Lamentations
Book Outhne
Key theme: Suffering sometimes comes from the chastening hand of God.
Key verses: ;
I. The Nation’s Disgrace ()
II. The City’s Destruction ()
III. The Prophet’s Distress ()
IV. The Lord’s Discipline ()
V. The Jewish Remnant’s Declaration ()
Book Overview
In writing this book, Jeremiah expressed his own sorrow at the destruction of the Holy City and the beautiful temple of the Lord. It looked to him as though forty years of faithful ministry were wasted, for the people didn’t heed his messages. Using numerous similes and metaphors, Jeremiah described the terrible plight of the people, and he prayed to the Lord for assistance and deliverance. At the same time, he wrestled with God over what He had allowed to happen, knowing fully that the sins of the people were to blame (, ; , ). They had violated the terms of the covenant, knowing full well the consequences (; ; see ; , ). Jeremiah had warned that if Judah persisted in rebelling, God would send the Babylonians (; ; ; ; ; ), and Isaiah had preached the same message (; ; ).
But it was reasonable for a sensitive man of God like Jeremiah to raise theological questions as he beheld the ruins of the Holy City. Where was God? Did He no longer love His people, His house, and the city of Jerusalem? At the same time, the Jews exiled in Babylon were expressing similar feelings (). But the people of Judah had held to three false hopes: the Davidic dynasty, the sacred temple, and Egypt’s help. God had made a covenant with David that his house would never perish and that one of his descendants would forever sit on his throne (). The Jewish people thought this meant that nothing could happen to David’s throne (; ). This covenant was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ (, ; ). David’s house (family) didn’t come to an end, for Joseph, husband to Mary, was descended from David (, ).
Judah’s second false hope was that the Lord would not permit anything to happen to His holy temple. “Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.’ ” (). The entire message Jeremiah delivered in the temple focused on this false hope of Judah, and Jeremiah repeated part of it in .
As for the third false hope—the intervention of Egypt—this was pure illusion. (See ; ; ; ; .) Abraham had sought refuge in Egypt and had gotten into trouble (), and during their wilderness journey, Israel had repeatedly wanted to return (; ; ; ). But whenever Israel put faith in Egypt, the nation always proved to be a broken reed.
We must keep in mind that God’s chastening is an expression of His love (), a tool He uses to mature His children. A judge punishes a criminal in order to uphold the law, but a father chastens a child in order to build character into the child and assure the child of his love.
“Be Transformed”
When Jesus asked His disciples who people said He was, among their answers was “Jeremiah” (, ). The ministries of both Jeremiah and Jesus were rejected by the people, and both men wept over the city of Jerusalem because they knew that destruction was coming. Both were hated without cause (; ; ), and both were ridiculed by the leaders (; ). Jeremiah was rejected by his family () and Jesus by His family (). Both Jeremiah and Jesus emphasized a heart religion and not just ritual, and both taught by means of visual images and used common objects and activities to instruct the people. The Jewish leaders rejected the messages of both Jeremiah and Jesus, and the prophet ended up exiled in Egypt and Jesus on a Roman cross. In their day, both were considered miserable failures, but history has proved that both were right.
Jesus certainly didn’t encourage us to treat others in such a way that they reject us, but He was clear in telling us that seeking to obey and follow Him would lead to resistance from others. He had Jeremiah in mind when He said to us, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (, ).
Jerusalem in Affliction
That was full of people!
How like a widow is she,
Who was great among the nations!
The princess among the provinces
Has become a slave!
2She weeps bitterly in the night,
Her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers
She has none to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
3Judah has gone into captivity,
Under affliction and hard servitude;
She dwells among the nations,
She finds no rest;
All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.
Because no one comes to the set feasts.
All her gates are desolate;
Her priests sigh,
Her virgins are afflicted,
And she is in bitterness.
Her enemies prosper;
For the LORD has afflicted her
Because of the multitude of her transgressions.
Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.
6And from the daughter of Zion
All her splendor has departed.
Her princes have become like deer
That find no pasture,
That flee without strength
Before the pursuer.
7In the days of her affliction and roaming,
Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant things
That she had in the days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy,
With no one to help her,
The adversaries saw her
And mocked at her downfall.
8Jerusalem has sinned gravely,
Therefore she has become vile.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Yes, she sighs and turns away.
9Her uncleanness is in her skirts;
She did not consider her destiny;
Therefore her collapse was awesome;
She had no comforter.
“O LORD, behold my affliction,
For the enemy is exalted!”
10The adversary has spread his hand
Over all her pleasant things;
For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary,
Those whom You commanded
Not to enter Your assembly.
11All her people sigh,
They seek bread;
They have given their valuables for food to restore life.
“See, O LORD, and consider,
For I am scorned.”
Behold and see
If there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
Which has been brought on me,
Which the LORD has inflicted
In the day of His fierce anger.
13“From above He has sent fire into my bones,
And it overpowered them;
He has spread a net for my feet
And turned me back;
He has made me desolate
And faint all the day.
14“The yoke of my transgressions was bound;
They were woven together by His hands,
And thrust upon my neck.
He made my strength fail;
The Lord delivered me into the hands of those whom I am not able to withstand.
15“The Lord has trampled underfoot all my mighty men in my midst;
He has called an assembly against me
To crush my young men;
The Lord trampled as in a winepress
The virgin daughter of Judah.
16“For these things I weep;
My eye, my eye overflows with water;
Because the comforter, who should restore my life,
Is far from me.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy prevailed.”
17Zion spreads out her hands,
But no one comforts her;
The LORD has commanded concerning Jacob
That those around him become his adversaries;
Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
For I rebelled against His commandment.
Hear now, all peoples,
And behold my sorrow;
My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
19“I called for my lovers,
But they deceived me;
My priests and my elders
Breathed their last in the city,
While they sought food
To restore their life.
20“See, O LORD, that I am in distress;
My soul is troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very rebellious.
Outside the sword bereaves,
At home it is like death.
But no one comforts me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
They are glad that You have done it.
Bring on the day You have announced,
That they may become like me.
22“Let all their wickedness come before You,
And do to them as You have done to me
For all my transgressions;
For my sighs are many,
And my heart is faint.”
God’s Anger with Jerusalem
With a cloud in His anger!
He cast down from heaven to the earth
The beauty of Israel,
And did not remember His footstool
In the day of His anger.
2The Lord has swallowed up and has not pitied
All the dwelling places of Jacob.
He has thrown down in His wrath
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
He has brought them down to the ground;
He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
3He has cut off in fierce anger
Every horn of Israel;
He has drawn back His right hand
From before the enemy.
He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
Devouring all around.
With His right hand, like an adversary,
He has slain all who were pleasing to His eye;
On the tent of the daughter of Zion,
He has poured out His fury like fire.
5The Lord was like an enemy.
He has swallowed up Israel,
He has swallowed up all her palaces;
He has destroyed her strongholds,
And has increased mourning and lamentation
In the daughter of Judah.
6He has done violence to His tabernacle,
As if it were a garden;
He has destroyed His place of assembly;
The LORD has caused
The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion.
In His burning indignation He has spurned the king and the priest.
7The Lord has spurned His altar,
He has abandoned His sanctuary;
He has given up the walls of her palaces
Into the hand of the enemy.
They have made a noise in the house of the LORD
As on the day of a set feast.
8The LORD has purposed to destroy
The wall of the daughter of Zion.
He has stretched out a line;
He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying;
Therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament;
They languished together.
He has destroyed and broken her bars.
Her king and her princes are among the nations;
The Law is no more,
And her prophets find no vision from the LORD.
Sit on the ground and keep silence;
They throw dust on their heads
And gird themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Bow their heads to the ground.
11My eyes fail with tears,
My heart is troubled;
My bile is poured on the ground
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
Because the children and the infants
Faint in the streets of the city.
12They say to their mothers,
“Where is grain and wine?”
As they swoon like the wounded
In the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
In their mothers’ bosom.
13How shall I console you?
To what shall I liken you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is spread wide as the sea;
Who can heal you?
False and deceptive visions;
They have not uncovered your iniquity,
To bring back your captives,
But have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.
They hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that is called
‘The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth’?”
16All your enemies have opened their mouth against you;
They hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, “We have swallowed her up!
Surely this is the day we have waited for;
We have found it, we have seen it!”
17The LORD has done what He purposed;
He has fulfilled His word
Which He commanded in days of old.
He has thrown down and has not pitied,
And He has caused an enemy to rejoice over you;
He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.
“O wall of the daughter of Zion,
Let tears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief;
Give your eyes no rest.
19“Arise, cry out in the night,
At the beginning of the watches;
Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward Him
For the life of your young children,
Who faint from hunger at the head of every street.”
20“See, O LORD, and consider!
To whom have You done this?
Should the women eat their offspring,
The children they have cuddled?
Should the priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?
21“Young and old lie
On the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the sword;
You have slain them in the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered and not pitied.
22“You have invited as to a feast day
The terrors that surround me.
In the day of the LORD’s anger
There was no refugee or survivor.
Those whom I have borne and brought up
My enemies have destroyed.”
The Prophet’s Anguish and Hope
2He has led me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3Surely He has turned His hand against me
Time and time again throughout the day.
4He has aged my flesh and my skin,
And broken my bones.
5He has besieged me
And surrounded me with bitterness and woe.
6He has set me in dark places
Like the dead of long ago.
7He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out;
He has made my chain heavy.
8Even when I cry and shout,
He shuts out my prayer.
9He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10He has been to me a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in ambush.
11He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12He has bent His bow
And set me up as a target for the arrow.
13He has caused the arrows of His quiver
To pierce my loins.
Their taunting song all the day.
He has made me drink wormwood.
16He has also broken my teeth with gravel,
And covered me with ashes.
I have forgotten prosperity.
18And I said, “My strength and my hope
Have perished from the LORD.”
19Remember my affliction and roaming,
The wormwood and the gall.
20My soul still remembers
And sinks within me.
Therefore I have hope.
22Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
To the soul who seeks Him.
26It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the LORD.
27It is good for a man to bear
The yoke in his youth.
28Let him sit alone and keep silent,
Because God has laid it on him;
29Let him put his mouth in the dust—
There may yet be hope.
30Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him,
And be full of reproach.
31For the Lord will not cast off forever.
32Though He causes grief,
Yet He will show compassion
According to the multitude of His mercies.
33For He does not afflict willingly,
Nor grieve the children of men.
34To crush under one’s feet
All the prisoners of the earth,
35To turn aside the justice due a man
Before the face of the Most High,
36Or subvert a man in his cause—
The Lord does not approve.
37Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass,
When the Lord has not commanded it?
38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That woe and well-being proceed?
39Why should a living man complain,
A man for the punishment of his sins?
And turn back to the LORD;
41Let us lift our hearts and hands
To God in heaven.
42We have transgressed and rebelled;
You have not pardoned.
43You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and not pitied.
44You have covered Yourself with a cloud,
That prayer should not pass through.
45You have made us an offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46All our enemies
Have opened their mouths against us.
47Fear and a snare have come upon us,
Desolation and destruction.
48My eyes overflow with rivers of water
For the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49My eyes flow and do not cease,
Without interruption,
50Till the LORD from heaven
Looks down and sees.
51My eyes bring suffering to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
Hunted me down like a bird.
53They silenced my life in the pit
And threw stones at me.
54The waters flowed over my head;
I said, “I am cut off!”
55I called on Your name, O LORD,
From the lowest pit.
56You have heard my voice:
“Do not hide Your ear
From my sighing, from my cry for help.”
57You drew near on the day I called on You,
And said, “Do not fear!”
58O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul;
You have redeemed my life.
59O LORD, You have seen how I am wronged;
Judge my case.
60You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me.
61You have heard their reproach, O LORD,
All their schemes against me,
62The lips of my enemies
And their whispering against me all the day.
63Look at their sitting down and their rising up;
I am their taunting song.
According to the work of their hands.
65Give them a veiled heart;
Your curse be upon them!
66In Your anger,
Pursue and destroy them
From under the heavens of the LORD.
The Degradation of Zion
How changed the fine gold!
The stones of the sanctuary are scattered
At the head of every street.
2The precious sons of Zion,
Valuable as fine gold,
How they are regarded as clay pots,
The work of the hands of the potter!
To nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people is cruel,
Like ostriches in the wilderness.
4The tongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth for thirst;
The young children ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
5Those who ate delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those who were brought up in scarlet
Embrace ash heaps.
Is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom,
Which was overthrown in a moment,
With no hand to help her!
7Her Nazirites were brighter than snow
And whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in body than rubies,
Like sapphire in their appearance.
8Now their appearance is blacker than soot;
They go unrecognized in the streets;
Their skin clings to their bones,
It has become as dry as wood.
9Those slain by the sword are better off
Than those who die of hunger;
For these pine away,
Stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.
10The hands of the compassionate women
Have cooked their own children;
They became food for them
In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
He has poured out His fierce anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has devoured its foundations.
12The kings of the earth,
And all inhabitants of the world,
Would not have believed
That the adversary and the enemy
Could enter the gates of Jerusalem—
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who shed in her midst
The blood of the just.
14They wandered blind in the streets;
They have defiled themselves with blood,
So that no one would touch their garments.
15They cried out to them,
“Go away, unclean!
Go away, go away,
Do not touch us!”
When they fled and wandered,
Those among the nations said,
“They shall no longer dwell here.”
16The face of the LORD scattered them;
He no longer regards them.
The people do not respect the priests
Nor show favor to the elders.
Watching vainly for our help;
In our watching we watched
For a nation that could not save us.
18They tracked our steps
So that we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near;
Our days were over,
For our end had come.
19Our pursuers were swifter
Than the eagles of the heavens.
They pursued us on the mountains
And lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
Was caught in their pits,
Of whom we said, “Under his shadow
We shall live among the nations.”
21Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
You who dwell in the land of Uz!
The cup shall also pass over to you
And you shall become drunk and make yourself naked.
22The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished,
O daughter of Zion;
He will no longer send you into captivity.
He will punish your iniquity,
O daughter of Edom;
He will uncover your sins!
Prayer for Restoration
Look, and behold our reproach!
2Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens,
And our houses to foreigners.
3We have become orphans and waifs,
Our mothers are like widows.
4We pay for the water we drink,
And our wood comes at a price.
5They pursue at our heels;
We labor and have no rest.
6We have given our hand to the Egyptians
And the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7Our fathers sinned and are no more,
But we bear their iniquities.
8Servants rule over us;
There is none to deliver us from their hand.
9We get our bread at the risk of our lives,
Because of the sword in the wilderness.
10Our skin is hot as an oven,
Because of the fever of famine.
11They ravished the women in Zion,
The maidens in the cities of Judah.
12Princes were hung up by their hands,
And elders were not respected.
13Young men ground at the millstones;
Boys staggered under loads of wood.
14The elders have ceased gathering at the gate,
And the young men from their music.
15The joy of our heart has ceased;
Our dance has turned into mourning.
16The crown has fallen from our head.
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17Because of this our heart is faint;
Because of these things our eyes grow dim;
18Because of Mount Zion which is desolate,
With foxes walking about on it.
Your throne from generation to generation.
20Why do You forget us forever,
And forsake us for so long a time?
21Turn us back to You, O LORD, and we will be restored;
Renew our days as of old,
And are very angry with us!
Annotations for Lamentations
The Jewish people were proud of Jerusalem, for it was their capital city and the home of their holy temple (; ; ; ; ; ). Though Jerusalem was called “the City of David” (; ), the Lord was enthroned on Zion (; ). Zion was “the mountain of the LORD” (). For this reason, the Jews thought their city was impregnable, particularly because the Lord’s house was there. But God would rather His city and temple be destroyed by pagans than to have His name disgraced by the wicked lives of His people.
Jerusalem, the forsaken woman, was “desolate” (v. , ), words used to describe Tamar after she had been raped (). Once Jerusalem had been a princess who had collected tribute from other nations, but now she was a vassal nation herself and forced to give up her “all her pleasant things” (v. ) and her “valuables” (vv. , ).
The people of Judah shouldn’t have been surprised at what had happened to the nation and the city because both Isaiah and Jeremiah had announced the coming invasion of the Babylonian army. In the terms of the covenant (), Moses had warned Israel that God would chasten them if they disobeyed. When she was faithful to God, Israel had been the “head,” the chief nation; but now Babylon would be the “head” and Israel the “tail” ().
Jerusalem pleads for sympathy and help. Note the repetition of “the Lord” in this passage. The Lord afflicted Jerusalem (vv. ); the Lord delivered Jerusalem into enemy hands (v. ); the Lord trampled the people under the feet of the enemy (v. ); the Lord commanded the enemy to attack (v. ); and “the LORD is righteous” (v. ). The prophet knew that God was in control of history and that the Babylonian army was serving him. The enemy showed no mercy as the anger of the Lord was poured out during the invasion (; , , , ; ; ). God’s anger is a holy anger, directed against sin.
Once again, the sufferers called out for any passing stranger to show them sympathy and bring them help, but nobody could save them. The rulers of Judah had sought help from their Gentile allies, especially Egypt and Assyria, but their friends and lovers had failed them and had not kept their promises. What a tragedy it is when God’s people look to the world for help instead of seeking the face of the Lord!
, Now that they were in trouble, the Jews were turning back to God’s Word. Unfortunately they didn’t pay attention to that Word earlier to keep the trouble from coming. “Happy the one who repays you as you have served us! Happy the one who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock” is not exactly a Christian prayer, but it represented their true feelings (see ).
In the previous chapter, we found the word “anger” only once (). In this chapter the word “comfort” is found only one time (), while “anger” or “fury” are found eight times (vv. [twice], , , , , , ). God also put a cloud between Himself and His people so that their prayers would not reach Him (). He had told Jeremiah not to pray for the people because they were so wicked that they were beyond his intercession (; ; ). In fact, it was futile for them even to pray for themselves ().
“His right hand” represents God’s great power (, ; ; ; ), but that power had been withdrawn. Instead of using His right hand to defeat the enemy, God used it to chasten His people (). God “destroyed” His people in terrible judgment (vv. , ), although the attacking nations took credit for the victory (v. ).
The summary in this verse declares that the Jews had lost everything that was precious to them: the gates and walls, the leaders, the law, and the prophets. God sent no vision to the people to show them what to do. God had been so gracious to His people in giving them numerous blessings (), but they had taken these blessings for granted and now had lost them.
Both old (elders) and young, male and female, felt the suffering together. Instead of sitting at the gate in honor and managing the affairs of the city, the elders sat on the ground in mourning, too overwhelmed to utter a word. The young women () walked about in sorrow, with their eyes to the ground, knowing that they would never be married and have children.
What had caused such calamity and tragedy? The spiritual leaders had given the people a false message and they had believed it (). For forty years, Jeremiah had openly opposed the false prophets who proclaimed “ ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace” (; ). They preached a popular message that the people wanted to hear (; ; ; ), while Jeremiah proclaimed the true message of the Lord and was rejected and persecuted. The false prophets refused to expose the sins of the people and call the nation to repentance.
One of the deepest cuts of all was the mockery from the Gentiles who walked past the devastated city (vv. , ). The Jews were proud of Jerusalem and called it “The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’ ” (v. ; ; ; ), but now it was a heap of rubble. The Gentiles vented their hatred against the Jews.
The sight of the suffering children broke the people’s hearts, because the children too often suffer most from the sins of the parents. The priests and prophets had sinned, and many of them had been killed; but the children were innocent and deserved no punishment. Israel was suffering in the day of God’s anger because they had sinned away the day of God’s grace. God was calling various terrors to come to Jerusalem, just as if He were inviting them to a feast. The feast was an image of the judged Jerusalem.
This section describes Jeremiah’s pain. Babylon was the rod of God’s wrath to the Jewish nation (), but the sufferings of the people and the destruction of the city and temple were the great causes of pain for Jeremiah. These tragic events would not have occurred if the people had listened to him and obeyed God’s will. Jeremiah had faithfully proclaimed God’s message for forty years, yet the nation had turned a deaf ear. No wonder he suffered!
The rod of discipline was bad enough, but the darkness made it even worse (v. ). In Scripture, darkness is often a picture of defeat and despair (, ; ) because sitting in darkness is like dwelling with the dead (). The hand of God was against him (; ), and the result of all this suffering was that Jeremiah was totally spent and probably looked very old (; see , ).
Catalyst
After describing in the first two laments the plight of the city and the people, the prophet, in this central chapter describes his own personal pain and distress. The pronouns “He” and “His” (referring to God) and “I” and “me” (referring to the prophet) are prominent in these sixty-six verses that form the heart of the book.
is the central verse of the book, and verses through comprise the theological heart of the chapter and the book. From to , Jeremiah described hopelessness, but focuses on the hope that we have in God, no matter how desperate our situation might be.
Jeremiah speaks for himself, but as he does, he also reflects the feelings and faith of the godly remnant of Jews who heard God’s Word and sought to obey Him. In doing so, Jeremiah also speaks for the godly remnant at any moment in history, distressed by the evidences of sin and sometimes suffering the ongoing consequences of humanity’s persistent rebellion against God. The mercies of God which “are new every morning” (v. ) were not just true when daylight broke day after day for Jeremiah; those mercies were true and fresh in your life this morning.
Go to the
Now that Jeremiah’s words had been fulfilled, we would think the people would have respected him and listened to him, but they didn’t. They ridiculed him and sang disrespectful songs about him (see v. ; ). Once again, he was like the Lord Jesus, who was also ridiculed by the people (). We expect the Gentiles to mock the Jews (; ), but we don’t expect the Jews to mock their own prophet.
, Jeremiah compared his experience to tasting the bitter herbs at the Passover feast or drinking bitter gall (vv. , ; see ; ; ). Myrrh mixed with wine was used as an anesthetic to deaden pain, but what Jeremiah “drank” only made his pain worse. Bitterness and brokenness went together, for he felt like a man with a mouth full of broken teeth and gravel. Most mourners put ashes on their heads, but he had been rolled in the dust ().
A familiar greeting on the lips of Jewish people is shalom, which means “peace, prosperity, health, well-being.” But the prophet experienced no “shalom,” for peace and prosperity were far from him and his people.
Jeremiah turned from contemplating his misery to remembering God’s mercy. He still experienced pain and sorrow, but he also called to mind the faithfulness of the Lord; and this gave him hope.
, The realization of God’s mercy, compassion, and faithfulness generated hope in Jeremiah’s soul, turning his contemplation of trouble into a confession of faith. Because the Lord loves us, He chastens us (), but He doesn’t consume us; He disciplines, but He doesn’t destroy. Unbelief causes us to look at God through our circumstances, and this creates hopelessness; but faith enables us to look at our circumstances through the reality of God, and this gives us hope.
If the Lord is our “strength” (), then we are strengthened by that which cannot be used up or destroyed. God is our eternal source of strength, hope, and blessing; He is our refuge (). Our circumstances change, and so do our feelings about them, but God is always good, loving, merciful, and kind, and He never changes. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” ().
As Jeremiah contemplated the character of God, he realized that the best thing he and his people could do was to wait patiently and silently for the Lord to work and accomplish His will in His time. God is gracious; God is great in faithfulness; God is good—regardless of how we feel or what we see. But just sitting and waiting isn’t enough; we must also seek the Lord and draw closer to Him (vv. , ).
The phrase “punishment of his sins” in verse naturally brings up the necessity for personal and national repentance. Jeremiah knew that the fall of Jerusalem was an act of chastening from God (, , ; ; , ) and that the purpose of that chastening was to bring the nation to her knees, confessing her sins. This meant searching their hearts, acknowledging their transgressions, and seeking the forgiveness of the Lord. The covenant promised cleansing and restoration (), as did Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple (; ). God chastens us that He might be able to cleanse us when we tell Him we’re sorry.
In , , and , we find prayers of confession on behalf of the people of Israel. The Psalms contain similar prayers. Jeremiah’s prayer revealed a man with a broken heart who couldn’t stop weeping over the people’s sins (see ; , , ).
God saw the wrongs that had been done to His servant, and He heard all the lies that were being told about Him. But no matter what people may say about us or do to us, the Lord is on our side, even in times of chastening. God didn’t desert His servant, nor will He desert us.
That Jeremiah asked God to treat his persecutors the way they had treated him isn’t surprising. Jeremiah was God’s servant and spokesman, and the people’s rejection of him meant their rejection of God’s Word. You cannot reject God’s Word and escape judgment.
In this chapter, Jeremiah brought together a number of vivid images to describe what the people endured in the siege and fall of Jerusalem. These calamities had been announced in the terms of the covenant (), so the Jews shouldn’t have been surprised when they occurred.
, , , These word pictures represent the people of Israel, precious in the sight of the Lord. The tribes of Israel are described as jewels set in gold on the breastplate of the high priest and also on his shoulders (; ; see also , ; ). But their sins had cheapened them and they had lost their beauty. The enemy treated God’s precious sons and daughters like pieces of cheap, broken pottery that we might throw on the neighborhood trash heap. Nobody is ever made better, more attractive, or more valuable because he or she has sinned.
–, The mammals feed their young until they’re able to care for themselves, but Jerusalem’s mothers were heartless toward their young because they had nothing to feed them.
, For centuries, Israel had been the object of God’s love and grace. He had delivered them from Egypt, brought them into the Promised Land, given them victory over their enemies, and graciously provided their every need. At this point, however, He was pouring out His wrath upon them and their land. Israel’s sins were greater than those of the cities of the plain because Israel had seen the glory of God, had been given His holy law, and had entered into covenant with Him. Privileges always bring responsibilities, but the nation refused to obey the Lord and was punished for their rebellion. The people would have been better off being killed in battle than slowly starving to death.
, Fire is frequently used in Scripture to picture God’s wrath, and the Lord’s anger burning is a familiar phrase and image (; ). At Mount Sinai God had stated clearly that He was “a devouring fire” (; , ; ) and would not tolerate deliberate sins.
The blood of people or any beast was held in great respect in Israel. Israelites were not allowed to eat the blood with the meat (), and the shedding of innocent blood polluted the land and had to be vindicated (). The Jews were very careful not to be defiled by the dead, but the sins of the false prophets and disobedient priests had defiled the land and its people.
Unwilling to trust the Lord for help, the leaders made agreements with other nations to secure their aid in fighting against the Babylonians; but their allies failed them. Israel’s lovers and friends proved to be unfaithful (; ; , , ; , ). The false prophets assured the people that help was coming, but the watchmen on the walls looked in vain.
The false prophets assured the people that the Lord would never break His covenant with David, so there would always be one of his descendants on the throne (). They interpreted this to mean that the throne and the nation would always endure, but they were wrong.
Though this chapter is a prayer, the pronouns are plural, for the prophet prayed for himself and the suffering remnant that had survived the invasion. He asked the Lord to “remember . . . behold” (v. ). This means that he and the people wanted the Lord to act on their behalf and deliver them from their painful and humiliating situation. Jeremiah knew that the Babylonian captivity would not end for seventy years (; ), but he still asked the Lord to be merciful to the poor people left in the land and to the exiles in Babylon.
What was the cause of all this trouble, loss, and pain? The Babylonian army? The wrath of God? No, the sins of the people! Here we see the blinding effects of sin (v. ; and see ), the binding effects of sin (, ), and the grinding effects of sin (v. ). The city of the great King had become a home for wild beasts (v. ).
The book of Lamentations vividly presents some important lessons that God’s people must learn and never forget.
• Privilege brings responsibility, and responsibility involves accountability.
• God is longsuffering, but there comes a time when He must discipline His people.
• When the blessings God gives are taken for granted and used selfishly, He takes those blessings from us. To enjoy the gifts but ignore the Giver is idolatry.
• God is always faithful to the terms of His covenant, either to bless because we have obeyed or to discipline because we have not.
• When parents sin, the children also suffer.
• When spiritual leaders refuse to hear and obey God’s Word, they lead their followers into sin and judgment.
• God’s Word can be proclaimed faithfully with no obvious change in the hearts of sinners. Jeremiah was faithful for over forty years, yet the nation became more and more wicked.
• Jeremiah was a man with a broken heart who suffered much, yet he was rewarded by being identified with Jesus (, ). Jeremiah’s ministry may not have been successful as we measure success, but his character became more and more Christhke, conformed by God to “be conformed to the image of His Son” ().
Go to the
The book doesn’t end with a recitation of the tragic losses of the people but with a marvelous confession of faith and a humble confession of sin. Though the throne of Judah had been disgraced and destroyed, by faith Jeremiah and the remnant saw the living and unchanging God on His throne in heaven—and this gave them courage (). Yes, they felt forsaken and forgotten (; see ; ), but they knew God would return to them if they would return to Him.
The final verse seems very pessimistic after such a sincere prayer for redemption and renewal. When the Jews read this book publicly in the synagogue to remember the fall of Jerusalem, they repeat verse so the reading won’t end on a negative note. But the verse is still there, and it reminds us of the high cost of sin. God delights in His people and longs to bless them. But if we sin, He will chasten us. If we repent and confess our sins, He will forgive us () and give us a new beginning. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” ().
Lamentations 1
1:1
1:1
1:2
1:2
1:3
1:3
1:3
1:4
1:5
1:5 ,
1:5
1:7
1:7 Vulgate reads her Sabbaths.
1:8 []
1:8
1:8 Septuagint and Vulgate read moved or removed.
1:9
1:10
1:10
1:11 ;
1:12
1:13 ;
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1:14 Following Masoretic Text and Targum; Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate read watched over.
1:15 []
1:16
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1:18 ,
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1:20
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1:21 []
1:22 ; ,
Lamentations 2
2:1 []
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2:2 ,
2:3
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2:6 ;
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2:8 []
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2:14 ; ; , ;
2:14
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2:15
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2:15 [; ]
2:16 ,
2:16 ;
2:16
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2:19 ;
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2:20
2:20 Vulgate reads a span long.
2:21
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2:22 ;
Lamentations 3
3:4
3:4
3:6 [, ; ]
3:7
3:8
3:10
3:11
3:12 ;
3:13
3:13 Literally kidneys
3:14
3:14
3:15
3:16 []
3:18
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3:22 []
3:22
3:23
3:24 ; ;
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3:26 []
3:26
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3:31 ;
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3:36 []
3:37 []
3:38
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3:47 ,
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3:48 ;
3:49
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3:53 Septuagint reads put to death.
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3:57 ,
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3:64
3:65 A Jewish tradition reads sorrow of.
3:66
3:66
Lamentations 4
4:2
4:3
4:4
4:5
4:6
4:6
4:7 Or nobles
4:8
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4:16 Targum reads anger.
4:17
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4:22 []
4:22
Lamentations 5
5:1
5:1
5:2
5:3 ;
5:5
5:5 Literally necks
5:6
5:6 ;
5:6
5:7
5:11
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5:19
5:20 ;
5:21