What "great things" did Baruch want for himself? (Jeremiah 45:5)
Context: A Message to Baruch 45 When Baruch son of Neriah wrote on a scroll the words Jeremiah the prophet dictated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah said this to Baruch: 2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: 3 You said, ‘Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.’ 4 But the Lord has told me to say to you, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the earth. 5 Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.’”
Jeremiah 45:1 - 5
ESV - 1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch:
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Asked September 25 2019
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Jack Gutknecht
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Tim Maas
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As far as I can determine, the Bible does not specify the "great things" that Baruch was seeking for himself. However, in the context of the passage, I would say that the reference would have pertained to accomplishments, possessions, or honors associated with life in Judah at the time that Jeremiah was prophesying. Speaking through Jeremiah, God was telling Baruch not to desire or become attached to such things, because God was "uprooting", "breaking down", and doing away with them as part of His judgment against Judah. Instead, for his service to God, Baruch would be allowed to have his own life preserved throughout the ordeal that Judah would experience, wherever those events might require Baruch to go.
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