1 And it came to pass in the twenty-fifth year of Jeconiah, king of Judah, that the word of the Lord came to Baruch, the son of Neriah, and said to him: 2 ‘Have you seen all that this people are doing to Me, that the evils which these two tribes which remained have done are greater than (those of) the ten tribes which were carried away captive? 3 For the former tribes were forced by their kings to commit sin, but these two of themselves have been forcing and compelling their kings to commit sin. 4 For this reason, behold I bring evil upon this city, and upon its inhabitants, and it shall be removed from before Me for a time, and I will scatter this people among the Gentiles that they may do good to the Gentiles. And My people shall be chastened, and the time shall come when they will seek for the prosperity of their times. 2 1 For I have said these things to you that you may bid Jeremiah, and all those that are like you, to retire from this city. 2 For your works are to this city as a firm pillar, And your prayers as a strong wall.’
3 1 And I said: ‘O LORD, my Lord, have I come into the world for this purpose that I might see the evils of my mother? Not (so) my Lord. 2 If I have found grace in Your sight, first take my spirit that I may go to my fathers and not behold the destruction of my mother. For two things vehemently constrain me: for I cannot resist you, and my soul, moreover, cannot behold the evils of my mother. 4 But one thing I will say in Your presence, O Lord. 5 What, therefore, will there be after these things? for if you destroy Your city, and deliver up Your land to those that hate us, how shall the name of Israel be again remembered? 6 Or how shall one speak of Your praises? or to whom shall that which is in Your law be explained? Or shall the world return to its nature of aforetime), and the age revert to primeval silence? And shall the multitude of souls be taken away, and the nature of man not again be named? And where is all that which you did say regarding us?’ 4 1 And the Lord said unto me:
‘This city shall be delivered up for a time, And the people shall be chastened during a time, And the world will not be given over to oblivion.”
The Apocalypse of Baruch is written as a conversation between Baruch, the prophet, and G-d. Baruch comes across as an insistent interrogator, asking G-d why Jerusalem has been allowed to be captured, its Temple destroyed, and the people sent off into exile. Obviously the dating of this book is after the destruction of the Temple 66-70 CE. But the questions go on further than just about this tragedy. The questions to G-d include things like “Why are humans corrupt?”, and “Why must people die?” G-d answers these questions with expected answers: Israel’s suffering is because of her sins, and human woes will fade with the coming of the Messiah.
In Romans 8:12-17 we learn from Paul that we are G-d’s children through a spirit of adoption – through the Holy Spirit. With this adoption we receive two promises: the promise of glorification through Christ, and the promise that in our lives we will experience suffering. We are not immune to suffering or trouble just because we have faith – faith will often lead us to suffering. How does that fit with you? We spend so much time avoiding suffering, but some suffering may well be instructive and faith-promoting.
And walk not in the straight way, always mindful
Of the immortal Maker? God is one,
15 Sovereign, ineffable, dwelling in heaven,
The self-existent and invisible,
Himself alone beholding everything;
Him sculptor’s hand made not, nor is his form
Shown by man’s art from gold or ivory;
20 But he, eternal Lord, proclaims himself
As one who is and was erst and shall be
Again hereafter. For who being mortal
Can see God with his eyes? Or who shall bear
To hear the only name of heaven’s great God,
25 The ruler of the world? He by his word
Created all things, even heaven and sea,
And tireless sun, and full moon and bright stars,
And mighty mother Tethys, springs and rivers,
Imperishable fire, and days and nights.
30 This is the God who formed four-lettered Adam,
The first one formed, and filling with his name
East, west, and south, and north. The same is he
Who fixed the pattern of the human form,
And made wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls.
35 Ye do not worship neither fear ye God,
The original Sibylline Oracles were scrolls written by priestesses with powers of prophetic skills. Most likely they were written in or around the 6th century BCE. They were partially destroyed in a fire around 83 BCE – burned by order of Roman General Flavius Stilicho (365-408 C.E.). There was not much left of the originals. What we have left are forgeries probably composed between the second to sixth century CE. In these documents, events are predicted which have already happened – and vague “all-purpose” predictions. As prophecy, the Pseudo-Sibyllines never rise to the level of a prophet like Nostradamus, but they are a gold mine of information for students of Christianity, Gnosticism and Judaism. Prophecy is a difficult genre to understand, let alone to determine its accuracy and authenticity. Prophecy in the Old Testament was never written to tell us history in advance. One Old Testament scholar put it this way:
Prophecy is very different from history. It is not intended to give us a knowledge of the future, analogous to that which history gives us of the past… .Prophecy makes a general impression with regard to future events, which is reliable and salutary, while the details remain in obscurity.
Prophecy was therefore not given so much to detail the sequence of future events as it was to underscore the certainty of future events. Often the words of the prophets could not be confirmed until the events were well past, and people could interpret the meaning. Now we can understand more fully how the early Christian teachers used Old Testament prophecy to account for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Lutheran Schreff 