Devotions

Rev Gav

Hope

Baruch 4.5–12, 27–29

Take courage, my people,
who perpetuate Israel’s name!

It was not for destruction
that you were sold to the nations,

but you were handed over to your enemies
because you angered God.

For you provoked the one who made you
by sacrificing to demons and not to God.

You forgot the everlasting God, who brought you up,
and you grieved Jerusalem, who reared you.

For she saw the wrath that came upon you from God,
and she said:

Listen, you neighbours of Zion,
God has brought great sorrow upon me;

for I have seen the exile of my sons and daughters,
which the Everlasting brought upon them.

With joy I nurtured them,
but I sent them away with weeping and sorrow.

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.

Take courage, my children, and cry to God,
for you will be remembered by the one who brought this upon you.

For just as you were disposed to go astray from God,
return with tenfold zeal to seek him.

For the one who brought these calamities upon you
will bring you everlasting joy with your salvation.

Reflect

Like much of Old Testament literature, the scribe and prophet Baruch wrote in a poetic way — in verse — to help convey emotion to the reader (or listener).

Today’s passage is framed with encouragement. If we take the first and last verses we get:

Take courage, my people,
who perpetuate Israel’s name!
For the one who brought these calamities upon you
will bring you everlasting joy with your salvation.

In other words, despite the fact that the people had rejected God and found themselves in a pickle, God was ready and willing to restore their fortunes if they simply turned their attention back to God.

The way of God is love and all that love brings — peace, compassion, acceptance, welcome, generosity, and more. God’s people were called to align themselves with God’s ways and they did this through worshipping (focusing on) God, the source of love. When they focused on themselves or something else, they became less loving and all that came with it — dissension, jealousy, hurt, betrayal, revenge, and more.

The prophets were those who called people back to God; back to the way of love.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and the God of the Israelites is, for us, the same God of love, and we too become the loving people God has called us to be when we focus, worship, and re-align ourselves with God. It is our connection to God that transforms our lives, and the way to that connection is not through performing rituals or observing laws, but through our faith in Jesus Christ.

You see, human beings need something on which to hang our trust. It’s how we’re wired. We need a locus for our focus; something tangible that we can get our heads around. For the Israelites it was the temple. For us it is Jesus Christ. We express our trust not though pilgrimage and offering but through faith in the person of Jesus.

Therefore, ‘take courage’! For no matter what pickle you find yourself in, through Christ, the God of love will bring you ‘everlasting joy with your salvation’.

Pray

Holy God
Today, may I
recenter my life
around your Son,
my Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Help me return to you,
the source of all love.
Change me and
transform me
into the person
you called me to be;
a person overflowing
with your unending love.
Now and forever.