36 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “Take a [a]scroll and write on it all the words which I have spoken to you concerning Israel and concerning Judah, and concerning all the nations, from the day I first spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, even to this day. 3 Perhaps the house of Judah will hear all the calamity which I plan to bring on them, in order that every man will turn from his evil way; then I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.”
4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a [b]scroll [c]at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord which He had spoken to him. 5 Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, “I am [d]restricted; I cannot go into the house of the Lord. 6 So you go and read from the scroll which you have written [e]at my dictation the words of the Lord [f]to the people in the Lord’s house on a fast day. And also you shall read them [g]to all the people of Judah who come from their cities. 7 Perhaps their supplication will [h]come before the Lord, and everyone will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” 8 Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading from the book the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.
9 Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord. 10 Then Baruch read from 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 upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, to all the people.
As this chapter starts, it seems pretty straightforward. God asks Jeremiah to write down everything that God had told him, which was quite a lot. The idea though, was that they were to be read to the people, all together, so that perhaps they would finally see the whole picture. But when we get to v. 5, we see that Jeremiah had a problem. Well, actually he had two problems.
In v. 4, we see that Jeremiah calls Baruch to write on a scroll, which means Jeremiah couldn’t write (problem #1). That wasn’t uncommon at all, and so Jeremiah calls a scribe to help. The second problem then, was that he couldn’t go to the temple. The king wasn’t a big fan of God’s messages, and neither were some of the priests and other religious leaders.
So in one man, God gives Jeremiah the answer to both problems. Baruch would write the words down for Jeremiah, and we see confirmed in v. 8 that Baruch was willing to go read in the temple. Without Baruch, God’s plan couldn’t move forward, but without Jeremiah, there was no message to write down in the first place. The plan needed both of them, working together.
It’s a good reminder that God doesn’t call us to do life alone, or ministry alone, or really anything alone. When we isolate, we lose touch of what is going on, and we also cannot fulfill God’s plans properly. In the same way that Baruch and Jeremiah worked together to deliver God’s message, we today need each other to do the same. Whatever God has asked us to do, it’s a team sport. We are part of a family, and we must work together as a family–a functional one rather than dysfunctional–each doing the part that God has given us.
If you’re ever tempted to go it alone and fly solo, hold on. Maybe there is someone else that can work with you, to make things even more effective, and they just need to be asked. Seek God’s will, and don’t be afraid to ask for help–His help, and that of your brothers and sisters.