Day 23
Today is the halfway point of this experiment: Reading the entirety of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures in 45 days. I’m astonished at the stories I’ve learned, the peculiarities and esoterica I’ve gleaned, and the progress I’ve made. Here’s to the remaining 22 days!
Baruch, the scribe of Jeremiah and a prominent figure in the last third of the Book of Jeremiah, gets his own brief book in the Apocrypha. Tacked on to the five chapters of Baruch is something called the “Letter of Jeremiah.” I can see why they’re separated in the Apocrypha — the Letter of Jeremiah is obviously a different creation altogether.
Baruch gives us a glimpse into communal confession and the hope of returning to Israel from exile. I was left wondering when and how America would have its own communal confession. What would that look like? In Baruch it begins with an admission of the faults of Israel and Judah, followed by the inequities and punishments the nation experienced. After peace is made with how Israel and Judah only have themselves to blame, hope emerges. There’s a joy that emerges from recognizing that Israel and Judah can and will do better.
The Letter of Jeremiah is a delightful oddity. It involves a supposed letter from, you guessed it, the prophet Jeremiah — sent to the people of Israel and Judah during their exile in Babylon. From there, the author launches into an extensive dialogue about how Babylon has foreign gods, why they are fake, and how you can tell. I absolutely loved this. It was full of snark and biting critique.
One Word for Baruch: Awaiting
One word for Letter of Jeremiah: Editorial
Parts of the Text That Stayed With Me
- Bar 1, Reading of the Book. Baruch reads the words of the very book we are reading to the people. It brings the people to tears…and they start to prepare to return home one day.
- Bar 3:24-28, Here’s the Giants! The giants are mentioned again and we learn a little about them. They were experts in war, large, famous…but were not too bright. They perished because they lacked wisdom and pursued folly. Glad we cleared that up.
- Bar 4:1-4, The Torah is a Woman. “She is the book of the commandments of God, the law that endures forever. All who hold her fast will live, and those who forsake her will die.” (4:1) The Torah being characterized as a woman was a powerful image to discover!
- Bar 5, Return to Jerusalem. The joy and hope the people have in returning to Jerusalem is a delight to read. “Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.” (5:1)
- Let Jer 59-73, The Uselessness of Other Gods. I was sitting there cracking up at the imagery used to illustrate the uselessness of Babylonian gods. I feel like I shouldn’t spoil it. Read it for yourself. It was golden.
This post is part of a lager series where I read the entirety of Hebrew & Christian scriptures in 45 days. Take a look a the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.