Jeremiah, Baruch

Jeremiah grew up in a time of peace and died in exile. He lived to see the temple burned to the ground, Jerusalem destroyed, and his people marched into a foreign land. A reluctant prophet, Jeremiah preached the renewal of the covenant, teaching in parables like Jesus. His God was a God of hope, promise, power, and the will to make the people of Israel a holy people. The book of Baruch deals with the challenges faced by the Jews of the Diaspora who never returned to their homeland. Out of their exile, they became the people of "the book" gathering in their synagogues, studying the law and the prophets, and producing their own inspired sacred literature.