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**Jeremiah 43:3** — *"Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, so that they may put us to death or exile us to Babylon!"*
Blame is an old refuge. When Johanan and his commanders refused to hear God's word through Jeremiah, they didn't argue the message — they attacked the messenger. Baruch became their scapegoat, his name a shield against accountability.
This is a precise pattern worth examining: when truth costs us something, we often redirect our resistance toward the one who carries it. The prophet, the elder, the faithful friend — they become the problem rather than the word they bear.
Covenant faithfulness requires that we hold still long enough to let God's word land, even when it unsettles our plans.
Scripture reminds us that deflection is not discernment — and the one who names our fear is not always our enemy.
Walk with that today.
Blame is an old refuge. When Johanan and his commanders refused to hear God's word through Jeremiah, they didn't argue the message — they attacked the messenger. Baruch became their scapegoat, his name a shield against accountability.
This is a precise pattern worth examining: when truth costs us something, we often redirect our resistance toward the one who carries it. The prophet, the elder, the faithful friend — they become the problem rather than the word they bear.
Covenant faithfulness requires that we hold still long enough to let God's word land, even when it unsettles our plans.
Scripture reminds us that deflection is not discernment — and the one who names our fear is not always our enemy.
Walk with that today.