NOTES for Bar 4:5-29
Today's reading is best read from the end. The prophets truly longed to see the Messiah's coming, to see the demons overthrown, to see the coming of the Kingdom and the restoration of Jerusalem. And what did they see around them? Ceaseless wars and devastation, the grief and suffering of God's people, exile and death. They saw the Temple destroyed and, like all the people, were handed over to their enemies. They explained why this had happened, and their voice was not always heard. Yet the most important thing for them was not the sin already committed, not the fact that the people had turned away from God and were suffering for it. For the prophets, the most important thing remained that God wants to be with people, reaches out to them and will surely come, because He is faithful to His promises. And if He promised His Kingdom on earth, then so it will be. What, then, should someone do who has turned away but repented, who weeps because he failed to remain faithful? For such people the prophet Baruch offers a prescription: “As your resolve was to go astray from God, increase it tenfold in order to return and seek Him.”