Do Not Seek “Great Things”

During the writing of the first roll, Baruch went through a period of distress. He exclaimed: “Woe, now, to me, for Jehovah has added grief to my pain! I have grown weary because of my sighing, and no resting-place have I found.” What was the reason for this crisis?​—Jeremiah 45:1-3.

No direct answer is given. But try to picture Baruch’s situation. Summarizing 23 years of warnings to the people of Israel and Judah must have made their apostasy and rejection of Jehovah very evident. Jehovah’s decision to destroy Jerusalem and Judah and exile the nation for 70 years to Babylon​—information that Jehovah revealed that same year and perhaps included in the roll—​must have shocked Baruch. (Jeremiah 25:1-11) Moreover, there was the risk that his firm support for Jeremiah at this crucial time could cost him his position and career.

Whatever the case, Jehovah himself intervened to help Baruch keep in mind the forthcoming judgment. “What I have built up I am tearing down, and what I have planted I am uprooting, even all the land itself,” said Jehovah. Then he counseled Baruch: “But as for you, you keep seeking great things for yourself. Do not keep on seeking.”​—Jeremiah 45:4, 5.

Jehovah did not specify what these “great things” were, but Baruch must have known whether they were selfish ambitions, prominence, or material prosperity. Jehovah counseled him to be realistic and remember what lay ahead: “Here I am bringing in a calamity upon all flesh, . . . and I will give you your soul as a spoil in all the places to which you may go.” Baruch’s most precious possession, his life, would be preserved wherever he might go.​—Jeremiah 45:5.

When Baruch was reminded that during the last days of Judah, there was no time for personal “great things,” he evidently responded in a positive way, for he did receive his soul as a spoil. It is reasonable to apply this counsel to ourselves, as we too live in the last days of a system of things. Jehovah’s promise to us is the same​—our life will be spared. Can we respond to such reminders as Baruch did?