Lamentations 1:12-22. Today we will finish the second half of the first poem of sorrow. If you read the “Intro to Lamentations” you know that Lamentations is made up of five poems by Jeremiah expressing his feelings after the destruction of Jerusalem. In the beginning of the poem Jeremiah uses ideas like “widow”, “lovers”, and “prostitution” to describe the decline of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was to be the center of a people who would help the world see the goodness and greatness of the one true God, Yahweh. The nations around were seeing the greatness of God but not in the form of what we might think of as good. The nations were seeing the greatness of God through his judgment and punishment, Israel had defected, they were a cheating wife, and they were being punished for that.
In verses 12-16 and 18-22 Jerusalem is personified, it’s like the city has come alive and is talking. And the city is talking about the pain it is suffering from the siege. In verse 7 we saw that people who were witnesses to the destruction made fun of Jerusalem, in verse 12 Jerusalem asks, “You think this is no big deal?” Then the city goes on to say that the suffering is very great, it is fierce anger from Yahweh. Some people don’t like the idea of God being angry but yesterday we saw why he gets mad. The consequences of turning away from God and staying that way are severe. There are consequences here and now for violating the way God designed us but more serious is the eternal consequence if we reject God; forever without him.
In verses 13-14 The city uses several pictures to describe the suffering she is going through. There is fire, which was probably literal. When a city is under siege it is difficult if not impossible to get thing from the outside. In those days the water source for most cities was outside of their walls and when under siege water would be very scarce. About 100 years before the destruction of Jerusalem King Hezekiah prepared for another invasion by building a tunnel from a spring outside the city to a pool inside. This made some water available during that attack, I’m sure the water was still available in 586 BC but you still would have a limited amount and fire could still be a problem. We also see the idea of traps or snares (a net), God also created scarcity, there wasn’t enough of stuff that was needed, food for one thing, so the city was faint and had no strength to keep going (turned me back). We also see the picture of a yoke. A yoke is the thing you put around animals necks to hook them up to a wagon or plow. In this picture we see the weak city unable to pull the yoke. We also see that the yoke is made up of the transgressions of the people (Transgression has the idea of rebellion, revolt or trespassing, the people had broken God’s rules). At the end of verse 14 the city tells us that Yahweh (LORD) has given her into the hands of her attackers.
Verse 15 continues this picture of judgment or punishment from Yahweh. The young strong men in Jerusalem will not be strong enough and will be crushed. Also the women will be trampled and crushed like grapes in a wine press. The idea of pressing grapes to get their juice is a common picture used on the Bible for judgment and punishment from God. In Revelation 14:19-20 the crushing seems to be literal since blood comes out not grape juice. This particular “crushing”, by the way, is of armies assembled against Jesus outside of Jerusalem when he returns to rule the world.
In verse 16-17 we see sorrow in the city, unfortunately the sadness seems to be all about the suffering of the city. The city’s soul is sad, her children are wasting away. Keep in mind that “the city” is being used poetically to represent the people in the city. Zion is another name for Jerusalem. The city, or people, are reaching out looking for someone to help them up or out. There is no one. At the end of verse 17 we learn why there is no help, Yahweh has commanded that Jerusalem’s neighbors should now be here enemies, and we are given a reason, Jerusalem is “unclean” among them.
The word unclean has the idea of “separated” or “put aside”. It is used in the Law of Moses for things that are not allowed in certain places and activities that are supposed to represent God or his presence. At our church we have a gym. The gym is used for all sorts of activities. Years ago we though that the floor needed to be upgraded so we put in a special carpet that was good fro playing basketball. It also made the gym a nicer place for banquets, wedding receptions, and other events. Some of those event involve food, or more importantly punch and drinks. Pretty early on we discovered that red drinks made stains that were very difficult to remove. Eventually the Deacons (guys at church responsible for taking care of the buildings) decided that red drinks should not be allowed in the gym, those drinks must be kept way, separated for the carpet. Those drinks were “unclean” with respect to our gym. Jerusalem needed to be kept away from the other nations because her people had become a bad influence, their God was Yahweh, but the didn’t honor or obey him. If Jerusalem got away with that it would tell the world that Yahweh has no real standards. That is not true though, God does have standards, and breaking his rules makes us “unclean” and separated from him.
In verses 18-19 Jerusalem finally gets it. Yahweh is righteous, his actions are fair and right. Why? Because Jerusalem had rebelled and disobeyed (sinned). The city then asks those around to check it out; she is in pain, her children have been taken captive, her lovers (false gods) have tricked her, and the religious and political leader have perished in the city. This is the kind of life you get when you turn your back on God.
In verses 20-22 the city then turns to the LORD (Yahweh) and describes her emotional and spiritual pain, the results of her rebellion. She hasn’t forgotten the physical trouble swords in the streets and death (probably from disease which is common during sieges) in the houses but the emphasis now seems to be on the heart and spirit. In verse 21 the “they” are the people around her that have not helped, the ones that God told to stay away. But we also see that those nations were glad for the trouble that Jerusalem was in. The city asks that God would bring the same trouble on them.
The desire to see the nations around here suffer the same way she did may seem like revenge or vengeance but I think verse 22 shows us that the request isn’t about Jerusalem any more but about God. Jerusalem realizes she has sinned and is being punished for it and asks god to deal with those around her in the same way. The example that the nation of Israel failed to be by not living for God was fulfilled through God’s punishment. The story of sin and it’s consequences was going to be told one way or another (see “The Old Testament Connection”). Of course people are people and verse 22 ends with Jerusalem telling God that she hurts. This could be a little bit of feeling sorry for herself or it could be a statement of fact; sort of a “look warn them so they won’t go through this”. Probably a little bit of both. The point is, sin has consequences, and God want’s to help us avoid some of those consequences, especially the “God to hell and miss out on an eternity in Heaven with Me” consequences.
John 3:16 tells us that God loves the world so much that he sent his son to become one of us and then be separated from him for a time to pat the price for our “transgressions”. In John 14:6 Jesus told his followers that he is the only way back to God. Life is full of trouble, all of it is the result of our disobedience and rebellion toward God. Sometimes it is our rebellion here and now, sometimes it is because of something we did a long time ago, sometimes it is because of the rebellion of other here and now other times it is because of the rebellion of others a long time ago. Finally it can be a result of the general decay God put in our universe to teach us what happens when there is disobedience and rebellion in our world. God has a plan for the Israelite people and for Jerusalem. The punishment at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t to destroy them but to inform them and to push them to return to Him. That is how God was “dealing” with Jerusalem. I hope that is what Jerusalem’s prayer was about in verse 22, a request for God to move the nations closer to himself. That certainly is the heart of God and should be the heart of his people. In Leviticus 19:18 one of the rules God gave to the Israelites was to “love their neighbor”. By the time of Jesus someone had added their own little twist to the rule and people would tell each other that they should “love their neighbor but hate their enemies.” Jesus’ response to that saying was that we should love our enemies and pray for people who hurt us (Matthew 5:43-44). We need to be real about our failure toward God. We need to focus on our relationship to God and not so much on our own suffering. We need to focus more on Heaven and less on Earth. And we need to be concerned with the people around us and their relationship (or lack of one) with God.
God help me be realistic about my own sins. If some of the trouble in my life is because of them don’t let me feel sorry for myself help me turn back to you. If I am truly following you and still suffering help me realize that I live in a world distorted by sin, one that will only be fixed when you return and take control. While I wait for that day (v. 21?) help me lead others to you. Let me pray for them and encourage them to return to you, through my actions and my words. On the day you return I know I will be a part of your forever kingdom I hope all of my enemies are a part of it too. Thank you for Jesus, the way, the truth and the life and the path back to you.