Lamentations 3:1-40. Today we begin the third poem in which Jeremiah express the great sadness he feels because of the destruction of Jerusalem and the event that led up to it. In the first poem (Chapter 1) he described the destruction of the city that had once been so great among the nations. The greatness of Jerusalem would not have been because it was physically great but because it was the place where the word could see the reality of the one true God. Near the end of the first poem Jeremiah asks that God would bring about “the day he had promised” so that the nations who were glad for the destruction of Jerusalem (on a human or political level) would become “like [Jerusalem or the Jews]” and would have their sin (disobedience and rebellion toward Yahweh, the one true God) dealt with.

The second poem focused more on God’s involvement in the destruction of Jerusalem. It may have been human kings that did the destroying but God was behind it all. We saw that the destruction of Jerusalem was not without warning though. God had told the Israelites in the very beginning what would happen if they were disobedient and rebellious. We also saw that the real enemy in their lives and ours is sin. Sin has the ability to separate us from God forever. Jesus told his followers that they should not fear those who could destroy their physical lives but to fear Him who could destroy their physical lives and then send their soul to hell forever (Matthew 10:28).

In today’s reading we see Jeremiah get very personal with God about his feelings. In Jeremiah 3:1-18 Jeremiah compares his suffering over the years of his service and especially during the years of invasions by the Babylonians to living in total darkness (vv.2, 6), having a disease eat him away (v. 4), having his bones broken (v. 4), being sealed up in a room (v. 7), being chained up in a dungeon (v. 7) where no one could hear his cries for help (v. 8), being on an impassable path (v. 9) or in a maze (v. 9), being torn to pieces by a lion or bear (vv. 10-11), being left poor and empty (v. 12) and being shot full of arrows (v. 13).

He also tells us that all of this trouble in his life is because of God’s discipline (v. 1) and he credits God as the source of all of this trouble (notice how many times Jeremiah says “he has”).   Of course we need to remember that this is a poem, Jeremiah is using language that may be literally accurate sometimes and other times his language is more of a comparison; a metaphor. Jeremiah did go hungry during the siege of Jerusalem, he was left to die in a dark cistern (an underground room for storing water), and he was chained up on at least one occasion. On the other hand it is obvious he was never torn to pieces b a lion or bear since he is writing these words. And he was never shot full of arrows by God. These are just pictures to help us understand how he feels.

Some Bible experts think that Jeremiah is actually speaking for or about Jerusalem in these verses. In verse 14 we see that the “people” of the person talking are laughing at him and making fun of him. The people of either Jerusalem or Jeremiah’s people, the Jews, would never have made fun of the destruction of Jerusalem, but the y did make fun of Jeremiah. The person suffering in these verses cannot be an image of Jerusalem; Jeremiah is sharing his own personal feelings, he feels God ahs attacked him and destroyed his life.

In verse 15-18 we see more of the feelings Jeremiah has about his trouble. Jeremiah is bitter (If you have ever taken an aspirin or other pill you might have noticed a nasty taste, that is bitter) and his mouth is filled with “wormwood”. The word translated “wormwood” is related to the word for “curse”. It is usually translated “wormwood” but the idea seems to be bitter. In that case Jeremiah is using repetition to tell us how nasty his life “tastes” to him. In verse 16 he feels like God has nocked all of his teeth out and is rubbing his face in the dirt. In verse 17 he tells us he has no peace and he has forgotten what it was like to be happy. In verse 18 he tells us he has no strength left and no hope in Yahweh.

In verse 19 his prayer turns around. He had spent his whole life trying to get the Israelites to repent, turn around, and honor God with their actions. Now his words are turning around and he asks God to think about his troubles and feelings. Deep down he tells us that his soul (the part of us that feels and thinks and desires) remembers God and is bowing down to God (bowing was a sign of respect, honor and worship). IN verse 22 he tells us that he remembers and has hope again. In verse 22-25 we see what he remembers that has given him hope. In verse 22 he remember Yahweh’s “loving kindness”. Different translations use different words here (one says “great love” another says “steadfast love”) to translate a Hebrew word “hesed”. The main idea behind “hesed” is faithfulness to a promise. It also contains ideas like duty and honor. In verse 22 we are told that Yahweh’s ‘loving kindness” never fails or ends. God will fulfill all of his promises. The verse also tells us that “compassion” will not fail. The word used here is sometimes translated “mercy” or “pity”. It is even translated as “womb”. The idea here is the loving protecting feelings and actions of a mother for her little baby. In verse 23 we are told that God’s faithfulness and mercy are new every morning. God never stops caring, his faithfulness in enormous. In verse 25 Jeremiah tells us that the Yahweh is his portion. This means that God is his part. Some like to stress that God sort of belongs to him but I like to look at what it means to have God on your side. The rest of the verse tells us that Jeremiah’s hope is back and that it is because Yahweh is in his life providing for him. Verse 25 seems to continue this idea. If we wait on God (to take care of us) we will have good in our lives. But this only happens to those who are looking for and truing to follow God.

In verse 26 Jeremiah tells us that it is good to wait quietly for God to save us. He may have been thinking about being saved from his life on the run and going home to Jerusalem. In verse 27 he talks about a person “bearing the yoke” when he is young. The yoke could be the problems that come our way in life but in verse 28 he tells us that the trouble is specifically from God. Since Jeremiah has been depressed and complaining about the destruction of Jerusalem, an event we are specifically told was punishment from God on the people of Judah, we should understand that the “yoke” he is talking about here is the trouble that comes into our lives from following God. Remember that Jeremiah had been faithful to God, serving him as the kingdom of Judah fell apart around him. The place and people he cared about most and had served all of his life was destroyed. In verse 29 Jeremiah says something like, “maybe you should just put your face on the ground, maybe there is some hope”. We know he started out this section with hope because God is faithful and has made promises. I think verse 27-29 are a picture of a person trusting God from his younger days and throughout his life. When trouble finally comes the person needs to bow down and continue to honor and trust God; that is where hope will come from.

Some Bible experts think that the silence in verses 26 and 28 mean that we never complain and that we will only have hope if we don’t. Jeremiah has just done a lot of complaining in the beginning of this poem, and in fact we see a lot of complaining in the Psalms and Job too. In Job 42:7 Yahweh (LORD) scolds one of Job’s friends for the things he has been saying and tells the friend that he has painted an incorrect picture of God unlike Job who has spoken correctly about God. In Job 38:1 God does challenge Job about what he has been saying because Job didn’t have the whole picture (words without knowledge, in this case a full understanding). God then goes on to show Job that he alone has the whole picture; only Yahweh knows enough to make all the hard calls; all the big decisions about history. There are two points we should get from this, first Job needed to trust God and not worry about the details. Second, in relationship to Jeremiah’s suggestion to be quiet, Job is never told he should not have complained. In Psalm 4 David uses the same word used in Lamentations 3:28. In Psalm 4:1 David calls to God and encourage him to answer him. He tells us that God has “relieved him in his distress”, the words here mean something like “you have helped me out of a tight place”. David was chosen by God to be the second king of Israel but the first king was still in office. The first king chased David all over the territory trying to kill him. David was superior in every way but he would not kill the first king, who had also been put into power by God. He would wait for God to make room for him. In verse 4 David gives this advise, “Tremble but do not sin; Think about God when you are trying to sleep and be still.” In verse 5 he then tells us to give God a gift by doing what is right and trust Yahweh to take care of the rest. The word “still’ in verse 4 is the same word for “silent” in Lamentations 3:28 and the word “silent” in Lamentations 3:26 is a related word. David didn’t sit around “silently” waiting for God to act he let God know how he felt, so did Job, and so did Jeremiah. I think the point is found in Psalm 4:5 when David tells us to do what is right and trust in God. That is the point in Job too, trust that God know and cares. I think that is what Jeremiah is saying here in Lamentation 3. We need to share our thoughts, fears, cares, and feelings with God, even if they seem harsh toward Him. By talking to God in this way it shows that we know that he is there and that he cares. If we have a clear picture of who God is and what he can do (Like Job got in Job 38-41) sharing our feeling with him can lead to peace and stillness and hope.

In verses 30-37 Jeremiah lists some of the things in life that seem unfair; beatings, rejections, sadness; but he remembers the character of God; faithfulness, fairness, power; then in verse 37 he reminds us that Yahweh is in control, nothing happens without him letting it happen.

In verse 37 Jeremiah uses the word “command” and in verse 38 he tells us that “both good and ill come from God’s mouth”. Many people believe that this means that every action by every human being is directly controlled by God. James gives us another look at that idea though. In James 1:13-15 we are told that God never temps anyone to do evil (let alone force them to do it) but that we sin (act in ways that dishonor, disrespect, disobey, or displease God) when we are tempted by our own inner feeling and follow them.   God didn’t force Adam and Eve to disobey him he just told them the rule. The chose to disobey him completely on their own ( I know the devil challenged them but it was they who looked and thought and decided and acted). God is completely in control but that control involves allowing us to make choices and suffer consequences or enjoy the good.

Jeremiah even hints at this in verse 39-40 when he says, “Why should we complain we are the ones who sin (disobey)?” He then suggests that instead of complaining we should look at our sin, turn back to Yahweh. Remember after complaining in verse 1-18 he “remembered in verse 20” and what he remembered is that God is loving and kind and faithful (“hesed”).

We need remember or learn who God is, what he is like, what he is doing, and especially remember what he has done; really done, not what we thing he has done or not done. In the end we need to trust who he is, like Job did. God is a loving, kind, fair creator and ruler who has plans to give the Israelites a good and rich life. And he wants all people to share in that great kingdom of which he will be king for all eternity. God is actually working in and through history to bring as many people into that kingdom as possible. We need to trust him for that and for all the details of or live in between. We can and should share or complaints and concerns with God, look for his answers if they are there and trust him for the ones that are not. He became a man and died a cruel death for us so we could share in his goodness for all eternity, the least we can do is trust him and do what is right in his eyes each day until then.

God help me trust you and in you. Let me be still but thank you that I don’t have to be silent. You told us that we could boldly come to you through Jesus. Thank you for that privilege. Thank you that I can talk to you and share my concerns with you. Thank you for making the story so clear. You are faithful and in that I can have hope, even in the darkness when I am being torn apart. Give me peace and hope. And my my life always bring you honor.

Lamentations 2:11-22. In the first part of this poem yester day we were confronted with the anger and wrath of God. Jeremiah repeatedly told us that it was the LORD (Yahweh) who had brought all of this destruction on Jerusalem. We also saw that the destruction wasn’t undeserved. The people had broken God’s Law repeatedly and had ignored the warnings by Jeremiah and other prophets. The consequences of sin had been obvious from the very beginning. Adam, and all his offspring, was eventually going to die, he was banished from the garden and would have to pull weeds forever more, and of course there was that shocking slaughter of an animal make clothes for him and Eve. There had been punishment (wandering in the wilderness for forty years) when the Israelites refused to invade the land God had promised to them, during the period of the Judges they repeatedly disobeyed and suffered for it, and 136 years before their own destruction they got to see their sister kingdom, Israel, destroyed and scattered by the Assyrian Empire. There was plenty of warning. As we saw God is serious about sin (disobedience and rebellion) because sin separates us from Him.

Today’s part of the poem starts out with the author personally grieving because of the destruction of Jerusalem and the suffering of the people in it during the siege. In verses 11-12 he uses the very real picture of the children starving to death in their mother’s arms. In verse 13 Jeremiah, the messenger of God whose words are supposed to help the people see and understand and return to God, is speechless. His desire is to comfort and heal but the problem is too big, it’s an ocean, and it’s beyond him. Part of the problem is that there were false prophet giving them bad information and false hope. Don’t worry, be happy was their message; God will never destroy His city and His Temple. We like it when people give us a way out so we can keep living the way we want and that is what the false prophets did. Jeremiah’s was almost the only voice pushing the people to turn back to God and it was drowned out by that of the false prophets.

In verse 15 we see this “Jerusalem is too important to God” attitude. Evidently the people of Jerusalem had been quoting Psalm 48:2 and Psalm 50:2 as they thought about how important Jerusalem is to God. In Psalm 48 we see Jerusalem as a lighthouse to a world in danger of being shipwrecked by sin. The whole world saw the city as a place of refuge (stronghold, v.3) for those within. They also saw God’s great power. The ships of Tarshish (v. 7) were the best of the time yet God could command the wind to break them easily. With his power he would properly (righteously) judge (vv. 10-11) the enemies of Jerusalem. Those enemies were aware of the power of the God of Israel, Yahweh, and were amazed and terrified (vv. 4-5). By quoting verse 2 the people showed they thought Jerusalem was too important to destroy.

It is ironic that the people would have quoted Psalm 50 to defend their “we’re too important attitude”. Psalm 50 was a warning to the people about their insincere offerings to God. In Hebrew (the language the Old Testament was written in) beauty is not so much about the way things look as it is about how useful a thing is; its about purpose and appropriateness. In Psalm 50:2 Zion (remember this is another name for Jerusalem, the mountain it was on, and the location of the Temple) is called the “perfection of beauty”. That is almost like saying “perfectly perfect” or “the ultimate in usefulness”. The reason is not because “Zion” was so impressive but because that is where God would “shine” from. Unfortunately the people of Jerusalem had lived in a way that made it hard for the nations to see God’s light; there were so many “gods” in Judah the world didn’t know which one was the true one. Jerusalem was “un-useful” or unbeautiful and Yahweh needed to clear things up with those watching and those living inside Jerusalem, so the judgment in the time of Jeremiah.

In verses 15 and 16 we see those who had passed by afraid to touch Jerusalem in Psalm 48 now completely mocking both the city and the attitude of the inhabitants. They were even taking credit for the destruction of the city (“swallowed her up”). But in verse 17 we are reminded that it is Yahweh who had made sure this happened. We are also told that this situation had been promised by God in his word. In Leviticus 26:14-39 we see God’s promise about what will happen if the Israelite’s turn their back on him and disobey his rules. There are several layers to the punishment. God will punish and then see if the people have chosen to obey. If the disobedience continues the more and harsher punishment will come. Of particular interest is that eventually God promises to destroy their cities and sanctuaries (holy places; notice it is plural probably indicating that there were many “gods” being honored), that they would be so hungry in the middle of the punishment that they would eat their own children, that they would be scattered among the nations/their enemies, and that the new inhabitants of the land would be horrified by the destruction left behind. Leviticus was written over 850 years before the destruction of Jerusalem, before the Israelites took over the land, while they were still in the wilderness living in tents, before they had cities. It should have been of no surprise to them when Jerusalem was destroyed.

Verse 18 starts out by telling us that the “heart of the people are crying out to Yahweh (LORD). The rest of what follows could be that “cry”. Some translations put the rest of verse 18 and all of 19 in quotes. The beginning of verse 18 could also be a statement by Jeremiah of the people’s reaction to the destruction. Just because they are crying to Yahweh though doesn’t mean that they have turned back to him. In the Law of Moses the very first rule the Israelites were given was to have no other “gods”. It’s not enough to turn to God you need to turn away from other “gods”.

It is interesting that verses 18 is talking to the “wall of the daughter of Jerusalem”. Walls represent protection and usually you would talk about how the wall of a city protects the city.   In yesterday’s reading we saw that by using the term “daughter of Zion” that Jeremiah was focusing on the people rather that the physical city. I think that is the case here too. Whoever is talking they are talking to the wall that was supposed to protect the people, but the wall had been broken down and the people had been taken; the wall had failed and should feel bad about that. At night, when the city was locked up and basically everyone was asleep, guards were stationed around the city on the top of the wall to keep watch in case an enemy attacked at night. Since the wall was destroyed there was not a way to keep watch, the city was vulnerable.  At the end of verse 19 we see that children in the city are in danger but the danger isn’t from the swords of an invading army but from lack of food (Keep in mind that Jeremiah is writing theses poems after Jerusalem has been destroyed, but here he is looking back to when the destruction wasn’t finished yet). That sort of tells us that the invaders haven’t invaded yet and that the wall really isn’t broken down. These word are probably the words of Jeremiah and not a quote of the people at the beginning of verse 18. Clearly the average Jew didn’t really trust Yahweh as the one true God. In verse 18 Jeremiah is using the picture of a wall surrounding the people to describe God, Yahweh. But Yahweh was no longer protecting the people from physical harm, the inhabitants of the city were under siege and starving to death, for that he wanted God (the wall) to cry.

In verse 19 the people of Jerusalem are told to cry to Yahweh (LORD) at the beginning of the night watch (the time the wall really begins its job) and beg for the lives of their children (“your little ones”). God had removed his protection from the people of Jerusalem but remember it was a punishment that he had warned them about. In that warning in Leviticus (and other places too) there was always a solution, turn back to God, and Jeremiah is still encouraging the people to do that.

In verse 20 Jeremiah again talks to Yahweh, the one true God; his personal God. He challenges God about the horror of what is going on, mothers are eating their children, priests and prophets are dying in the place where the one true God is supposed to be honored, and now their city has been invaded and young and old, civilian and soldier are lying dead in the streets. Jeremiah admits that Yahweh has done this because of his anger and has not spared anyone. Again this may seem brutal, but you need to remember the even greater cost of not turning back to God; eternity where there is no good (see yesterday’s post and check out the description in Revelation 21 of eternity for those not part of God’s forever kingdom).

Verse 22 is a little difficult. Some people thing that the people of Jerusalem have been talking all this time but I really do think that this is all Jeremiah. Verse 22 continues his words to Yahweh. In the beginning of the verse he tells us that God called someone or something like he was inviting to a religious festival. In many religions festivals were times to try to get the gods to do something for you, in Israel the festival were there to remember what God had already done of promised to do for the people. In this case Jeremiah is telling us that the horrible events he has seen (“terrors all around me”) are like one of these festivals; the punishment of God is a reminder of his faithfulness, he had warned them of the consequence of constant rebellion and now he was following through. God doesn’t change, he will do what he has said, both blessings (promises of good) and curses (promises of punishment). Verse 22 ends with a cry of sorrow from Jeremiah. He looks on the people of Jerusalem like his own children, he had tried to raise them right but they defected. Because of God’s (right and fair) anger the people had been destroyed by Jeremiah’s enemy. There are three possibilities for the enemy. Since God is pictured as the one who destroyed Jerusalem it could be God, but it is unlikely that Jeremiah would see God as his enemy. Second since Jerusalem was destroyed by the human hand of the Babylonian Army Jeremiah might be referring to Babylon or Nebuchadnezzar, but in the book of Jeremiah he consistently told the people to submit to the Babylonian invasion, it was a punishment from God. The Babylonians did overstep what God sent them to do and acted in ways that God did not intend and for that we were told in the book of Jeremiah that they would be punished. So Jeremiah might see them as his enemy but maybe not. The real enemy here was the sin and rebellion of the people, I think that sin is the enemy Jeremiah is talking about.

We need to remember that sin is our real enemy too. Paul told us that sin really doesn’t have much power anymore because Jesus has conquered it (I Corinthians 15). But as we have seen sin does have a real “sting” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55) for those who reject Jesus, just as it had a very real sting for those inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah who continually rejected God call to turn back to him. God has and wants a good future for all of us but unfortunately those who reject his offer only darkness and suffering await. That reality is why God gets angry and uses extreme measures to help us understand here and now while we still have a chance to turn back. Turn to God today, you may avoid some pain and suffering now, and you will certainly avoid an eternity of it in God’s loving protective presence.

God thank you for the promise and reality of Heaven. Thank you for consequences for sin now so we can learn before it is too late. Thank you for “knocking me up along side of the head” a number of times so that I would get serious about you. Help me listen better each day so I can avoid more of those “hard” lessons. Help me learn to love and honor you more each day so I will be better prepared for eternity with you. Thank you for your faithfulness. Help many turn to you and miss out on that other eternal reality, Hell. Thank you for Jesus.