Agere Sequitur Esse

Lamentations

Jeremiah’s Lamentations

Notes.. .

.. .Introduction. By Jeremiah to teach people that to disobey God is to live in a disastrous situation and that God suffers when His people suffer. The person is Jeremiah. The place is Jerusalem.
.. .Themes. The Destruction of Jerusalem, Sin Consequences, God’s Mercy, and Hope.
.. .Outline. “The year was c. 586 BC. Jerusalem had fallen. The nation has been destroyed. The temple had been demolished. Its sacred vessels taken for spoils of war. The priests had been killed or taken captive to Babylon. Jeremiah had warned of impending disaster and now it had come” (William Seay 2019, L11 02:55–03:21).
.. .Application. “Lamentations reminds us of the appalling consequences of sin. God does not treat our sin lightly. Furthermore, we are responsible for our sin. We cannot pass the buck” (Seay 2019, L11 09:21–09:38).
.. .Timeline. Written in 586.

Introduction. The purpose it to teach people that to disobey God is to live in a disastrous situation. It is also written to show that God suffers when His people suffer. The author is Jeremiah. The key people are Jeremiah and the people of Jerusalem. The key place is Jerusalem.

Themes. 00:47 – There are four theological themes. (i) The Destruction of Jerusalem. Lamentations is actually a sad funeral song for the great capital city of the Jews. The temple has been destroyed, the king is gone, and the people are in exile. God had warned them that He would destroy them if they abandoned Him. Now, afterwards, the people realized their condition and confessed their sin. (ii) Sin Consequences. God was angry at the prolonged rebellion of His people. Sin is the cause of their misery and destruction. The destruction of their nation shows the vanity of human glory and pride. (iii) God’s Mercy. God’s compassion was at work even when the Israelites were experiencing the affliction of their Babylonian conquerors. Although the people had been unfaithful, God’s faithfulness was great. He used this affliction to bring His people back to Him. (iv). Hope. God’s mercy in sparing some of the people offers hope for better days. Someday, the people will be restored to a true and fervent relationship with God.

Outline. 02:45 – The year was c. 586 BC. Jerusalem had fallen. The nation has been destroyed. The temple had been demolished. Its sacred vessels taken for spoils of war. The priests had been killed or taken captive to Babylon. Jeremiah had warned of impending disaster and now it had come.

How would the inhabitants of this land respond to this loss? Where was God when all this happened? Had God allowed the barbaric Babylonians to devastate His elect people with impurity or Had the Lord Himself been defeated? The book of Lamentations poses such questions.

Lamentations, as its name suggests, is a series of five independent laments each of which is subject to the fall of Judah and Jerusalem. Chapters 1–4 are alphabetic acrostics, a poetic device in which successive verses or groups of verses begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

All five chapters center on one question: How can one respond to the loss of all security? Those who had experienced the powers of defeat, disruption of the economy, and the ensuing famine and pestilence must have felt, at times, that God had abandoned them. In such dire circumstances, the people had several theological options. (i) They could decide that their God had been defeated and was impotent; thus, they might abandon their God and turn to the worship of the victorious Babylonian deities. (ii) They might decide that God might not really exist; and basically, become atheistic. (iii) They might abandon their religious zeal in favor of a fanatical political program and becoming those zealots who tried to overthrow foreign countries by violence. (iv) They might try to understand how God could have brought the exile and could be working through it. The last response is the position of lamentations. In spite of despair over defeat, personal suffering and loss, still the community must have hope even if God seemed to have abandoned them. They must be hopeful for it all they have left.

The book of Lamentations honestly and forthrightly expresses both individual and community despair over the plight of Jerusalem and Judah. From bittersweet reminiscences of the greatness of a nation to the vengeful words of those who rejoice over Josiah’s fall will have to answer for their own sin. The book laments what had been but is no more.

Several theological things stand out in this brief book. God is just. Sinful people will be punished for their sin. God is not partial. Even His own elect people will be held accountable for their sins and if a people will repent and trust in God, they may have hope for the future.

The book describes in horrifying detail the ravages of war, famine, and pestilence but just as plainly the books states that the punishment was richly deserved. Jerusalem had grievously sinned, rebelled against God’s Word, and committed spiritual adultery by worshiping false gods. The prophet failed to expose the peoples’ sin and had given false prophecies. God had been just in His punishment of His people. He was no capricious god. A just God must deal with a sinful and rebellious people and that is exactly what God had done. God had long before spoken through Moses of the covenant requirements. If the people would keep the covenant then God would bless them but if they disobeyed the covenant then He would put them under a curse. Now the people of Judah had sinned. Therefore, God had brought about the punishment. Election did not protect Israel from punishment for their sin and indeed more was expected from Israel because of their unique covenant relationship.

Yet, despite the sin and punishment the book of Lamentation still offers hope. In the midst of the book surrounded by lament the author cries out to God in hope and then sings a song of assurance that God will hear and respond. Hope is based on past experience when the people called out to God and He responded. Thus, they can justifiably hope that once again He will respond to their call to Him, but a change is necessary. The people must (i) examine their ways, (ii) repent, (iii) confess their sin, and (iv) return to God then perhaps God will be gracious in forgiving. Such hope is all they had.

Application. 09:15 – Lamentations reminds us of the appalling consequences of sin. God does not treat our sin lightly. Furthermore, we are responsible for our sin. We cannot pass the buck. Nevertheless, there is also good news. None of us are beyond help. If we repent and confess, our gracious God will forgive. We still have the opportunity to respond to God through Jesus Christ. Therein lies our only hope.

Timeline. 10:00 – It was written by Jeremiah soon after the fall of Jerusalem somewhere around c. 586 BC.

Ref.

Seay, William. 2019. Old Testament Theology [MP3]. Andersonville Theological Seminary (ATS). Camilla, GA: ATS