Scripture Reading: Lam. 1, Lam. 2
In this message we will first give a word of introduction to our life-study of Lamentations, and then we will consider the first and second lamentations.
The writer of the book of Lamentations was Jeremiah, the weeping and lamenting prophet (cf. 2 Chron. 35:25).
The subject of Lamentations is the expression of Jeremiah’s sorrow and love over the holy city and the holy people of God.
The contents of the book of Lamentations are five lamentations of sorrow and love.
The book of Lamentations has five sections: a lamentation over the desolation of the holy city (ch. 1); a lamentation over the destruction of the holy city (ch. 2); a lamentation over the afflicted prophet identified with his punished people (ch. 3); a lamentation over the punished people (ch. 4); and a lamentation as a prayer for the holy people as the conclusion of the fourth lamentation (ch. 5).
It is difficult to find anything in Lamentations regarding God’s economy. Lamentations 3:22-25 does involve God’s economy, although not directly but indirectly through God’s compassions. According to God’s dealing with Israel, Israel should have been terminated. But Jeremiah said, “It is Jehovah’s lovingkindness that we are not consumed, / For His compassions do not fail” (v. 22). Israel failed, but God’s compassions did not fail. Because the compassions of God have kept the remnant of Israel on the earth to carry out God’s economy, we dare not say that Lamentations has nothing to do with God’s economy. However, there is very little in this book regarding God’s economy.
God trusted in Jeremiah to the uttermost. Jeremiah was very faithful to God, but between God and Jeremiah there was some discrepancy, some difference. We may say that there was even some friction between them. We see this discrepancy in Jeremiah’s reaction to God’s punishment of Israel.
God was indignant and angry with Israel and came in to tell Jeremiah that He would judge this people to the uttermost. When Jeremiah heard the details concerning Jehovah’s governmental dealing with Israel, he began to disagree somewhat with God. He thought that God was going too far in His punishment. For this reason, in Jeremiah 15:10 Jeremiah was forced to say, “Woe is me, my mother, because you bore me, / A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole land.” This indicates that he was not happy about the prophecy that God wanted him to speak. Thus, Jeremiah found himself in a dilemma. On the one hand, Jehovah pressed Jeremiah to prophesy concerning Israel’s destruction, and Jeremiah felt that the suffering of Israel was too great. On the other hand, the people remained evil, and they even began to persecute Jeremiah. This put Jeremiah into a dilemma.
Eventually, God carried out His judgment. He destroyed Jerusalem, burned the temple, sent the king into exile, and devastated the entire country. Jeremiah saw all these things take place before his eyes. All these things — the destruction, devastation, contamination, capture, and ruin — remained clearly in the memory of this sorrowful and sympathetic prophet. By God’s sovereignty, Jeremiah was free from captivity. History tells us that Jeremiah sat on a hill overlooking Jerusalem, viewing all the ruins below. He began to weep, and he could not avoid writing down his feelings. His five lamentations, written in a very fine way (with the first four lamentations following the sequence of the Hebrew alphabet), were the expression of his feeling of sorrow, pain, and sympathy concerning God’s holy people, holy land, holy city, holy temple, and holy vessels.
We know from the book of Jeremiah that Jeremiah, a good and faithful prophet, was persecuted. He was persecuted to such an extent that he prayed, “Let me see Your vengeance on them” (Jer. 11:20; 20:12). This is contrary to the New Testament teaching, which tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt. 5:44). Thus, regardless of how good and faithful Jeremiah was, he was still human. As he walked in the hills above Jerusalem, the more he looked at the destruction, the more the tears came and the more he lamented. Then he wrote his lamentations.
Let us now consider, in the way of a very brief sketch, the first two lamentations.
In her desolation, the holy city was in distressing circumstances (1:1-11). She had no comfort, rest, or pasture (vv. 2-3, 6, 9) because of her transgressions, sins, impurity, and uncleanness (vv. 5, 8-9).
Verses 12 through 19 speak of her entreating the sympathy of the passersby. Her circumstances were miserable (vv. 13-17) because of her rebellion against the commandment of Jehovah, who is righteous (v. 18).
Verses 20 through 22 are her prayer to Jehovah. In verses 20 and 21a she begged Him to see her in distress. Then in 21b and 22 she asked Him to deal with those who would not comfort her.
In 2:1-10 we have a word concerning Jehovah the Lord’s destruction of the holy city. This destruction was in His overflowing wrath, in the indignation of His anger (vv. 1-2, 6). The destruction included the temple, the altar, the kings, the priests, the princes, the prophets, and the elders (vv. 6-7, 9-10).
Verses 11 through 19 are the prophet’s lament. In verses 11 and 12 we have the prophet’s weeping and his inward feeling of pains because of his people’s suffering; in verses 13 and 14, the serious “sickness” of the people of Jerusalem; in verses 15 and 16, the hissing and insulting of the passersby; and in verse 17, the fulfillment of Jehovah’s commanded punishment. Then verses 18 and 19 tell of the need to cry to the Lord with eyes that weep unceasingly and hands uplifted toward the Lord.
The last three verses of this lamentation are her prayer to Jehovah. She begged Him to see her in her slaughter (v. 20a) and in the killings she had undergone (vv. 20b-22).
