Jeremiah — Chapter 45
Synopsis: Brief oracle to Baruch, Jeremiah's scribe, who was distressed by the king's anger and the disasters. God comforts Baruch: 'Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not.' He will preserve Baruch's life in the general destruction.
Verse 5
But seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for behold I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but I will give thee thy life for a prey in all places whithersoever thou shalt go. 'Seek not great things for thyself' = the ascetical principle against self-advancement and ambition. Lapide: Baruch, like all who are close to suffering servants of God, was tempted to despair or self-promotion; God's answer is to cut off all worldly hope and promise only the bare minimum — life itself. The preacher must learn to be content with spiritual survival in the midst of general catastrophe.