Jeremiah 45:3b-5

I encourage you all to read Jeremiah 45. It is very short, with only 5 verses, and is an absolute gem of a chapter. It contains the mystery of the preciousness of life, along with the mystery of happiness despite suffering. And these two, I feel, are inexorably linked.

‘Thus you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, what I have built I will break down, and what I have planted I will pluck up, that is, this whole land. 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 45:4-5)

Jeremiah is saying this to Baruch, his scribe, who apparently is almost dying of suffering, saying: ‘I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest’ (Jeremiah 45:3b).

Verse four instantly reminded me of the phrase: ‘He gives and takes away’, made famous of course by the song ‘Blessed be Your name’. What God builds He breaks down, and what He plants He plucks up. The earth is His playground, and so it should be, since He is the glorious creator who own every atom of it. Some kingdoms are powerful by our human standards, and yet they are merely play-things, like little children playing ‘king of the castle’ to God. Some men are powerful, some dynasties last centuries, and yet all of it is mere insignificance in God’s eyes. Anyone who wields any ‘power’ on this earth was merely given it by God for a temporary period. He builds them up, he breaks them down. He plants movements and nations, and plucks them up just as readily. The earth is His, and all that is in it.

This is a happy thought! Because we know that our God is good and perfect and loving and gracious. And if He exhibits this kind of absolute control over our Universe, then we can feel perfectly happy with anything that comes about in it. Anything that happens is merely a projection of His will. The cruellest suffering on our part is nought but happiness, because we know that the Lord wills it so. That is, unless we do not trust Him. If this is the case, then any bad thing that happens will be amplified because we attribute blame to God: this will increase our unhappiness. We see that a good view of God’s sovereignty and goodness is integral to being happy.

Secondly, we see the preciousness of life. Do we seek great things for ourselves? Do we seek to become the head of some company, or to be a competitive athlete, or a world-class musician, or to become extremely wealthy? Do not! For God brings adversity on all flesh: that is, in this life there is no way to win. There is always an enemy. There is always the curse. There is no point in seeking great things for ourselves. But let’s change our focus. Let’s receive God’s life. And that shall be as a prize to us, wherever we go.

You see, God isn’t criticizing ambition here. He is not saying: ‘do not do your best!’ He is telling Baruch to change his focus: rather than chasing all the things of this life which would make him great, he should rely only on God to give him his life. And that small gift, as it were, will be a prize to him, whatever he is doing and wherever he is. Why? Specifically because God gave it to Him. God, the source of ultimate pure life. There is no curse in what God has for you. There is no enemy.

I really liked this chapter, and I hope you all can gain something out of it.