God RE-MEMBERS- Saturday, 26th week in ordinary time- Baruch 4:5-12, 27-29

God, in the Old Testament, reminds me of parents in every age. No parent in their right mind gets pleasure from punishing a child, much less sending them into ‘the exile’ of their room or a corner. No punishment comes out of the blue, but is the result of several warnings and many of these are communicated with great love.
True to their nature, children believe they have figured out their parents and assume that this is a game they can beat them at. Foolishly, the children of Israel thought that they could play this childish game of deceit with their God, for they seemed to think that God did not notice their wicked ways.

In this prophetic address, Baruch speaks of the exile, not as a result of an unhinged God, but as consequence of disobedience to the Law of Moses. It is the Israelites who ‘angered’, ‘provoked’ and ‘forgot the everlasting God’. Baruch brings the charges up like a good lawyer representing the state in the face of a people caught several times with more than just their hand in a cookie jar. It is their disobedience that led them to worship other gods. Now that they were caught red handed, the people of Israel realize that it’s too late, for God was justified in His anger and God does not bring trumped up charges.