LAMENTATIONS
We begin our study of
Jeremiah in Lamentations. This is where Jeremiah ends, in the
destruction of the nation, it's capital Jerusalem, and the Temple.
Jeremiah is the story of how it all came to this.
Lamentations is
powerful poetry. Five poems. Four are acrostics. Chapters 1,2 &
4 are alphabetic acrostics: v1 begins with 'a', v2 with 'b', v3 with
'c' ....v22 'z' (there are only 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet.)
Chapter 3 is an acrostic where each group of three verses begins with
the same letter at the start of each verse - aaa,bbb...zzz. Chapter 5
has 22 verses but is not an acrostic - perhaps indicating that things
are falling apart.
Lamentations is a
'lament' - think of the music from Schindler's List. This book is
read every year on the 9th Ab (in the Jewish calendar) in the
Synagogue to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC and
AD 70, and to remember other dreadful events such as the Holocaust.
Carl Trueman asks:
"What can miserable Christians sing?".
The Psalms contain many laments. You need look no further than Psalms
3,4,5,7,10, 12...22...74...79...137. The Psalms allow us to
"express even the deepest agonies of the human soul in the
context of worship." The
book of Lamentations reminds us that life is not one long celebration
or street party.
Lamentations
does for us corporately what Job does individually.
Both are Biblical 'theodicy'. Defined in the 'New Dictionary of
Theology' as:
THEODICY
(from the Greek theos,
‘God’,
and the root dik,
‘just’,)
seeks to ‘justify
the ways of God to man’,
showing that God is in the right and is glorious and worthy of praise
despite contrary appearances. Theodicy asks how we can believe that
God is both good and sovereign in face of the world’s evil
.
This is why the most
famous verse is Lamentations 3:23b 'great is your
faithfulness'. Attention is
drawn to this as it comes in the central and longest chapter.
Who wrote
Lamentations? An eyewitness to the destruction of Jerusalem in
587 BC.
Jeremiah? We know that he
wrote laments - 2 Chron 35:25 Jeremiah also uttered a lament for
Josiah;
There are no clues in the
text so we cannot be sure who wrote it.
LAMENTATIONS
CHAPTER ONE
v1-11 the poet speaks
about Jerusalem; v12-22 Jerusalem speaks about herself. The whole
chapter is full of the disaster and distress that has come to the
city. Note the word all - in 14 of the verses, emphasises the
totality of the disaster, with none to comfort: v2,9,16,17,21.
v1-11: The Desolate
City Pictured as a Weeping Woman
v1-3: The utter
distress and loneliness of Jerusalem:
v1 In Hebrew the opening
word is 'alas' the title of the book. A princess who was great among
the nations, now lonely: bereaved, childless, widowed, and enslaved.
v2 Weeping, comfort less,
betrayed.
v3 The nation in
exile....afflicted, hard-labour, restless and distressed
v4-6: Zion's former
splendour is remembered:
v4 The roads mourn their
loss of pilgrims, no one passes through her gates, no one seeks a
priest, or a bride. The city suffers bitterly.
v5 The enemy prospers.
The children are captives. Why? Why has all this happened? Where was
the Lord? It was HE who brought this about for the multitude of
her transgressions.
v6 The majesty has gone.
Princess have become like thin, starving, frightened deer.
v7-9: Jerusalem
desolation is a result of her sins:
v7 All that's left are
the memories. No one came to the rescue. The enemy has won and gloats
and mocks.
v8 Job did not suffer
because of his sin, Jerusalem does. The world despises the Lord's
people when they sin grievously.
v9a 'Buy now pay later'!
How will you pay when the day of reckoning comes? Jerusalem gave the
matter no thought. Again the fact she has no comforter is
highlighted.
v9b The first direct
appeal to the Lord. O LORD behold my affliction.
v10-11: The enemy that
defiles and despises:
v10 The Temple is
defiled. An argument for God to act - those whom you forbade to
enter...
v11 Food is scarce and
worth more than treasure. An appeal to the Lord to look and
see.
Though he may be cross
with us we may still appeal to him: v9&11.
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