The Bible

 

Jeremiah 45

Study

   

1 The word that Jeremias the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Nerias, when he had written there words in a book, out of the mouth of Jeremias, in the fourth year of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, saying:

2 Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to thee, Baruch:

3 Thou hast said: Woe is me, wretch that I am, for the Lord hath added sorrow to my sorrow: I am wearied with my groans, and I find no rest.

4 Thus saith the Lord: Thus shalt thou say to him: Behold, them whom I have built, I do destroy: and them whom I have planted, I do pluck up, and all this land.

5 And dost thou seek great things for thyself ? seek not : for behold I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord ! but I will give thee thy life, and save thee in all places whithersoever thou shalt go.

   

Commentary

 

Go

  
Journey of the Three Magi to Bethlehem, by Leonaert Bramer

In the physical world, the places we inhabit and the distances between them are physical realities, and we have to get our physical bodies through the physical space between to get from one physical place to another physical place. In the spiritual world, however, the "places" we inhabit and the “distances” between them are spiritual realities, which means they are reflections of our thoughts and affections. "Going" from one place to another, then, is a change in spiritual state -- exploring different thoughts and embracing different feelings. Since the Bible is a spiritual book, "going" there also indicates a change or progression in spiritual state, from one mode of thinking and feeling to another mode of thinking and feeling. Obviously, this makes the precise meaning of "go" in the Bible highly dependent on context: Who is going? Where are they going? Why are they going there? Are they following someone or something? Those questions are crucial to the precise meaning. Used on its own, though, "going" represents the normal progression of life, moving through spiritual states as the Lord intends. This has its roots in early Biblical times, when people were nomadic and moved from place to place in a regular progression of life.