Baruch — Chapter 4
Synopsis: Jerusalem is personified as a mourning mother consoling her captive children with the promise of return; she counsels them to pray, confess, and trust in God. The prophet then consoles Jerusalem herself: her children will return, Babylon will be destroyed, God will conduct His people back with joy.
Verse 1
This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law, that is for ever: all they that keep it, shall come to life: but they that have forsaken it, to death. The Law as the Book of Life vs. death: keeping it = life; forsaking it = death. Lapide: in its fullest sense, this 'law' is the New Law given by Christ — 'the book of the commandments of God' is the New Testament perfecting the Old.
Verse 5
Be of good comfort, my people, the memorial of Israel. Despite the exile, Israel must take courage: they are God's memorial — His chosen witness in the world. Lapide: the Church, like Israel, is a 'memorial' of God's saving acts, continuously proclaiming His covenant through liturgy and sacrament.
Verse 21
Be of good cheer, my children, cry to the Lord, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the princes your enemies. Jerusalem's counsel to her children in exile: pray, and deliverance will come. Lapide: prayer is the first and principal weapon of the afflicted. The 'princes' who enslaved them will themselves be enslaved (v.25: 'he that led you away shall be led away').
Verse 30
Be of good cheer, O Jerusalem: for he that gave thee this name, will comfort thee. God who named Jerusalem (= 'city of peace' / 'vision of peace') will fulfill the name He gave it — restoring peace after desolation. Lapide: the name of the city contains the promise of its ultimate destiny; allegorically, the heavenly Jerusalem (named 'vision of peace') will receive all her exiled children.