If I were to ask You to name two brothers who are in the Bible, who would You choose? I would think that most people would name Jacob and Esau or Cain and Abel.
But I was contemplating, since we all know the famous and notable ones….. I was wondering if You ever heard of these two brothers, Baruch and Seraiah.
I hope not as usual…..since that gives me the opportunity for the Spirit to teach through me.
Baruch and Seraiah were the sons of Neriah. I presume Neriah had to be one of the most proud fathers ever to walk the face of the earth. See Baruch was the Scribe (writer) of the most powerful Prophet of the day being Jeremiah and Seraiah was Chamberlain (manager of the entire household) of King Zedekiah of Judah.
These brothers must have been not only extremely gifted, but also they were noticed by God to place them in these crucial postions during the prelude of the coming last days of the Kingdom of Judah.
The Northern Kingdom of Israel had been conquered almost a generation before by the Assyrians who had deported what was left of the entire kingdom after they had literally skinned the people alive.
God had warned Israel to not turn from Him repeatedly….but they would not listen……so they were cast off (divorced from the Covenant literally)
Which brings us to our two brothers, Baruch and Seraiah.
The Babylonians were the Superpower of the day. They had just chewed up the same Assyrians who had destroyed Israel like they were nothing…. and had come to visit Jerusalem. The King being proud had shown them all his treaures. It was sort of like showing a hungry lion a defenseless lamb…and Judah was the main course.
The Spirit of the Lord was speaking at this time through Jeremiah and Baruch was recording everything. A lot of dual prophecies for then and for now.
One day the king decided to hear what Baruch was writing…..this was all hand written work of everything Jeremiah was being moved to say by God about the destruction of Judah.
Baruch was ordered to read some of it in front of the king…the king did not like it that God was saying Judah would be destroyed by Babylon…..so the king used a knife to cut the scroll up….and then burnt it.
Baruch must have really loved that. He probably was glad though he made it out of there alive….but it did get better…or worse.
See things started heating up after that literally as the Babylonian Empire’s Army soon descended upon Judah laying seige.
Of course, Jeremiah had his duty to speak the Word God told him….which in turn got Jeremiah thown into prison as being a spy of the Babylonians…..and who do You think ended up next to him….but Baruch.
They spent their time there until the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem.
Baruch was later kidnapped by renegade Jews along with Jeremiah….held hostage….drug all over the place until finally rescued by the Chaldeans (Babylonians) again.
His brother Seraiah also had an interesting life, because while in the king’s service he went to Babylon in company with the king.
Jeremiah though summoned him before he left and instructed Seraiah while there to read the prophecies against Babylon out loud in the city….and then in symbol tie a rock to the scroll and sink it in the Euphrates River which ran through the city and pronounce as this book sinks, so will Babylon.
It should be noted that if the Babylonians had known what was going on……Seraiah would have had a very miserable death……and it is presumed the way the kings of Judah felt about Jeremiah, if they had known what was going on ……Seraiah would not have faired very well with them either.
One just did not go to Babylon and show such disrespect. Remember in Daniel it is recorded that 3 Jews named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were thrown in a furnace for simply not bowing to the Emperor.
The Biblical account does not record what happened to these two brothers both of whom God worked through to bring a sinful nation down….and then worked through to lay the groundwork to destroy the first empire of this world. So no one knows but God what really happened to them….but since their deaths were not recorded…..it would mean they had a peaceful end watched over by God.
And in that end, these two brothers were not like Cain and Abel ….they did not murder each other. They were not like Jacob and Esau….not plotting against each other. They were just two brothers who lived in interesting times and devotedly did their duty to God’s will.
That is probably why ten out of ten people have never heard of these two men…..they did the right thing instead of the wrong thing when God asked.
See God did not have to send a fish to swallow them like Jonah to do their jobs….they just did them.
That is the example for each of us as we live today and to remember. The good people rarely have their names in the news….it is people who are causing the problems who make headlines.
Maybe that is the greatest thing in this life when it is through…..that no one remembers who You are….except the One Being Who matters…..God.
Because He is the One Who in our ends…..sees to it we always have an eternal beginning.
God bless each of You.
