Jer 45:1-5 Your Life Will I Give Unto You – As Ye Have Done it Unto the Least of These…Ye Have Done it Unto Me

[Study Aired July 10, 2022]

Jer 45:1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
Jer 45:2 Thus saith the LORD, the god of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch’
Jer 45:3 Thou didst say, Woe is me now! For the LORD hat added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.
Jer 45:4 Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD saith thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land.
Jer 45:5 And meekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.

In this chapter, we will see Jeremiah, as with all the prophets, as a type of Christ, and we will see Baruch, his scribe, as a type of Christ’s disciples who were faithful and true servants of the Lord to the end, suffering the hatred and rejection of the world throughout their lives. The message of this chapter is:

Mat 10:22. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Jeremiah at this time was in prison. ‘Prison’ in scripture is used to describe the state of death. King David spoke of death as a prison from which the Lord would deliver his soul.

Psa 142: 7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.

The prophet Isaiah speaks of death as the gathering place of all men awaiting the resurrection of the dead:

Isa 24:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
Isa 24:22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.

This verse in Isaiah is quoted in the New Testament by Christ as referring to Himself, who had come to make all in Adam alive from the dead:

Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Here is Christ’s commentary on the meaning of this prophecy of Isaiah:

Luk 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
Luk 4:17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hat sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luk 4:20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scriptures fulfilled in your ears.

‘Captives’ are all in prison, and all in Adam are in that ‘prison’ from which Christ in is the process of delivering us all. All of this typifies Christ’s work of entering the realm of death for the purpose of delivering us from that prison.

Jeremiah, as a type of Christ, is also in prison “in the court year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah”. In this position, Jeremiah called upon Baruch to write down this entire prophecy just as Christ’s disciples physically recorded the events of His ministry. We are now to have the law of Christ written in our hearts:

Jer 45:1  The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

Here is the recording of that event:

Jer 36:1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word come unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 36:2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
Jer 36:3 It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin,
Jer 36:4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.

Here is what the recording of the words of the Lord to Jeremiah and to all the prophets, signify:

2Co 3:2 Ye are our epistle written in our heats, known and read of all men:
2Co 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

Baruch, as a type of the disciples of Christ, stood by Jeremiah and served as Jeremiah’s scribe and as his messenger in very trying times. The next year after Baruch records this prophecy in a book, Jeremiah, who is not yet in prison (Jer 36:26), commands Baruch to read the prophecy for him in the temple in the presence of all the people. Without telling us exactly what happened to himself, Jeremiah tells us, “I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the Lord.” While Christ is quite capable of speaking for Himself, He also has chosen to speak to this world through His disciples whom He has sent to speak for Him, just as His Father sent Christ to speak for Him.

Joh 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father with sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

As a type of us, Baruch speaks for Jeremiah when commanded by Jeremiah to do so:

Jer 36:5 And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of the LORD:
Jer 36:6 Therefore go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of the LORD in the ears of the people in the LORD’S house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities.
Jer 36:7 It may be they will present their supplication before the LORD, and will return every one from his evil way: for great is the anger and the fury that the LORD hath pronounced against this people.
Jer 36:8 And Baruch the sob of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD’S house.
Jer 36: 9 And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.
Jer 36:10 Then read Baruch in 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 higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the LORD’S house in the ears of all the people.

Gamariah, the son of Shaphan, the king’s scribe, has a son whose name was Michaiah, who heard everything the Lord had told Jeremiah which Baruch had read in his father’s chamber in the presence of all the people in the high court of the temple. When Mehaiah had heard everything Baruch read from the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, he went to the king’s house and told all the princes that Jeremiah had said the Lord would give the city to the Chaldeans who would burn the city and make it desolate.

Jer 36:11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord,
Jer 36:12 Then he went down into the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber: and, lo, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hannah, and all the princes.
Jer 36:13 Then Michaiah declared unto them all the word that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people.

When the princes heard what Jeremiah had Baruch to record in a scroll saying ‘these words are from the Lord’, they were all very concerned, and sent a messenger to bring Baruch and the scroll to read it before them:

Jer 36:14  Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Netaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushim unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them.
Jer 36:15  And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.
Jer 36:16  Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.

Jer 36:19 Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.

Verse 19 is what reveals that, although Jeremiah was “shut up [and could] not go into the house of the Lord”, it was not because he was in prison. The Lord hid both Jeremiah and Baruch while the king burned the book of this prophecy in the fire on the hearth of his winter home.

Jer 36:22 Now the king sat in the winter house in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.
Jer 36:23 And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
Jer 36:24 Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
Jer 36:25 Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.
Jer 36:26 But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.

After the king burned the roll of the prophecy of the destruction of the city, the Lord told Jeremiah to have Baruch to write it all again, adding even more curses than before, which Baruch did:

Jer 36:32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.

King Jehoiakim had forgotten or was simply ignoring this twice-repeated commandment from the Lord:

Deu 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

Deu 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

This account of Jeremiah adding to the words of warning from the Lord to the king and his people demonstrates that the Lord was, even at that time, adding to the curse.

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the tings which are written in this book.

Here is another example of Baruch’s service and fidelity to Jeremiah shortly before Jerusalem fell:

Baruch was a witness of Jeremiah’s purchase of his cousin’s field in the tenth year of Zedekiah’s reign. Jeremiah is now in prison, and this is just a few months before the city is taken by the Chaldeans.

Jer 32:9 And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
Jer 32:10 And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.
Jer 32:11 So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open:
Jer 32:12 And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
Jer 32:13 And I charged Baruch before them, saying;
Jer 32:14 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
Jer 32:15 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.

Baruch heard and believed this prophecy and served Jeremiah faithfully and without hesitation, and the Lord is a rewarder of those who believe and diligently seek Him:

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Just as the Lord tells his disciples right up front:

Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death,
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Being saved out of and “through death” and entering into the kingdom of God as kings and priests is the glory that awaits those who “endure to the end”. We are told that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to that glory:

Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The Lord is just as straightforward with Baruch as He is with us:

Jer 45:2 Thus saith the LORD, the god of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch;
Jer 45:3 Thou didst say, Woe is me now! For the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.
Jer 45:4 Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD saith thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land.
Jer 45:5 And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.

This is not the promise of eonian life. ‘Your life I will give unto you for a prey in all places where you go’ is just a type of the “blessed and holy first resurrection” (Rev 20:6) which is promised to the overcomers in this dispensation of grace. All that happened to Baruch and Jeremiah and to all the patriarchs, kings, prophets, and to all the Lord’s people in the Old Testament happened to them and was all written down for our admonition. While it all appeared to be for their sakes, the truth is that it was not ministering to them at all. It was all taking place and being recorded for us:

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [Greek: aion] are come.

“The ends of the world” is better translated as “the consummation of the ages”. That ‘consummation’ produces life eonian in those who are given that honor. That blessing and honor was not made available to anyone before Christ was “made of a woman, made unto the law.”

Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Gal 4:7  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

“The fullness of time” refers to the time to redeem mankind from the sting of death, which is sin, which ‘sin’ in strengthened by the law:

1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

None of this was accomplished by giving the law of Moses to Israel. Nothing in the law of Moses ever offered Israel life eonian. All the blessings promised to Israel in the Old Testament were merely physical blessings which typify the glorious blessings which are part of life eonian. Life eonian was offered to those who overcome the trials of life in this present time, only after the death and resurrection of Christ.

Here are some of the blessings promised to the overcomer in this present time:

Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

Rev 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

That is a lot to give up just to maintain our foolish pride over an idol of our heart.

Baruch is blessed with being accused of turning Jeremiah against Azariah and Johanan and all the proud men who had sent Jeremiah to enquire of the Lord concerning whether they should go into Egypt:

Jer 43:1  And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
Jer 43:2  Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there:
Jer 43:3  But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.
Jer 43:4  So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah.
Jer 43:5  But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;
Jer 43:6  Even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that 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.
Jer 43:7  So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.

In type, Baruch, along with Jeremiah, was “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” and was blessed by the Lord for being faithful in the heat of persecution.

Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs in the kingdom of heaven.

1Pe 3:14  But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

Both Jeremiah and Baruch, his disciple and scribe, had, in type, come out of Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth, because that great harlot was Jerusalem itself:

Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! It was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Nevertheless, Baruch and Jeremiah, like us, must groan in pain together with the whole creation until the manifestation of the sons of God:

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Baruch was “given his life for a prey” as a reward for his fidelity to the words of the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah. His “life for a prey” is a mere type and shadow of our far more glorious salvation which is given to us only in “earnest”, only in downpayment form, in this present time. He and Jeremiah and all the patriarchs and all the righteous men of the Old Testament would have loved to have known the things the Lord has revealed and given to us, but they were never even given to know what those blessings are:

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Which things are:

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest [the mere down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

The redemption of the purchased possession is the “adoption” of Romans 8:23, quoted above, for which we are ‘waiting’. Don’t let anyone tell you that “the resurrection is past already” just because we are indeed “raised up with Christ in newness of life” (in downpayment form only) at this present time. The best is yet to come!!