Book Was Written
Fourthly: The Place In Which It Was
Written.
Fifthly: When Is It Read In Our Coptic
Church
Sixthly: Its Place In The Holy Bible.
Firstly: People by the name of Baruch:
Baruch is a Hebrew word which means blessed, and in Coptic it is Makari,
and the word was mentioned in the holy Bible
as names for three people, one of them was Baruch
the author of the book and whom we are studying
in this book.
The first: is Baruch the son of Zabbai that was mentioned in the book
of Nehemiah, who rebuilt part of the wall of
Jerusalem
"After
him Baruch the son of Zabbai
carefully repaired the other section, from
the buttress to the
door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.
(Nehemiah 3:20).
Baruch was one of the elders of the people and the Levites and
priests that were sealed in the covenant that
was made by al the people as one man to abide
in the commandment.
'6 Daniel, Ginnethon,
Baruch "(Nehemiah 10:6).
The second: is Baruch son of Khalhosa, or the son of Maaseiah that
which was one of the elders of the people that
returned with the lots to the inhabitants of
the city of Jerusalem. " 5 and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of
Col-Hozeh, the son of
Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah,
the son of Shiloni.
"
(Nehemiah 11:5).
The third: is Baruch the son of Neraiah, son of Mahseiah, son of
Zedekiah, son of Hasadiah, son of Hilkiah.
Secondly: the author of the book:
The author of the book is Baruch the son of Neraiah, son of Mahseiah,
son of Zedekiah, son of Hasadiah, son of Hilkiah.. the book was written in Babylon after exile. This was in the fifth year and seventh month
when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem
and burnt it.
Baruch used to work with Jeremiah the
prophet. 12 and I gave the purchase deed to Baruch the
son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence
of Hanamel my uncle's son,
and
in the presence of the witnesses who signed
the purchase
deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court
of the prison.
(Jeremiah 32:12).
He wrote his prophecy 4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch
wrote on a scroll of a book, at the instruction
of Jeremiah, all the words of the LORD which He had spoken to him. 5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, "I am
confined,
I cannot go into the house of the LORD.
6 You go, therefore,
and read from the scroll which you have written
at my instruction, the words of the LORD, in
the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house
on the day of fasting.
And you
shall also read them in the hearing of all
Judah who come from their cities.
7 It may be that they will present their supplication
before the LORD, and everyone will turn from
his evil way. For great is the anger and the fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people."
8 And Baruch the son of Neriah did according
to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him,
reading from the book the words of the LORD in the Lord’s house. (Jeremiah
36:4-8).
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave
it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah,
who wrote on it at the instruction of Jeremiah
all the words of the book which
Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned
in the fire.
And besides, there were added to them
many similar words.
( Jeremiah 36:32).
He is his faithful disciple: 10 Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house
of the LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the
son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court
at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house,
in
the hearing of all the people.( Jeremiah 36:10).
He was from a noble family: The
word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah
the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when
he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the quartermaster. (Jeremiah 51:59).
As Yousiuofious mentions he was a man of great capabilities and
he was capable of reaching into high status
and he knew that, but forsook this ambition
because of Jeremiah's advice.
And do you seek great things for yourself?
Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh," says the
LORD. "But
I will give your life to you as a prize in all
places, wherever you go."'" (Jeremiah
45:5).
Baruch was the faithful friend to Jeremiah the prophet.
A picture of Baruch and Jeremiah next to him.
The book was named after him, because he wrote the first five chapters,
and the sixth chapter is the letter of Jeremiah,
for Jeremiah the prophet wrote a letter to the
Jews who were about to be taken by the king
of Babylon to exile in Babylon.
Baruch the author of the book used to work as scrip for Jeremiah, and
he wrote what Jeremiah used to dictate to him. He was faithful to Jeremiah and was a close
friend to him, and they both toiled and struggled
and was persecuted together by Jehoiakim the son
of Josiah, king of Judah.
The holy Bible tells us a lot about Baruch. For when Jeremiah was in prison after he bought
the field of his uncle Hanamel the son of Shallum
that was in Anathoth, he took the deed of purchase
and entrusted Baruch to keep it.
And Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
7 "Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle
will come to you, saying, "Buy my field
which is in
Anathoth, for the right of redemption is yours to buy
it."' 8 Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court
of the prison according to the word of the LORD,
and said to
me, "Please buy my field that is in Anathoth,
which is in the country of Benjamin; for the
right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption
yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew
that this was the word of the LORD. 9 So I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle
who was in Anathoth, and weighed out to him
the money--seventeen shekels of
silver. 10 And I signed the
deed and sealed it, took witnesses, and weighed
the money on the scales. 11
So I took the purchase deed, both that which was sealed
according to the
law and custom, and that which was open; 12 and I gave the purchase
deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah,
in the presence of Hanamel my uncle's son, and
in the presence of the witnesses who signed the purchase
deed, before all the Jews who sat in the court
of the prison. (Jeremiah 32:6-12).
For Jeremiah entrusted Baruch
to keep all his documents.
Again when Jeremiah was in the prison
he called for Baruch and dictated what God has
inspired Him to write in the prophecy and he
wrote on the deck with ink. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah;
and Baruch wrote on a scroll of a book, at the
instruction of Jeremiah,
all the words of the LORD which He had spoken
to him.(Jeremiah 36:4).
By the order of Jeremiah Baruch read the book in the hearing of all
the people in the house of the Lord in the great
day of fasting. You go,
therefore, and read from the scroll which you
have written at my instruction, the words of
the LORD, in the hearing of the
people in the Lord’s house on the day of fasting.
And you shall also read them in the hearing
of all Judah who come from their cities. (Jeremiah 36:6).
As he also read it in the hearing of those who dwelled in Judah as requested
by them. Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah,
the son of Shelemiah, the
son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, "Take in your
hand the scroll from which you have read in
the hearing of the people, and come." So
Baruch the son of Neriah took the
scroll in his hand and came to them. 15
And they said to him, "Sit down now, and read
it in our hearing." So Baruch read it in
their hearing. (Jeremiah 36:14,15).
When they heard the words they became so scared and they asked Baruch
to escape and take Jeremiah with him and hide
from the face of Jehoiakim.
19 Then the princes said to Baruch,
"Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let
no one know where you are."(Jeremiah 36:19).
It happened that when the king heard what was written in the book that
he got extremely angry that he took the book
and through it in the fire. 22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the
ninth month, with a fire burning on the hearth
before him. 23
And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four
columns, that the king cut it with the scribe's
knife and cast it into the fire that was on
the hearth, until all the scroll was
consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. (Jeremiah 36:22, 23).
The King asked to capture Baruch the scrip and Jeremiah the prophet,
but the Lord Hide them and they did not find
them. Jeremiah was inspired by the Holy Spirit to
write again, so he took another scroll and dictated
the book again to Baruch : Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch
the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on
it at the
instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which
Jehoiakim king of Judah
had burned in the fire.
And besides, there were added to them
many similar words. (Jeremiah 36:32).
The Bible tells us that the people of Judah did not hear to the
words of the Lord on the mouth of Jeremiah regarding
the stay in the land of Judah and not going
to Egypt, for they resisted him and Baruch,
and took them by force with the rest of the
people of Judah and the daughters of the king
to the Land of Egypt at the city of Tahpanhes.
Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped
speaking to all the people all the words of
the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, all these
words,
2 that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan
the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke,
saying to Jeremiah, "You speak falsely!
The LORD our God has not sent you to
say, "Do not go to Egypt to dwell
there.' 3 But Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver
us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they
may put us to death or
carry us away captive to Babylon." 4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains
of the forces, and all the people would not
obey the voice of the LORD, to remain in the
land
of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces
took all the remnant of Judah who had returned
to dwell in the land of Judah, from all nations
where they had been driven-- 6 men, women, children, the king's daughters,
and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain
of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son
of
Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the
prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah.
7 So they went to the land
of Egypt,
for they did not obey the voice of the LORD.
And
they went as far as Tahpanhes. (Jeremiah 43:1-7).
His departure:
There are a lot of postulations about his departure, for it is
not known exactly when he departed, for where
he was buried, for some of the old Jewish Traditions
that says:
1 when Baruch was in Babylon, when Nebuchadnezzar defeated Khafraa
the pharaoh of Egypt, he took Baruch and Jeremiah
to become teachers to Ezra, while Ezra refused
departing from Judah to go to Babylon till the
death of His Teacher Baruch, and this is the
most accepted opinion.
Another says that when Baruch came back from Jerusalem carrying the book, he stayed among
the rebels of Jerusalem
till his departure.
Jerome believes that he died in Egypt.
The character of Baruch had a great role in the life of Jeremiah
and his service, which made so many of the generations
that, came after to mention him and to write
a lot of books about him.
1.
The revelation of Baruch
2.
The book of Baruch
3.
The completion of the sayings of Baruch.
4.
The Gnostic book of Baruch
5.
The book of Baruch written in Latin.
6.
The book of Baruch written in Greek and goes back to the second
century.
7.
Another book of Baruch that goes back to the fourth and fifth century.
Thirdly: the language in which the book was written:
The book of Baruch was originally written in Hebrew and was considered
as an integral part of the book of Jeremiah,
The book was in circulation in Hebrew, and this
was the case till the second century when Taodosion
translated it to Greek.
The Hebrew virgin has some how disappeared.
Fourthly: the time in which it was written.
The book was written in Babylon
after exile, and that was in the fifth year
in the seventh month when the Chaldeans took
Jerusalem
and burnt it.
It is more probable that the first part
of the book (chapter 1:15
- 3:8) was written in the second century before
Christ, but some believe it goes back to the
Persian era.
Fifthly: when do we read it in our Coptic Orthodox Church.
The book is read in the feast of epiphany, where there has been
prophecies about the incarnation (Baruch 3:36
- 4:4). (The
deacon service book).
A part of the prayer of Baruch is read in the praises of the Joyous
Saturday (the night of Apocalypse) (The deacon
service book).
Sixthly: where is its place in the Holy Bible:
It comes after the Lamentations of Jeremiah and is appreciated
by (Ba) and there are six chapters and 213 verses.
SECOND CHAPTER
Firstly: The Authenticity
Of The Book
Secondly: The Sections
Of The Book.
Firstly: the authenticity of the book.
All the Orthodox and Catholic
Churches
declare and confirm the authenticity of the
book of Baruch, but the Protestant deny that
Baruch was the author of the book, and they
declare that the letter of Jeremiah was an independent
book on its own in the translation by the seventy
elders.
The author of (the guidance of the seekers of the Holy Bible -
Beirut edition- 1937 page
306) who is a protestant says that the book
of Baruch is a collection of additions that
is not authentic.
we do not accept this statement for the
one who reads the chapters and verses in the
book of Jeremiah that talked about Baruch, would
be gripped by the fact that Baruch was not only
a scrip for Jeremiah but he was a prophet also. For the author mentioned above, paradoxically
says in his book (that even thought these additions
are not authentic and correct historically but
it has a great level of holiness and a great
zeal feed by the Spirit that dwelt in the words
of the Old Testament!!!)
We have mentioned before in this series of books the names and
dates of the councils that was held and declared
the authenticity of the second canonical books
that was collected after Ezra and one of them
was Baruch. We have mentioned previously that it was among
the Books that was inspired, and was mentioned
in the cannons of the apostles and the law of
Ibn Elasal.
We also add that it was mentioned in
the writings of St John Chrysostom (one of the
forefathers of the Fourth Century) who said
" as there are no questions about the book
of Jeremiah, so we do for the book of Baruch,
as no one should doubt the authenticity of the
book as well as the rest of books that the Church
has accepted to be of the same status of the
rest of the books of the Holy Bible.
It has also been mentioned in the book (The refuge for the student
of the book dilemma) that so many of our forefathers
the saints of the first generation of Christianity
have used the book of Baruch in their writings
sermons and letters.
St Eklemandas the Alexandrian (in the
book of the educator chapter 1:10, 2:3), and
also St Dionysius the Alexandrian (in his book
the tenth questioner), also Pope Athanasious
the apostolic (in talks against Arias the heretic),
and also St Tertilian, and St Keprianos, St
Ousabious, St Cyril of Jerusalem, St Basil,
and St John Chrysostom have all mentioned the
book of Baruch in their writings.
Looking into the writings of the fathers of the council of Nicea
and before the council of Nicea and post Nicean
fathers, we will discover what was mentioned
about the book of Baruch, to prove how the fathers
of the Church have confirmed the book of Baruch,
before the split, so how do the protestant deny
the book after the split?
St John Chrysostom says:
As there are no questions about the book of Jeremiah, so we do
for the book of Baruch, as no one should doubt
the authenticity of the book as well as the
rest of books that the Church has accepted,
but rather we have to give it the same status
as the rest of the books of the Holy Bible.
St Athanasious have also used the book of Baruch, with one of the
verses in his second article against Arias,
and also in his first article about the Lord
Jesus Christ. [37] Afterward he appeared upon earth and lived among men. (Baruch 3:38).
The sayings of the fathers of Nicea:
St Athanasious used the book of Baruch in answering Arias in defending
the divinity of the Son saying: as you have
heard what Moses and Isaiah the prophet have
said about the son, hear also what Jeremiah
have said in regards to the truth: [35]
This is our God; no other can be compared to
him! [36] He found the whole way to knowledge, and gave her to Jacob his
servant
And to Israel
whom he loved.
[37] Afterward he appeared upon earth and lived among men. (Baruch 3:35-37).
He also used the words of Jeremiah the prophet from the book of
Baruch," Jeremiah was a prophet inspired
from God, as he knew that God the eternal, the
only begotten son of God
is one in nature with God the Father
and these are his words: This is our God; no other can be
compared to him! (Baruch 3:35)".
St Athanasious also used the book of Baruch in saying: " In
the Old Testament there are twenty two books
complete in numbers that have been handed among
the Jews from generation to generation, and
these are : Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, after these
there are the book of Kings, and these are First
Kings, and Second Kings counted as one book
; Third and Fourth Kings counted as one book,
also there is First and Second Chronicles counted
as one book. First and Second Ezra counted as one book, then
the book of Isaiah, the book of Jeremiah, the
Revelation of Baruch and the letter in one book,
then the book of Ezekiel and Daniel. All of which form the Old Testament.
Also from the sayings of the forefathers "Don't you know that
the one who was found from the Father and after
that became Man is God Himself? So let us hear
what the prophet has said: This is our God;
no other can be compared to him! [36] He found the whole way to knowledge, and gave her to Jacob his
servant and to Israel
whom he loved.
[37]
Afterward He appeared upon earth and lived among
men. "(Baruch 3:37) and this last verse is from
the mouth of St Cyril, for many of the Greek
and Latin forefathers had it as a prophecy for
the incarnation.
St Cyril of Jerusalem
has also used the book of Baruch when he talked
about the Old Testament. The council of Nicea has also used the book
of Baruch in answering the heresy of Ustin,
and how the book has answered lots of Heretics
and in particular the heresy of Ustin.
The New Testament present to us two examples of the remarks left
on the author:
1. The Lord Jesus Christ:
in the faith of the Apostolic
Church:
He is the incarnation of God's wisdom as St Paul the apostolic have said: Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
(1 Corinthians 1:24). Baruch the prophet praise the wisdom that
is hidden from the world, that which God has
entrust Israel with it and asks: [29] Who has gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down
from the clouds?( Baruch 3:29).
The words here are from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ answering
Baruch, given to us by St John the beloved :
13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came
down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.( John 3:13).
2. The prophet educates
the people and says: [7] for you provoked him who made you, by sacrificing to demons and
not to God.
(Baruch 4:7). We
see St Paul repeats the same words warning the
Church of Corinthians with words that carry
the same meaning that was mentioned in the book
of Baruch : 20 Rather, that the things which the Gentiles
sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to
God, and I do not want you to have fellowship
with demons.
21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the
cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's
Table and of the table of demons.
22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
(1 Corinthians 10:20-22).
Secondly: Sections of the Book:
The book is divided into two Parts:
Part One: this involves the first five chapters that were written
by Baruch the prophet.
Part Two: the sixth and last chapter is the letter of Jeremiah
Part One:
Part one consists of two sections:
The first section:
From (chapter 1 to chapter 3:8), it includes an introduction and
a historical account, as it mentions that the
book was written in the fifth year of the destruction
and exile of Jerusalem. Baruch has read the book in the hearing of
Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
and all those who were in exile from the Jews
in Babylon, they all lamented and fasted and
repented and sent offerings of silver to Jehoiakim
the high priest, the son of Hilkiah, to offer
of their behave a sacrifice of sin and burnt
offerings and sent the book with those offerings
to be read to their people in the house of the
Lord in their own nation in Jerusalem, and so
to remind the people with their sins, and asking
them to repent and return to God, and to pray
for the King of Babylon and the air to throne
.
In this section Baruch remind the people how they have sinned against
God, and how they deserve His Judgments in punishing
them, and how they were to fall under the hands
of an idol-worshipping nation. Then again he prophesied that because of their
return to God while in the land of exile, they
will return to their own land and God will make
an eternal covenant with them.
The second section:
From (chapter 3:9 to chapter 5), it details how the people return
to God, the source of all wisdom.
How they are educated, become wise and
understand the ways of the Lord. How they present truthful repentance and how
they seek Him and He saves them.
In this section also Baruch asks them to please God and not to
worship Satan.
Then he promises Jerusalem that it will take
off the cloth of humiliation and be dressed
in righteousness. We notice in this section how Baruch talks
with the Spirit of prophecy about two important
believes in Christianity:
The Incarnation:
In chapter 3, he talks about
the incarnation of God the word for the salvation
of humanity, and that His kingdom expands on
the face of the Earth.
O Israel, how great is the house of God! And how vast the territory that
he possesses! (Baruch 3:24).
He also talks in the same prophecy about the second Hypostasis
that came down from heaven and went up again.
Who has gone up into heaven, and taken His, and brought His down from
the clouds? (Baruch 3:29) He then confirms
the truth of the incarnation "Afterward He appeared upon earth and lived among men."(Baruch 3:37).
The holy trinity:
In the fourth chapter he points to this believe by saying (For
I have put my hope in the Everlasting = pointing
towards the Father = to save you, and joy has
come to me from the Holy One = pointing towards
the Holy Spirit = because of the mercy which
soon will come to you from your everlasting
Savior = pointing towards the Son the word,
the savior of all men). (Baruch 4:22)
Part Two:
The Letter of Jeremiah is counted as the second part of the book,
and it involves the letter that was sent by
Jeremiah the prophet by the hands of Baruch
to the Jews that were about to be taken to exile
by the king of Babylon, in the prophet expose
the corruption of the idol worshiping and warn
them from bowing to the idols that can not speak,
move, and have no spirit "
From this it is evident that they are not Gods; so do
not fear them." (Baruch 6:14). In the same letter he also
prophecy that the exile will continue for "3Therefore
when you have come to Babylon
you will remain there for many years, for a
long time, up to seven generations."(Baruch
6:2) that is to say for seventy years "after that
I will bring you away from there in peace"
THIRD CHAPTER
Meditations
on The Book Of Baruch
Chapter One
Repentance
[1] These are the words of the book which Baruch the son of Neraiah,
son of Mahseiah, son of Zedekiah, son of Hasadiah,
son of Hilkiah, wrote in Babylon, [2] in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the time
when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and burned
it with fire.
Baruch - Hebrew name which
means "Blessed".
Neraiah - Hebrew name which
means Yahowa is a lamp stand and he is the son
of Mahseiah, and the father of Baruch the prophet
who handed Jeremiah the deed for buying a field
in front of witnesses ( Jeremiah 32:12) .
He was the one who recorded the words
of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 36:4). Neraiah father of Seraiah was also a quartermaster
and a companion for Zedekiah the king and the
messenger for Jeremiah the Prophet.
59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah
the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when
he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon
in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the quartermaster. (Jeremiah 51:59).
Mahseiah - Hebrew name which means
the work of Yahowa
Hasadiah - Hebrew name which means
the Lord is merciful.
Babylon - in Hebrew Bab Hal in the
Assyrian Babylonian Bab Eli and Bab Elani meaning
the door of God or door of Gods and was translated
to Samaritan to the name of Ka-zanger Meaning
the door of God and it is a traditional naming.
Chaldean - They used to live in Chaldea to the south of Babylon and they were the dominant race that
occupied Babylon
from 721 B.C TO 539 B.C and they filled most
of the higher positions of leaders and powers.
They filled the position of Priesthood
in the capital so that the name Chaldeans was
a synonym to the priest of Marduch the God of
Babylon
This was mentioned by Herodet the historian, as the people of Babylon
believed that these priests had the wisdom,
knowledge witchcraft, magic, sorcery and astrology
( Daniel 1:4, 2:2,4).
The word Chaldeans was also used when mentioning "Ur of the Chaldeans"
(Genesis 11:31). Nebuchadnezzar and Murdoch were some of the
kings of Chaldeans.
(Insert top figure of page 15 here)
A drawing of the ancient city of Babel
(Insert bottom figure of page 15 here)
A replica of a temple’s tower in ancient Babel, and on its top is
the temple
of Serduch who was the greatest God in Nebuchadnezzar’s
time (600 B.C.)
(Insert figure of page 16 here)
The temple’s tower (The zigorat), which was famous in
Ur
This
was written by Baruch in the city of Babel during 581 B.C and
582 B.C. Baruch is dating his writings to the
fifth year after the burning of Jerusalem on the hands of
Nebuzradan the head of Nebuchadnezzar’s police.
It appears that the burning of Jerusalem was taken as the
beginning of history during that period. It
also seems that they were celebrating this event
yearly in the land of captivity, as well as
in Palestine (see Zechariah
7:3), and hence, the assembly that is mentioned
in verses 3 and 4.
In
the opening of his book, the prophet Baruch
doesn’t provide us with any details about himself,
except his name. It is as if he is trying to
mention to the readers that, if further information
is needed, they should refer to the book of
Jeremiah his mentor. This was one of the important
reasons, which led to this Book following Jeremiah’s
book directly, and before the Lamentations,
in all the ancient manuscripts. This was contrary
to what Jeremiah did, as he introduced himself
as a priest and prophet: “1The words of
Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests
that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin (Jeremiah 1: 1). 7 But the LORD said to me: “Do
not say, ‘I am
a youth,’ for you shall go to all to whom
I send you, and whatever I command you, you
shall speak. (Jeremiah 1: 7).
And
that he speaks the word of God: “11 Moreover the word of the LORD
came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree”
(Jeremiah 1:
11). “13 And the word of the LORD came to me the second
time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said,
“I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away
from the north.”(Jeremiah 1: 13).
Jerusalem - “Oro-sa-lem”
A city of peace.
(Insert top figure of page 17 here)
Jerusalem at the time of Nehemiah
(Insert bottom figure of page 17 here
A drawing of the temple
[3] And Baruch did read the words
of this book in the hearing of Jeconiah the
son of Joachim king of Judea, and in the ears
of all the people that came to hear the book,
[4] And in the hearing of the nobles, and of
the kings’ sons, and in the hearing of the elders,
and of all the people, from the lowest unto
the highest, even of all them that dwelt at
Babylon by the river Sud..
(Insert figure of page 18 here)
And Baruch did read the words of this book in the hearing
of Jeconiah the son of Joachim king of Judea,
and in the ears of all the people that came
to hear the book (Baruch 1: 3)
Jeconiah - A Hebrew name meaning “Jehovah stands”
Jehoiachin - A Hebrew name meaning
“Jehovah resides”. The king of Judea
is Jeconiah ben Jehoiachin, and he was king
for three years and ten days. His name was Jehoiachin:
“8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, the abominations which he did,
and what was found against him, indeed they
are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. Then
Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. 9
Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king,
and he reigned in Jerusalem
three months and ten days. And he did evil in
the sight of the LORD (2 Chronicles 36: 8, 9).
He was called “Jeconiah”:
“6 Kish
had been
carried away from Jerusalem with the captives
who had been captured with Jeconiah king of
Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king
of Babylon
had carried away. (Esther 2: 6). 2
This happened after Jeconiah the king, the queen
mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had
departed from Jerusalem
(Jeremiah 39: 2)”
He
is also known as “Coniah:” “24 “As
I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah the son
of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet
on my right hand, yet I would pluck you off
(Jeremiah
22: 24). 1 Now King Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned
instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in
the land of Judah.(Jeremaih 37: 1)), and he was exiled by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon. Some may wonder how
did king Jehoiachin, (the royal prisoner) came
out. To answer to this query we note that the
prisoner king had freedoms which are different
to those granted the normal prisoner. Such freedoms
were determined by political conditions and
personal relationships. For instance, St Paul was allowed to meet whoever he wants
while he was waiting for his prosecution in
Rome. 3
And the next day we landed at
Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave
him liberty to go to his friends and
receive care (Acts 27:3).
The river Sud : A branch
of the river Euphrates,
and is probably the river
of Ahava
15 Now I gathered them by the river that flows to Ahava, and we camped
there three days. And I looked among the people
and the priests, and found none of the sons
of Levi there.( Ezra
8:
15).31 Then we departed
from the river
of Ahava
on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand
of our God was upon us, and He delivered us
from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along
the road (Ezra 8:31)
The kings’ sons: They
are the members of the royal family, who are
descendants of David (the king of Israel), and not
only the sons of Jehioachin. There is also another
opinion which says that they are the employees
who have access to the palace.
Baruch
divides those people into a number of groups
as they constitute the royal descendants, the
high ranking, the elders of Israel and all people
(from young to old} and all Jews who are living
on the river Sud.
[5] Whereupon they wept, fasted,
and prayed before the Lord.
So
the people listened to Baruch’s call. They wept,
fasted and prayed before the LORD. This is the
natural start of repentance. Since, the weeping
fasting and praying are acts for spiritual growth.
Compare (Baruch 1: 5) with the following:
3 And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity
in the province are
there in great distress and reproach. The wall
of Jerusalem
is
also broken down, and its gates are burned with
fire. “ 4 So it was, when I heard
these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned
for
many days; I was fasting and praying
before the God of heaven.
1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled
with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on
their heads (Nehemiah 1: 3,4 and 9: 1).
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and
supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and
ashes. 4And I prayed to the LORD my God, and
made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and
awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy
with those who love Him, and with those who
keep His commandments
20 Now while I was
speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and
the sin of my people Israel, and presenting
my supplication before the LORD my God for the
holy mountain of my God
11 And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the
words that I speak to you, and stand upright,
for I have now been sent to you.” While he was
speaking this word to me, I stood trembling.12
Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for
from the first day that you set your heart to
understand, and to humble yourself before your
God, your words were heard; and I have come
because of your words. (Daniel 9:3, 4, 20 and
10: 11, 12)
The
first step - Weeping:
Weeping
expresses regret. It shows the readiness for
changing the way of life from negative to positive
by restraining our selves from doing those acts
that distances us from God or by not doing those
things that brought us closer to sin.
The
second step – Fasting:
Fasting
is a humiliation of the soul in front of God,
but not a humiliation of the body. The Bible
teaches us to strengthen and develop the body,
and do not spoil it: 29
For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes
and cherishes it, just as the Lord does
the church. (Ephesians 5: 29). The word “fasting” in the Old Testament does not mean exchanging
the fatty food with vegetarian food, as they
do in the majority of our homes. But we should
humiliate our souls not only our bodies. This
is explained in the book of Leviticus: 29
“This
shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh
month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work
at all, whether
a native of your own country or a stranger who
dwells among you (Leviticus 16: 29). Fasting in its meaning of humiliating
the soul would signify regret of the sin, and
the weeping on the bad things that have been
committed by man during his spiritual unconsciousness.
6 So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew
water, and poured it
out before the LORD. And they fasted that day,
and said there, “We have sinned against the
LORD.” And Samuel judged the children of Israel at Mizpah (1 Samuel 7: 6)
Let
us note also how the people of Nineveh were humbled and
humiliated:
5 So the people of Nineveh
believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on
sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of
them. 6 Then word came to the king
of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid
aside his robe, covered himself
with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7
And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout
Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles,
saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd
nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat,
or drink water. 8 But let man and
beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily
to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil
way and from the violence that is in his hands.
9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn
away from His fierce anger, so that we may not
perish? (Jonah 3: 5 to 9).
Another
example is that of King Ahab in his humiliation:
27
so it was, when Ahab heard those words, that
he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his
body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went
about mourning. 28 And the word of
the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
(1 Kings 21: 27, 28).
The
third step – Praying:
Prayer
is a union with God, and it’s the first step
in our victory over Satan. Through prayer, we
declare to Satan that he cannot separate us
from God as we are talking to Him without any
barrier. Prayer is a conversation between God
and man.
[6] They made also a collection
of money according to every man's power
After
weeping (as a sign of repentance), fasting and
praying, they had to act by giving, so that
to complete all corner of faith through repentance,
fasting, praying and giving. If a person’s heart
is full with God’s love, it is not necessary
to remind him or ask him for a donation. But
he will give in secret without delay, as did
the poor lady with her two pennies. If you want
to receive God’s blessings, give your tithes
so that God will open for you the gates of heaven.
Faith only is not sufficient. As St James says
“17
thus also faith by itself, if it does not have
works, is dead”. (James 2: 17).
[7] And they sent it to Jerusalem
unto Joachim the high priest, the son of Chelcias,
son of Salom, and to the priests, and to all
the people which were found with him at Jerusalem,
[8] At the same time when he received the vessels
of the house of the Lord, that were carried
out of the temple, to return them into the land
of Judea, the tenth day of the month Sivan,
namely, silver vessels, which Zedekiah the son
of Josias king of Jadea had made,.
After
collecting the silver they sent it to Joachim
the head priest, and the priests in Jerusalem. Here he differentiates between Joachim
the priest and the other priests to highlight
the fact that he was the head priest.
Sometimes
the head priest was called the high priest:
4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the
money which has been brought into the house
of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have gathered
from the people (2 Kings 22: 4). 1
In the second year of King Darius, in the sixth
month, on the first day of the month, the word
of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel
the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and
to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest,
saying (Haggai 1: 1). 1 Then he showed
me Joshua the high priest standing before the
Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his
right hand to oppose him. (Zachariah
3: 1).
Sometimes
he was just called priest: 2 And these were his officials: Azariah the son
of Zadok, the priest (1 Kings 4: 2). 9
So the captains of the hundreds did according
to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. Each
of them took his men who were to be on duty
on the Sabbath, with those who were going off
duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the
priest (2 Kings 11: 9).
And
sometimes he is not given any title:
4 In the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains
of hundreds(2 Kings 11: 4} .
when he received - This is attributed to Baruch, since he was the
one who took the vessels to return them to the
land of Judea.
to return them into the land of Judea
- This is one
of the failed attempts to return the vessels
that were taken to Babylon
from Jerusalem.
These vessels were looted twice:
·
The first time in the year 597 B.C. during the invasion of Jerusalem: 13 And he carried out from there
all the treasures of the house of the LORD and
the treasures of the king’s house, and he cut
in pieces all the articles of gold which Solomon
king of Israel had made in the temple of the
LORD, as the LORD had said (2 Kings 24: 13).
10 At the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar
summoned him and took him to Babylon, with the
costly articles from the house of the LORD,
and made Zedekiah, Jehoiakim’s brother, king over Judah and Jerusalem (2 Chronicle
36: 10).
·
The second time in the year 587 B.C. after burning the temple: 13 The bronze pillars that were in the house of the LORD, and the carts and the bronze Sea
that were
in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke
in pieces, and carried their bronze to Babylon.
14 They also took away the pots,
the shovels, the trimmers, the spoons, and all
the bronze utensils with which the priests ministered.
15 The firepans and the basins, the
things of solid gold and solid silver, the captain
of the guard took away. 16 The two
pillars, one Sea, and the carts, which Solomon
had made for the house of the LORD, the bronze
of all these articles was beyond measure. (2
Kings 25: 13-16). 17 The bronze pillars
that were
in the house of the LORD, and the carts and
the bronze Sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and
carried all their bronze to Babylon. 18
They also took away the pots, the shovels, the
trimmers, the bowls, the spoons, and all the
bronze utensils with which the priests
ministered. 19 The basins, the firepans,
the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the spoons,
and the cups, whatever was solid gold and whatever was solid silver, the captain of the guard took away.(Jeremiah
52: 17-19). These vessels remained there
till the year 537 B.C. when Cyrus the King of
Persia to Sheshbazzar the Governor of Judea
to return them during the time of Ezra the priest:
5
Then the heads of the fathers’ houses
of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the
Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved,
arose to go up and build the house of the LORD
which is in Jerusalem. 6 And all
those who were
around them encouraged them with articles of
silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and
with precious things, besides all that
was willingly offered. 7 King Cyrus
also brought out the articles of the house of
the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from
Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods;
8 and Cyrus king of Persia brought
them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer,
and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince
of Judah. 9 This is
the number of them: thirty gold platters, one
thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives,
10 thirty gold basins, four hundred
and ten silver basins of a similar kind,
and one thousand other articles. 11
All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All
these Sheshbazzar took with the captives
who were brought from Babylon
to Jerusalem.
(Ezra 1: 5-11).
The month of Sivan
- This
is the third month of the Jewish religious calendar
that starts from the Passover. It coincides with May/June.
Silver vessels - Zedekiah the King of Judea was forced to make new silver vessels to
replace those that he was unable to bring back.
Chelcias:
A Hebrew name, which means “Jehovah
is my destiny”.
[9] After that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away Jechonias, and the
princes, and the captives, and the mighty men,
and the people of the land, from Jerusalem,
and brought them unto Babylon.
[10] And
they said, Behold, we have sent you money to
buy you burnt offerings, and sin offerings,
and incense, and prepare ye manna, and offer
upon the altar of the LORD our God;
The mighty men
-The mighty men who were the heroes of wars, as it appears in these
verses:
14 Also he carried
into captivity all Jerusalem:
all the captains and all the mighty men of valor,
ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen
and smiths. None remained except the poorest
people of the land (2 Kings 24: 14)
16 All the valiant
men, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths,
one thousand, all who were strong and fit for war, these the king of Babylon
brought captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24: 16).
The people of the
land - The civilians
(the normal people).
Ye manna: Offerings, which were animals
or the crops of the land. 3
And in the process of time it came to pass that
Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the
ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought
of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.
And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,
5 but He did not respect Cain and
his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his
countenance fell. (Genesis 4: 3-5).
The altar of the
LORD our God - This
was the first attempt to resume the relationship with
God, through an altar and burns and offerings.
There has been other attempts in Jeremiah’s
time as it is recorded in (Jeremiah 41: 5) “5 that certain men came from Shechem,
from Shiloh, and from Samaria, eighty men with
their beards shaved and their clothes torn,
having cut themselves, with offerings and incense
in their hand, to bring them
to the house of the LORD.”
But
as far as the collection of money and offer
it to the Temple
is concerned, this hasn’t been something new
for the Jewish people. See the following:
·
3 And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and
bronze; 4 blue, purple, and scarlet
thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; 5 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia
wood; 6 oil for the light, and spices
for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense;
7 onyx stones, and stones to be set
in the ephod and in the breastplate.(Exodus
35: 3-7)
·
4 And Moses spoke to all the congregation
of the children of Israel,
saying, “This is
the thing which the LORD commanded, saying:
5 ‘Take from among you an offering
to the LORD. Whoever is
of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering
to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze. (Exodus
35: 4, 5).
·
10 Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks
to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill
offering from your hand, which you shall give
as the LORD your God blesses you. 16
“Three times a year all your males shall appear
before the LORD your God in the place which
He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles;
and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.
17 Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD
your God which He has given you. (Deuteronomy
16: 10, 16, 17).
·
5 Then he gathered the priests and the
Levites, and said to them, “Go out to the cities
of Judah, and gather from all Israel money to
repair the house of your God from year to year,
and see that you do it quickly.” (2 Chronicles
24: 5).
·
4 And whoever is left in any place where
he dwells, let the men of his place help him
with silver and gold, with goods and livestock,
besides the freewill offerings for the house
of God which is in Jerusalem. (Ezra 1: 4).
·
And he collected donations from each one. The total amount was two
thousand Dirhams, which he sent to Jerusalem
to offer a sacrifice for sins. This act was
good for he believed in the resurrection of
the dead ( 2Maccabees: 12:
43)
Nabuchodonosor – A Babylonian name, which means “Nebu”
the protector of the frontiers.
[11] And pray for the life of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon,
and for the life of Balthazar his son, that
their days may be upon earth as the days of
heaven [12] And the Lord will give us strength,
and lighten our eyes, and we shall live under
the shadow of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon,
and under the shadow of Balthazar his son, and
we shall serve them many days, and find favor
in their sight..
Balthazar – Belshazzar
“1
Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a
thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the
presence of the thousand. 2 While
he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command
to bring the gold and silver vessels which his
father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple
which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives,
and his concubines might drink from them.
(Daniel 5: 1, 2).
We worship them
– means
that “we serve them” and doesn’t mean that they
become gods and we worship them.
Nebuchadnezzar – A Babylonian name, which means “Nabu”
the protector of the frontiers. There are many
personalities by the name of Nebuchadnezzar.
Among them are the following:
·
Nebuchadnezzar I (1150 B.C.),
·
Nebuchadnezzar II (406-68 B.C.), who is mentioned
in the Bible and who exiled the Jews to Babylon and burned the Temple. Sometimes he is referred to as Nebuchadrezzar
2 “Please
inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadrezzar
king of Babylon makes war against us. Perhaps the LORD
will deal with us according to all His wonderful
works, that the king may go away from us.” (Jeremiah
21: 2).
·
Nebuchadnezzar III, who was
(Nid-Yenta-Bel). He gave himself the name Nebuchadnezzar
III and ruled Babylon for less than one year at the beginning
of the rule of Darius I the King of Persia.
·
It appears that Balthazar had
another brother-in addition to Nebunides II
– whose name was also Nebuchadnezzar, because
those who revolted against Darius Hestabis had
the same name and Nebuchadnezzar Ben Banounides
or Nebuchadnezzar IV.
·
The book of Yehudit mentions
a king of Assyria
by the name of Nebuchadnezzar (see “Yehudit”
by the same author).
(Insert the four figures of page 25 here)
Engraving on a building of Nebuchadnezzar II
Picture of the god Nebu
Picture of a stone showing the name “Nebuchadrezzar”
Picture of a stone tablet with writings on Nebuchadnezzar I
Baruch here
is asking that all the people in Jerusalem pray
for Nebuchadnezzar, the King that destroyed
Jerusalem in 596 B.C. and, ten years later,
went back to burn its Temple!!. Praying for
the kings and rulers was inherited by the church.
Therefore we see St Paul advising his disciple
Timothy saying: “ 1 Therefore I exhort first
of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings
and all who are in authority, that we may lead
a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Timothy
1-3). Hence, the inclusion of this request
in the Great Litany of Peace: “The peace which
is from Heaven, pour down into all our hearts….The
ruler, the soldiers, the chiefs, the ministers,
the multitudes, our neighbors, our entrances
and our exits, adorn them with all peace”. Also
in the fourth of the Seven Great Litanies (the
Litany of the Ruler or King).
Hopefully
we can properly understand such prayers in this
time. The prophet Jeremiah is asking them to
pray for peace in the city of Babylon, so that
they can also have peace “
7 And seek the peace of the city
where I have caused you to be carried away captive,
and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace
you will have peace.”(Jeremiah 29: 7).
Also for this,
King Darius asks for prayers to be made for
him and for the royal descendents
9 And whatever they need—young bulls,
rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the
God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according
to the request of the priests who are in Jerusalem—let it be given them
day by day without fail, 10 that
they may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma to
the God of heaven, and pray for the life of
the king and his sons. (Ezra 6: 9, 10).
After
that it became a tradition to pray for the countries
and kings. Jonathan the Maccabees followed this
tradition “in the feasts and all the required days we
still remember you always during
the sacrifices that we offer and in our
prayers, as we do remember our brothers (1 Maccabees
12:
11)”. These prayers were not
held only during the feasts, but during all
days.
That their days may be upon earth as the days of
heaven - Here
he asks that earth becomes like heaven in love
and peace among all creatures, away from wars
and disasters. He is also praying for the exiled
captives so that the Lord lightens their eyes.
This prayer has drawn the attention of St Paul,
so he prayed for the Ephesians saying: “16
do not cease to give thanks for you, making
mention of you in my prayers: 17
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened;
that you may know what is the hope of His calling,
what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints
(Ephesians 1: 16-18)”
Enlightens our eyes – Brings us back joy.
[13][Pray for us also unto the Lord our God,
for we have sinned against the LORD our God;
and unto this day the fury of the LORD and his
wrath is not turned from us. [14] And ye shall
read this book which we have sent unto you,
to make confession in the house of the LORD,
upon the feasts and solemn days.
Baruch concludes
this part of the first Chapter by stressing
the main target of his book, which is its periodic
reading during feasts and solemn days. So that
it remains as a living reminder to the people
as to from where the failure came. Hence, they
renew their repentance and confession of their
sins to God every year. The Jews have arranged
for special readings for the majority of feasts
and occasions. For example: Song of Songs was read in the Passover,
Ruth in the feast of weeks or the Pentecost,
Lamentations
on the ninth of
Ab (being the day of the destruction
of Jerusalem) and the Proverbs
in the feast of Tabernacles . Therefore, Baruch’s
Book used to be read by Jewish assemblies in
the north of Syria
until the forth century A.D. In Baruch 1: 13
he asked them to pray for the mercy of the LORD
to forgive their sins and take away His anger.
Day of the feast - feast of the caves "You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles
seven days, when you have gathered from your
threshing floor and from your winepress.” (Deuteronomy
16:13)
For the people used the caves of the trees, which was similar to that
which was set in the fruit garden in the days
of harvest. This used to resemble the Israel tents in
the wilderness.
These feasts were of the most popular
traditional feasts. “Therefore all the men of Israel assembled
with King Solomon at the feast in the month
of Ethanim,
Which
is the seventh month.” (1 kings 8:2).
25
"In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the
feast, he shall do likewise for seven days,
according to the sin offering, the burnt offering,
the grain offering, and the oil." (Ezekiel
45:25)
These three feasts were not celebrated till after entering the promised
land of Canaan.
[15] "And you shall say: `Righteousness belongs to the Lord our
God, but confusion of face, as at this day,
to us, to the men of Judah, to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem,
[16] and to our kings and our princes and our priests and our prophets
and our father, [17] because we have sinned
before the Lord, [18] and have disobeyed him,
and have not heeded the voice of the Lord our
God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord which
he set before us.
Here we see that the confession was a collective confession, of kings,
priests, prophets, leaders, masters, and fathers. They all confessed that they did not abide in
the ways of the Lord.
That is why in justice they have been judge, and they did not justify
their sins or look for excuses but confessed
that they are sinners, that is why when they
asked for forgiveness the Lord answered their
prayers, unlike our father Adam and Eve that
looked for excuses. Some of the people in their confession with
the priests look for thousands of reasons to
justify their innocence, but if they did like
our father David when he spoke to Nathan the
prophet “So David said to Nathan, "I have
sinned against the
LORD.” And Nathan said to David,
"The LORD also has put away
our sin; you shall not die.
(2 Sam 12:13)
[19] From the day when the Lord brought our fathers out of the land
of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient
to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent,
in not heeding his voice.
[20] So to this day there have clung
to us the calamities and
The
curse which the Lord declared through Moses
his servant at the time when he brought our
fathers out of the land of Egypt to give to
us a land flowing with milk and honey.
[21] We did not heed the voice of the Lord our God in all the words
of the prophets whom he sent to us, but we each
followed the intent of his own wicked heart
by serving other Gods and doing what is evil
in the sight of the Lord our God.
Moses - is an Egyptian name meaning “ boy” and
its meaning in Hebrew is “ picked”.
Insert figure of page 28 here
A map to illustrate the life of Moses the prophet.
Insert figure of page 29 here
The family of Moses the prophet.
Egypt - the name of Egypt
in the foreign languages is derived from the
word “manfies” in the old Egyptian language
and that is “ ha-ko-betah”, meaning “ home-
spirit-betah”. And the name Egypt in Greek is “Agyptos”. But for the old Egyptians they called their
nation many different names, one of which is
“Kemi” which means the black land, and they
also called it the “ two lands the upper and
lower Egypt” but for the name of the nation
in Arabic is similar to that in Hebrew and that
is “masriam” which in a way resemble the plural
of the two upper and lower Egypt.
The Lord has warned His people so many times after they came out of
the land
of Egypt.
And that is found in the book of Joshua
(chapters 23,24). 16 So the people answered and said: "Far be
it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other Gods; 17 for the
LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of
Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those
great signs in our sight, and preserved us in
all the
Way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed.
18 And the LORD drove out from before
us all the people, including the Amorites who
dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God."
19
But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD, for
He is a holy God.
He is a jealous God; He will not
forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign
Gods, then He will turn and do you harm and
consume you, after He has done you good."
21 And the people said
to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD!" (Joshua 24:16).
Here we can see that the sin involved the whole congregation
The fool has said in his heart,” There is no God.” They are corrupt,
and have done abominable iniquity; There is
none who does good.2 God looks down from
heaven upon the children of men, To see if there
are any who understand, who seek God.3
Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good, No, not one. (Psalm 14; 1-3, 53:1-3)
It has been over more than seven centuries sine the exodus out of Egypt till the
book was written and the Lord is patient with
them and gave the chance, and sent Jeremiah
the prophet who warned them and said, "Run
to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem;
See now and know; and seek in her open places if you can find a man,
if there is anyone who executes judgment, who
seeks the truth, and I will pardon her.” (Jeremiah
5:1)
O Lord open our ears that we can hear Your voice and soften our hard
solid hearts so that it become human and that
we may be able to give the first place in the
heart and make the door of our house open for
you at all times so that when you knock on our
door you find us ready and not asleep in darkness,
for it is fearful to fall in the hands of the
living God.
26 For if we sin willfully
after we have received the knowledge of the
truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for
sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment,
and
fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries
31 It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
. (Hebrew
10:26,27,31).
Insert figure of page 30 here
Chapter
Two
Justice
[1]"`So the Lord confirmed his word, which he spoke against us,
and against our judges who judged Israel, and against our kings and
against our princes and against the men of Israel and Judah. [2] Under the whole heaven there has not been
done the like of what he has done in Jerusalem,
in accordance with what is written in the Law
of Moses,
Israel - the Lord gave the name Israel to our
father Jacob the son of Isaac the son of Abraham after a long fight in the night at Penuel at
his way to the field of Aram. For the Lord said to him “ And He said, "Your
name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel;
for you have struggled with God and with men,
and have prevailed." (Genesis 32:28)
And the Lord repeated that when he blessed him at Bethel.
And God said to him,” Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called
Jacob
Anymore, but Israel
shall be your name." So He called his name
Israel. (Genesis 35:10)
The meaning of the name is “ struggling with God”. This name was called upon all the descendants
of Jacob, which are the people of Israel.
Judah -Is a Hebrew name meaning “ thanks”
and he is the fourth child of Jacob from Leah
and he is born in the land between the rivers,
and that name was given because of the thanks
giving of his mother at his birth.
“And she conceived again and bore
a son, and said, "Now I will praise the
LORD." Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she
Stopped bearing.” (Genesis 29:35).
The Lord has warned them and they did not listen so they deserve punishment,
and the punishment was like never before as
Moses has told them in (Genesis 27 and 35).
It was great evil under heaven at that
time that has never been seen in Jerusalem before, it was a sever siege that
the humans lost their humanity and look what
they did:
[3] That we should eat, one the flesh of his son and another the flesh
of his daughter.
A man by nature care for his/her children as they are considered part
of his/her own body, and every parent would
like to see their children far better than them,
but see here what sin has done?
“ The hands of the
compassionate women have cooked their own children;
they became food for them in the destruction
of the daughter of my people”. (lam 4:10
)
The sin make humans think of themselves and forget everything else
and it was also mentioned in Elisha how some
mothers slaughtered their children.
And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered
all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.25 and there was a great famine
in Samaria;
and indeed they
besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver,
and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for
five shekels of silver 26 Then, as the king
of Israel
was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out
to him, saying, "Help, my Lord, O king!"
27 And he said, "If
the LORD
does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing
floor or from the winepress?" 28 Then the king said to her,
"What is troubling
you?" And she answered, "This woman said to me, "Give
your son, that we may eat him today, and we
will eat my son tomorrow.' 29 So we boiled my
son, and ate him.
And I said
to her on the next day, "Give your son, that we may eat him';
but she has hidden her son."
30 Now it happened,
when the king heard the words of the woman,
that he tore his clothes; and as he passed by
on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath
he had
sackcloth on his body. 31 Then he said, "God
do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha
the son of Shaphat remains on him today!"
( 2 Kings 6:24-31 )
and that happened because God gave them over to a debased mind to do
what was not fit.
28 And even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a debased mind, to do
those things which are not fitting;
(Romans 1:28)
[4] And he gave them into subjection to all the kingdoms around us,
to be a reproach and desolation among all the
surrounding peoples, where the Lord has scattered
them. [5]
They were brought low and not raised up, because
we sinned against the Lord our God, in not heeding
his voice. [6]
"`Righteousness belongs to the Lord our
God, but confusion of face to us and our fathers,
as at this day.
For sin is separation from God.
20 Now then, we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading
through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf,
be reconciled to God.( 2 cor 5:20)
By their separation they became a disgrace among nations for the Lord
is the one who defend them, but they did not
want the Lord and they left him and deserved
their punishment, for God is just and the got
their shame and disgrace.
[7] All those calamities with which the Lord threatened us have come
upon us.
[8] Yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord by turning away,
each of us, from the thoughts of his wicked
heart. [9] And the Lord has kept the calamities ready,
and the Lord has brought them upon us, for the
Lord is righteous in all his
Works, which he has commanded us to do. [10] Yet we have not obeyed his voice, to walk
in the statutes of the Lord, which he set before
us.
The Lord has kept the calamities ready= is a prophecy by Jeremiah the
prophet
27 Behold, I will watch
over them for adversity and not for good.
And all the men of
Judah who are in the land
of Egypt
shall be consumed by the
sword and by famine, until there is an end to
them. (Jeremiah
44:27)
How beautiful that in your prayers you confess your sins and ask for
forgiveness from God, for sin is a confrontation
with God. And bring the blame upon your self as Baruch
did in his prayer.
Yet we have not entreated the favor
of the Lord by turning away, each of us, from
the thoughts of his wicked heart.
Thought of the heart= this means the mind (thoughts) and it is the
one that drives the feelings (heart) and both
were united in evil.
[11]
"`And now, O Lord God of Israel, who didst
bring thy people out of the land of Egypt with
a mighty hand and with signs and wonders and
with great power and outstretched arm, and hast
made thee a name, as at this day, [12] we have
sinned, we have been ungodly, we have done wrong,
O Lord our God, against all thy ordinances.
[13] Let thy anger turn away from us, for we are left, few in number,
among the nations where thou hast scattered
us.
Sin can happen unintentionally, but transgression is the sin that happen
with intention, that is why in the Old Testament
the sacrifice for the sin was different to the
sacrifice for the transgression, and the saint
Baruch was asking the forgiveness for the few
people who were left after exile. for the sin has brought about spiritual death,
eternal death, and the physical death.
As it is written in the parable of the
prodigal son when he sinned: “for this my
son was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found.' And they began
to be merry.” (Luke 15:24).
[14] Hear, O Lord, our prayer and our supplication, and for thy own
sake deliver us, and grant us favor in the sight
of those who have carried us into exile;
[15] That all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, for
Israel
and his descendants are called by thy name.
Those who carried us into exile =
those who captured us.
They started to ask for God’s mercy
and remind Him that they are His people and
any insult to them is an insult to Him personally,
and here Baruch remind the Lord by His promise
to Moses in the book of Deuteronomy "The
LORD will establish you
as a holy people to Himself, just as He has
sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of
the LORD
your God and walk in
His ways. 10 Then all peoples of the earth
shall see that you are called by the name of
the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you (Deuteronomy
28:9,10).
[16] O Lord, look down from thy holy habitation, and consider us.
Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear; [17]
open thy eyes, O Lord, and see; for the dead
who are in Hades, whose spirit has been taken
from their bodies, will not ascribe glory or
justice to the Lord, [18] but the person that
is greatly distressed, that goes about bent
over and feeble, and the eyes that are failing,
and the person that hungers, will ascribe to
thee glory and righteousness, O Lord.
Hades - this word is not mentioned
in the new testament except once when the Lord
spoke to Peter answering him about being the
son of the living God, and that He will build
the Church on the rock.
15 He said to them,
"But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered and said,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God." 17 Jesus answered and
said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah,
for flesh and blood has not revealed this to
you,
but My Father who is in heaven. 18
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not
prevail against it. (Matthew 16:15-18).
It is a translation from the Greek word hardes which is repeated in
the new testament for eleven times and it was
translated in most of them to Hades and in the
catholic version it was ( elgahim ) which is
equal to (shaoul) in Arabic, which is mentioned
over sixty five times in the old testament and
in all it was translated to the word Hades.
“Gahim” in Arabic is a strong fire, and
every strong fire resembles hades, hades is
the place of suffering of the evil people as
we read in the parable of Lazarus and the rich
man.
23 And being in torments
in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham
afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.24
"Then he cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on
me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this
flame.' (Luke 16:23,24).
Here Baruch is bringing the Lord attention by “ look, consider, incline,
and open the eyes”.
Not that the Lord does not do; but to
bring the covenant and promises to His attention.
From the characteristics of the righteous:
That goes about bent over = is the
humiliated person.
The eyes that are falling = from
the tears and crying over the sins.
The person that hunger = is the fasting,
and self-controlled spirit.
It is interesting to note that the
people who offered the prayers were from the
righteous group of the people, they lived in
obedience to God’s commandment but hardship
got to them and they did not cry, but instead
they said it is because of our sins and the
sins of our children that in justice we are
being condemned and they gave God the glory.
[19]
For it is not because of any righteous deeds
of our fathers or our kings that we bring before
thee our prayer for mercy, O Lord our God. [20] For thou hast sent thy anger and thy wrath
upon us, as thou didst declare by thy servants
the prophets, saying: [21] "Thus says the
Lord: Bend your shoulders and serve the king
of Babylon, and you will remain
in the land which I gave to your fathers. [22] But if you will not obey the voice of the
Lord and will not serve the king of Babylon,
Here Baruch is asking for mercy for
the sake of the bones of the kings, and the
fathers the saints, eg. Elisha the prophet whose
bones raised the dead.
21 So it was, as they
were burying a man, that suddenly they spied
a band of raiders; and they put the man in the
tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down
and touched the
bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet. (2 kings 13:21).
He finishes the prayer by mentioning
the sin the people committed when they did not
listen to Jeremiah the prophet who asked them
to bend and serve the king of Babylon. And
when they refused to greet the king of Babylon – which was Nebuchadnezzar – and the
Lord as a leader of His people does not defend
them but rather uses Nebuchadnezzar as His slave
to fulfill His will. For he is not a slave as such, because he worships
the Lord, but he is as a tool in His hands used
to set a holy war against His people.
And the punishment was:
[23] I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from
the region about Jerusalem
the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness,
the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of
the bride, and the whole land will be a desolation
without inhabitants."
The Lord is punishing the people, and leave them in a state of fear
and destruction and takes away all the signs
of living from joy, wedding, sound of mirth,
and the become in a state of mourning and family
loss and lack of food.
10 Moreover I will
take from them the voice of mirth and the voice
of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and
the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones
and the light of the lamp.
11 And this whole land
shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and
these nations shall serve the king of Babylon
seventy years.
(Jeremiah 25:10).
[24] "`But we did not obey thy voice, to serve the king of Babylon; and thou hast confirmed
thy words, which thou didst speak by thy servants
the prophets, that the bones of our kings and
the bones of our fathers would be brought out
of their graves; [25] and behold, they have been cast out to the heat
of day
and the frost of night. They
perished in great misery, by famine and sword
and pestilence. [26] And the house which is called by thy name
thou hast
made as it is today, because of the wickedness of the house
of
Israel
and the house of Judah.
To serve the king of Babylon= it
was difficult for any Jewish especially the
king to allow the worship of the king of Babylon;
for the Lord asked them ‘ I am the LORD your God, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, that you should
not be their slaves; I have broken the bands
of your yoke and made you walk upright’. (Leviticus 26:13).
A worship to any king who worship the idols is a sign of God’s anger,
and it was one of the curses that the people
would fall under, when they break the commandment
‘48
therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the LORD will send against
you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and
in need of everything; and He will put a yoke
of iron on
Your neck until He has destroyed you’. (Deuteronomy 28:48).
So the Lord asked them to worship the king of Babylon for as their humiliation to the king
they will discover their sins, for by the physical
humiliation and their exile from their land,
the holy city and the holy temple they may know
how the sin can exile humanity from God.
6 And now I have given
all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar
the king of Babylon, My servant; and
the beasts of the field I have also given him
to
Serve him. 7 So all nations shall
serve him and his son and his son's son, until
the time of his land comes; and then many nations
and great kings shall make him serve them. 8 And it shall be, that the nation
and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar
the king of Babylon, and which will not put
its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon,
that
nation I will punish,' says the LORD, "with the sword, the famine,
and the pestilence, until I have consumed them
by his hand. 9 Therefore do not listen to your
prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your
soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to
you, saying, "You shall not serve the king
of Babylon." 10 For they prophesy
a lie to you, to remove you far from your land;
and I will drive you out, and you will perish.
11 But the nations
that bring their necks under the yoke of the
king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain
in their own land,' says the LORD, "and
they shall till it and dwell in it.'"'"
Everyone was happy after building
the temple and finding the book of law, as the
were proud of the literal meaning of the covenant,
but they did not care about it spiritually as
they worshiped the idols, not because their
enemy forced them to do so, and because they
were ignorant, but because they loved the idols
and followed and worshiped the idols and asked
its help, and the punishment of those who worshiped
the idols comes after their death, so what will
happen to them / their bones will rise up after
their death to be under the sun, and the moon,
and the heavenly powers, so that they are in
shame and humiliation even after their death. All of them have sinned so the insult will be
upon all of them after their death.
They have chosen the dead idols over
the living God, so that is why death came upon
them and shame even after their death.
[27]
"`Yet thou hast dealt with us, O Lord our
God, in all thy kindness and in all thy great
compassion, [28] as thou didst speak by thy
servant Moses on the day
when thou didst command him to write thy law in the presence of the
people of Israel,
saying, [29] "If you will not obey my voice,
this very great multitude will surely turn into
a small number among the nations, where I will
scatter them.
We notice here that he started in hope as he talked about the covenant
that was between God and man, as He said to
Moses “9 you shall not bow
down to them nor serve them.
For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children to the third and fourth generations
of those who hate Me, 10 but showing mercy
to thousands, to those who love Me and keep
My commandments. (Deuteronomy 5:9,10).
"Therefore
know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps
covenant and mercy for a thousand generations
with those who love Him and keep His
Commandments; 10 and He repays those
who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him;
He will repay him to his face. (Deuteronomy 7:9,10).
This is what happened as the Lord had warned them if they worship another God that they will become
small number of nations and that is due to the
many being slaughtered in exile.
[30] For I know that they will not obey me, for they are a stiff-necked
people. But
in the land of their exile they will come to
themselves, [31] and they will know that I am
the Lord their God.
I will give them a heart that obeys and
ears that hear; [32] and they will praise me
in the land of their exile, and will remember
my name,
Stiff-necked= harsh hearted = its translation in the New Testament is stiff-necked.
51 "You stiff-necked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always
resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did,
so do you. (Acts
7:51).
They will come to themselves = coming back to God.
9 that if you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in
your heart that God has raised Him from the
dead, you will be saved.
10
For with the heart one believes
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
(Romans 10:9,10).
Humans look to the eyes but the Lord looks to the heart. 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do
not look at his appearance or at his physical
stature, because I have refused
Him. For the LORD does not see as man
sees; for man looks at the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at the heart."
(I Samuel 16:7).
I will give them a heart the obeys and ears that hear = the Lord is
the giver, thought man is still in evil and
sin, but God is the one who opens the ears and
change the hard hearts to human hearts, and
Says to us as He did in the new testament ‘9
And He said to them,
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
(Mark 4:9).
16 If anyone has ears
to hear, let him hear!"(Mark 7:16).
So after the heart is changed and the ears are opened not to sin and
evil but to spiritual talk, our talk become
praises to God even in a foreign land in which
you will be killed for not worshiping
idols.
[33] and will turn from their stubbornness and their wicked deeds;
for they will remember the ways of their fathers,
who sinned before the Lord
[34] I will bring them again into the land which I swore to give to
their fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to
Jacob, and they will rule over it; and I will
increase them, and they will not be diminished. [35] I will make an everlasting covenant with
them to be their God and they shall be my people;
and I will never again remove my people Israel
from the land which I have given them."
Abraham - means father of many.
Isaac - means in Hebrew “to laugh”.
Jacob - a Hebrew name which means ‘to
follow” or “to catch the heel”.
Stiff-necked is a sign of harshness in the heart, and when the Lord
puts a human heart in them, they will repent
form being stiff-necked. Sin is the one that makes man stiff-necked,
but the point of repentance the Lord have changed
their hearts, opened their ears, blessed their
numbers, and gave them His fatherhood by becoming
their God .he returned them to His son-ship
by having them as His people, and protecting
them from enemies, and make them inherit the
land which He had promised to Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob.
33 But this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will
put My law in their minds, and write it on their
hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall
be My people.
(Jeremiah 31:33).
Some people see that the Lord has made many promises with man, which
were all fulfilled by the blood of Our Lord
Jesus Christ on the cross.
1-The covenant with Adam: in which
man will be blessed with the paradise of delight
and all its fruits. But Adam rejected the covenant and was kicked
out of paradise, as it is written in the book
of " But like men they transgressed the covenant; There they dealt
treacherously with Me.
(Hosea 6:7).
2- The covenant with Noah: it was regarding the new land after the
flood as the Lord blessed Noah and his people. So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to
them: "Be
Fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. (Genesis 9:1).
28 Then God blessed
them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful
and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it;
have dominion over the fish of the sea, over
the birds of the air, and over every living
thing that moves on the earth."(Genesis
1:28).
And the covenant was set on blood, the blood of the sacrifice.
3- The covenant with Abraham: the
promise was linked to circumcision
and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it
shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and
you.( genesis 17:11).
4- The covenant with Moses: it was based on the offerings 9 "The LORD will establish you
as a holy people to Himself, just as He has
sworn to you, if you keep the commandments
of the LORD
your God and walk in His ways.( Deuteronomy 28:9).
That is why we need to ask were is our promise that we have with Him
at the beginning of the year, it is our fault
that we change our promises and reject the covenant;
may the Lord bless you all and strengthen you
to fulfill your promises, in order to take the
blessing of setting with Him and enjoying His
promises.
Chapter Three
Wisdom
[1] "`O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the
wearied spirit cry out to thee.
[2] Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for
we have sinned before thee. [3] For thou art enthroned forever, and we are
perishing forever.
The soul in anguish= is the soul
that is in sadness from the troubles.
Here the hearts are talking to the
God the almighty in mercy, for He is merciful
and ask for Him to hear, and have mercy on them
after they had sinned against Him, for the wage
of sin is death, for if the Lord did not forgive
them and had mercy on them they will perish.
[4] O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead
of Israel and of the sons of those who sinned
before thee, who did not heed the voice of the
Lord their God, so that calamities have clung
to us. [5] Remember not the iniquities of our fathers,
but in this crisis remember thy power and thy
name. [6] For thou art the Lord our God, and thee,
O Lord, will we praise.
Here the prayer is for the mercy and acceptance of the prayer of the
people of Israel.
Dead of Israel
= they are the one who are almost dead by their
sins. They confessed that their fathers sinned against
the Lord and ask Him to forgive their fathers
sins, that they have committed against the Lord,
they also remember that he is their God and
they will continue in parsing Him no matter
what happens.
We notice that in the verses (3:1-6) is a cry and praise to God from
those who are stressed in exile, those who sinned
and their fathers sinned, but returned from
exile by their heart, so that the Lord may have
mercy on them and remember His promises with
them.
[7]
For thou hast put the fear of thee in our hearts
in order that we should call upon thy name;
and we will praise thee in our exile, for we
have put away from our hearts all the iniquity
of our fathers who sinned before thee. [8] Behold, we are today in our exile where
thou hast scattered us, to be reproached and
cursed and punished for
all the iniquities of our fathers who forsook the Lord our God.'"
Put away - rejected.
We have put away from our hearts
all the iniquity of our fathers “7 Our fathers sinned and are no more, But we bear
their iniquities.” (Lamentations 5:7).
We notice
that so many times these days that the children
born with illnesses or deformities, because
of sins that the parents have committed, eg.
those who are drug addicts, or smokers during
pregnancy, and unfortunately the children pay
the price.
[9]
Hear the commandments of life, O Israel; give ear, and learn wisdom!
[10] Why is it, O Israel,
why is it that you are in the land of your enemies,
that you are growing old in a foreign country, that you are defiled
with the dead,
[11] That you are counted among those in Hades? Baruch [12] You have
forsaken the fountain of wisdom.
[13] If you had walked in the way of
God, you would be dwelling in peace for ever. [14] Learn where there is wisdom, where there
is strength, where there is understanding, that
you may at the same time discern where there
is length of days, and life, where there is
light for the eyes, and peace.
Learn wisdom -means to have knowledge.
El gahim - hades.
Fountain of wisdom - is God’s commandment or is God Himself.
13 " For My people
have committed two evils: They have forsaken
Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn
themselves cisterns--broken cisterns that can
hold no water.
(Jeremiah 2:13).
The subject here is wisdom (Sophia), which is a Greek word which means
wisdom. Here
Baruch mentions an important fact, which is
no matter how man reach from richness and power,
without God there is no peace.
You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom.
if you had walked in the way of God,
you would be dwelling in peace for ever. (Baruch 3:12,13).
Here Baruch asks a question when he talks about the importance of wisdom:
Why is it, O Israel,
why is it that you are in the land of your enemies?
(Baruch 3:10).
He answers: because you have forsaken the fountain of wisdom (Baruch
3:12). Wisdom is God’s commandment, and man has to
abide in God’s word to attain His wisdom, as
it is written in the book of proverbs: “
For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.
Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
bind them around your neck, write them on the
tablet of your heart, and so find favor and
high esteem in the sight of God and man.’ (Proverbs
3:2-4).
Here Baruch asks another question: “ where there is strength, where
there is understanding, that you may at the
same time discern where there is length of days,
and life?’ (Baruch 3:14).
And he answers him and says: ‘She is the book of the commandments
of God,
and
the law that endures for ever.
All who hold her fast will live, and
those who forsake her will die.” (Baruch 4:1).
And Baruch is still wondering about
attaining wisdom.
Defiled with the dead = being in
contact with idolaters makes the believer defiled
as if he touched a dead body.
"Or if a person touches any unclean thing, whether it is the
carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or
the carcass of unclean creeping things, and
he is unaware of it, he also shall be unclean
and guilty.
3 Or if he touches
human uncleanness--whatever uncleanness with
which a man may be defiled, and he is unaware
of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be
guilty. (Leviticus 5:2-4).
11 "He who touches
the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven
days. 12 He shall purify himself with
the water on the third day and on the seventh
day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third
day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. 13 Whoever touches the body of
anyone who has died, and does not purify himself,
defiles the tabernacle of the LORD.
That person shall be cut off from Israel. He
shall be unclean, because the water of purification was not sprinkled
on him; his uncleanness is still on him. (Numbers 19:11-13).
[15]
Who has found her place? And who has entered
her storehouses? [16] Where are the princes
of the nations, and those who rule over the
beasts on earth; [17] those who have sport with
the birds of the air, and who hoard up silver
and gold, in which men trust, and there is no end to their
getting;[18] those who scheme to get silver,
and are anxious, whose labors are beyond measure?
[19] They have vanished and gone down to Hades,
and others have arisen in their place.
It is a question which is for wisdom.
Hoard up = it indicates that who ever treasure wisdom is treasuring
an imperishable treasure.
When Baruch asks about the one that finds
wisdom, all the answers are negative which indicates
that neither power, nor the leaders, nor the
rich who have time and capabilities to sport
with birds, or rule over the beasts; all did
not attain wisdom.
Even the ones who passed away and went
to Hades and others took their place also did
not attain wisdom. He comments that wisdom is beyond the reach
of humanity
‘7 The fear of the LORD
is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.’
(Proverbs 1:7).
Baruch asks a question and answers firstly in the negative indicating
that no human effort can attain wisdom… Where
are the princes of the nations, and those who
rule over the beasts on earth? They have vanished and gone down to Hades,
and others have arisen in their place.
(Baruch 3:16,19).
Then positively indicating that God
has the wisdom, and He gave it to the people
of Israel in the
book of law.
(Baruch 3:24-Baruch 4:4).
[20] Young men have seen the light of day, and have dwelt upon the
earth;
but they have not learned the way to knowledge, nor understood her
paths,
nor laid hold of her. [21] Their
sons have strayed far from her way.
[22] She has not been heard of in Canaan,
nor seen in Teman; [23] the sons of Hagar, who
seek for understanding on the earth, the merchants
of Merran and Teman, the story-tellers and the
seekers for understanding, have not learned
the way to wisdom, nor given thought to her
paths.
Here Baruch continue saying that even their children did not benefit
from the past of their fathers, and they did
not take any lesson from it, but rather they
insisted to stay away from God.
Canaan - is the fourth son of Ham. 6 The sons of Ham were
Cush,
Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. (Genesis 10:6). And he is also the
grandson of Noah, and the grandfather of the
tribes that lived to the west of the Jordan
which is called Canaan,
the people of Canaan were well known for their wisdom in trade and their
skills in marketing.
Teman = is a Hebrew name which means “ the right or south” and the
well know in that land is Eliphaz the friend
of Job the righteous, and Teman was well known
for its wisdom.
Sons of Hagar = they are the Ismalities and they possessed caravans
and were well known merchants.
Merran - is an unknown place.
The story-tellers - they are the one
who put the general proverbs in the conduct
of wisdom.
All of those, not the wisdom of the Canaanites in trade, nor the Teman,
nor the sons of Hagar, nor the people of Merran,
nor the storytellers, had any of them got the
wisdom by the power from within. Here he explains that the nations and tribes
that were well known for their wisdom, did not
really know the true wisdom
[24] O Israel,
how great is the house of God! And how vast
the territory that he possesses! [25] It is
great and has no bounds; it is high and immeasurable.
[26] The giants were born there, who were famous of old, great in stature,
expert in war.
[27] God did not choose them, nor give
them the way to knowledge; [28] so they perished
because they had no wisdom, they perished through
their folly.
House of God - it means the entire
world the whole universe.
The giants - they are creatures mentioned
in the holy Bible before the flood.
‘There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward,
when the sons of God
came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men
of renown.’ (Genesis 6:4).
They were rebellious and were well known for their size and power.
And Baruch started to look all around on the land and review the past
and visit the future, so that he can find someone
who had attained the wisdom? He found no one
of the giants (3:26)
one of which was Nimrod, which the Bible describes
as being a giant.
8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before
the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod
the mighty hunter before the LORD." (Genesis
10:8,9). It is said that Nimrod was the founder of Babel, Erech, and Calneh.
10 And the beginning
of his kingdom was Babel,
Erech, Accad,
and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
(Genesis 10:10).
One of his followers named this collection of stars (kasila which
in the Hebrew language means the collection of stars by the name of
Virgo). On
the name of Nimrod, the great God of Babylon
“ Murdock’ is named, which is translated in
Hebrew to Nimrod.
Both names come from the name ‘mord’
meaning giant, those did not attain wisdom,
for their wisdom were earthly, egoistic and
evil.
15 This wisdom does
not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual,
demonic. (James3: 15).
and they
perished with it.
[29] Who has gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down
from the clouds? [30] Who has gone over the
sea, and found her, and will buy her for pure
gold? [31] No one knows the way to her, or is
concerned about the path to her.
[32] But he who knows all things knows
her, he found her by his understanding. He who prepared the earth for all time filled
it with four-footed creatures;
ibrez - is an Arabic word which is
commonly used to describe pure gold.
Unlike all those whom we spoke about,
the Lord is the only one Who knows were it is.
[33] he who sends forth the light, and it goes, called it, and it obeyed
him in fear;
[34] the stars shone in their watches, and were glad; he called them,
and they said, "Here we are!" They
shone with gladness for him who made them.
[35] This is our God; no other can be
compared to him! [36] He found the whole way
to knowledge,
and gave her to Jacob his servant and to Israel whom he loved. [37] Afterward she appeared upon earth and lived
among men.
God is the one who found the unit of wisdom, and he is the one who
knows its way, and by it He created the creation,
for Solomon describe it as ‘ the maker of everything
and the fashioner
of the universe .
‘[5] If riches are a desirable possession
in life, what is richer than wisdom who effects
all things?[6] And if understanding is effective,
who more than she is fashioner of what exists?
(Wisdom of Solomon 8:5,6).
For the Lord gave it to Jacob his servant and Israel his beloved
and said: ‘"Then the Creator of all
things gave me a commandment, and the one who
created me assigned a place for my tent. And he said, `Make your dwelling in Jacob, and
in Israel
receive your inheritance.'
(Sirach 24:8).
The Jewish released that wisdom which God has created the whole universe
with all its beauty in heaven and earth, has
all been put into His Book, so that this torah
will be declared, and the wisdom of God vivid
in heaven and earth.
No other God like Him = no one in His likeness.
It these verses Baruch the prophet –as in the rest of the Holy Bible
– confirms that there is no other God like Him,
and He was the one Who gave the law to Jacob
His servant and Israel his beloved, and said
to them regarding wisdom: ‘Make your dwelling
in Jacob, and in Israel receive your inheritance.'
(Sirach 24:13).
It is said in the New Testament that it is the way to educate by the
word. For
Our Lord Jesus Christ says: ‘17 "Do not think
that I came to destroy the Law (the
natural law and the moral law as it is the law
of Moses) or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.’ (Matthew
5:17). which
means to fulfill the meanings.
[38] Afterward she appeared upon earth and lived among men.
There has never been a verse that is so theologically controversial
as this verse is! As the early fathers used
it in declaring the incarnation of our Lord
Jesus Christ, in fighting the heresy of Arius.
1.
Saint Hilary of Poitiers used it in his
fourth book (De Trinitate), and his book used
to deal; with the three hypostasis, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit; he used this verse
in proving the incarnation of God.
He also used it for the second time in
his fifth book of the same series.
2.
Saint Gregory of Nyssa used
it in his second book (the incarnation of the
logos)
3.
Saint Athanasious also used
it in answering the people of Arius, in his
speech against the heresy of Arius.
4.
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem used it in his eleventh lecture about
the word the Son of God before all ages.
5.
Saint Hypolytus used it too.
Baruch the prophet wrote this verse were he was in a state of transfiguration,
as St
John the beloved was
in the spirit.
“ I was in the Spirit
on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud
voice, as of a trumpet,” (Rev 1:10).
Baruch the prophet found himself this reality, that God himself appear
on earth and walk among people.
(Baruch 3:37), he did not say appeared
in Judah, and walked among Jerusalem, for God
the word when he appeared in the nations too,
as He visited Egypt and walked among its people,
“14 When he arose, he took the
young Child and His mother
by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until
the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet,
saying, "Out of Egypt I
called My Son. (Matthew 2:14,15).
Like Baruch the prophet Micah the prophet “ For behold, the LORD is coming out of His
place; He will come down and tread on the high
places of the earth.”(Micah 1:3). And he explains
that in saying “ All this is for the transgression of Jacob”(Micah 1:5). St John also explains the God walked among the
people in the famous verse “And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth” (john
1:15).
And he add saying “ That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard,
Which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled, concerning the Word of life”(1
John 1:1).
St Paul said: “And without controversy
great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifested
in the flesh,” (1 timothy 3:16).
For Baruch saw Him walking among the people as in walking doing goodness,
walking her means not staying for ever, and
that is what O’ Lord Jesus Christ did when he
walked among us, and after His ascension to
heaven that He sent to us the comforting Spirit
that stays with us for ever. “ And I will pray the Father, and He will give
you another Helper, that He may abide with you
forever” (John 14:16). “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for
if I do not go away, the Helper will not come
to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”(John 16:7).
Chapter
Four
Educate
with Punishment
[1] She is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that endures
forever.
All who hold her fast will live, and those who forsake her will die.
[2] Turn, O Jacob, and take her; walk
toward the shining of her light.
[3] Do not give your glory to another,
or your advantages to an alien people.
[4] Happy are we, O Israel, for we
know what is pleasing to God.
Do not give your glory to another:
the glory of Israel
is the Torah or the testament.
Here Baruch is writing the orders of God, that will give life to those
who hold tide in it, and also ask the people
of Jacob to repent and please God.
Compare (Baruch 4:1) with (Det 4:8)
8
and what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous
judgments as are in all this law, which I set
before you this day?
Walk toward the shining of her light:
here Baruch is warning the people to of Israel to repent and return, and walk
in the light “testament and the testament is
wisdom” (Baruch 4:2). “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light
to my path” (psalms 118:105).
For the commandment is a lamp, and the
law a light;( proverbs 6: 23).
Compare (Baruch 4:2) with (Det 4: 1) "Now, O Israel, listen
to the statutes and the judgments which I teach
you to observe, that you may live, and go in
and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers
is giving you”.
Turn, O Jacob: out of God’s love to
Jacob and his descendants and out of His care
for them He orders them to repent, but does
not force them to repent because man is free
willed and is not predestinate, and the heaven
rejoice in the repentance of one sinner.
[5] Take courage, my people, and O memorial of Israel! [6] It
was not for destruction
That you were sold to the nations, but you were handed over to your
enemies
Because you angered God. [7]
For you provoked him who made you, by sacrificing
to demons and not to God.
[8] You forgot the everlasting God, who
brought you up,
and you grieved Jerusalem,
who reared you.
[9] For she saw the wrath that came upon
you from God, and she said: "Hearken, you
neighbors of Zion,
God has brought great sorrow upon me;
you were sold to the nations: it means
you were under the exile and slavery as a punishment.
By sacrificing to demons: meaning you
offered to idols.
Here Baruch explains to the people who is in exile, why they are being
punished, their exile was a punishment to them
for leaving God, and worshiped idols (demons),
that is why God left them to be exiled for punishment,
as instead of offering to God they offered to
demons, and they offered human sacrifices from
their own sons and daughters. (Baruch 4: 7).
15 " But Jeshurun
grew fat and kicked; you grew fat, you grew
thick, you are obese!
Then he forsook God who made him, and scornfully esteemed the Rock
of his salvation.
16 They provoked Him
to jealousy with foreign Gods; with abominations
they provoked Him to anger.17 They sacrificed
to demons, not to God, to Gods they did not
know,
To new Gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear.18 Of the Rock who
begot you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten
the God who fathered you. (Deut 32:15-18).
They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, (psalms
106:37).
20 Rather, that the
things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice
to demons and not to God, and I do not want
you to have fellowship with demons. (1 Cor 10:20).
[10] For I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters, which
the Everlasting brought upon them.
[11] With joy I nurtured them, but I
sent them away with weeping and sorrow. [12] Let no one rejoice over me, a widow and
bereaved of many;
I was left desolate because of the sins of my children, because they
turned away from the law of God.
[13] They had no regard for his statutes;
they did not walk in the ways of God's commandments,
nor tread the paths of discipline in his righteousness.
[14] Let the neighbors of Zion
come; remember the capture of my sons and daughters,
which the Everlasting brought upon them. [15] For he brought against them a nation from
afar, a shameless nation, of a strange language,
who had no respect for an old man, and had no
pity for a child.
[16] They led away the widow's beloved
sons,
and bereaved the lonely woman of her daughters.
49 The LORD will bring a nation
against you from afar, from the end of the earth,
as
swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand,
50
a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly
nor show favor to the young.
51 And they shall eat
the increase of your livestock and the produce
of your land, until you are destroyed; they
shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil,
or the increase of your cattle or the offspring
of your flocks, until they have destroyed you.
52 "They shall besiege you
at all your gates until your high and fortified
walls, in which you trust, come down throughout
all your land; and they shall besiege you at
all your gates throughout all your land which
the LORD your God has given you. (Deut 28:49-52). This shows that
the verse was taken from Deuteronomy and that
Jeremiah the prophet was talking about Babylon.
Here Jerusalem is directing its talk to its neighbors from the other
cities, and nations, to explain to them that
God was the one who allowed for exile because
of the deed of its nation, and by them not abiding
in the Lord’s commandments, and warn them that
if they do not repent, they will receive the
same punishment, and it describe Babylon as
a nation with no mercy even with the elderly
and the children, and here he mentioned the
elderly and the children to show how this nation
had no humanity, for children need compassion
in their treatment, and help and compassion
to the elderly, but this nation had no mercy
or compassion.
Compare (baruch 4:9-16). With
(lam 1:17-22).
[17] "But I, how can I help you? [18] For he who brought these
calamities upon you
will deliver you from the hand of your enemies. [19] Go, my children, go;
for I have been left desolate. [20]
I have taken off the robe of peace and put on
the sackcloth of my supplication; I will cry
to the Everlasting all my days. [21] "Take courage, my children, cry to
God and he will deliver you from the power and
hand of the enemy. [22] For I have put my hope in the Everlasting
to save you, and joy has come to me from the
Holy One, because of the mercy which soon will
come to you from your everlasting Savior.
Robe of peace - it is the dress of lamentation and supplication.
Desolate - vacant and sad.
Here Jerusalem is directing its talk to the people in exile, and says
that I can not help, for God can only help,
and can only help if you repent and here it
explain “go my children go” which is a message
for them to walk in the ways of repentance,
and the repetition is an indicator to them for
repentance and supplication and wearing sack
cloth, which are all signs of repentance and
seeking God’s forgiveness and help, and all
of that makes God send His mercy to them.
Was could also notice the doctrine of the Holy trinity (I put my hope
in the everlasting)= God the Father the eternal,
(and the mercy which soon will come to you from
the everlasting savior)= means the Son the word,
and savior of the entire world.
[23] For I sent you out with sorrow and weeping, but God will give
you back to me with joy and gladness for ever
.[24] For as the neighbors of Zion have now seen your
capture, so they soon will see your salvation by God, which will come
to you with great glory and with the splendor
of the Everlasting. [25] My children, endure with patience the wrath
that has come upon you from God.
Your enemy has overtaken you,
but you will soon see their destruction and will tread upon their necks.
[26] My tender sons have traveled rough
roads; they were taken away like a flock carried
off by the enemy.
[27] "Take courage, my
children, and cry to God, for you will be remembered
by him who brought this upon you.
[28] For just as you purposed to go astray
from God, return with tenfold zeal to seek him. [29] For he who brought these calamities upon
you will bring you everlasting joy with your
salvation."
A Map showing Jerusalem
and its neighbors
Zion - A Hebrew name, which means a castle and most likely is referring to
Jerusalem in its entirety.
Tread upon their necks - means you rein over them when they bought them
as slaves.
24 So it was, when
they brought out those kings to Joshua, that
Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and
said to the captains of the men of war who went
with him, "Come near,
put your feet on the necks of these kings." And they drew near
and put their feet on their necks.
(Joshua 10:24).
Then Jerusalem continue its tale with the exiled people and explain
to them its feelings when it farewell crying
that the Lord will restore them in great Joy,
and eternal joy, and now as its neighbor saw
her crying at the exile for the salvation of
the Lord, they will also see her in Joy in the
return. Here
also Jerusalem is encouraging it’s children and asks
them to be patient and prophecy for them that
the enemy that captivated them will perish soon.
(Baruch 4:25).
This prophecy was fulfilled in no time, for the kingdoms of Mady and
Persia
appeared there after and conquered Babylon,
and gave the freedom to those who were in exile
and from among them where the Jews.
The people of Mady used to sell the captivated
to buy them as salves and remember to be strong
in faith, as the Lord will remember them, and
you have to repent, and remember how the Lord
have left you and this exile was for your punishment
to know that when you left the Lord you lost
everything, but the one who is firm in the Lord
will have everlasting Joy and salvation.
Reference: (Baruch 4:23).
12 Therefore they shall
come and sing in the height of Zion, Streaming
to the goodness of the LORD-- For wheat and
new wine and oil, For the young of the flock
and the herd;
Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow
no more at all.
13 " Then shall
the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young
men and the old, together;
For I will turn there mourning to joy, Will comfort them, and make
them rejoice rather than sorrow.
(Jeremiah 31:12-13).
[31] Wretched will be those who afflicted you and rejoiced at your
fall. [32]
Wretched will be the cities which your children
served as slaves; wretched will be the city
which received your sons.
[33] For just as she rejoiced at your
fall and was glad for your ruin, so she will
be grieved at her own desolation.
[34] And I will take away her pride in
her great population, and her insolence will
be turned to grief.
[35] For fire will come upon her from
the Everlasting for many days, and for a long
time she will be inhabited by demons.
Wretched will be the city which received your son -
it is an inclination to the people of Babylon and all the cities of Babylon, but the author
means the kings of Solocian that have persecuted
the people of Israel. Here Baruch directs his words to Jerusalem encouraging them
saying be assured Jerusalem
for the one who named you and made you His own
city will save you.
A picture for the hills of Babylon “Wretched will
be the city which received your son”.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help
her, just at the break of dawn.
(Ps 46:5).
14 Also the sons of
those who afflicted you shall come bowing to
you, and all those who despised you shall fall
prostrate at the soles of your feet; and they
shall call you The City of the LORD, Zion
of the Holy One of Israel.
(Isaiah 60:14).
The prophets of the old testament they used to glorify the city of
Jerusalem not because it
was a political city or the administrative capital
and not because of its great history and its
great building, but because of the temple of
the Lord that is in its midst.
They were in sorrow because they were
away from the temple and He says to Jerusalem wow to all who mock you for if they
do not repent they drink from the same cup.
Wretched will be the city which receive
your children, and we knew what happened to
Babylon
(Baruch 4:25). He prophesy what will happen to Babylon, for
the city will be burned and destroyed and the
devils will occupy it forever, and this is what
happened as the Babylonian worshiped idols and
the devils who dwelled in them.
The Babylonian Gods:
1 Enlil, it was the God Nippur and it was the greatest God in the old
ages and it was the God of Babylon
2 Anu: the meaning of its name is heaven and it became the God of heaven.
3 Ea: the reading of the name of this God is still indefinite, as it
is more likely to be read as Aos in Greek as
it meant the father of the God Marduk.
4 Shamash: it is the God of sun.
5 Ishtar: it is the God of love and fertility.
6 Marduk: it is mentioned in the Old Testament and it is the God of
the city of Babylon.
7 Nabu : it is the God of the city of Borsippa it is a celestial God and his name
means the speaker.
[36] Look toward the east,
O Jerusalem,
and see the joy that is coming to you from God!
[37] Behold, your sons are coming, whom you
sent away; they are coming, gathered from east
and west, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing
in the glory of God.
Baruch the prophet asks form Jerusalem to look towards the east and
here there are two prophecies, one for the salvation
that will come from the east and it is the Lord
Christ that was born in one of the cities of
the east and rose from the east and will come
from the east, and the second prophecy is about
its children that will come back to its bosom
from the east and the west by the order of the
Lord rejoicing in His Glory.
Compare: (Baruch 4:37).
+ Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from
the east, and gather you from the west; (Isaiah
43:5).
+ 4 " Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together,
they come to you;
Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed
at your side.
5 Then you shall see
and become radiant, and your heart shall swell
with joy;
Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth
of the Gentiles shall come to you.
6 The multitude of
camels shall cover your land, the dromedaries
of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba
shall come; they shall bring gold and incense,
And they shall proclaim the praises of the LORD. 7 All the flocks of Kedar shall
be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebaioth
shall minister to you; they shall ascend with
acceptance on My altar, and I will glorify the
house of My glory.
" Who are these who fly like a cloud, And like doves to their
roosts? 9
Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish
will come first, To bring your sons from afar,
Their silver and their gold with them, To the
name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, Because
He has glorified you.
(Isaiah 60:4-9).
Chapter
Five
Salvation
[1] Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever
the beauty of the glory from God.
[2] Put on the robe of the righteousness
from God; put on your head the diadem of the
glory of the Everlasting.
[3] For God will show your splendor everywhere
under heaven. [4] For your name will forever be called by
God,” Peace of righteousness and glory of Godliness."
Baruch the prophet asks from Jerusalem
to take off the sad cloth and humiliation and
instead to put on glory, honor, and righteousness,
and to put on its head the crown of the Glory
of God. For God
will revile your glory to all who are under
heaven, and your name that God call you with
is forever the peace of righteousness and the
glory of worship.
+Refer to the names of Jerusalem
“26
I will restore your
judges as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,
the faithful city."(Isaiah 1:26).” “Also
the sons of those who afflicted you
Shall come bowing to you, and all those who despised you shall fall
prostrate at the
Soles of your feet; and they shall call you The City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of
Israel.” (Isaiah
60:14). “16 In those days Judah will be
saved, And Jerusalem
will dwell safely.
And this is the name by which she will
be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jeremiah
33:16). “All
the way around shall be eighteen thousand cubits;
and the name of the city from that day shall
be: THE LORD IS THERE.” (Ezekiel 48:35).
Compare (Baruch 5:1,2) with:
+ Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful
garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall
no longer come to you.
(Isaiah 52:1).
+3 To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of
praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they
may be called trees of righteousness, the planting
of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
"And they shall rebuild the old
ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations,
and they shall repair the ruined cities, the
desolations of many generations.5 Strangers shall stand
and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner
shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.6
But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, they shall call you
the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory you shall
boast.7
Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion
they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess
double; everlasting joy shall be theirs.8
" For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth, and will
make with them an everlasting covenant.9
Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring
among the people.
All who see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed."10 I will greatly rejoice
in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns
herself with her jewels.
(Isaiah 61:3-10).
+ “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out
of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband.” (Revelations 21:2).
[5] Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height and look toward the east,
and see your children gathered from west and
east, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing
that God has remembered them. [6] For they went forth from you on foot, led
away by their enemies; but God will bring them
back to you, carried in glory, as on a royal
throne. [7]
For God has ordered that every high mountain
and the everlasting hills be made low and the
valleys filled up, to make level ground, so
that Israel may walk safely in the glory of
God. [8]
The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded
Israel
at God's command.
[9] For God will lead Israel with joy,
in the light of his glory, with the mercy and
righteousness that come from him.
[9] For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his
glory, with the mercy and righteousness that
come from him. (Baruch 5:9).
St Baruch the prophet requests Jerusalem to quickly rise up and stand
on a high place and to look around and see how
the Lord have ordered to gather her children
from the east and the west to gather in Joy
as they left it in bare foot under captivity,
but will return in the honor of kings and the
Lord will make way through the hills and mountains
and fill the valley and clear the way on the
ground; all that because He cares for His children
to make it safely; not only that but He will
overshadow them with the trees of fragrance
and they will come in Joy, Happiness, and glory. This
is the price of repentance and being with God. (The one who is faithful to the end will be
saved).
This happens in our daily life for we will meet hard days, from persecution,
war and struggle against the world and its desires
and against the devil and his armies and also
sometimes internal fight from within the family
and from within the Church, and sometimes from
the world as they will mock us when we say we
are going to Church or we are fasting, but the
one who is faithful to the end will be saved.
All that is not equal to a second of
being in the presence of the Lord in heaven
to be with the angels and the saints and this
was the equation which our fathers the saints
have fully understood.
For the body will definitely will perish
one day, but when it perish in the way of salvation
and spreading God’s word then that is a great
gain.
These verses declare the prophecy of Baruch the prophet that prophecy
that the children of Jerusalem
will defiantly come back to it in no time, and
this return is not in their own power or strength,
but it is the word of God that never comes back
empty. They will come from the east and the west indicating
that they will come from far places and from
all the corners of the earth.
Carried in glory, as on a royal throne - this is the new
exodus. 3 The voice of one crying in the
wilderness:" Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall
be exalted and every mountain and hill brought
low; the crooked places shall be made straight
and the rough places smooth; (Isaiah 40:3,4).
Chapter
six
The Letter of Jeremiah
The
letter of Jeremiah is a small book, and it was
addressed to those who were ready to go to exile.
A Picture for Jeremiah the prophet crying.
The time
in which the book of Jeremiah was written
It
is more likely to be written in thee second
century before the birth of Christ.
It was sent to the people of Judah in the capital of Solocian in
Antioch. These people were facing persecution because
of their faith and worship, so the letter came
with a vigorous attack on the false Gods and
idols.
The
writer of the letter had the subject in correlation
with what came in the books of Jeremiah and
the book of Isaiah, and presented it in a colorful
sarcastic manner.
The
main subject of the letter was the idols that
were not able to talk, move or watch. Since these
idols were not able to defend itself against
the time, steeling and destruction, how can
it protect those who seek its refuge? So depart
from the worship of these idols for there are
not God and seek the only capable and powerful
God.
A copy of a letter that Jeremiah sent to those
who were to be taken to Babylon as exiles by
the king of the Babylon as exiles by
the king of the Babylonians, to give
them the message that God had commanded him.
1 because of the sins
that you have committed before God, you will
be taken to Babylon as exiles by Nebuchadnezzar,
king of
Babylonians therefore when you have come to
Babylon you will remain there for many years,
for a long time up to seven generations, after
that I will bring you away from there in peace.
Jeremiah: it is a Hebrew name, which means
the Lord sets a foundation.
Seventh
generation: it is believed that the generation is a period of forty years.
Jeremiah
the prophet explains to the people the reason
for their exile and that was because of their
sins and they remain in exile for over 280 years
and after that they will return safely. This exile was for the edification and the forgiveness
and humility and the return to God.
2
Now in Babylon you will see Gods made of silver and
gold and wood, which cause the heathen to fear.
So beware of becoming at all like the
foreigners or of letting fear for these Gods
possess you when you see the multitude before
and behind them worshiping them.
But you say in your heart " it is
you, O' Lord, whom we must worship. For my angel is with you and he is watching
over your lives.
Their tongues are smoothed by the carpenter,
and they themselves are overlaid with gold and
silver, but they are false and cannot speak.
We
see here that saint Baruch the prophet was warning
the people from what they about to see from
the idols and the Gods that are made of hands,
and how these idols put fear in the inhabitants
of these nations, so they are warned not to
be like them, but on the contrary when they
see that they should give glory honor and worship
to the true God the God of Israel.
He describe these Gods as God s with
tongues made by the craftsmen and it can not
talk, and even though it might be covered by
gold and silver but inside it there is wood
or stone,
He
asks for you: he pleads for your souls.
People
take gold and make crowns for the heads of their
Gods, as they might for a girl who loves ornaments,
and make crowns for the heads of their Gods. Sometimes the priests secretly take gold and
silver from their Gods and spend it on themselves,
or even give some of it to the prostitutes on
the terrace.
The
Babylonian were looking after their Gods as
the lady decorate herself and they make the
crowns from gold but the priests they used to
steel these crowns and gold and spent it on
their own and they were an example for leadership
to the people???
They deck their Gods out with garments like human beings
these Gods of silver and gold and wood that
cannot save themselves from rust and corrosion.
When they have been dressed in purple
robes, their faces are wiped because of the
dust from the temple, which is thick upon them.
One of them holds a scepter, like a district
judge, but is unable to destroy anyone who offends
it. Another
has a dagger in its right hand, and an ax, but
cannot defend itself from war and robbers. From this it is evident that they are not Gods;
so do not fear them.
Purple:
is a dye that was
a specialty for the Phoenician industry.
it is a dye that is extracted from seashells,
in Latin it is called miorix
tronicolis, the seashells are broken and
from them is extracted a fluid like substance,
which is refined to bring about a blue liquid
that turns to purple or red as it gets oxidized.
This dye was used in coloring cloth and
especially expensive cloths.
Those
priests took the money from selling the crowns
that belonged to the Gods and spent it on decorations
and this is due to the weakness of these Gods,
for they are dressed like humans but they rust
and decay though being painted in gold and silver,
those Gods can not even wipe their faces if
dust came upon them, it can not defend itself
if anyone trespassed against them, though they
carry swords, and axes in their hands!!!
After
all that Baruch the prophet ends his talk about
them that they cannot truly be called Gods.
For just as someone's dish is useless when it is broken,
so are their Gods when they have been set up
in the temples. Their eyes are full of the dust raised by the
feet of those who enter.
And just as the gates are shut on every
side against anyone who has offended a king,
as though under sentence of death, so the priests
make their temples secure with doors and locks
and bars, in order that they may not be plundered
by robbers.
Baruch
here tells the people not to fear them for they
are useless and fearless, for they are like
broken pots that benefit no one.
For when they put them in the houses
their eyes get filled with dust proving that
their eyes can not see, and their priests cover
them and hide them in cabinets and behind doors
so robbers cannot steal as if they are sentenced
to life long imprisonment proving even more
that these are not Gods.
They light more lamps for them than they light for themselves,
though their Gods can see none of them. They are just like a beam of the temple, but
their hearts, it is said are eaten away when
crawling creatures from the earth devour them
and their robes.
They do not notice, when their faces
have been blackened by the smoke of the temple. Bats swallow and birds alight on their bodies
and heads, and so do cats.
From this you will know that they are
not Gods; so do not fear them.
Baruch
continue to talk about these Gods and say: they
light lamps but these Gods have no eyes to see,
for even the bats and cats eat from their bodies
and they stand defenseless and senseless. Smoke blackens their faces and they don’t wipe
them clean, birds and bats fly on top of their
heads they are with no response.
Can we call them Gods after all that??
And fear them?
As for the gold that they wear for beauty it will not
shine unless someone wipes off the tarnish,
for even when they were being cast, they did
not feel it.
They are bought without regard to cost,
but there is no breath in them. Having no feet, they are carried on the shoulders
of others, reveling to humankind their worthlessness. And those who serve them are put to shame because
if any of these Gods' falls to the ground they
themselves must pick it up.
If anyone sets it upright it cannot move
itself; and if it is tipped over it cannot straighten
itself. Gifts are placed before them just as before
the dead.
Them
just as before the dead:
compare it with (Isaiah 46:7)"7 they bear it on the shoulder, they carry it and set it in its place,
and it stands; from its place it shall not move. Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer
nor save him out of his trouble."
Baruch
continue his talk about these Gods and how useless
they are as someone has to wipe it to make it
shine, it has no legs but rather carried on
shoulders, how can that be a God if it can not
move unless someone carry it around.
For even those who worship it mock it
and say if it fall it will break, and if it
fall but still in one piece it can not rise
on its own!!!
The priests sell the sacrifices that are offered to these
Gods and use the money themselves.
Likewise their wives preserve some of
the meat with salt, but give none to the poor
or helpless.
Sacrifices to them may even be touched
by women in their periods or at childbirth,
since you know by these things that they are
not Gods, do not fear them. For how can they be called Gods? Women serve
meals for Gods of silver and gold and wood and
their clothes torn, their heads and beards shaved
and their heads uncovered.
They howl and shout before their Gods
as some do at funeral banquet. The priests take some of the clothing of their
Gods to clothe their wives and children.
They howl and shout before
their Gods as some do at funeral banquet:
Symbolises the worship that celebrate death and resurrection of Gods.
The priests take all the offerings to sell for their own personal benefit,
and the poor and helpless see nothing from what
has been offered, and even women in periods
and childbirth touches the offering and this
did not befit the law of Moses.
Here Baruch the prophet asks a question..... Why do we call it Gods?
He answers and says: is it because it has priests that sit with torn
cloths and have shaved their heads and shout
as if in funeral. Or is because the priests steel the clothes
to their children and wives?
The women at periods and childbirth are impure, for the person become
impure if he ate from forbidden food (Leviticus
11), or touched a dead (Numbers 19:11-22),
or idols (Acts 10:1, 11:18)
Or gave birth to a child: "Speak
to the children of Israel, saying: "If
a woman has conceived, and borne a male child,
then she shall be unclean seven days; as in
the days of her customary impurity she shall
be unclean."(Leviticus 12:2).
Or been infected with leprosy: "The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body; and if the
hair on the sore has turned white, and the sore
appears to be deeper than the skin of his body,
it is a leprous sore.
Then the priest shall examine him, and
pronounce him unclean."(Leviticus 13:3).
In those conditions it is not allowed to partake of the rituals of
worships till purified.
(Leviticus 12:6-8).
6 "When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for
A son or a daughter, she shall
bring to the priest a lamb of the first year
as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a
turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of
the tabernacle of meeting.
7
Then he shall offer it before the LORD, and make
Atonement for her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her
blood. This
is the law for her who has borne a male or a
female. 8
"And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she may bring two
turtledoves or two young pigeons--one as a burnt
offering and the other as a sin offering.
So the priest shall make atonement for
her, and she will be clean.'"
(Leviticus 14:1-32).
Verse 29= touched by women: among the people of Israel priesthood
was kept for men only and not women.
Verse 30= and in their temples the priests sit with their
clothes torn, their heads and beards shaved,
and their heads uncovered.
These were the signs of lamination
among the people of Israel. Compare to:
"You are the children of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor
shave the front of your head for the dead.
(Deut 14:1).
+And
Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar,
his sons, "Do not uncover your heads nor
tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come
upon all the people.
But let your brethren, the whole house
of Israel;
bewail the burning which the LORD has kindled. (Lev
10:6).
20 "They shall neither shave their heads,
nor let their hair grow long, but they shall
keep their hair well trimmed. (Ezk 44:20).
34Whether one does evil to them or good, they will not be able to repay
it. They
cannot set up a king or depose one.
35Likewise
they are not able to give either wealth or money;
if one makes a vow to them and does not keep
it, they will not require it.
36They cannot
save anyone from death or rescue the weak from
the strong.
37They cannot
restore sight to the blind; they cannot rescue
one who is in distress.
38They cannot
take pity on a widow or do good to an orphan. 39These things that
are made of wood and overlaid with gold and
silver are like stones from the mountain, and
those who serve them will be put to shame. 40Why then must anyone
think that they are Gods, or call them Gods?
Baruch continues his talk about these Gods showing how weak they are,
as it can not appoint a king or save any from
death, or heal a blind or relief those in trouble,
can not help a widow or an orphan, for it is
made of wood and stone and those who worship
it are put to shame, and then he ask after all
this can it be called or counted as a God.
This was opposite to the God of Israel who used to appoint and uphold
kings: Then
Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: "Is it not because the LORD has anointed you commander over His inheritance? (1 Sam 10:1).
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed
him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit
of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. (1 Sam 16:13).
8 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant
David, "Thus says the LORD of hosts: "I took you from the sheepfold, from following the
sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it
from
Saul, whom I removed from before you.
(2 Sam 7:8, 15).
Then Nathan said to David, "You are
the
man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel:
"I anointed you king over Israel,
and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
(2 Sam 12:7).
"Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand
I have held--
To subdue nations before him and loose the
armor of kings, to open before him the double
doors, So that the gates will not be shut (Isaiah
45:1).
38They cannot take pity on a widow or do good to an orphan. : compare to
"6 God
sets the solitary in families; He brings out
those who are bound into prosperity; but the
rebellious dwell in a dry land. 7 O God,
when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the
wilderness, (Ps 68:6, 7).
. 40Why
then must anyone think that they are Gods, or
call them Gods? Besides, even the Chaldeans themselves dishonor
them; for when they see someone who cannot speak,
they bring Bel and pray that the mute may speak,
as though Belk were able to understand! 41Yet
they themselves cannot perceive this and abandon
them, for they have no sense.
42And the women,
with cords around them, sit along the passageways,
burning bran for incense.
43When one
of them is led off by one of the passers-by
and is taken to bed by him, she derides the
woman next to her, because she was not as attractive
as herself and her cord was not broken.
44Whatever
is done for these idolsl
is false. Why
then must anyone think that they are Gods, or
call them Gods?
He then
shows the treatment of the Chaldeans to these
Gods, as they ask from these Gods to heal the
mute, but it can achieve nothing and he liken
them to senseless, and feeling less, for if
they did feel they would have known that these
are stones that can not hear or heal.
He also explains the mischief in the
worship for false Gods, so can it be counted
or named as Gods?
Chaldeans
= or Babylonian refer to " "Thus says the LORD God
of Israel:
"Behold, I
will turn back the weapons
of war that are in your hands, with which you
fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans
who besiege you outside the walls; and I will
assemble them in the midst
of this city.
(Jeremiah 21:4).
Bel =
the master or king: it is the title for the
God of Babylon refer:" " Declare among the nations, Proclaim,
and set up a standard; Proclaim--do not conceal
it-- Say, "Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are
humiliated, her images are broken in pieces.'(Jeremiah50:2).
with cords around them = it is an old tradition in the holy prostitution
as raising incense with bran is a magical way
of arousing desires.
45 They are made
by carpenters and goldsmiths; they can be nothing
but what the artisans wish them to be.
46Those who
make them will certainly not live very long
themselves; 47how
then can the things that are made by them be
Gods? They have left only lies and reproach
for those who come after.
48For when war or calamity comes upon them, the priests
consult together as to where they can hide themselves
and their Gods 49How then can one fail to see that these are not Gods,
for they cannot save themselves from war or
calamity? 50Since
they are made of wood and overlaid with gold
and silver, it will afterward be known that
they are false.
51It will be
manifest to all the nations and kings that they
are not Gods but the work of human hands, and
that there is no work of God in them. 52Who then can fail
to know that they are not Gods
If the idolatry worship as disappeared from the world
to a certain extent but it is still in use in
the lives of so many. When someone worships money, or desire, or pleasures,
or the love of false glory, all of which are
God’s that take you away from the worship of
the true God.
Baruch reveals that these Gods have no will as their
will lies with those who made them, in their
size and shape, and how they are a burden for
their priests to hide them for they can not
protect themselves or save themselves from the
enemy.
53 For they cannot
set up a king over a country or give rain to
people. 54They cannot judge
their own cause or deliver one who is wronged,
for they have no power; 55they are like crows between heaven and earth. When fire breaks out in a temple of wooden Gods
overlaid with gold or silver, their priests
will flee and escape, but the Gods will be burned
up like timbers.
56Besides, they can offer no resistance to king or enemy.
Why then must anyone admit or think that
they are Gods?
Burned up like timbers: as the wood
ram of the house.
Baruch complete his words to show how useless these Gods are as they
can not appoint a king or bring rain, and can
not defend itself or those who are oppressed
or if they are burnt in the temple, as its fate
is to burnt, as it can not escape or defend
itself.
Give rain to people = compare
to "
Are there any among the idols of the nations
that can
cause rain? Or can the heavens
give showers? Are You not He, O LORD our
God?
Therefore we will wait for
You, since You have made all these.
(Jeremiah 14:22).
Deliver one who is wronged = compare
to " 6 The LORD executes righteousness
And justice for all who are oppressed."
(Ps 104:6).
57 Gods made of wood and overlaid with silver
and gold are unable to save themselves from
thieves or robbers. 58Anyone who can will
strip them of their gold and silver and of the
robes they wear, and go off with this booty,
and they will not be able to help themselves. 59So it is better
to be a king who shows his courage, or a household
utensil that serves its owner's need, than to
be these false Gods; better even the door of
a house that protects its contents, than these
false Gods; better also a wooden pillar in a
palace, than these false Gods.
60 For sun
and moon and stars are bright, and when sent
to do a service, they are obedient.
61So also the
lightning, when it flashes, is widely seen;
and the wind likewise blows in every land. 62When God commands
the clouds to go over the whole world, they
carry out his command. 63And the fire sent
from above to consume mountains and woods does
what it is ordered. But these idols are not to be compared with
them in appearance or power.
64Therefore
one must not think that they are Gods, nor call
them Gods, for they are not able either to decide
a case or to do good to anyone. 65Since you know then
that they are not Gods do not fear them.
Baruch
the prophet compare between the beneficial things
and these false Gods. We find that the door has more value than those
false Gods.
Even the pillar has more value than those
Gods and the vessel too.
The moon stars and sun has more value
than these Gods as they give light and the people
benefit from them more than from these Gods
which can do nothing to itself or others.
66 They can neither curse nor bless kings; 67they
cannot show signs in the heavens for the nations,
or shine like the sun or give light like the
moon. 68The wild animals
are better than they are, for they can flee
to shelter and help themselves.
69So we have
no evidence whatever that they are Gods; therefore
do not fear them.
These Gods can not perform miracles among nations, and here he mentions
that even though the wild animals are enemies
to humans but they are still better than these
Gods, for it can fight and defend itself and
flee at the time of danger.
70 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber bed, which guards nothing, so are their
Gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver. 71In the same way,
their Gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver,
are like a thorn bush in a garden on which every
bird perches; or like a corpse thrown out in
the darkness.
72From the
purple and linen that rot upon them you will
know that they are not Gods; and they will finally
be consumed themselves, and be a reproach in
the land. 73Better,
therefore, is someone upright who has no idols;
such a person will be far above reproach.
Linen = in the Greek translation is marmar.
Still Baruch despise these false Gods for it benefit nothing as it
did not reach even to the level of scarecrow
that is moved by the sower wherever he wants
it to be to scare the birds, and in reality
it is nothing but a piece of wood on which the
sower puts cloth and a cap and human cloth that
is moved by the wind.
At the end he says that the man that
has no idol is better for he is far away from
disgrace.
Dear Reader:
The devil tries fervently and in great deceit can give you an idol
in the form of a young God in your life, like
the love of money and all what is in your mind
is how to repay the bank loan for instance. You accept the idea easily, in order to fulfill
the idea you start working two jobs and working
overtime, including Saturdays and Sundays to
increase your income.
I am not saying you forget the Church
but rather you delay going to Church, and in
a matter of weeks you find yourself in the grip
of work. Where is the Church? Where is Christ? Where
is your care for your children? Where is your
reading of the Bible? He has managed to trick
you. Even
after you have repaid your loan the devil would
have entered your life and you would think of
buying another one? Or invest in another project,
for example, buying another apartment or start
another project to secure the future of your
children. The
future of your children which was lost from
you by you being busy, you might have come in
terms with these facts but cannot change much,
for you are busy, and since you are far from
the Lord, the happiness with the devil gets
even bigger, for you are truly worshipping an
idol; the love of money, which the devil has
decorated for you.
So many times we think that we are living the life of righteousness
and faith, walking with God but yet on a very
low Spiritual level and in great laziness and
carelessness, hardly convincing ourselves of
the need of going to Church and partaking of
Holy Communion.
As we walk out of the Church and join
friends in the Church’s yard, the devil jumps
in and so we find ourselves talking and murmuring,
and judging others.
Other times we go late to Church and
we think we attended the whole Mass, we don’t
even know when it started, not knowing that
we should at the very least be there before
the reading of the Gospel.
The question is where is the blessing
in my life? Where is the preparation? Is it
right to watch a movie till late at night and
attend the Mass the next day? That is why the
Church has put in place Vespers, in order for
us to be prepared to attend the Mass and partake
of Holy Communion.
That is why Vespers is a very important
part of the Mass.
Another idol is in the form of narrow-minded personalities in the Church.
As they think that the Church belongs
to them only.
This type of personality rejects everything,
and argues for the sake of arguing, and fears
any action as it thinks it’s aimed at removing
their “highly-valued” statues.
For the devil has decorated and presented
to them the sins of “I”, “ME”, and “EGO” that
destroys successful servants.
The other idol is one of time, for whoever has time you find them watching
TV! When
they talk with others, you find them talking
about the priests, servants and people, and
the talk is at the lowest level.
No one escape from the sting of their
tongue, that casts out venomous poison.
Dear beloved reader: you have to be precise and careful to examine
if you have an idol or not? Which and what is
your idol? Be careful even if it is a small idol, for we
cannot serve two masters God and money.
You cannot falter between two opinions,
if the Lord is God then follow Him, and if Baal
is God then follow him.
21
And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you
falter between
two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered
him not a word.
(1 Kings 18:21).
The spiritual
way is clear, however, we like to search for
the falls, bumps and mountains, and we believe
that at the end we will reach heaven… No my
dear, look where are you going, and whether
you are on right track or, at the end, you will
find that you have shifted from the target and
lost everything. The Bible says “26
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the
whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what
will a man give in exchange for his soul?(Mathew
16: 26). Find your idol and its
temple and destroy them before they destroy
you. If you don’t have an idol now, be careful
that the devil might be preparing one for you
in the form of study and academic degrees, by
convincing you that all this is education..
Would God gets angry because you are preparing
postgraduate studies or a Ph.D., and after the
Ph.D. additional studies? No, no, God is not
angry for extensive study, but He is angry when
you don’t give Him His share of your time, as
you become deeply involved in your study. Watch
that you don’t fall into this trap, and the
LORD is capable of protecting us from the idols,
as St John have said “ 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen (1 John
5:
21).”
The following
story clarifies for us the tricks of the devil,
as he has 7000 years of experience. I’m including
it here so that you can understand the extent
of the devil’s intelligence:
There is an
animal called the yekout who has a way of catching
its prey. It likes a type of animals that lives
in burrows, and is called the dog of the prairies.
But this dog of the prairies is very fast, and
if it is attacked it can quickly escape to its
home. However, the yekout knows how to overcome
the fastness of its prey. It goes to the opening
of the burrow and screams very loudly, while
all the dogs of the prairies go deep inside
their burrow. Then the yekout leaves while still
screaming, as if it has given up. Hence, its
voice gradually deceases until it is no more
heard by the dogs, who think that it has gone
without return. The smart yekout, however, leaves
its female partner hidden in the grass. The
dogs then get out of their burrow, believing
that they are safe, since their enemy is gone.
At this moment the female yekout jumps very
quickly and catches one of the dogs. Then the
male yekout returns to share the prey with his
female partner. This is how the devil gives
us the impression that he is gone away from
us, and once we feel safe he attacks us and
devour us. Therefore we should be careful in
every step we make, and do not rely on our personal
understanding only. But we should ask the Lord
Jesus to show us the traps. We should also confess
our weakness and do not involve ourselves in
wicked actions. We should watch for any strange
feelings that may have started to inside of
us.
May God Bless
your life, so that you become a blessing to
others and ambassadors to the Church by your
acts. When people see your deeds they will glorify
your Father who art in Heaven. Remember me in
your prayers
Ehab Wahib
FOURTH CHAPTER
The book of Baruch
Bible, Revised
Standard Version
Baruch
Bar.1
[1] These are the words of the book which Baruch the son of Neraiah,
son of Mahseiah, son of Zedekiah, son of Hasadiah,
son of Hilkiah, wrote in Babylon, [2] in the fifth year, on the seventh day of the month, at the time
when the Chaldeans took Jerusalem and burned
it with fire. [3]
And Baruch read the words of this book in the
hearing of Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king
of Judah, and in the hearing of all the people
who came to hear the book, [4] and in the hearing of the mighty men and the princes, and in
the hearing of the elders, and in the hearing
of all the people, small and great, all who
dwelt in Babylon by the river Sud. [5]
Then they wept, and fasted, and prayed before
the Lord;[6] and they collected money, each giving what he could; [7] and they sent it to Jerusalem to Jehoiakim the high priest, the
son of Hilkiah, son of Shallum, and to the priests,
and to all the people who were present with
him in Jerusalem.
[8] At the same time, on the tenth day of Sivan, Baruch took the
vessels of the house of the Lord, which had
been carried away from the temple, to return
them to the land of Judah -- the silver vessels
which Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah,
had made, [9]
after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried
away from Jerusalem Jeconiah and the princes
and the prisoners and the mighty men and the
people of the land, and brought them to Babylon.
[10] And they said: "Herewith we send you money; so buy with
the money burnt offerings and sin offerings
and incense, and prepare a cereal offering,
and offer them upon the altar of the Lord our
God; [11] and pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and
for the life of Belshazzar his son, that their
days on earth may be like the days of heaven.
[12] And the Lord will give us strength, and he will give light to
our eyes, and we shall live under the protection
of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and under
the protection of Belshazzar his son, and we
shall serve them many days and find favor in
their sight.
[13] And pray for us to the Lord our God, for we have sinned against
the Lord our God, and to this day the anger
of the Lord and his wrath have not turned away
from us. [14] And you shall read this book which we are sending you, to make
your confession in the house of the Lord on
the days of the feasts and at appointed seasons.
[15] "And you shall say: `Righteousness belongs to the Lord our
God, but confusion of face, as at this day,
to us, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, [16]
and to our kings and our princes and our priests
and our prophets and our fathers, [17] because we have sinned before the Lord, [18] and have disobeyed him, and have not heeded the voice of the
Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the
Lord which he set before us.
[19] From the day when the Lord brought our fathers out of the land
of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient
to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent,
in not heeding his voice.
[20] So to this day there have clung to us the calamities and
the curse which the Lord declared through Moses his servant at
the time when he brought our fathers out of
the land of Egypt to give to us a land flowing
with milk and honey.
[21] We did not heed the voice of the Lord our God in all the words
of the prophets whom he sent to us, but we each
followed the intent of his own wicked heart
by serving other Gods and doing what is evil
in the sight of the Lord our God.
Bar.2
[1]"`So the Lord confirmed his word, which he spoke against
us, and against our judges who judged Israel, and against our kings and
against our princes and against the men of Israel and Judah. [2]
Under the whole heaven there has not been done
the like of what he has done in Jerusalem, in
accordance with what is written in the law of
Moses, [3] that we should eat, one the flesh of his son and another the
flesh of his daughter.
[4] And he gave them into subjection to all the kingdoms around us,
to be a reproach and desolation among all the
surrounding peoples, where the Lord has scattered
them.
[5] They were brought low and not raised up, because we sinned against
the Lord our God, in not heeding his voice. [6]
"`Righteousness belongs to the Lord our
God, but
confusion of face to us and our fathers, as at this day. [7]
All those calamities with which the Lord threatened
us have come upon us. [8]
Yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord
by turning away, each of us, from the thoughts
of his wicked heart.
[9] And the Lord has kept the calamities ready, and the Lord has
brought them upon us, for the Lord is righteous
in all his works which he has commanded us to
do. [10] Yet we have not obeyed his voice, to walk in the statutes of
the Lord which he set before us [11]
"`And now, O Lord God of Israel, who didst
bring thy people out of the land of Egypt with
a mighty hand and with signs and wonders and
with great power and
outstretched arm, and hast made thee
a name, as at this day, [12]
we have sinned, we have been unGodly, we have
done wrong, O Lord our God, against all thy
ordinances.
[13] Let thy anger turn away from us, for we are left, few in number,
among the nations where thou hast scattered
us. [14]
Hear, O Lord, our prayer and our supplication,
and for thy own sake deliver us, and grant us
favor in the sight of those who have carried
us into exile; [15] that all the earth may know that thou art the Lord our God, for
Israel and his descendants are called by thy
name. [16]
O Lord, look down from thy holy habitation,
and consider us. Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear; [17] open thy eyes, O Lord, and see; for the dead who are in Hades,
whose spirit has been taken from their bodies,
will not ascribe glory or justice to the Lord,
[18] but the person that is greatly distressed, that goes about bent
over and feeble, and the eyes that are failing,
and the person that hungers, will ascribe to
thee glory and righteousness, O Lord. [19]
For it is not because of any righteous deeds
of our fathers or our kings that we bring before
thee our prayer for mercy, O Lord our God. [20]
For thou hast sent thy anger and thy wrath upon
us, as thou didst declare by thy servants the
prophets, saying: [21]
"Thus says the Lord: Bend your shoulders
and serve the king of Babylon and you will remain
in the land which I gave to your fathers. [22]
But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord
and will not serve the king of Babylon, [23] I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the region
about Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice
of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and
the voice of the bride, and the whole land will
be a desolation without inhabitants." [24]
"`But we did not obey thy voice, to serve
the king of Babylon; and thou hast confirmed
thy words, which thou didst speak by thy servants
the prophets, that the bones of our kings and
the bones of our fathers would be brought out
of their graves; [25] and behold, they have been cast out to the heat of day and the
frost of night.
They perished in great misery, by famine
and sword and pestilence.
[26] And the house which is called by thy name thou hast made as it
is today, because of the wickedness of the house
of Israel and the house of Judah. [27]
"`Yet thou hast dealt with us, O Lord our
God, in all thy kindness and in all thy great
compassion, [28] as thou didst speak by thy servant Moses on the day when thou
didst command him to write thy law in the presence
of the people of Israel, saying, [29] "If you will not obey my voice, this very great multitude
will surely turn into a small number among the
nations, where I will scatter them.
[30] For I know that they will not obey me, for they are a stiff-necked
people. But
in the land of their exile they will come to
themselves, [31]
and they will know that I am the Lord their
God. I will give them a heart that obeys and ears
that hear; [32] and they will praise me in the land of their exile, and will
remember my name, [33] and will turn from their stubbornness and their wicked deeds;
for they will remember the ways of their fathers,
who sinned before the Lord [34] I will bring them again into the land which I swore to give to
their fathers, to Abraham and to Isaac and to
Jacob, and they will rule over it; and I will
increase them, and they will not be diminished. [35]
I will make an everlasting covenant with them
to be their God and they shall be my people;
and I will never again remove my people Israel from the land which I have
given them."
Bar.3
[1] "`O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, the soul in anguish and the
wearied spirit cry out to thee.
[2] Hear, O Lord, and have mercy, for we have sinned before thee.
[3] For thou art enthroned for ever, and we are perishing for ever.
[4] O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, hear now the prayer of the dead
of Israel and of the sons of those who sinned
before thee, who did not heed the voice of the
Lord their God, so that calamities have clung
to us. [5]
Remember not the iniquities of our fathers,
but in this crisis remember thy power and thy
name. [6] For thou art the Lord our God, and thee, O Lord, will we praise.
[7] For thou hast put the fear of thee in our hearts in order that
we should call upon thy name; and we will praise
thee in our exile, for we have put away from
our hearts all the iniquity of our fathers who
sinned before thee.
[8] Behold, we are today in our exile where thou hast scattered us,
to be reproached and cursed and punished for
all the iniquities of our fathers who forsook
the Lord our God.'" [9] Hear the commandments of life, O Israel; give ear, and learn wisdom!
[10] Why is it, O Israel, why is it that you are in the land of your
enemies, that you are growing old in a foreign
country, that you are defiled with the dead,
[11] that you are counted among those in Hades? [12] You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom. [13]
If you had walked in the way of God, you would
be dwelling in peace for ever.
[14] Learn where there is wisdom, where there is strength, where there
is understanding, that you may at the same time
discern where there is length of days, and life,
where there is light for the eyes, and peace. [15]
Who has found her place? And who has entered
her storehouses? [16] Where are the princes of the nations, and those who rule over
the beasts on earth; [17] those who have sport with the birds of the air, and who hoard
up silver and gold in which men trust, and there
is no end to their getting; [18] those who scheme to get silver, and are anxious, whose labors
are beyond measure? [19] They have vanished and gone down to Hades, and others have arisen
in their place.
[20] Young men have seen the light of day, and have dwelt upon the
earth; but they have not learned the way to
knowledge, nor understood her paths, nor laid
hold of her.
[21] Their sons have strayed far from her way. [22]
She has not been heard of in Canaan, nor seen
in Teman; [23] the sons of Hagar, who seek for understanding on the earth, the
merchants of Merran and Teman, the story-tellers
and the seekers for understanding, have not
learned the way to wisdom, nor given thought
to her paths.
[24] O Israel,
how great is the house of God! And how vast
the territory that he possesses! [25] It is great and has no bounds; it is high and immeasurable.
[26] The giants were born there, who were famous of old, great in
stature, expert in war.
[27] God did not choose them, nor give them the way to knowledge;
[28] so they perished because they had no wisdom, they perished through
their folly.
[29] Who has gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down
from the clouds? [30] Who has gone over the sea, and found her, and will buy her for
pure gold? [31] No one knows the way to her, or is concerned about the path to
her. [32] But he who knows all things knows her, he found her by his understanding.
He who prepared the earth for all time
filled it with four-footed creatures; [33] he who sends forth the light, and it goes, called it, and it
obeyed him in fear; [34] the stars shone in their watches, and were glad; he called them,
and they said, "Here we are!" They
shone with gladness for him who made them.
[35] This is our God; no other can be compared to him! [36] He found the whole way to knowledge, and gave her to Jacob his
servant and to Israel
whom he loved.
[37] Afterward she appeared upon earth and lived among men.
Bar.4
[1] She is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that
endures for ever.
All who hold her fast will live, and those who forsake her will
die. [2] Turn, O Jacob, and take her; walk toward the shining of her light.
[3] Do not give your glory to another or your advantages to an alien
people. [4] Happy are we, O Israel, for we know what is pleasing
to God. [5] Take courage, my people, O memorial of Israel! [6] It was not for destruction that you were sold to the nations,
but you were handed over to your enemies because
you angered God. [7]
For you provoked him who made you, by sacrificing
to demons and not to God.
[8] You forgot the everlasting God, who brought you up, and you grieved
Jerusalem,
who reared you.
[9] For she saw the wrath that came upon you from God, and she said:
"Hearken, you neighbors of Zion, God has
brought great sorrow upon me; [10] for I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters, which
the Everlasting brought upon them.
[11] With joy I nurtured them, but I sent them away with weeping and
sorrow. [12] let no one rejoice over me, a widow and bereaved of many; I was
left desolate because of the sins of my children,
because they turned away from the law of God.
[13] They had no regard for his statutes; they did not walk in the
ways of God's commandments, nor tread the paths
of discipline in his righteousness.
[14] Let the neighbors of Zion
come; remember the capture of my sons and daughters,
which the Everlasting brought upon them.
[15] For he brought against them a nation from afar, a shameless nation,
of a strange language, who had no respect for
an old man, and had no pity for a child.
[16] They led away the widow's beloved sons, and bereaved the lonely
woman of her daughters.
[17] "But I, how can I help you? [18] For he who brought these calamities upon you will deliver you
from the hand of your enemies [19]
go, my children, go; for I have been left desolate?
[20] I have taken off the robe of peace and put on the sackcloth of
my supplication; I will cry to the Everlasting
all my days. [21]
"Take courage, my children, cry to God,
and he will deliver you from the power and hand
of the enemy.
[22] For I have put my hope in the Everlasting to save you, and joy
has come to me from the Holy One, because of
the mercy which soon will come to you from your
everlasting Savior.
[23] For I sent you out with sorrow and weeping, but God will give
you back to me with joy and gladness for ever.
[24] For as the neighbors of Zion have now seen your capture, so they
soon will see your salvation by God, which will
come to you with great glory and with the splendor
of the Everlasting.
[25] My children, endure with patience the wrath that has come upon
you from God.
Your enemy has overtaken you, but you
will soon see their destruction and will tread
upon their necks.
[26] My tender sons have traveled rough roads; they were taken away
like a flock carried off by the enemy.
[27] "Take courage, my children, and cry to God, for you will
be remembered by him who brought this upon you.
[28] For just as you purposed to go astray from God, return with tenfold
zeal to seek him.
[29] For he who brought these calamities upon you will bring you everlasting
joy with your salvation." [30]
Take courage, O Jerusalem,
for he who named you will comfort you.
[31] Wretched will be those who afflicted you and rejoiced at your
fall. [32] Wretched will be the cities which your children served as slaves;
wretched will be the city which received your
sons. [33]
For just as she rejoiced at your fall and was
glad for your ruin, so she will be grieved at
her own desolation.
[34] And I will take away her pride in her great population, and her
insolence will be turned to grief.
[35] For fire will come upon her from the Everlasting for many days,
and for a long time she will be inhabited by
demons. [36]
Look toward the east, O Jerusalem,
and see the joy that is coming to you from God!
[37] Behold, your sons are coming, whom you sent away; they are coming,
gathered from east and west, at the word of
the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God.
Bar.5
[1] Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on for
ever the beauty of the glory from God.
[2] Put on the robe of the righteousness from God; put on your head
the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting. [3]
For God will show your splendor everywhere under
heaven. [4]
For your name will for ever be called by God,
"Peace of righteousness and glory of Godliness."
[5] Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height and look toward the
east, and see your children gathered from west
and east, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing
that God has remembered them. [6]
For they went forth from you on foot, led away
by their enemies; but God will bring them back
to you, carried in glory, as on a royal throne. [7]
For God has ordered that every high mountain
and the everlasting hills be made low and the
valleys filled up, to make level ground, so
that Israel may walk safely in the glory of
God. [8] The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God's
command. [9] For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his
glory, with the mercy and righteousness that
come from him
Bar.6
The Letter of Jeremiah
6 A copy of a letter that Jeremiah sent to those who
were to be taken to Babylon as exiles by the
king of the Babylonians, to give them the message
that God had commanded him.
The People Face a Long Captivity
2 Because of the sins that
you have committed before God, you will be taken
to Babylon as exiles by Nebuchadnezzar, king
of the Babylonians.
3Therefore when
you have come to Babylon you will remain there
for many years, for a long time, up to seven
generations; after that I will bring you away
from there in peace. 4Now in Babylon you
will see Gods made of silver and gold and wood,
which people carry on their shoulders, and which
cause the heathen to fear.
5So beware of
becoming at all like the foreigners or of letting
fear for these Godsa possess you 6when you see
the multitude before and behind them worshiping
them. But say in your heart, "It is you, O Lord,
whom we must worship." 7For
my angel is with you, and he is watching over
your lives.
The Helplessness of Idols
8 Their tongues are smoothed
by the carpenter, and they themselves are overlaid
with gold and silver; but they are false and
cannot speak.
9Peopleb take gold and make crowns for
the heads of their Gods, as they might for a
girl who loves ornaments. 10Sometimes the priests
secretly take gold and silver from their Gods
and spend it on themselves, 11or
even give some of it to the prostitutes on the
terrace. They
deck their Godsc
out with garments like human beings--these Gods
of silver and gold and wood 12that cannot save themselves from rust and corrosion.
When they have been dressed in purple
robes, 13their
faces are wiped because of the dust from the
temple, which is thick upon them. 14One of them holds
a scepter, like a district judge, but is unable
to destroy anyone who offends it.
15Another has
a dagger in its right hand, and an ax, but cannot
defend itself from war and robbers.
16From this
it is evident that they are not Gods; so do
not fear them.
17 For just as someone's
dish is useless when it is broken, 18so
are their Gods when they have been set up in
the temples.
Their eyes are full of the dust raised
by the feet of those who enter. And just as the gates are shut on every side
against anyone who has offended a king, as though
under sentence of death, so the priests make
their temples secure with doors and locks and
bars, in order that they may not be plundered
by robbers.
19They light
more lamps for them than they light for themselves,
though their Godsd can see none of them. 20They
aree just like a beam of the temple, but their hearts, it is
said, are eaten away when crawling creatures
from the earth devour them and their robes.
They do not notice 21when their faces have been blackened by the smoke of
the temple.
22Bats, swallows,
and birds alight on their bodies and heads;
and so do cats. 23From this you will
know that they are not Gods; so do not fear
them.
24 As for the gold
that they wear for beauty--itf will not shine unless someone
wipes off the tarnish; for even when they were
being cast, they did not feel it.
25They are
bought without regard to cost, but there is
no breath in them. 26Having no feet, they
are carried on the shoulders of others, revealing
to humankind their worthlessness.
And those who serve them are put to shame 27because,
if any of these Gods fallsg
to the ground, they themselves must pick it
up. If
anyone sets it upright, it cannot move itself;
and if it is tipped over, it cannot straighten
itself. Gifts
are placed before them just as before the dead.
28The priests
sell the sacrifices that are offered to these
Godsh
and use the money themselves.
Likewise their wives preserve some of
the meati with salt, but give none to the poor or helpless. 29Sacrifices to them
may even be touched by women in their periods
or at childbirth. Since you know by these things that they are
not Gods, do not fear them.
30 For how can they
be called Gods? Women serve meals for Gods of
silver and gold and wood; 31and
in their temples the priests sit with their
clothes torn, their heads and beards shaved,
and their heads uncovered.
32They howl
and shout before their Gods as some do at a
funeral banquet.
33The priests take some of the clothing of their Godsj to clothe their wives and children.
34Whether one does evil to
them or good, they will not be able to repay
it. They cannot set up a king or depose one. 35Likewise they are not able to give
either wealth or money; if one makes a vow to
them and does not keep it, they will not require
it. 36They
cannot save anyone from death or rescue the
weak from the strong. 37They cannot restore sight to the
blind; they cannot rescue one who is in distress. 38They cannot take pity on a widow
or do good to an orphan.
39These things that are made
of wood and overlaid with gold and silver are
like stones from the mountain, and those who
serve them will be put to shame. 40Why then must anyone think that
they are Gods, or call them Gods?
Besides, even the Chaldeans themselves dishonor
them; for when they see someone who cannot speak,
they bring Bel and pray that the mute may speak,
as though Belk were able to understand! 41Yet they themselves
cannot perceive this and abandon them, for they
have no sense. 42And the women, with cords around
them, sit along the passageways, burning bran
for incense. 43When one of them is led off by
one of the passers-by and is taken to bed by
him, she derides the woman next to her, because
she was not as attractive as herself and her
cord was not broken.
44Whatever is done for these
idolsl
is false. Why
then must anyone think that they are Gods, or
call them Gods?
45 They are made by carpenters and
goldsmiths; they can be nothing but what the
artisans wish them to be.
46Those who make them will
certainly not live very long themselves; 47how
then can the things that are made by them be
Gods? They have left only lies and reproach
for those who come after.
48For when war or calamity
comes upon them, the priests consult together
as to where they can hide themselves and their
Gods.m 49How then can one fail to see that these
are not Gods, for they cannot save themselves
from war or calamity? 50Since
they are made of wood and overlaid with gold
and silver, it will afterward be known that
they are false.
51It will be manifest to all
the nations and kings that they are not Gods
but the work of human hands, and that there
is no work of God in them. 52Who then can fail to know that
they are not Gods?n
53 For they cannot set up a king
over a country or give rain to people.
54They cannot judge their
own cause or deliver one who is wronged, for
they have no power; 55they are
like crows between heaven and earth.
When fire breaks out in a temple of wooden
Gods overlaid with gold or silver, their priests
will flee and escape, but the Godso will be burned up like timbers.
56Besides, they can offer
no resistance to king or enemy.
Why then must anyone admit or think that
they are Gods?
57 Gods made of wood and overlaid
with silver and gold are unable to save themselves
from thieves or robbers.
58Anyone who can will strip
them of their gold and silver and of the robes
they wear, and go off with this booty, and they
will not be able to help themselves.
59So it is better to be a
king who shows his courage, or a household utensil
that serves its owner's need, than to be these
false Gods; better even the door of a house
that protects its contents, than these false
Gods; better also a wooden pillar in a palace,
than these false Gods.
60 For sun and moon and stars are
bright, and when sent to do a service, they
are obedient.
61So also the lightning, when
it flashes, is widely seen; and the wind likewise
blows in every land.
62When God commands the clouds
to go over the whole world, they carry out his
command. 63And
the fire sent from above to consume mountains
and woods does what it is ordered. But these idolsp are not to be compared with them in appearance or power.
64Therefore one must not think
that they are Gods, nor call them Gods, for
they are not able either to decide a case or
to do good to anyone.
65Since you know then that
they are not Gods, do not fear them.
66 They can neither curse nor bless
kings; 67they cannot show signs
in the heavens for the nations, or shine like
the sun or give light like the moon.
68The wild animals are better
than they are, for they can flee to shelter
and help themselves.
69So we have no evidence whatever
that they are Gods; therefore do not fear them.
70 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber
bed, which guards nothing, so are their Gods
of wood, overlaid with gold and silver. 71In the same way, their Gods of
wood, overlaid with gold and silver, are like
a thornbush in a garden on which every bird
perches; or like a corpse thrown out in the
darkness. 72From the purple and linenq that rot upon them you will
know that they are not Gods; and they will finally
be consumed themselves, and be a reproach in
the land. 73Better,
therefore, is someone upright who has no idols;
such a person will be far above reproach.
FIFTH CHAPTER
Firstly:
Answers to the objections on the authenticity
of the Book
Secondly:
Books for the same author.
Thirdly:
References.
Answers to the objections on the Authenticity of the book.
The First Objection:
They say that the book is not like the other books that was used as
a reference in the Gospel and the New Testament
.For it said that no one from the authors of
the New Testament have used the book. That is why the protestant have not included
this book in the Bible.
The Answer:
Here we answer that the book of Baruch was part of the book of Jeremiah
and completing it till the second century .and
to be sure of it and its authenticity:
1. St Paul the apostle use it as a reference in (1 Corth 1:24) Christ the power of
God and the wisdom of God.
For Baruch the prophet talks about the hidden wisdom, that is hid
form the world, and that which was given by
God to Israel, he asks
the question:
[29] Who has gone up into heaven, and taken her, and brought her down
from the clouds? (Baruch 3:29).
The answer here is from the mouth of our Lord Jesus that which
was given to us through the beloved apostle
: 13 No
one has ascended to heaven but He who came down
from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.( John 3:13).
2. The Prophet Baruch when he
warns Israel
for their sins he says: [7] For you provoked him who made you, by sacrificing to demons and
not to God.
(Baruch 4:7).
The apostle St Paul
repeats the same words warning the Church
of Corinthians.
20 Rather,
that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice
they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and
I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you
cannot partake of the Lord's Table and of the
table of demons. 22
Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
((1Corth 10:20-22). Here St
Paul uses two verses
in the book of Baruch.
3. The prophecy of Baruch:
[36] He found the whole way to knowledge, and gave her to Jacob his
servant and to Israel
whom he loved.
[37] Afterward he appeared upon earth
and lived among men. (Baruch
3:36).
We find Baruch is in front of a great revelation in which he sees
God appearing on earth and walking among men. This is also explained by St John the beloved: And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth.
(John 1:14).
He also said : That which was from the beginning, which
we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon, and our hands have
handled, concerning the Word of life-- ( 1 John
1:1). So St John did not take the exact words but it
follows closely to what was stated in the book
of Baruch.
The Second Objection
The book had verses from the psalms :[17] open thy eyes, O Lord, and see; for the dead who are in Hades,
whose spirit has been taken from their bodies,
will not ascribe glory or justice to the Lord,(
Baruch 2:17).
The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor any who go down into silence.
(Psalms 115:17).
If the book was inspired, then why does it contain exact words
that was mentioned in other books?
The Answer:
The scriber of the book is Baruch the son of Neraiah, son of Mahseiah
who came after David and after the time on which
the Psalms were written, so we do not see any
objection in the scriber using the psalms, as
we see a lot of verses from the Old Testament
being used in the New Testament.
The Third Objection
In the book there was a city by the name of Merran in (Baruch 3:23)
[23] the sons of Hagar, who seek for understanding on the earth, the
merchants of Merran and Teman, the story-tellers
and the seekers for understanding, have not
learned the way to wisdom, nor given thought
to her paths.
For
it is clear that we did not know about this
city before and was not mentioned in any of
the Books of the Old Testament.
The Answer:
We response and say that in the same verse (Baruch 3:23) in which
the city was mentioned (Merran) there was another
city that was mentioned which was the city of
Teman and the people of Hagar, so it is very
clear that the city of Merran is close to the
city of Teman which is to the north of Edom
on the hill of Esau to the East of the city
of Betra in which the people were well known
for their wisdom:
+ 7 Against Edom. Thus says the LORD of
hosts: " Is
wisdom no more in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?
(Jeremiah 49:7).
+ 9 Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that
everyone from the mountains of Esau May be cut
off by slaughter. (Obadiah 9).
So it is related to the people of Hagar and that is confirmed in
the book of Baruch (Ba 3:23) about the people
of these two cities that they were " story-tellers
and seekers for understanding" that is
to say they were of great wisdom exactly as
was mentioned in the book of Jeremiah and the
book of Obadiah.
The fourth Objection:
Some object that history did not mention anything about the vessels
that was retrieved to Jerusalem
as mentioned in the book of Baruch 1:8
The answer:
If we look closely to the text we do not find any contradiction
as [8] At the same time, on the tenth day of Sivan, Baruch took the
vessels of the house of the Lord, which had
been carried away from the temple, to return
them to the land of Judah…
The book mention the word return and did not mention returned
and in verse 10 it mentions that he
sent silver to buy the burnt offerings of sin
offerings to be offered in the house of the
Lord. In verse 14 in the same chapter he mentions
that the book was sent to be read to the people
in the house of the Lord and did not mention
the vessels that went with the book to return
to Judah, as this was one of the failure attempts
to retrieve the vessels which was prophesized
by in the book of Jeremiah.
Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, "Thus
says the LORD: "Do not listen to the words
of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying,
"Behold, the vessels
of the Lord's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon"; for they
prophesy a lie to you.
17 Do not listen to
them; serve the king of Babylon,
and live! Why should this city be laid waste?
18 But if they are
prophets, and if the word of the LORD is with them, let them now make
intercession to the LORD of hosts, that the vessels which
are left in the house of the LORD, in the house
of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not
go to Babylon.' 19 "For thus says the LORD of hosts concerning
the pillars, concerning the Sea, concerning
the carts, and concerning the remainder of the
vessels that remain in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon did not take, when he carried
away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim,
king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and
all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem-- 21 yes, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain
in the house of the LORD, and in the house of
the king of Judah and of Jerusalem: 22 "They shall
be carried to Babylon, and there they shall
be until the day that I visit them,' says the
LORD. "Then
I will bring them up and restore them to this
place.'" 1 And it happened in the same year, at the beginning
of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the
fourth year and in the fifth month, that Hananiah
the son of Azur the prophet, who was from Gibeon,
spoke to me in the house of the LORD in the presence of the priests
and of all the people, saying, 2 "Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, the God
of Israel, saying: "I have broken the yoke
of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two full years I will
bring back to this place all the vessels of
the Lord's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon
took away from this place and carried to Babylon. 4 And I will bring back to this
place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of
Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went
to Babylon,' says the LORD, "for I will
break the yoke of the king of Babylon.'"
5
Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence
of the priests and in the presence of all the
people who stood in the house of the LORD, 6
and the prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! The LORD do so; the LORD perform your words
which you have prophesied, to bring back the
vessels of the Lord’s house and all who were
carried away captive, from Babylon to this place. 7 Nevertheless hear now
this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the
people: 8
The prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied
against many countries and great kingdoms--of
war and disaster and pestilence.
9 As for the prophet
who prophesies of peace, when the word of the
prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known
as one whom the LORD has truly sent."
The Fifth Objection:
Some object the mention of Jehoiakim the priest (Ba 1:7).
As this name is not mentioned history
till a full century has passed.
The answer:
It was very clear that Nebuchadnezzar used
to change names as he changed Metnia the cousin
of Jeconiah the king, as he has done before
in changing the name of Pharaoh Necho the king
of Egypt from Eliakim
to Jehoiakim when his brother Jehoahaz was captive.
31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three
years old when he became king, and he reigned
three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of
Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 And he did evil
in the sight of the LORD, according to all that
his fathers had done. 33 Now Pharaoh Necho put him in
prison at Riblah in the land
of Hamath,
that he might not reign in Jerusalem;
and he imposed on the land a tribute of one
hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
34 Then Pharaoh Necho
made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place
of his father Josiah, and changed his name to
Jehoiakim. And
Pharaoh took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there. (2 Kings 23:31-34).
He also changed Mattaniah to Zedekiah.
Then the king of Babylon
made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in
his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
(2 Kings 24:17).
For when Nebuchadnezzar went in the second stage of captivity with
the hands of the captain of the guard Nebuzaradan,
he killed Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah
the second priest.
24 The
captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief
priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the
three doorkeepers.
25 He
also took out of the city an officer who had
charge of the men of war, seven men of the king's
close associates who
were found in the city, the principal
scribe of the army who mustered the people of
the land, and sixty men of the people of the
land who were found in the midst of the city.
26 And
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took these
and brought them to the king of Babylon
at Riblah. 27 Then
the king of Babylon
struck them and put them to death at Riblah
in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive from
its own land.
(Jer 52:24-27).
Shallum begot Hilkiah, and
Hilkiah begot Azariah; 14 Azariah begot Seraiah,
and Seraiah begot Jehozadak.
15
Jehozadak went into
captivity when the LORD
carried Judah
and Jerusalem
into captivity by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. (1 Chronicles 6:13-14).
We do not know if he has been returned back to Jerusalem or not,
and if he has changed his name or took one of
his brothers and gave him the name of Jehoiakim
instead, for Baruch mentions that he is the
son of Hilkiah the son of Shallum .
Compare to
and they sent it to Jerusalem
to Jehoiakim the high priest, the son of Hilkiah,
son of Shallum, and to the priests, and to all
the people who were present with him in Jerusalem (Baruch 1:7).
+ Shallum begot Hilkiah, and Hilkiah begot
Azariah; 14 Azariah begot Seraiah,
and Seraiah begot Jehozadak (1 Chronicles 6:13).
+ 11 Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok,
the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the
officer over the house of God; ( 1 Chronicles
9:11).
+ Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of
Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub,
was the leader of the house of God.(
Nehmiah 11:11).
These were the objections and their answers.
To this the Lord has
helped us.
References
1 The dictionary of the Bible.
2 The book of encyclopedia the first and second and third and fourth.
3 GOOD NEWS BIBLE.
4 The book of Baruch by the Rev: Fr Bishoy Abdelmasih ( know your
Bible).
5 The book of Baruch by the Monk Youanis St Paula.
6 The magazine of Morcos the year1992 from January to December
in the explanations of the book of Baruch.
7 the holy Bible old testament in the council of the Holy Bible
in the east 1991.
Dar elmashrik -Beirut
.
8 The illustrated Bible dictionary (Part 1).
The illustrated Bible dictionary
(Part 2).
The illustrated Bible dictionary (Part 3).
9 The interpretation of the Book of Jeremiah by the Rev Fr Tadros
Yacoub Malaty.
10 Encarta Encyclopedia 1993-1995.
11 The interpretation of the book of Baruch ( the second Canonical
Books Maktabit Elmahaba).
12 The deacons and hymns service book ( khedmet Elshamas) by the
Teacher Farag Abdelmasih 1990 edition.
13 The apocryphal Devterocakanonical Books.
14 The Nicene & post Nicen Fathers Vol IX (9) p. 84 in the book of trinity by John of Damascus.
Hilary ebn boaniras.
15 The Nicene & post Nicen
Fathers Vol IX (9) p.
97 in the book of trinity by John of
Damascus . Heliary
ebn boaniras.
16 The Nicene and post Nicene fathers vol V (5) p 101
17 Saint Gregory the Bishop of Nica referring to parts of the Book
of Baruch.
18 The Nicene father letter of Athanasious Vol IV (4) P 552.
19 The Nicen Father Vol VII (7)
P 68.
20 The Nicen Father Vol VII ( 7) P 27. St Cyril of Jerusalem.
21 The Nicen Antinicent Father Vol X (10).
22 The Nicen Antinicent
Father Vol V (5) P 224 Heiopoliet.
23 The Nicen Antinicent Father Vol V (5). P 69-73.
24 The book of the passion week - Alexandria edition -sporting.
25 The Holy Bible ( councils of the holy Bible Lebanon). The old Testament the Fourth Edition 1995.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++
+++
+
Other Books for the Author.
1. The book of Tobit, first
edition finished, second edition finished, and
currently preparing for the third edition.
2 The Book of Judith, the first edition has finished, currently printing
the second edition.
3 the completion of the book of Daniel the first edition.
Saint George Coptic Orthodox Church
3 A Bowral St Kensington Sydney NSW 2033 Australia.
Post Office Box 52 Kensington NSW 2033
The Church
of St MARY
Roud elfarag 5 Elkarky
St
Shoubra Masir.
Cairo - Egypt.
Dr Munir Agiby
Chicago USA.
+ If the book runs out we will print a second edition for all the income
from this work goes in the activities of Holy
Bible Studies.
+ You can obtain a copy of the book by ringing (02) 9825 2470 Sydney
or 4321937 Cairo.
Or via correspondence: 18 Glengyle Cr
Wattle Grove NSW 2173 SYDNEY AUSTRALIA.
OR Egypt. 30
Ebin Elasir St Shoubra
Cairo.
Also available the following competitions in the Holy Bible in Arabic
and English:
The book of Luke
The Book of Jonah.
The Book of James.
The book of Tobit.
The Book of Judges.
The Book of Joshua.
The Book of Esther.
The Book of Judith.
The Book of Genesis.
The books of the first and second epistle of St Peter.
