Light from the Readable Books 21: Baruch and the New Name

Baruch 4:9-5:9; Isaiah 60:14; 2 Tim 4:8, Rev 21:1-4, 22-26, Isaiah 61:1-4, 9-10. The prophet Jeremiah, because of the hard judgments that he had to proclaim, and because of his book of Lamentations, became the inspiration for the term “Jeremiad” –a mournful complaint or list of woes.  Baruch, his secretary, follows his master’s example forContinue reading “Light from the Readable Books 21: Baruch and the New Name”

Light from the Readable Books 20: Glimpsing Baruch’s Mystery of Wisdom

Baruch 3:9-4:8, Deuteronomy 3:11-14, Romans 10:5-13,  1 Cor 1:30-31. With Baruch 3:9-4:8, we come to the inner mystery of his prophecy. To this point in the book, we have heard of the tragic exile of the bulk of the people of God, of the exiles’ fondness for ravaged Judea and those few who still remainContinue reading “Light from the Readable Books 20: Glimpsing Baruch’s Mystery of Wisdom”

Light from the Readable Books 19: Baruch’s Confession

Baruch 2:1-3:8; Dan 9:7-19, Deuteronomy 28:15-69; Deuteronomy 30; Jeremiah 24:1-10; 2 Chronicles 6:12-42. As we saw in the last episode, Baruch is a short but important book, composed of three major parts: the first (1:1-3:8) focusses upon confession, the second (3:9-4:29) commends wisdom to the people in exile, and the last (4:30-5:9) comforts the exilesContinue reading “Light from the Readable Books 19: Baruch’s Confession”

Light From (and Upon) the Readable Books 18: Baruch in Babylon

Most of the Readable Books that we have been studying are found in our section of the Old Testament where other “wisdom” books are found—Psalms, Proverbs, Solomon, and so on.  Like the tales of Daniel, however, the book of Baruch is found amidst the prophets, because it picks up the narrative from the book ofContinue reading “Light From (and Upon) the Readable Books 18: Baruch in Babylon”