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THE PENTATEUCH --- GENESIS ---EXODUS--- LEVITICUS --- NUMBERS --- DEUTERONOMY --- THE BOOK OF JOSHUA --- THE BOOK OF JUDGES --- THE BOOK OF RUTH --- SAMUEL --- KINGS --- I & II CHRONICLES --- EZRA---NEHEMIAH---ESTHER---PSALMS 1-73--- PROVERBS---ECCLESIASTES--- SONG OF SOLOMON --- ISAIAH --- JEREMIAH --- LAMENTATIONS --- EZEKIEL --- DANIEL --- --- HOSEA --- --- JOEL ------ AMOS --- --- OBADIAH --- --- JONAH --- --- MICAH --- --- NAHUM --- --- HABAKKUK--- --- ZEPHANIAH --- --- HAGGAI --- ZECHARIAH --- --- MALACHI --- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ---THE GOSPEL OF MARK--- THE GOSPEL OF LUKE --- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN --- THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES --- READINGS IN ROMANS --- 1 CORINTHIANS --- 2 CORINTHIANS ---GALATIANS --- EPHESIANS--- PHILIPPIANS --- COLOSSIANS --- 1 THESSALONIANS --- 2 THESSALONIANS --- 1 TIMOTHY --- 2 TIMOTHY --- TITUS --- PHILEMON --- HEBREWS --- JAMES --- 1 & 2 PETER --- JOHN'S LETTERS --- JUDE --- REVELATION --- THE GOSPELS & ACTS
By Dr Peter Pett BA BD (Hons-London) DD
Authorship.
This is a book of laments concerning the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC, written by one who was almost certainly an eye-witness to the events. These lamentations are often called ‘the lamentations of Jeremiah’, and were seen as such in Jewish tradition, the first indication of this being in the LXX. But, in fact, they are anonymous. In the Hebrew the simple title was ’eykah, that being the first word in the book. Most, however, would agree that the writer was certainly contemporary with the fall of Jerusalem and its aftermath because of the passion that the words convey and there is nothing in them that would deny them to Jeremiah. There are indeed indications of his style within them, and they express similar feelings to his own. Furthermore we do know that Jeremiah was practised in the art of the composition of lamentations (2 Chronicles 35.25). But in the end, in spite of these facts, we cannot be sure, and it is not really important. What matters is that they represent the voice of true prophecy.
Source.
In the Hebrew Bible, Lamentations is found within the third and last major division of the Old Testament, which is known as the "Hagiographa" or "Writings" (as against The Torah and The Prophets). It comes between Ruth and Ecclesiastes and is the third book of what is known as the "Megilloth" or "Scrolls", which is a section of the Hagiographa consisting of five books used on special fast days. “Megilloth” consists of The Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. The Jews read each of these books on different special feast or fast days each year, namely at Passover, Pentecost, the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem, Tabernacles, and Purim. In the Hagiographa the Megilloth comes after Job, Proverbs, and Psalms and precedes Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles.
Structure.
Lamentations is in the form of Hebrew poetry, mainly in acrostic form. In chapters 1, 2 and 4 (which each have 22 verses) each verse begins with a consecutive letter in the Hebrew alphabet (as indicated in brackets in the text), whilst in chapter 3 (which has 66 verses) the first three verses begin with aleph the second three with beth, and so on through the alphabet (again as indicated in the text). A similar acrostic phenomenon can be found in some Psalms (e.g. Psalm 111-112; 119, and Proverbs 31.10-31). Interestingly in chapters 2, 3 and 4 Pe comes before Ayin in the order of letters, whilst in chapter 1 we have the usual order of Ayin followed by Pe. This may indicate that the order of the letters in the alphabet was not firmly established at that time, something which is evidenced from alphabets scratched on pottery by schoolchildren where the same phenomenon occurs, or it may simply remind us of the fact that in the use of the acrostic the alphabet was not always slavishly followed (see e.g. in Psalm 25; 34; 37; 145). The threefold repetition of the different order, after the traditional order in chapter 1, must, however, surely be seen as significant, even if we do not now what that significance was. In view of his own differing usage it may suggest that the writer had a special reason for it, probably not discernible to us (e.g. samek pe ayin tsade might indicate ‘a threshold of wood’, being a reminder of the Temple). The non-use of the acrostic form in chapter 5, despite it also having 22 verses, might also be seen as deliberate.
The reason for using the acrostic form was probably because the writer wanted to express the completeness of his lament (he was giving the A to Z, compare the Alpha and the Omega), and possibly also because he wanted to bring out the completeness of his and his people’s penitence. As the reader or listener progressed through the alphabet they would become more and more aware of the completeness as they moved on from letter to letter throughout the alphabet. Nothing was to be seen as missing from the lament. Rather than being superficial therefore this arrangement expressed depth of meaning. The lack of it in chapter 5 may have been deliberately intended to leave the lament open ended, indicating a hope that there was yet a future for Jerusalem, in that one day His anger would cease.
Background.
It is important to recognise the background to the lament. Jerusalem, the Holy City, lay in ruins, still inhabited by the poor, but with its status wholly diminished and itself unimportant. The Temple, of which Judah had believed that God would never allow it to be defiled (e.g. Jeremiah 7.2 ff), and which was intended to be a beacon to the world of God’s truth (Isaiah 2.2 ff), was now a burnt out mass, with the holy hill empty and bleak. Whilst worship was probably still carried on there, it would have been of a very limited kind, on a makeshift altar beneath the open sky. But all on which Judah/Israel had laid such store was gone. YHWH had fulfilled the curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 to the letter.
But one important point brought out by the writer is that it was not that YHWH had failed to protect His Temple. It was that He Himself had determined on its desolation, and had brought it about. For outsiders it was just an event in history, the consequence of the greed of empires, and of the fact that Jerusalem had offended her God.. But for believers it was in itself a just act of God. He had warned them of what would happen if they disobeyed His covenant. And now it had happened. As a centre of the worship of YHWH Jerusalem was no more.
And the reason why the writer was reminding his people of this was so as to bring them to repentance. He wanted them to recognise the deep significance of what had happened. That is one purpose of a lamentation. It not only allows people to release their grief, but also brings home the lesson to be learned from the cause of lamentation. In a similar way it should be for us a reminder that when God warns us of coming judgment we need to take it seriously. Most of us are far too glib about our sins and about coming judgment, just as Judah/Israel had been. We need to remember that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, and that a day of reckoning for our failures is coming, even on those of us who are His redeemed people (1 Corinthians 3.11-16; Romans 14.10; etc).
One of the abiding lessons of Lamentations is, of course, that God is working out His purposes through history, and that sometimes the very lowest point is reached, and that God allows it. It is bringing out that God is sovereign in history. Many Christians have known times when they were almost in total despair and have wondered why God did not do something. It was so with the prophet, and with Jerusalem. It appeared to be the end. But we need to learn from Lamentations to remember the bigger picture. We are to see that what we experience is in fact rather the chastening of a God Who is concerned to root out sin (Hebrews 12.3 ff), and Whose ways are not understandable to us. One day Jerusalem would rise again and it would become the city where the ultimate Sacrifice was offered to God and from which the Good News of salvation would go out to the world. And once that was accomplished, while its usefulness would be over, the Temple would be replaced by the living Temple of Christ and His people (2.19, 21; 2 Corinthians 6.16; Ephesians 2.20-22). And Jerusalem would be replaced by a heavenly Jerusalem (Galatians 4.25-26; Hebrews 12.22). In that sense Jerusalem was eternal.
One further point should be made. If we find the theology of Lamentations difficult to handle it is because our view of God is superficial. For there is no avoiding the fact that such things do happen, and that God allows them. Any view of God that we take which does not take these things into account is unrealistic. It is a constant reminder of the fact that ‘the wages of sin is death’. It is true that God is love, but He is also pure light. And that light exposes and hates sin. His love can thus finally only be experienced by those who respond to His light by recognising their sinfulness and throwing themselves on His mercy. Then they will discover that He is love indeed.
Pattern Of The Book.
It is when taken as a whole that the book offers hope. Chapter 1 is full of deep despair and brings out the sad condition of Jerusalem after the Babylonian invasion, both from the prophet’s point of view and her own, whilst acknowledging that they are receiving what their sin deserves. Chapter 2 continues the despair but emphasises that what has happened to them is due to the wrath, anger, fury of YHWH. However, in chapter 3, although the gloom still continues, light breaks through.
Thus in 3.21-42, which are literally central to the whole book, we find a series of statements about God’s goodness and faithfulness, together with a cry that He will act in due time. In their adversity believers must keep their trust firmly in God, for ‘great is His faithfulness’ (verse 23). His compassions do not fail (verse 22), and while He has punished severely He has not done it willingly (verse 33). Furthermore He has not forgotten those who are truly His own. Thus they can wait patiently for Him to act in ‘salvation’ (verse 26), for He will not cast off for ever (verse 31). They must recognise that both ‘good and bad’ come from His hands, simply because as a just God He must punish men for their sins. They must therefore not complain at what is happening to them (verse 39), but must lift their hands up to Him in expectation (verse 40-41), whilst acknowledging their present situation (verse 42).
From then on in chapter 3, and again in chapter 4, the book reverts to its gloomy outlook, and chapter 4 closes with a warning to Edom that it too will suffer for what it has done (verses 21-22). But it does at the same time assure Judah/Israel that their sufferings have reached their height, with no more to come (verse 22). Chapter 5 continues the gloom, but it has a note of hope near the end. ‘YHWH abides for ever and His throne is from generation to generation.’ The inference is that the sufferings of the present time will yet turn into future blessing, and that they can therefore call on Him to turn them to Himself once their period of punishment is over (verses 19-21). But that must not mean that they overlook the fact that for the present they are still rejected and aware of His anger against them (verse 22).
COMMENTARY.
The book divides up into five chapters, each seemingly a separate work from the others, and yet brought together because of their common motif to form a pattern, central to which, as we have seen above, is the certainty of YHWH’s faithfulness to His own. They are on the whole a cry of despair over what has happened to Jerusalem, made by one whose heart was torn by what he had seen and experienced, and yet they also give an explanation as to why it has happened. That is why, in spite of their mainly negative stance, they offer hope for the future, with that hope exemplified in 3.21-42.
Chapter 1. A Heart-Cry Over What Has Happened to Jerusalem.
Chapter 1 is a heart cry over what has happened to Jerusalem. It divides up into two equal sections. The first eleven verses depict the heart cry of the prophet as he looks at what has happened to Jerusalem. The next eleven verses depict the heart cry of the city itself as it contemplates what has happened to it, a passage opened with the immortal words, “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by, look and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow’ (1.12). In neither section is there any positive request for YHWH to respond to their cry with deliverance, and the chapter ends rather with the plea that Jerusalem’s betrayers might suffer the same fate as she has. It is thus a cry for justice against her enemies so that they might share her fate, demonstrating the blackness of her despair.
Noteworthy is the emphasis the chapter places on the fact that it is YHWH Who has brought it about. It only comes out once in the first 11 verses which are spoken by the prophet, where it is related to her sins, ‘YHWH has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgression’ (verse 5), but it is more prominent in the second 11 verses, which are spoken by Jerusalem, both as to ‘the Sovereign Lord’ (three times in verses 14-15) and to ‘YHWH’ (verses 12, 17). Note that the specific interference in the state of things is by ‘the Sovereign Lord’ (delivering her into the hands of their enemies, setting at nought her prime warriors, treading her in a winepress). YHWH acts less specifically (He afflicts her, He commands concerning her). Appeal is also addressed to YHWH in both sections to ‘behold’ the situation (verses 9, 11, 20) demonstrating that faith is not totally dead. And in the midst of all this Jerusalem acknowledges that YHWH is truly righteous in His dealings with her, because she has rebelled against what He has commanded (verse 18).
The State Of The One-time Great City Of Jerusalem Is Described (1.1-11).
The prophet here commences by bewailing the state of Jerusalem. He pines over what it has lost, and describes it in terms which bring out how much it has lost. From the political point of view it had lost its autonomy and was no longer semi-independently ruled, having become but part of a Babylonian province. From the religious point of view it had lost its status as the centre for the worship of YHWH.
The Prophet Pines Over What Jerusalem Has Lost (1.1-7).
In these opening verses (1.1-7) Jerusalem is pictured by the writer in terms of how it now was, an empty city, a widow and forced-labourer (helpless people subject to the winds of fortune), one who was despised by the nations, her people in exile, her worship non-existent, ruled over by her enemies, her treasures all gone, and all because she had turned from the Lord and from His covenant, and had done it so often that in the end He had had enough.
The verses bring out a number of deliberate contrasts:
We can understand from this the cry from the prophet’s heart. Jerusalem had lost everything. Whilst the city would not be literally empty, and some of the poorest of the land would still be living there amidst its ruins, she was an empty, broken-down shell. The eternal city was no more. It is a picture of a city and nation which, because it had lost its soul, had therefore now lost everything.
We cannot fail to recognise in all this what can happen to the church of Jesus Christ (and has happened through the ages) when it falls short in its witness and life and becomes superficial. Its congregations can begin to dwindle. It can lose respect. It can find itself deserted. It can lose its spiritual riches and its first love. It has happened to much of the church in England (although thankfully with many exceptions). It is happening in the US. And it all arises through disobedience and neglect, through self-praise and self-gratification, through self-satisfaction, and through an attitude that worships other things than God. It is something that can also happen in the individual. It is a picture of the consequences when the world has crept in and has gradually taken over, it is a picture of the consequences of backsliding, of a spiritually bankrupt life.
1.1
As the writer surveys what remains of Jerusalem his heart is moved to cry out. He could remember how it had once been a teeming city, full of bustle and noise, its streets filled with people. But now it was empty. Those who did still dwell there were despondent and discouraged as they crept around its ruined streets, ruled over by outsiders. It was a city which had lost its heart.
It had become like a widow, one who wept because she had lost her protector and provider, one who often lived on the edge of poverty, who was ignored by all, and was an irrelevance to all, with no one to take up her cause. Life had passed her by. (Compare the vivid picture of the enforced widowhood of Babylon found in Isaiah 47, and Israel as a widow in Isaiah 54.4-5; See also the indications of a widow’s lot in Deuteronomy 24.19-21; 1 Kings 17.9-24; Isaiah 10.2; Ezekiel 22.7). Jerusalem/Judah had once been great among the local nations, highly regarded, and looked up to as a royal city, ‘a princess’. But now it had become a forced-labourer, one set to the task force, at the beck and call of its taskmasters.
‘A princess among the provinces.’ This is looking back to the times when surrounding nations had been subject to Jerusalem in the times of Hezekiah, and earlier. Then she had been like a princess among them. The word for ‘provinces’ indicates a nation or nations subject to another nation (compare Ezra 2.1; Nehemiah 7.6; Esther 1.1, 22)
We are reminded by this of the Ephesian church which had lost its first love and would eventually have its light of witness removed (Revelation 2.2-5), which was eventually brought down to the depths, and of the Laodicean church, which had not yet realised that it was poor and wretched, miserable, blind and naked (Revelation 3.17). The secret of the maintenance of true spirituality is eternal vigilance and remaining close to God.
1.2
Jerusalem in her desolation had become like a deserted lover, weeping bitterly in the night, tears running down her cheeks, her lovers no longer there to comfort her because they have treacherously entered into relationship with her enemies. She had been deserted. All the nations that she had relied on had turned from her, making terms with the Babylonians and acting against her (Psalm 137.7; Ezekiel 25.3, 6; Obadiah 1.11-14; Jeremiah 40.14). She has been left alone to face her destiny.
In the past she had looked to those others for sustenance instead of to her Lord (Hosea 2.7; 7.11; 8.9-10; Jeremiah 22.20-22; Ezekiel 23.1-48; Isaiah 30.1-3; 31.1-3; 1 Kings 15.16-20; 2 Kings 16.5-7), and now those others had failed her and she was left bereft. Not one could be relied on. It is a reminder that we also need to beware of too much reliance on people, instead of relying on our Lord. He is the only One Who will never let us down.
1.3
One of the great promises to God’s people had been that they would find rest (see Deuteronomy 12.9-10; 25.19; Joshua 21.44; 23.1; 2 Samuel 7.1, 11; 1 Kings 8.56). But from now on there would be no rest, for those who were the heart of the nation had been carried away into captivity. Some were suffering great affliction, others were facing great servitude. See the vivid picture in Deuteronomy 28.64-67. Like the Israelites who had wandered in the wilderness under Moses, they too would wander among the nations, unable to find rest (Psalm 95.11). And of those who had not gone into captivity large numbers had sought refuge in Egypt, equally becoming exiles. For them the future was just as bleak as Jeremiah makes clear. Meanwhile her own land had been invaded and settled by other neighbouring nations (e.g. the Edomites in the south) who had acted against her in her abandoned state.
It is noteworthy that later in the book ‘the daughter of Zion’ is promised that she will no more be carried into captivity once the punishment of her iniquity is accomplished (4.22). The book is therefore an assurance that this is only a temporary experience.
This picture of a people unable to find rest is taken up by the writer to the Hebrews in Hebrews 3-4, as he warns a group of Jewish Christians of the dangers of falling back into Judaism. It is a warning to us also lest we fall back into apathy, or think that we can be ‘believers’ without making a genuine response in our lives.
1.4
In spite of its extravagant seeking after false gods Jerusalem had taken great pride in being the centre of Yahwism, the place to which people flocked at the times of the great feasts, singing as they came. It was the place where many gathered to worship the true God. But now the roads along which they had travelled mourned because no one travelled along them, no one came for the feasts. Jerusalem’s very gates were unused and desolate, no pilgrims flocked through them. Her priests sighed, either because no one made use of their services (the context may be seen as suggesting that these are minor priests left in Jerusalem), or because having been carried off into a far country they could no longer serve. Her virgins were afflicted, and no longer took part in the festivals (virgins/young women were regularly associated with festival worship - Psalm 68.25; Judges 21.19-210 Exodus 15.20; Jeremiah 31.13) partly because there were no prospects of marriage for them as a result of the slaughter, and partly possibly because they had been repeatedly raped by the invading forces and had lost their virginity. Meanwhile the whole of Jerusalem, instead of being festive, was in deep bitterness.
Many today can look back to the past and see what once was, remembering past days of blessing which have been lost. And it is all too often because of the sin of God’s people who have failed in their responsibility, indeed, bringing it closer to home, it is because of our sin. We have only to think of past revivals to ask ourselves, why have the places in which there was once such rejoicing and worship, become places which are spiritually barren and fruitless?
1.5
Grievous to the prophet was the sight of Jerusalem and Judah ruled over by foreigners. Babylon now ruled them by direct rule through her appointees, stationed elsewhere than Jerusalem. Initially it was by Gedaliah, no doubt watched over by Babylonian advisers, and then by whoever replaced him. But the authority to rule had been taken away from Jerusalem.
‘Her enemies prosper.’ The neighbouring nations were no longer subject to Judah’s hand upon them, and instead prospered at her expense. And all this was because YHWH had afflicted her. It was YHWH’s doing.
And that is why her people, and even her young children, had gone into exile, either forcefully or voluntarily. (‘Before the adversary’ could indicate that they had been driven as captors, or that they had fled from their vengeance). It was because of their transgressions against the covenant with YHWH, which included the ten words/commandments. So the message is that it is YHWH Who has done it because of their disobedience to His requirements. This is the explanation of the catastrophe. This emphasis on the fact that it was YHWH Who was responsible for what had happened, and Who had brought this catastrophe on them, is a theme of the book. See 1.12-15, 17; 2.1-8, 17; 3.1, 37-38, 43-45: 4.11. It was a message that enabled a broken and disheartened people to make sense of what had happened. It enabled them to recognise that if only they would respond to Him truly they were still His people. For we must remember that however deep our sin, God will always provide us with a way back through true repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1.6
For the majesty that has departed from the daughter of Zion compare Ezekiel 16.14. YHWH had made her majestic in the eyes of the nations, partly because of her unique faith and her unique God, but now that majesty has departed. Instead of standing proud among the nations her princes had become like deer without pasture which become weak and feeble, and lose their strength. ‘Before their pursuer’ suggests here a special reference to the way in which Zedekiah and his princes and advisers had fled ignominiously by night seeking to escape from those who surrounded Jerusalem. But they had lacked the strength and stamina to escape as a result of the starvation rations that they had been living on and had been overtaken at the Arabah (2 Kings 25.5; Jeremiah 39.5; 52.7-8).
1.7
The prophet pictures Jerusalem in her poverty and desolation as remembering the treasures that she had lost, the treasures which had made her such a desirable city, and especially the treasures of the Temple removed by Nebuchadrezzar (Jeremiah 52.17-23; 2 Kings 24.13). Then she had been admired and honoured. But now her treasures were gone, for she had fallen into the hands of the adversary, and none had helped her. And indeed her adversaries now saw her desolations and mocked at her. She was a laughingstock among her neighbours.
What Jerusalem Has Become (1.8-11).
Having outlined what Jerusalem had lost the prophet now turns his thoughts to what she has become. She has become like a menstrual woman whose situation is visibly revealed to the world, a suggestive picture that would have brought horror to men and women alike. Menstruation was seen as something to be kept hidden and to be ashamed of. And menstruation was seen as especially horrific in Judah/Israel for it was a means by which people were rendered ritually ‘unclean’ (Leviticus 15.19 ff). Furthermore, what was worse, as a result of her failure unqualified strangers had entered into God’s holy place, stealing its treasures and rendering it unclean by their presence. One uncleanness leads to another. And meanwhile her people had had to trade their own personal treasures simply in order to obtain the food that enabled them to survive.
1.8
Note the emphasis on the fact that all this was because ‘Jerusalem has grievously sinned’. And by sin is meant breaches of the covenant, both ritual and moral. They had played havoc with God’s covenant by murder, adultery, theft, perjury and covetousness, they had wallowed in idolatry (Jeremiah 7.9; 17.1-2), and all this had been exposed to the world, revealing her as a religious harlot. It was because of their sin that they had become like a menstrual woman whose nakedness was revealed. This would have literally occurred at the taking of Jerusalem with the enemy soldiers taking great delight in seizing menstruating women, ripping their clothes, and exposing them to the world. But it was also true metaphorically of Jerusalem as her sins and idolatry were also revealed to the world, causing her who had once been honoured, to be despised. She had defiled the religion of YHWH. She is then depicted as sighing deeply in her misery and shame at her exposure, and desperately and hopelessly trying to hide her condition by turning her back, hoping to hide herself from prying eyes, a totally useless enterprise, but it was all that she could do. She was unable to remove her sin. Indeed her means for doing so (the Temple ritual) had been destroyed.
1.9
She had not been concerned about the fact that she was defiling herself, and so she had wallowed in her dirt, because she had failed to consider what the final result might be. She had gloried in her uncleanness. Her collapse when it came was therefore both total and spectacular, with no one to turn to for comfort. Jerusalem now lay in ruins, with no one concerned about her of all her erstwhile allies, whilst her God also seemed far away.
We live today in times when uncleanness and immorality are being openly exposed to the world with no sense of shame. We too should recognise that our nations are heading for a spectacular fall.
The picture was so awful to the prophet’s mind that he cried out to YHWH even as he wrote. For he saw the affliction of Jerusalem as his own affliction. He shared in her misery. (We do not therefore need to choose between seeing this prayer as that of the prophet or that of a stricken Jerusalem. It was both). And he sought to draw YHWH’s attention to how their enemy was magnifying himself, and that included magnifying his gods. And by it the enemy were therefore deriding YHWH (‘the God of Israel’). Let God act therefore to defend His Name. It is a reminder that we too should identify ourselves with the sins of our nations, and should weep as the prophet wept, concerned for the honour of our God.
1.10
The thought of the uncleanness of the nation now reminded the writer of what he saw as the most dreadful thing of all. The picture of the defiled, menstrual woman drew his attention to an even worse situation, the defilement of God’s sanctuary that had resulted from it. As always happens the defilement had spread to God’s house. The enemy had not hesitated to spread out his hands and gather in all Jerusalem’s treasures (Jeremiah 52.17-23), and in order to do so had trespassed on both the area of the sanctuary reserved only for the priests, and on the area especially which no man could enter because the Ark of YHWH was there. Foreign feet, which should not even have been allowed to become a part of the festal gathering (assembly), had trampled God’s Holy Place, where none but the especially sanctified could enter. And they had even entered the Holiest of All. And this was due to Jerusalem’s sins. The writer was horrified at the thought.
We also need to remember that when we sin we defile God’s Name and, if it is unrepented of, we carry our sin with us into the gathering of God’s people. We do not therefore just defile ourselves, we defile God’s holy Temple, His people.
1.11
One of the consequences of all that had happened was that the people were now in extreme poverty. They were sighing at the miseries that had come on them, and they were so desperate to obtain food for themselves and their families, that in order to obtain it they were selling off their last remaining treasured possessions, even their children (for a reminder of the shortage of food during the sieges see 2 Kings 6.25-29; Jeremiah 37.21; 38.9; 52.6, but their hapless condition would continue afterwards, for they would not be well looked after by their captors). For even the richest was poor now. They had truly become an object of pity. And pity was what the writer felt as he looked on the situation. Once again it turns him to prayer as he identifies himself with his people and calls on YHWH to see his and their abject state.
It is a reminder that we also should be aware of, and pray about, the miseries of others when they are caught up in catastrophe, entering into their experience with them.
Jerusalem Calls On The World, And Then On YHWH, To Behold Her Condition And Cries To Him For Vengeance (1.12-22).
This passage can be divided up into two parts, the first in which Jerusalem calls on the world to behold her pitiable state (verses 12-19), and the second in which she calls on YHWH to do the same and to avenge her in accordance with what He has promised (verses 20-22). The cry for retribution has in mind YHWH’s declaration of His intentions as described, for example, in Jeremiah 50.15, 29; 51.6, 11. Initially of course it describes the prophet’s viewpoint speaking on behalf of Jerusalem, but the aim was that by participation in his thoughts through reading and reciting his words God’s wayward people too might enter into a similar experience.
Jerusalem Calls On The World To Behold Her Pitiable State (1.12-19).
1.12
In words that have moved the hearts of people in many generations Jerusalem calls on the world to pause as they pass by the ruined city and behold her sorrows and afflictions. And then he explains their cause. They are due to the fact that YHWH has afflicted them because He is severely angry with them. YHWH’s anger is not of course to be seen as like our anger. It is rather descriptive of His antipathy to sin, and His reaction against it. God’s holiness results in God’s wrath against sin. Note that this was ‘the day of His fierce anger’, one of many ‘days of YHWH’.
The words remind us of Another Who hung on a cross as our representative and substitute, bearing for us the wrath of God against sin. He too could say to those who passed by, ‘Is it nothing to you all you who pass by, behold and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow -- with which God has afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger.’ It reminds us that we can be spared the wrath of God because He bore it in our place, being made sin for us, and taking on Himself ‘the wrath of God’ (the necessity in God, because of what He is, to justly punish sin).
1.13
Jerusalem then speaks of three ways in which YHWH has dealt with her:
All this is a reminder to us that God is Light (1 John 1.5) as well as Love (1 John 4.8). Though He may bear long with us He will not allow sin unrepented of to go unpunished in the end.
We need not think that we are exempt. We too may be called on to experience His destructive fire, to be caught in His snare, and to end up in a state of desolation at what is happening to us, as many an individual has discovered, and as the church has often experienced through the centuries when it has been unfaithful to Him. Paradoxical though it may seem it is often a sign of His love. It is His way of bringing back to Himself those who are truly His, and yet have strayed for a while, and punishing those whose profession is merely formal.
1.14
Under the guidance of the prophets they recognise that YHWH has taken their transgressions and woven them together to make a heavy yoke on their necks, similar to the wooden yoke that oxen wore over their necks when they pulled the plough. And under that heavy yoke their strength fails, and they are not able to stand. For that heavy yoke is the victorious enemy who have come against them, against whom they have no hope. It is a cry of despair, a cry of recognition of deserved judgment, and yet it is also in the end a cry of hope. For the very reason for making this lament is the hope that God will hear and respond to their cry, as history reveals that He does. It will, however, only be through a hard and difficult path.
Note the change from ‘YHWH’ to ‘the Lord (adonai)’. It is the sovereign Judge Who is now acting.
1.15
‘The Sovereign Lord’ continues to act. He has rendered powerless the warriors of Judah/Israel, He has made them ‘as nothing’ (to be treated with contempt), by the very size and ferocity of the forces that have come against them.
The idea of ‘calling a solemn assembly’ usually has worship and joy in mind. So the gathering here is seen by God as for a religious purpose. But the joy will be that of the conquerors, not of Judah. For here the religious purpose is the judgment of Jerusalem. It is seeing what happens as something which has religious intent and contributes to the praise of YHWH, because Judah/Israel are getting their deserts.
All who read these words would be familiar with the pits in which the grapes were placed and then trodden down by the workforce until they were squeezed dry of all their juice which would be channelled off and collected in wineskins. Here the winepress is the Lord’s, and the treaders are the Babylonians, whilst the squeezed grapes are the Judeans. The blood-red juice was a solemn reminder of the blood that had run so freely in the streets of Jerusalem. Compare the vivid picture in Isaiah 63.1-6 speaking of God’s similar judgment on Edom. See also Revelation 14.19; 19.15 where the world will experience the same.
‘The virgin daughter of Judah.’ Compare 2.13; Isaiah 47.1 (of Babylon); Jeremiah 6.2, 8.11, 19; 14.17). The idea is of one who had once been pure, but is now helpless, and brought down to shame. The virgin has been raped.
1.16
The destruction of the Temple had been a shattering blow for Israel, and for their faith. Up to that point they had believed that YHWH’s hand would protect it, that somehow He would not deal so severely with His people (compare Jeremiah 7.2-14). Now they had been proved wrong, and the ruins of the Temple indicated to them that YHWH had in a sense deserted them, that He was ‘far from them’. The One Who alone could have comforted them and refreshed their souls was no longer near. Or at least that was how it appeared to them at that moment. (In their exiles the prophets would encourage them in order to demonstrate that YHWH still had a purpose for them. But that was not how they saw it at this moment).
So ‘Jerusalem’ wept copious tears, tears streaming down the faces of her people. For as they looked at the total desolation, and the victorious enemy, they were aware that they had no one to turn to. The repetition of ‘my eye’ emphasises the point. They felt utterly forsaken.
Many of us experience times in our lives when we feel that God has forsaken us because we cannot understand what is happening to us. For His ways are not our ways, and sometimes He leads us through the valley of thick darkness. But we should comfort ourselves with the thought that it is in the end so that we might be purified, as Israel was being purified.
1.17
Zion is here the equivalent of Jerusalem. Here she cries out in her sad condition. The spreading forth of the hands while standing up to pray was a common method of praying. Thus here Jerusalem is depicted as calling on God to hear her in her distress. But it appears to her to be in vain. No one acts on her behalf. No one comforts her. The One Who would have been her Comforter has turned against her because of her many sins, and even her erstwhile allies have become her enemies because they now see her as ‘unclean’, deserted by the gods and by men. And Jerusalem recognises that this also is due to the hand of YHWH. It is He Who has commanded it. Here people have been brought to a full stop in order that they may face up to how much they have offended God.
There is a reminder to us here that if our trust is in the world it will always let us down in the end. And a reminder that we should treat our sin more seriously.
1.18
Jerusalem acknowledges the fact that what has happened has not called into question the righteousness of YHWH. Rather it has underlined it. For it has happened precisely because her people had rebelled against the commandments of the Righteous One. This was initially, of course, the prophet’s viewpoint speaking on behalf of Jerusalem, but it would gradually become a part of the thinking of the whole people as a result of the prophetic endeavours, and this lament.
Then Jerusalem calls on ‘all you peoples’ to behold her sorrow, in that the prime of her youth, her virgins and young men, have gone into captivity.
For ‘YHWH is Righteous’ compare 2 Chronicles 12.6; Isaiah 24.16 (translated ‘glory to the Righteous One’); Jeremiah 12.1. Note the return to ‘YHWH’ rather than ‘Lord’. They are recognising that He is their covenant God against Whom they have rebelled.
1.19
Jerusalem admits that she has been failed by both her allies, and by her own leadership. Her ‘lovers’ are those that she has cosied up to among the neighbouring countries. But when called on to fulfil their promises they had deceived her. Egypt, for example, on whom she had greatly relied, had made great promises, but had been unable to live up to them). And in some cases her neighbours had rather assisted her enemies (although sometimes having no alternative). Meanwhile her own leadership, the priests and elders (secular statesmen) whom she had looked up to, and on whom she had depended, had given up any effort to help the people because they had been too involved in their own self-preservation. Indeed many of them had actually perished as they searched for food.
Recognising The Depths Of Her Own Sin Jerusalem Calls On YHWH To Do The Same To Her Enemies Who Are Gloating Over Her As He Has Done To Her, For They Are Equally Sinful. And She Calls On Him To Avenge Her In Accordance With What He Has Promised Through Jeremiah (verses 20-22).
It is a sign of the depths of Jerusalem’s despair that her desire is not for mercy for herself, for she apparently sees that she does not warrant it, but that YHWH will also punish those who are gloating over her and yet are just as sinful in the same way as He has her. It is clear that their gloating has bitten deep into her soul. She wants equal justice for all, not mercy.
1.20
She calls on YHWH to behold her in her present state. But this in itself is a recognition of her confidence that YHWH will still hear her. She does not feel totally forsaken. It is a dim glimmer of light in the darkness.
But for the present she is in distress, her heart is troubled and torn within her, and she recognises the depths of her own sin. She has ‘grievously rebelled’, a verb which means ‘to behave obstinately’ (Numbers 20.10, 24). That is why, both at home and abroad, her people are still dying. ‘Abroad’ simply indicates that those who venture out into the streets are slain by the sword, whilst those ‘at home’ are seen as dying of disease and hunger. It brings home the nearness of the events in the prophet’s eyes.
1.21
‘They’ is a general ‘they’ and includes her enemies among her neighbours. And what hurts worse than all else is that while she sighs with none to comfort her, her enemies are gloating over what has happened to her. They are glad that YHWH has done this to her. But even in her misery Jerusalem is confident that He will fulfil his prophecies against the nations in Jeremiah 46-49. He will bring the day that He has proclaimed, and in that day her enemies will find themselves in the same distressing conditions that she is suffering at the moment.
We cannot see this as an attitude to be encouraged, it is contrary to the teaching of Christ, but it was at least an indication that Jerusalem had not lost her belief in the justice and fairness of God, and that she saw all that was happening as firmly within His control. She was trusting God in the dark, believing Him to be concerned about her even in her present situation.
1.22
Her prayer does, however, arise from her consciousness that her enemies are as wicked as she is. She is not calling for adversity to fall on the innocent. All are seen as equally deserving of punishment. She is now suffering because of all her transgressions, and she sees it as right that those who have sinned as much as she has should be punished in the same way. ‘Do to them as You have done to me.’ God must at least reveal Himself as fair and just.
She closes by summarising her position in the words, ‘my sighs are many and my heart is faint’. It is the cry of a burnt out shell of a city grieving over her condition whilst her sufferings are deeply imbedded in her mind, somehow clinging on to her faith in God (which is why she prays).
Chapter 2. A Lament Over What Has Happened To Jerusalem Due To The Lord’s Anger.
This chapter also divides up into sections. In the first 9 verses the prophet describes in forceful detail what ‘the Sovereign Lord’ (adonai) has done against Jerusalem and Judah, and he follows this up in verses 10-12 with a picture of Jerusalem’s inhabitants (elders, virgins, young children) revealing how all this has affected them (they keep silence and mourn, they hang their heads, the children complain of hunger). Then in verses 13-19 he addresses the inhabitants of Jerusalem directly, outlining what has come upon them and calling on them to seek to YHWH for help, finishing it all off in verses 20-22 with a direct appeal to YHWH to see what the situation is.
Note the emphasis in the first six verses on the wrath, fury and anger of the Lord/YHWH (specifically drawn attention to in verses 1 (twice), 2, 3, 4, 6), something again emphasised in the final verse (verse 22). His people had defied Him and disregarded His loving covenant for too long. They had rejected the pleas of His prophets. And there comes a time when even God’s patience is at an end and He becomes relentless. The results of that anger were plain to see in the ruined Temple, the destroyed city, and the relatively empty and devastated land. (It should, however, be noted from the human point of view that it was not YHWH Himself Who had done this, but the Babylonian contingents. God works through history and the sinfulness of man. He had simply withdrawn His hand of protection because of His antipathy towards His people’s sin, letting men loose in their viciousness - see verse 3).
Once again we see a variation between ‘Sovereign Lord’ (adonai) and YHWH. In verses 1-5 it is the Sovereign Lord Who has acted against Jerusalem and Judah/Israel in a variety of ways, whilst in verse 6 it is YHWH Who has caused the solemn gathering of the people and the sabbath to be ‘forgotten’, that is, not maintained because of Judah’s condition. In verse 7 it is the Sovereign Lord Who has cast off her altar and sanctuary, whilst in verse 8 it is YHWH Who has purposed to destroy the walls of Zion and has given the prophets no vision. From that point there is then no mention of either until verse 17 where it is YHWH Who has devised against Jerusalem and thrown her down, causing her enemies to rejoice and exalting them, whilst it is to the Sovereign Lord that the prayers of the women for their hungry children are addressed and are to be addressed (verses 18, 19). On the other hand the Prophet’s appeal for God to consider the situation being prayed about is addressed to YHWH (verse 20), whilst in the same verse reference is made to ‘the sanctuary of the Lord’. It is clear that the names are being used interchangeably. The final reference is to ‘the day of YHWH’s anger’ in verse 22.
Interesting also are the names used of Judah/Jerusalem in the first few verses. It is ‘the daughter of Zion’ (verses 1, 4, 8, 10), ‘Israel’ (verses 1, 3, 5), ‘Jacob’ (verses 2, 3), ‘the daughter of Judah’ (verse 5), ‘Zion’ (verse 6).
The Lord’s Anger Is Revealed In The Destruction Of Jerusalem (2.1-9).
In these verses we have a description of how in His ‘anger’ (antipathy towards sin) the Lord has brought destruction on Judah and Jerusalem both politically and religiously. He is seen as the cause of the Babylonian activity. It is a reminder to us that behind what often seems to be the meaningless flow of history God is at work.
2.1
In the first five verses of this chapter all the activity is seen as that of ‘the Sovereign Lord’ acting against those who were once His people. In this first verse a threefold activity is depicted. The Sovereign Lord has:
Many commentators have seen all three of these activities as referring to Jerusalem or Israel; the daughter of Zion covered with a storm-cloud, the beauty of Israel cast down from Heaven to earth, His footstool not remembered by the Lord. But a glance at the following verses throws this interpretation into doubt, for they demonstrate that it is the prophet’s usual practise in this lament to speak of three different, if parallel things, not the same thing three times. Thus we must view this interpretation with suspicion.
The first statement is clear. The Sovereign Lord has, in His anger, covered the daughter of Zion (Jerusalem) with a storm-cloud. This is the very opposite to the way in which, in earlier days, YHWH had manifested Himself in a cloud. That had been protective, indicating His presence with them. Now the swirling storm-cloud is seen to be one of judgment and fierce anger.
He has ‘cast down the Beauty of Israel from Heaven to earth’. This phrase is descriptive of a fall from high honour, even from god-likeness, as we see by its use of the King of Babylon in Isaiah 14.1, and of Tyre in Ezekiel 28.14, 17. But to what does ‘the Beauty of Israel refer? The concept of beauty is elsewhere:
If we take it as 3) it would certainly fit in as a parallel to ‘the daughter of Zion’, but, as we have already suggested, in this lament the prophet does not tend to use such exact parallels. Thus we would rather expect the daughter of Zion, the beauty of Israel, and the Footstool to refer to three different things.
Considering 2). reference to Judah’s king as ‘the Beauty of Israel’ (as in 2 Samuel 1.19; Zechariah 12.7) and being cast down from Heaven to earth would certainly tie in with the parallel of the King of Babylon who made exalted claims about his status and was also to be cast from Heaven to earth (Isaiah 14.12-15), and it is quite possible that Zedekiah may have been aping the Babylonian New Year ritual in which this was enacted. Reference to the king may also be seen as a good parallel to the Ark, if we take the Ark as His footstool, something specifically stated in 1 Chronicles 28.2, for both the King and the Ark represented YHWH’s kingship. Furthermore a star falling from Heaven could certainly be seen as signifying a bad end for a ruler (for star = ruler compare Numbers 24.17; Daniel 8.10). And certainly the king was seen by Jerusalem and the prophet in an exalted sense, being described in terms of ‘YHWH’s Anointed’, the very breath of their nostrils (4.20), making clear his importance in their eyes. As the Davidic king and the Anointed of YHWH, the one on whom Israel’s hopes rested, he could well be described as the beauty of Israel. In contrast it is difficult to see either the Temple or Jerusalem as being cast down from Heaven to earth (unless we see the idea as metaphorical of their splendour being cast down from Heaven, but there is no example of this elsewhere). What is also significant is that the king and his princes, and their fate, are stressed in the immediately following verses (see verses 2, 6) demonstrating that they were in the prophet’s mind as he wrote. It would appear to us therefore that the Beauty of Israel was the Davidic king, whose status was beautiful, but who was brought low by the Lord.
It was the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH that was mainly seen as YHWH’s footstool (1 Chronicles 28.2; compare Psalm 99.5). This was presumably because it was seen as the place where YHWH manifested Himself on earth, as He sat on His throne in Heaven whilst His feet rested on the ark. Though hidden behind the curtain in the tabernacle/temple the Ark was the means by which, through their high priest, Israel felt that they could directly meet with God. And that ark was now to be ‘not remembered’ by Him, something apparent when it was either destroyed or carried off to Babylon. It had become simply a treasure and would no longer be able to fulfil its function. What had been sacred for so long was now to be seen as irrelevant.
If we accept these suggestions we see the verse as indicating that Jerusalem had been covered by His storm-cloud, as His anger rested on it; the membership of the Davidic royal house had been cast from Heaven to earth (removed from its high status and profaned - verse 2), because it had been disobedient to YHWH and could therefore no longer represent Him; and the Ark had become ‘not remembered’ because it had been carried off (or destroyed) and could no longer function.
It is, of course, possible, to see all three ideas as referring to the same thing, either Jerusalem itself (Isaiah 52.1), or the Temple, seen equally as ‘the daughter of Zion’, ‘the Beauty of Israel’ (see Isaiah 64.11) and ‘His Footstool’ (Psalm 132.7; Isaiah 60.13), but the references are not specific and Psalm 132.7 could equally apply to the ark, whilst the ‘casting down to earth’ makes this interpretation questionable. Given the prophet’s usual practise of speaking of three different but similar things, as explained above, this interpretation would seem to be very unlikely.
2.2
Note here an example of what we have said above. The prophet refers to ‘the habitations of Jacob’ (the noun indicates rude habitations like those of a shepherd), ‘the strongholds of the daughter of Judah’ (referring to substantial cities), and ‘the kingdom and its princes’.
The word for ‘habitations’ is mainly used for the habitations of shepherds. Thus it would appear that what are initially seen as swallowed up by the invaders are the smaller towns and villages which were not ‘built up’ and were without walls, thus being easy targets. The larger towns and cities are covered by the idea of ‘strongholds’. They have been thrown down in His wrath. Indeed they have been brought down to the ground.
And at the same time ‘the kingdom, and its princes’ have been ‘profaned’, that is, have been rendered or treated as unclean and defiled, being treated as though they were an ordinary kingdom and ordinary princes and not YHWH’s chosen. In the case of the princes they have also been slain by the swords of profane men. There is a recognition here of the fact that the princes were seen to have had a special recognition by God as being His anointed princes, and this was especially so of the king who was YHWH’s Anointed (4.20). But that special recognition had not prevented the Lord from allowing them to be profaned by foreign swords or by equally foreign instruments for blinding.
The word for ‘kingdom’ could equally be translated ‘kingship’ on the basis of 2 Samuel 3.10; 7.12-13, 16. Note how in 2 Samuel 7 it parallels the idea of the throne of David. This would support the idea that in verse 1 ‘the beauty of Israel’ was the Davidic house and throne.
2.3
Here the prophet makes clear how God accomplishes His work. He allows the evil of man free rein, withdrawing His protection from His people (drawing back His right hand). By this means He has cut off ‘all the horn of Israel’. The horn was the symbol of an animal’s power and strength, and when men wished to render it ‘harmless’ they cut off its horn. This was what YHWH had metaphorically done to Israel. Note the mention of ‘Israel’. The prophet saw Judah as representing Israel, and indeed it did so, for it contained a mixture of the ‘twelve tribes’, many of whom had fled or migrated from the north.
And the consequence was that ‘Jacob’ (Abraham’s grandson was called both Jacob and Israel) had literally been ‘burned up like a flaming fire’, as the fierce invaders had set light to its towns and cities. But the thought is wider than that of just literal fire. The prophet sees the ability of fire to eat up everything as the symbol of total destruction.
2.4
The Lord is seen as being like an archer who picks off the enemy one by one, and a swordsman who slays with his right hand, in this case ‘all who were pleasant to the eye’ in Judah. This may refer to Judah’s young men and women in their prime, or it may refer to the royal house and the aristocracy. Or indeed to both. For His wrath is like a fire that devours all before it.
It would be possible to render this as ‘He has destroyed like an adversary all that was pleasant to the eye’, referring to the noble buildings, the treasures, and especially the Temple with its treasures. But the translation above fits the context better.
2.5
Woe betide the nation or the individual to whom the Lord becomes ‘as an enemy’. And that is what had happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of their disdain for His covenant and their love of false religion. In the city that He had set apart for Himself as a witness to the world, they had profaned His Name, and despised His covenant, giving a false message to the world. The result was that He had become their enemy and had swallowed them up, along with their palaces and their strongholds, and had filled the whole place with mourning, weeping and lamentation.
2.6
YHWH had done the unthinkable. Judah had been so sure that He would not allow His Temple to be destroyed (Jeremiah 7.2 ff), but that is precisely what He had done. Judah had maintained the trappings of Yahwism, but their hearts had been set on other things. Now they were to see that their sacred Temple meant nothing to God if it was not filled with true worshippers. God does not honour buildings, or sites. He honours people. But not if they dishonour Him. And that is what Judah had constantly done.
And so YHWH had removed from them the trappings of their religion which they still considered as so important. He had violently taken away their Temple which was, in their eyes, His dwellingplace (tabernacle) with the same casualness as a man would remove a temporary shed from his garden when it had lost its usefulness. In those days ‘buildings’ erected in gardens were of a temporary and makeshift nature. He had destroyed the very place in which men had gathered to worship at their festivals. And the result was that the festivals and the sabbath were now ‘forgotten in Zion’. They were simply unobserved.
Furthermore He had dealt severely with ‘the king and the priest’. He has ‘despised them’, ignoring any demands that they might have thought that they had on Him. Note the assumption that the king had an important part to play in worship (as Ezekiel 44.3; 45.17, 22-25; 46.12 brings out of the then future king, however we interpret it). As the Davidic heir he was the ‘priest after the order of Melchizedek’ (Psalm 110.4) and acted as intercessor on behalf of his people (compare 1 Kings 8.22-53; 2 Kings 19.20; 2 Samuel 8.18). What was forbidden to him was to perform the priestly office in offering sacrifices and incense, and entering the Holy Place. Thus both king and priest were necessary in worship.
So the whole point of this verse is that YHWH Himself has eradicated all the places and people involved nominally in worshipping Him. They had proved false, and instead of glorying in them He had therefore despised them and rooted them out. God wants no false or nominal religion.
2.7
Indeed the very altar had been cast off by Him, and He had abhorred His sanctuary, the two most sacred things in Jerusalem. He had wanted nothing to do with either and had handed them over to the enemy. The language is very forceful and emphasises the fact that even the holiest of things are nothing unless those who use and frequent them are genuine worshippers.
And at the same time He had handed over the walls of her palaces. The enemy had even been allowed to come into the house of YHWH, their voices ringing out with a similar noise to that heard at a solemn assembly, but instead of cries of worship it was the with the sound of their victory and their gloating over the treasures that they found.
2.8
The catalogue continues. YHWH Himself has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. Jerusalem’s walls were to be levelled to the ground. YHWH had even measured them up in readiness, demonstrating the thoroughness with which He was carrying out His purpose. Both rampart and wall would be destroyed. They would lament and languish together. The thoroughness with which this was done by the Babylonians has been evidence in excavations in Jerusalem.
2.9
Finally He has dealt with the gates of Jerusalem. Her gates are sunk into the ground, buried in the rubble, and the bars which fastened them have been destroyed and broken. The city is defenceless. And meanwhile her king and nobles (the princes were dead) are scattered among the nations where His Law is not revered, and her prophets are silenced without any vision from YHWH. They have lost both the rule of the Law and the illumination of prophecy.
Of course the Law was being revered by those of the Dispersion who still held even more firmly to it, but it was only among themselves. It was ignored by outsiders.
The Sad State Of The People Of Jerusalem (2.10-12).
The prophet now describes in retrospect the sad state of the people of Jerusalem during and after the terrible siege. The elders were in mourning, the virgins hung their heads to the ground, the young children and babes collapsed with hunger crying out, ‘where is our food?’ Compare also verse 19; 4.4-5. (Later we will learn that some mothers were even eating their own children - verse 20; 4.10). It moved the prophet to anguish.
2.10
The elders were the leaders and the old men, those who were the most respected by society, and to whom the people looked for guidance. But now they had nothing to say or offer. They sat in silence, covered their heads with ashes and put on sackcloth (both signs of deep mourning).
The virgins are mentioned as being the most joyous of people, with their timbrels and dances, full of expectancy for the future. But now all that they could do was hang their heads to the ground. This may have been because they had been raped by the invaders, or simply due to the fact that they now had no expectations.
Alternately we may see the elders at the top and the virgins at the bottom as inclusive of all the people (elders, men, women, young men, virgins).
2.11
What the prophet saw moved him to anguish. His eyes failed with tears, his heart (mind) was troubled, his liver (probably seen as the centre of pain or of emotion) was poured forth on the earth. And why? Because he was witnessing the destruction of ‘the daughter of my people’, in other words either Jerusalem (Jeremiah 14.17), or the people of Jerusalem. And because he was seeing young children and babes fainting with hunger in the streets of the city.
The phrase ‘daughter of my people’ is Isaianic (Isaiah 22.4), and regularly repeated by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 4.11; 6.14 and often). Its meaning appears to vary between indicating the people as a whole and indicating Jerusalem.
2.12
The prophet draws a sad picture of the children crying out to their mothers for food, puzzled as why she cannot feed them as they faint from hunger in the streets and cling tightly to their mothers’ breasts. The picture is a piteous one, the fruit of man’s inhumanity.
The Prophet Addresses Jerusalem Recognising That That Her Unique State Is Such That He Can Offer No Comfort Because All Is Against Her (2.13-17).
The prophet sees the people of Jerusalem as being in a state never before experienced and as being unhealable. This is because their prophets are offering them foolishness, passers-by are looking at, and exclaiming in amazement at, what has happened to them, and their enemies are gloating over them, viewing what has happened to them as a triumph.
2.13
The prophet can think of no comparison that he can draw on so that he can comfort the people of Jerusalem. He does not know how to speak to them and advise them. Such is the situation that he does not know what to say. Never before had they found themselves so bereft. He sees them as unhealable. Their ‘breach’ being great like the sea indicates a gaping wound (compare Isaiah 30.26; Jeremiah 6.14; 8.11; 10.19), which is seemingly unhealable. But the word is regularly translated as ‘destruction’, and that is favoured by many.
2.14
Their dilemma was partly due to their prophets who had seen for them false and foolish visions which had resulted in their banishment (Jeremiah 2.8; 5.13; 6.14; 8.11; 14.14; 27.9-10; 28.1-4, 10-11; etc). Jeremiah had regularly had to counteract them. They had failed to uncover the iniquity of the people which alone could have prevented their captivity, and could even have once more restored them to their land. This was why they were in the state that they were..
2.15
Indeed their state was such that passers-by marvelled and demonstrated by their actions their feelings at what had happened to Jerusalem They clapped their hands in glee, hissed in derision, and wagged their heads in amazement, asking each other (and Jerusalem), “Is this the city that men called The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?” For ‘the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’ compare Psalm 48.2; 50.2, speaking of Zion. See also Isaiah 13.19 of Babylon; Ezekiel 27.3 of Tyre. The city had been beautiful to behold. But now it was a heap of ruins.
2.16
Finally their open enemies had opened their mouths against them, hissed and gnashed their teeth, all indications of their hatred. And as they did so they had gloated, declaring that they had swallowed her up, and rejoicing because it was the day that they had looked for, the day which they had at last found so that they could see Jerusalem’s demise.
2.17
But it is now emphasised that it was not really the enemy who had done this. It was YHWH Who had accomplished a purpose determined long before. It was He Who had thrown them down. And He had not pitied them. He it was Who had caused their enemies to rejoice over them, and had given those enemies strength by making their horns victorious.
Yet in this lay hope. If it was YHWH Who had done it, YHWH could reverse it if only they sought Him in repentance.
The People Cry To The Sovereign Lord. They Call On The Wall Of Jerusalem To Weep For Jerusalem and Its Inhabitants And On YHWH To Consider What He Has Done (2.18-22).
The change between verse 17 and verse 18 is abrupt. But the acrostic confirms that they are united. Verse 18 begins with a heading defining what is happening, ‘their heart cried to the Sovereign Lord’, and this is followed immediately by the people’s plea to the wall of the daughter of Zion not to refrain from crying out on their behalf and especially on behalf of the starving children. This is a retrospective plea made as if the wall were still standing with the siege continuing.
2.18a
This forms a heading to what follows. But the cry that it speaks of is indirect, addressed rather to the wall of Jerusalem, inviting it to plead on their behalf,
2.18b
The wall was, of course, the place where the watchmen stood as they watched over the city day and night (see verse 19). The thought is therefore that the watchmen should plead on behalf of the city continuously. They are called on to weep copiously with their tears running down like a river, and to do it day and night giving themselves no respite, their pupils never being allowed to dry.
Alternately the heading could be, ‘Their heart cried to the Lord, the Wall of the daughter of Zion’, thus seeing YHWH as the city’s protective wall. But in view of the mention of the watches in verse 19 the first option is the more probable.
2.19
The watchmen are called on to arise and cry in the night, and to do it also at the beginning of the watches, pouring out their heart like water before the face of the Lord, and lifting up their hands (the usual attitude of prayer) for the life of their young children who, at the head of every street, were fainting with hunger.
2.20
They are to call on YHWH to consider what He is doing. Does He really want the mothers to eat the very children that they have nurtured? (Note that this was something God had warned them about in the curses in Leviticus 26.26; Deuteronomy 28.57. Now it was happening) Does He really want the priest and the prophet to be slain in His sanctuary?
The two things described were the greatest horrors that the prophet could think of, mothers eating their own children, and the desecration of the Temple by the slaughter in it of YHWH’s priests and prophets, who were, of course, seen as holy. we must recognise, however, that both mothers, and priest and prophets, had brought it on themselves by their behaviour to observe the covenant.
2.21
But the cry is unavailing. Both youth and old man lie dead in the streets. The virgins and young men of the city lie slain by the sword. For YHWH has slain them in the day of His anger, and shown no pity. He has allowed the invaders free rein. It is a reminder to all that one day God’s patience will run out.
2.22
For it is YHWH Himself Who, as though He was calling them to a festival, has summoned the terrors that have come upon them, so that none have escaped or remained. It is the day of His anger, something which is the theme of the lament. The contrast between the normal summons to a joyful feast, and the summoning of ‘terrors on every side’ is striking.
‘My terrors on every side’ is a typical Jeremaic description (Jeremiah 6.25; 20.3, 10 46.25; 49.29), the ‘my’ referring to Jerusalem. And Jerusalem goes on to complain because those whom it had dandled on its knees had been consumed by its enemy. Note how the chapter which commenced with a series of references to YHWH’s anger now ends on the same note. The whole chapter is expressing the fact of YHWH’s anger against Jerusalem, and against His people, because of their extremes of idolatry and continuing disobedience of His commandments.
Chapter 3. In This Chapter The Prophet Commences By Bemoaning His Own Personal Afflictions, But Then Goes On To Stress God’s Faithfulness To Those Who Trust In Him. Complaining About His Experiences He Is Finally Assured That God Will Requite His Adversaries.
Some commentators have suggested that in this chapter we have a personification of corporate Jerusalem speaking, but the alternation between ‘I’ and ‘we’, the indication of personal enemies and personal suffering, the reference to ‘my people’ (verse 14) and the fact that he can speak of ‘the daughter of my people’ (verse 48) and ‘the daughters of my city’ (verse 51), all point to an individual speaking on behalf of himself and others. Indeed once we see this as referring to the prophet we discover that the whole book is constructed in such a way that whilst the city of Jerusalem languishes without hope in chapters 1, 2, 4 and 5, in the centre of it all is one who trusts in God and has assurance for the godly. It is they who will be the foundation of the future hope and are the ones to whom Israel will have to look in the future.
It is noteworthy that in the first seventeen verses in which the prophet speaks of his afflictions God is simply spoken of as ‘He’ with no designation being given to Him, indicating how far off from His presence the prophet felt himself to be. And then when YHWH is at last mentioned in verse 18 it is in order to declare his lack of expectation from Him.
But when we get to verse 22 all changes. YHWH is mentioned four times in five verses as the prophet expresses his confidence in His faithfulness and declares his readiness to wait for his personal salvation.
He then goes on to emphasise the need for patience and forbearance in expectation that ‘the Sovereign Lord’ will not cast him off for ever (verse 31), following it up with an indication of his confidence in the fact that God is at work on behalf of His own even if it might not seem like it. In this section ‘the Lord’ is mentioned three times, ‘the Most High’ twice, ‘God in the heavens’ once and YHWH once, and the prophet calls on men to turn to Him.
He then from verse 43 onwards returns to the theme of previous chapters bewailing the fact of what has come on Jerusalem, although now with an expectancy that YHWH will hear (verse 50). From verse 52 onwards he finally describes the ignominies heaped upon him by his adversaries, expressing his confidence that YHWH will see and take notice, and will avenge what has been done to him. In this section YHWH is mentioned six times, five times as addressed by the prophet.
As previously described the chapter is an acrostic, each of the first three verses beginning with Aleph, the next three Beth, and so on as shown in the text.
In this lament we have a wonderful picture of a godly man struggling through from a position of almost despair to a confident trust that God is with him in the midst of his troubles, so much so that he can turn his thoughts away from himself to others (the change from ‘I’ to ‘we’) as he brings them before God.
In His Initial Despair The Prophet Bewails His Own Sad Condition (3.1-18).
In this section God is simply spoken of as ‘He’, the only mention of His Name being in verse 18 where the prophet declares that his expectation from YHWH has perished. It describes what the prophet has had to endure in the most trying of circumstances, and the condition of soul that it has brought him to. He is almost in blank despair. But it is soul preparation which will then lead on to a recognition of God’s faithfulness. God does not leave him in the dark. He prays through it. It is a reminder that life is not necessarily easy for the people of God. Sometimes we have to walk in a difficult pathway, so that God can seem far away, and even hostile, because we do not understand His ways. But always beyond the darkness there will be light.
3.1-3 (Aleph) I am the man who has seen affliction (misery),
The prophet is very much aware that his afflictions, which are many, and the misery that he is enduring, are due to the wrath of God, not necessarily directly directed against him, but against his people, although he is a participant in it. He is aware that he is not blameless.
In terms later taken up by Jesus, Who spoke of walking in darkness (John 8.12), and Who brought light into the darkness, the prophet recognises that God has led him in a dark path. Although he is conscious that God is leading him, He feels that he is walking in darkness and not in light. But unlike the Psalmist in Psalm 23 he does not have the confidence that YHWH is with him in a positive way in the valley of deep darkness. Rather all is black. He sees no glimmer of hope for the future. (But he still sees himself as led by God. In that no doubt was his comfort).
Indeed he feels that God is turning His hand against him ‘again and again’, from morning til night. He feels totally battered by God. Many who have truly known God have had similar experiences. Sometimes God can seem very far away. But elsewhere we learn that this can be due, not to God’s lack of love, but to God’s loving chastening (Proverbs 3.11-12).
For the phrase ‘the rod of His wrath’ compare Proverbs 22.8. It is the rod of God’s anger. See Job 9.34; 21.9; Isaiah 10.5.
3.4-6
‘Wasted.’ The verb indicates a wasting away. It means to wear out by rubbing, to cause to fall away, from the verb, to be worn out, which is applied to clothes (Job 13.28), and then transferred to bodies (Psalm 49.14). For the breaking of the bones see Isaiah 38.13, where Hezekiah sees his bones as being broken by lions in a similar situation of despair. Compare Psalm 51.8. The prophet feels that God has worn away his flesh and broken his bones, not literally but metaphorically. He feels absolutely ‘wasted’ both outwardly and inwardly. The whole of his being is affected.
‘He has built against me.’ Indeed he feels under siege, under attack and surrounded by bitterness (gall) and stress (travail). He feels almost as though he in the grave with the dead, with no hope for the future (with those who are dead for ever), so dark is his experience. The thought is taken from Psalm 143.3. This could well have in mind Jeremiah’s experience in the pit, which must have seemed like a burial (Jeremiah 38.6).
3.7-9
He feels himself like a prisoner, walled in so that he cannot go out, and bowed down by a heavy chain, constricted in his movements. Life has hemmed him in. The thought here is metaphorical, but it would again fit in with Jeremiah’s literal experience.
Indeed things are so bad that he feels that God is shutting out his prayer. Compare Psalm 18.41; Jeremiah 7.16. The heavens appear deaf and unresponsive. Everywhere he turns he finds his way blocked as though by hewn stone (therefore huge blocks of stone), so that he has to make his way through as best he can along devious paths.
3.10-12
With regard to the figure of a bear lying in wait see Hosea 13.8: Amos 5.19. For the lion in ambush see Psalm 10.9; 17.12. Psalm 17.12 appears to have been directly in writer’s mind. Jeremiah often compared enemies to lions, e.g. Jeremiah 4.7; 5.6; 49.19; 50.44. The prophet feels as though YHWH is actually out to get him.
He feels that YHWH has prevented him from taking the way that he wanted, and has rather pulled him to pieces. This may well continue the thought of the lion and bear. He feels as though he has been savagely attacked, making him desolate. Indeed YHWH appears to him to have turned him into a target for His arrows, which are thudding into him one by one. Instead of the Hunter slaying the lion and the bear, He is slaying the prophet. The arrows represent the ills and sorrows appointed by God, compare Deuteronomy 32.23; Psalm 38.2; Job 6.4.
3.13-15
The thought of the arrows of YHWH continues. YHWH has caused them to enter into his ‘reins’ (kidneys, mind, a man’s inmost parts - see Jeremiah 11.20), the means by which his life is guided and controlled. He has also made him into a laughingstock and object of derision, as men derisively sing about him all day. Jeremiah was a good illustration of this. And He has filled him full with bitternesses and wormwood (something poisonous and accursed).
3.16-18
Proverbs 20.17 makes clear that the idea here is that the grain of which the bread he is given is made is so coarse that it breaks his teeth. This could well describe prison bread. The main idea, however, is that he has been given something hard to accept and unpalatable. To be covered with ashes indicated a state of real unpleasantness. It is a figure signifying either the deepest disgrace and humiliation, or indicating mourning and deep sorrow (Ezekiel 27.30).
Indeed things have become so bad for him that he has lost all peace, something that he lays at God’s door, whilst well-being, both spiritual and material, has become a thing of the past. He has thus lost all hope. His strength has gone and so has any expectation that he had from YHWH. He has reached the bottom of the barrel.
The Prophet Prays His Way Through To Confidence In YHWH (3.19-39).
When our souls have reached their lowest point there is only one thing to do, and that is to cast ourselves on God. That is what the prophet now does. He remembers past times of affliction and misery and how God has kept him through them, and this gives him the confidence that he can hope in God again.
3.19-21
The prophet calls to mind his past experiences of affliction and misery, and of extreme bitterness, ‘of the wormwood and the gall’. He still remembers them and is bowed down by them. But he recalls to mind that he had experienced them and survived them, and this enables him to express hope. Alternately ‘bowed down’ might indicate a humble submission to YHWH, the idea being that he remembers in the past how affliction had caused him to bow down to YHWH.
3.22-24
He recognises that the very reason that he has survived his experiences, and that part of the nation has survived, is because of YHWH’s ‘covenant loves’ (His mercies), the plural expressing intensity. That is why he has hope. He recognises that he has survived because of it. It is because ‘His compassions fail not and are new every morning’. For in spite of the circumstances YHWH is still faithful to those who look to Him. Indeed his compassions are new every morning because great is His faithfulness. Nothing has happened that He had not said would happen. That is why the prophet can say that YHWH is still his portion, the One in Whom he has confidence and to whom he gives his loyalty, and it is because of that that he can have hope in Him.
‘YHWH is my portion, says my soul.’ This idea is based on Numbers 18.20. See also Psalm 16.5; 73.26; 119.57; 142.5. It is declaring that YHWH is all that the prophet wants, and that He is his all-sufficiency.
3.25-27
For while God’s judgment has come upon Jerusalem, YHWH is still good to those who wait for Him, who are trusting in His faithfulness, and seeking Him with all their hearts. So it is a good thing that a man should hope and quietly wait (‘wait in silence’) for YHWH to deliver, not complaining and not trying to hurry God up. Just as it is good for him to bear the yoke of suffering during his youth, so that he will thereby be strengthened and fitted for what might lie ahead. Patient endurance and confidence in God should be man’s response to YHWH’s goodness.
3.28-30
The yoke that the young man should be ready to bear is now described:
3.31-33
And such a man can have the above attitudes because he knows that he will not be cast off for ever by the Lord (see Psalm 77.7). For though the Lord might make him endure grief, He will have compassion on him in accordance with the multitude of His lovingkindnesses and mercies, His covenant love. For He never afflicts men willingly, nor does He gladly grieve the children of men.
Such a recollection does, of course, very much have a bearing on what had happened to Jerusalem. It made clear that what had happened was YHWH’s chastisement, and that beyond it there was hope.
3.34-36
For there are three things of which the Lord does not approve:
3.37-39
Thus no man should complain at his lot, because he should realise that in the end it has come from God. Whenever someone speaks and brings something about we can be sure that God is overall, and therefore that He has allowed it. We should see that it is His purpose. For in the way of things both evil and good do ‘come from out of the mouth of the Lord’. In other words, He gives permission for them and allows them to happen, even in some cases stepping in and exerting His own will. This does not, of course, mean that God is approving of moral evil, but only that He allows things to happen, some of which are good and beneficial, and some of which are harmful. And He does this for our good. It is because He is chastening us for our sinfulness. Thus rather than complaining a man who still has life granted to him should accept it and rejoice in it, and respond accordingly (compare James 1.2 ff.).
The People Are Called On To Seek YHWH, And They Face Up To The Situation That They Are In Whilst The Prophet Himself Continues To Plead For Them (3.40-51).
The prophet now calls on the people to examine themselves and to seek YHWH and pray sincerely to Him from the heart, not just by lifting up their hands formally. They are to recognise and acknowledge why He does not hear them. It is because they have rebelled and transgressed against Him. They are also to recognise their present position, that He pursues them, slaying and covering His ears against their cries, while He makes them like refuse among the peoples. This then brings the prophet himself to tears, as he prays on behalf of his people, contemplating their destruction. He is determined to go on praying without stopping until YHWH looks down from Heaven and sees the situation.
3.40-42
The prophet calls on the people to seek YHWH, firstly by searching out and putting to the test their own ways, that is by self-examination, and then by turning to YHWH and lifting up not only their hands, but also their hearts to God in the heaven, in other words engaging in genuine and not just formal prayer. They were to admit that they had rebelled and transgressed against Him, and that He had not pardoned them. They were being required to face up to the reality of what they had done. Their hope must be that in spite of the fact that they had transgressed and rebelled God would hear them.
But as we learn from what follows in their view He did not immediately hear. He did not pardon. Their punishment went on. They were acknowledging that He had reached the limits of His patience.
3.43-45
They cried out that YHWH had put on anger as a garment and had pursued them, slaying without pity. That He had covered Himself with a cloud so that no prayer could pass through. That He was deaf to their pleas. And that He had made them like dirt and refuse among the peoples. His chastening was severe so that they would learn their lesson.
We can view this either as a cry of despair, or as an admission that they were getting what they deserved. Either way the people were facing up to the realities of their situation. Being honest with God is very often necessary before we can begin to have a new hope.
3.46-48)
Their prayer continues as they continue to face up to the facts about their situation. The opening lines are an acknowledgement that what had been said in 2.16 was true. Their enemies were ‘opening their mouths against them’, scornfully pointing to what had happened to them, and sneering at them. They also acknowledge why that is. It is because they have been overcome by ‘terror and trap’ (in the Hebrew the phrase is alliterative, pachad wa pachath), by ‘devastation and destruction’ (hasseth we hassaber). They are experiencing fear, and what it was like to be a trapped animal. They are experiencing total devastation.
The very thought of this destruction of his people causes the prophet to weep, and his eyes run down like streams of water.
3.49-51
And he declares that they will continue to do so, without any cessation, until YHWH looks down from Heaven and beholds their situation. And it is not only his eye that weeps. His weeping affects him deep inside as he thinks of what has happened to ‘the daughters of my city’. This last almost certainly refers to the women of Jerusalem who would receive cavalier treatment from the invaders both before and after the fall of Jerusalem, especially the young virgins who would have suffered the most. Consider 1.4, 18 and 2.20-21, where the sad fate and wretched conditions of the virgins of the city are mentioned as peculiarly deplorable, and 5.11 where it was defenceless virgins who were most to be pitied when the city fell. Some, however, refer it to the satellite cities, towns and villages connected with Jerusalem.
‘My eye affects my soul.’ Literally ‘my eye inflicts an injury on my inner life’, in context referring to the pain he feels as he contemplates the situation. Notice the connection between this and YHWH looking down from Heaven. He is hoping that YHWH will be similarly affected.
The Prophet Looks Back On His Own Experiences And Calls On YHWH To Avenge Him (3.52-66).
The chapter commenced with the personal experience of the prophet in verses 1-18 but there it was the present experiences that he was going through which were in mind. He now closes the chapter with a look back to his personal experiences, to what he has suffered at the hands of the leaders of his people, and calls on YHWH to avenge him.
Some, however, recognise the incongruity of these words on the lips of the one who has just described his tears for his people and see these as the words of Jerusalem personified, as they bemoan what has happened to them at the hands of the Babylonians. But the words fit better with an individual, and it is quite possible that the prophet felt deeply for his people, while still feeling hard done by with regard to the aristocrats who had for so long opposed and mistreated him, (‘the powers that be’), who were after all responsible for the sufferings of the people. We must remember that if the writer was Jeremiah he had been through terrible hardships at their hands.
3.52-54
Here have three vivid pictures of the prophet’s sufferings. He had been like a hunted bird, he had been put in a pit, he had experience overflowing suffering.
‘They have chased me sore (hunted me down) like a bird.’ Compare the vivid picture in Psalm 11.1-2 of the bird flying off to the mountains in order to escape the voracious hunters, where it is the upright in heart who are the targets. The prophet sees himself as having been constantly hunted. And it was by ‘They who are my enemies without cause’. Compare for this phrase Psalm 35.19; 69.4. He considers that they had had no grounds for their enmity because he had only had the good of his people at heart.
‘They have cut off my life in the dungeon (pit), and have cast a stone on me.’ Compare Psalm 88.6. This was literally true of Jeremiah as the pit into which he was lowered probably did have a stone covering (Jeremiah 38.6 ff). On the other hand ‘casting a stone’ might have in mind stoning. But even then it is a good possibility that at some stage Jeremiah had to flee from being stoned.
‘Waters flowed over my head.’ A picture of the misery and stress that was heaped on him. See Psalms 42.7; 88.7; 124.4.
‘I said, ‘I am cut off.’ Compare Psalm 31.22, ‘I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes. Nevertheless you heard the voice of my supplications when I cried to you’. The prophet is describing his moment of doubt before he finally effectively prayed to YHWH and was delivered by the intervention of Ebed-melech (Jeremiah 38.7 ff).
3.55-57
His momentary doubt laid to rest the prophet called on YHWH ‘out of the lowest pit’ (compare Psalm 88.6; 130.1; Jeremiah 38.6), and was immediately heard. So he now calls on YHWH to regard his sighing and respond in the same way. For YHWH had drawn near on the day that he had called on Him, and had given him the assurance, ‘Do not be afraid’.
When we reach the very lowest pit we can be sure that He will be there ready to respond to our prayer, whatever the circumstances. Notice the sequence, ‘I called -- you heard -- do not hide -- you drew near’.
3.58-63
The prophet calls on YHWH to judge his case. For YHWH is the One Who has pleaded, as it were before a court, the causes of his inner life, and has redeemed his life (from threatened destruction - Palm 103.4). In other words YHWH has fought for him and delivered him. YHWH is on his side. So now he calls on Him to judge his cause, because having pleaded them He must know his causes intimately.
Three times he draws attention to their device/devices against him (as revealed in Jeremiah 26.8-17; 37.14; 38.4). The first connected with their desire for vengeance, the second connected with all their reproach, and the third connected with their charges against him. They wanted vengeance, they were filled with reproach towards him, and they got together and spoke with animosity against him. And this was because they considered that he was a traitor who sided with the Babylonians.
‘Behold you their sitting down, and their rising up.’ This phrase basically indicates what they did during the whole of their daytime (see Deuteronomy 6.7; 11.19; Psalm 139.2; Isaiah 37.28).
And he points out that when He does so He will see that they sang insulting songs about him all day, mocking and belittling him.
3.64-66
So he expresses his confidence that YHWH will:
And indeed this is what He did.
Chapter 4. A Lament Concerning The Destruction Of Jerusalem .
This lament is noteworthy for its emphasis on the fact that the destruction of Jerusalem was due to the sins of the people. It draws attention to the way in which all classes had suffered. And it ends with the indication of judgment on Edom, who had taken the advantage of the invasion to occupy parts of southern Judah.
The Sad Condition Of The People Of Jerusalem Due To The Anger Of YHWH (4.1-11).
4.1
What is in mind here are not the gold and precious stones of the Temple, but the gold and precious stones as representing the people of Israel (so verse 2). Note how in verse 2 the sons of Zion are ‘weighed as fine gold’. That is why it can grow dim and be changed. And that is why it can be poured out at the end of every street (compare 2.19 where it is said of the children). The precious stones of the sanctuary may represent the priests.
Some do see it as signifying what happened to the Temple, but this lament is not about the Temple and what happened to it, but about the people.
4.2
The thought is of the ‘precious sons of Zion’, representing all the people of the city, who are YHWH’s holy nation and kingdom of priests, a treasure wholly for YHWH (Exodus 19.5-6). When these sons of Zion were put in the scales the only thing originally which was suitable for weighing them was fine gold. But now they are simply esteemed as earthenware pitchers, something of little value, worked by the hands of the potter. The reference to the potter is a reminder of Jeremiah 19 where the city was to be broken like an earthenware pot.
4.3-4
The sad condition of the people is brought out by the fact that they are not even on a par with the despised jackals. The jackals breastfeed their young, but, like the ostriches in the wilderness, renowned for their casualness with their young (compare Job 39.16), the women of Jerusalem (the daughter of my people) are unable or unwilling to do so because they are so starved of food. They hold back their milk because they are starving.
In consequence the tongue of the normally breastfed child cleaves to the roof of its mouth because of its dryness, and when the young children ask for bread no one provides it for them, for there is none to give.
4.5
The rich are affected equally with the poor. Those who were used to rich food are now starving in the streets, those who had once been borne in scarlet cloth (cloth dyed with Tyrian purple or crimson), the cloth of the rich, now clung to dunghills, possibly as their only source of food.
4.6
And all this because the sin of Jerusalem was greater than the sin of Sodom, and Sodom had been overthrown in a moment with no one touching her. In other words she was overthrown by a greater than an earthly hand. But she had been fortunate, for her people had perished without suffering, in contrast with the people of Jerusalem. Note the emphasis on the fact that the overthrow of Jerusalem was due to its sins.
4.7
Her aristocrats had once been noble, they had been purer than snow, whiter than milk, ruddier than rubies, more polished than sapphires. The idea was of the red and white complexion which was seen as the ideal (Song of Solomon 5.10).
It is possible that we should translate the word for ‘princes’ as Nazarites. In that case there is the added point that even those sanctified by YHWH suffered with the rest.
4.8
But now their faces were blacker than coal, and they themselves were unrecognisable, as a result of their lack of food and drink. Their skin clove to their bones, and had become withered and thin like a stick. They had reached the last stages of starvation.
4.9
Their condition was such that those who had been slain with the sword were better off than they. And this was because they were suffering a slow and painful death, pining away and stricken through, as a result of the lack of food.
4.10
Worst of all was the fact that pitiful women boiled their own children in order to eat them. This was their food during the period of the destruction of ‘the daughter of my people’.
4.11
And all this was the consequence of YHWH having accomplished His wrath on them and His having poured out His fierce anger. He had kindled a fire in Zion which had devoured its very foundations. Whilst fire certainly had its part to play in the destruction of the city, this description is metaphorical indicating total destruction. It was the fire of His wrath. Compare Deuteronomy 32.22.
Humanly speaking, of course, such conditions as have been described were normal during protracted sieges. Many cities had suffered like this while seeking to ward off invasion. But the point here is that this was happening to the people of God, and to the holy city of Jerusalem. It could only have happened to them because YHWH was wrath with them.
Jerusalem’s Predicament Was Largely Due To The Priests And The Prophets Who Would Suffer Accordingly (4.12-17).
The prophet now draws attention to the fact of how much of Jerusalem’s predicament could be laid at the feet of the priests and prophets, the very people who should have been guiding them aright, and he goes on to point out what this would involve for them.
4.12
He pictures the whole world as astonished at what had happened to Jerusalem, unable to believe that it could be taken. This statement is probably hyperbole, although having said that it must be admitted that we do not know what the kings and the inhabitants of the world really thought at that time. It may be seen as looking at the view of the kings and the inhabitants of the world from Judah’s point of view. How could they not be astonished?
On the other hand, while it was true that Jerusalem had been take a number of times in the past, that had been before it was so heavily fortified. Even its capture in 597 BC by Nebuchadrezzar had been by surrender and not by its being breached. It may well be therefore that it had gained a powerful reputation so that it was commonly thought that it could not be taken. But what is really behind these words is the fact that they were taken by surprise. They ‘could hardly believe their eyes’.
And they had reason to be surprised. Jerusalem was a powerful fortress city well able to withstand a siege, its elevated location and strong walls making it appear almost impregnable. And when we add to that the tales of how God had delivered it in times of trouble, most noticeably in the time of Hezekiah, it may well have gained a reputation for such impregnability. Jerusalem had after all been one of the few cities to successfully resist Assyria. Given the fact that it was also ‘a holy city’ it would certainly have had a certain reputation, and people in those days had an awe of something that was ‘holy’. They would remember that Assyria had been unable to take it, and that even in 597 BC its walls had not been breached.
4.13
But the prophet has an explanation of why it had now been taken. It was because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests (see Jeremiah 6.13; 23.11) who had shed innocent blood in the midst of her, especially the blood of the righteous, that is, those who were truly loyal to the covenant and to YHWH. We note immediately that the primary reason has to do with morality, and a gross breach of the covenant. YHWH was very much concerned about the behaviour of His people, and the shedding of blood was seen as especially horrific. One example of such shedding of the blood of the righteous was the prophet Uriah. See Jeremiah 26.20-24 for details. Consider also the death of Zechariah the son of Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 24.21), the innocent blood shed by Manasseh (2 Kings 21.16), and the attempts on Jeremiah’s own life (Jeremiah 26.7).
4.14-15
The consequence for the priests and prophets is now vividly described. The opening description is probably metaphorical, indicating their then spiritual condition. As they wandered around the streets they were like the ‘blind. They were so blind that they had no understanding of what was true and right. All that they could do was proclaim falsehood. Or it may indicate their condition as a result of the lack of food. Even the priests and prophets were blinded by hunger so that they reeled as they walked.
And because they had ignored the covenant their blindness had resulted in them shedding innocent blood. Many a law case which resulted in such a conclusion would have been decided by the priests or the prophets, who would have been called on to pass a verdict, and whose influence was great in such matters. In consequence they were as men covered with blood, they were ‘polluted with blood’, so that to touch them would render someone unclean. Whether it was metaphorical blood or actual we do not know.
They are therefore seen as wandering around like lepers (Leviticus 13.45) crying out, ‘Depart. Unclean, unclean. Depart, depart. Do not touch us.’ Alternately the cries might be seen as coming from the onlookers seeking to avoid contact with them. There is something especially poignant in this in that the touching of a pries or prophet would normally have been seen as unthinkable because they were ‘holy’. But now they were being seen as untouchable for the very opposite reason.
The ‘fleeing away and wandering’ may indicate that these are seen as part of the party that went to Egypt. On the other hand it may well indicate their situation wherever they went. Once in exile they are pictured as pariahs, as those who should be avoided, so that men recoiled from them and cried out, ‘they will no more sojourn here’. They would incur a great deal of religious blame for what had happened to the Temple.
But however we interpret them the real purpose of these verses is in order to bring out the horrific nature of what they had done. The men who should have been ensuring that the covenant was maintained at all costs, had in fact participated in ignoring it.
4.16
It was the face of YHWH revealed in anger which had scattered them. He had no regard for them as priests and prophets. Their status meant nothing to Him. And this was also true of ‘they’. This could mean people in general among the nations, or simply the Israelite exiles. They too did not respect the persons of the priests, who would once have been seen as sacrosanct. Nor did they show favour to the elders, those rulers who had brought them to this situation. Those who had been the most respected of men were now despised.
Alternately ‘the elders’ might be translated ‘the old’ indicating that even the old among the priests and prophets, those who would have been especially honoured, received no favour from the people. .
4.17
The prophet’s thoughts now turn to the days of the siege when they had vainly watched from the walls of Jerusalem, looking out eagerly for those who had promised to assist them against the Babylonians, constantly expecting help. After all Egypt had made such great promises, and who could withstand mighty Egypt? This would especially have been so when the news came of the advancing Egyptian army. But they had watched in vain. No help had come. Egypt had turned out to be a nation which could not save.
The Aftermath Of The Taking Of The City (4.18-20).
In vivid terms the prophet describes what followed the taking of the city. People cowered in their houses afraid to go out. For those who did found that they were hunted down by the enemy. Those who fled to the mountains, or into the wilderness discovered the same. Everywhere that they went they found the enemy. They found themselves pursued in the mountains, and ambushed in the wilderness. And this was even true of their king, the king who had been their very life, the Anointed of YHWH, in whom they had had such implicit trust. They had not seen him as a vacillating, weak king, but as the son of the house of David who would ensure their standing among the nations. But instead he had fled and had been taken in the snares of the enemy.
4.18
Once the city was taken the soldiery would seek out resistance, which in their eyes would lie in any male who could be found. It thus became impossible to go out in the streets even to search for food. All they could do was lie low and cower in their houses waiting for the end to come, recognising that that day was near. All was lost. Resistance had been in vain. Hope was gone. They had reached the end of their days. They had no time left.
4.19
Even those who fled to the mountains or the wilderness fared no better. Their pursuers were swifter than the mighty eagles watching for their prey and swooping down on them with incredible speed. They found themselves chased on the mountains and ambushed in the wilderness. There was no escape from the dogged pursuit as the enemy remorselessly hunted them down.
4.20
And this had even been so for the Anointed of YHWH. He who had been their very life, whom they had trusted so utterly, and whom YHWH had anointed over them, had fled from the city only to be caught in the snares of the enemy. They had looked to him as the Davidic king to give them status among the nations so that they could proudly hold up their heads, to be the hero under whose shadow they lived. There is here a hint of Messianic expectation. But instead he had failed them and in the end had ignominiously fled the city, seeking refuge among those nations, and had been trapped like a hunted animal.
Interestingly this phrase ‘the breath of our nostrils’ is found as used in Canaan in the Amarna letters which predated Moses, and on an inscription of Rameses II at Abydos in Egypt indicating how much people in those days depended on their rulers. But for the prophet its chief significance may well have arisen from Genesis 2.7. The king was seen as their God-given life.
Some see ‘under his shadow, we will live among the nations’ as referring to those who had fled with Zedekiah, who had hoped to find refuge with him among the nations, thus drawing out the hopelessness of the escape attempt. Even the royal party had been unable to escape. But it is more likely that it had Messianic implications.
Edom Are To Be Punished For Their Part In Jerusalem’s Downfall And For Taking Possession Of Southern Judah. Whilst There Was Hope In The Future For Zion, There Would Be None For Edom (4.21-22).
Added to the trials through which Jerusalem and Judah was going as just described was the fact that their neighbours Edom had taken the opportunity to seize land in southern Judah as a reward from Nebuchadrezzar for supporting him against Judah. Their king had failed them, but even worse their neighbours had proved treacherous. But this enabled the prophet to introduce a message of hope for Zion, while at the same time assuring Edom of the punishment that awaited them.
4.21
The opening words are sarcastic. Edom was rejoicing at having gained at the cost of their neighbours, for they had supported the Babylonians and had been well rewarded by Nebuchadrezzar, being given land in southern Judah. See in this respect Psalm 137.7 (note their unholy glee at the fate of Jerusalem); Obadiah 1.11-14. Well let them rejoice while they can. For shortly the cup that Jerusalem had drunk would be passed to them. They too would drink of the cup of suffering and of God’s wrath, and they too would become drunk and naked (see Jeremiah 25.15-17).
‘Who dwell in the land of Uz’ an ancient name connected with Edom. For ‘Uz’ see Genesis 10.23; Job 1.1; Jeremiah 25.20.
4.22
The lament ends with an unexpected assurance to Zion of YHWH’s continued watch over them, and a warning to Edom of what lay in store for them. Whilst Zion could still expect God finally to show mercy, for Edom there was no hope (Ezekiel 25.12-14; Joel 3.19-21). The contrast is intended to bring out the wonder of God’s goodness towards Zion over against the judgment coming on their enemies.
Having described in detail the ordeal through which Jerusalem has gone, the prophet now assures them that they have reached the bottom of the barrel. They can sink no further. The punishment of their iniquity has been accomplished (compare Isaiah 40.1-2) and YHWH had no plans for further judgments on them. The assumption must be that from now on He intended to smile upon them. Their past sins at least had been dealt with in full measure.
It will be otherwise for Jerusalem’s enemies. Edom would be visited (dealt with in judgment) for their iniquity, and their sins would be uncovered, resulting in the necessary punishment of them. It was the opposite of having their sins ‘covered’. The implication is that it would be different for Jerusalem, who would experience the mercy of God, although no detail is given.
Chapter 5. The Prophet Calls On YHWH To Observe The Sad State Of His People And Pleads With Him As The Eternal One To Show Mercy.
In this final lament the prophet outlines in some detail the sad state of YHWH’s people in the period after the destruction of Jerusalem, ending it with a plea that He might yet show mercy as the Eternal King.
5.1
The prophet calls on YHWH to remember all that had come on them and to consider the reproach that they were under, something that he will now deal with in detail. The first person plural indicates the prophet’s identification with his people. They were feeling totally humiliated.
5.2
They had had to stand by and watch while their land had been handed over to foreigners, and aliens had taken possession of their houses. They had lost the inheritance that YHWH had given them. Note that this was the fulfilment of the curse in Deuteronomy 28 .30. They had been warned. They had no one to blame but themselves. ‘Handed over.’ The verb is used of the transfer of property. Compare Isaiah 60.5.
5.3
They were orphans and fatherless, and their mothers were as widows because the menfolk had been carried off to Babylon, or had been drafted in for slave labour. There is an irony here in that they themselves had been guilty of neglecting the widows and orphans, and now it had rebounded on their own heads. They had become like the people that they had ignored.
But because of the stress YHWH places on watching over widows and orphans (Exodus 22.22; Deuteronomy 10.18; 14.29; Psalm 68.5; 146.9; Isaiah 1.17; Jeremiah 49.11) the prophet clearly sees this as an important argument to put to YHWH on their behalf. Let him now watch over the newly made ‘widows and orphans’ as He had declared that He would.
5.4
Previously the water from their springs and rivers, and from their own cisterns, had been freely available to them. Now they were being charged tolls for the privilege of using it. Furthermore the trees from which they been able freely to obtain timber were now in the hands of others who charged them for any wood that they obtained, whilst there was presumably a charge for gathering firewood. Everyone was taking advantage of them, and there was nothing that they could do about it.
5.5
The ‘pursuers’ are probably the men set to watch over them as they went about their working day, or as they followed other pursuits. These ‘pursuers’ were seemingly relentless in ensuring that they did not slacken off. Instead of them being ‘on our necks’ we would say that they were ‘on our backs’ (get off my back). And the relentless pressure was proving too much. They were very weary and were finding no opportunity to rest. (see Deuteronomy 28.43).
5.6
In view of the mention of the Assyrians some see this as looking back to the past when they had had to come to an agreement with either Egypt or Assyria in order to be satisfied with bread, rather than looking wholly to YHWH. But the term ‘Assyria’ is elsewhere used to refer to countries in the north, Assyria being the first port of call when crossing ‘the River’. Babylonians would come via Assyria. For definite examples of this usage see for example Ezra 6.22; Jeremiah 2.18. Thus this could equally apply to the prophet’s time with some being beholden to Egypt and others to Babylon via Assyria. This may indicate that the Babylonians were tightly controlling the food supply. It was an ignominious position to be in.
5.7
The prophet acknowledged that their fathers had sinned and were no longer alive. They had suffered the penalty of sin. And now their offspring themselves were ‘bearing their iniquities’. The sins of the fathers were being visited on the children. But this was not a matter of excusing themselves. It was an acknowledgement that YHWH had a right to be angry because sin had been continual, and a recognition that sins pass on from father to children as the children copy their father. Thus they had to bear God’s judgment on both their father’s sins and their own. They were not claiming to be innocent as verse 16 makes clear. They were rather recognising the reality that sons tend to ape their fathers (see Jeremiah 16.10-11; 32.18), which the principle lying behind punishment to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20.5). When people fell into gross sin it affected not only themselves but their descendants. However, we must remember that such consequences were always avoidable by coming to God in true repentance. God was always ready to respond to such repentance, as the whole sacrificial system made clear.
5.8
It is an open question here whether this means ‘servants’ of the king of Babylon, signifying Babylonian officials (in which case Deuteronomy 28.48 applies), or ex-Israelite servants promoted to positions of authority by the Babylonians. But either way the people clearly felt the ignominy of it. They were not being ruled by their Israelite peers. And because YHWH was no longer on their side there was no one to deliver them from them. Jeremiah had once asked, ‘Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave?’ (Jeremiah 2.14). And the answer now was ‘yes’.
5.9
When they left the safety of their cities and went into the countryside, which was now bare and neglected, in order to grow their food, the Israelites were always in danger of Bedouin raiders, or local bandits who were waiting to swoop on them. The population was sparse and there was no organised defence against such raiders. The country was at the mercy of marauders. It made obtaining food a risky, and even fatal, business. ‘At the peril of our lives’ is more literally ‘for the price of our soul’.
5.10
The starvation conditions in which they were living had had its effect on their bodies. Their skin glowed like the stirred up ashes of a baker’s oven, caused by the feverish heat of hunger. (For the meaning ‘stirred up’ rather than ‘black’ see Genesis 43.30; 1 Kings 3.26; Hosea 11.8)
5.11
The Israelite women were now easy prey for the Babylonian soldiers so that many women, including virgins, were ravished in Jerusalem, and many virgins in the cities of Judah. Few were safe from their attentions. Israel were a conquered people, and their women were see as fair prey.
5.12
The cruelty of conquerors was well known. The ‘princes’ may well have been dead, for the display of the dead bodies of important people was a regular practise (compare Saul and his princely sons in 1 Samuel 31.10, 12). We know from the ancient records that it was certainly an Assyrian practise. The idea was to shame the leadership and frighten people into submission. But it would not be unknown for men to be hung up alive, as centuries later Jesus Christ would be for our sins.
The elders and the older men in any nation were usually treated with respect. But it was not so in this case. Here they were from a land of rebels. Thus instead of being honoured they were ‘not honoured’, that is, were treated with disrespect.
5.13
The use of hand mills with which people in ancient towns regularly ground their grain was commonplace. But it was seen as the work of women or slaves. Now, however, it was the young men of Israel who were being forced to carry the mills to wherever they were needed, and were then required to operate them in order to grind the grain (see Judges 16.21, which was however a larger mill). And the younger children who were being forced into service carrying wood under which they staggered because of the weight. They had become an enslaved people.
5.14
The area within and around the gate of the city was where much local activity took place. It was often the only place in the city where there was an open space. Most cities were unplanned and simply a mass of houses huddled together. But the space before the gate was always left open. There the elders of the city would meet to deliberate and make decisions, and try local cases (Job 29.7; Proverbs 31.23). There too they would sit and watch the movement of people through the gates and enjoy amusements and entertainment, whilst the young men would take the opportunity to show off their musical skills. But in woebegone Judah no such activities were occurring. Life was low key.
5.15
No longer were the inhabitants of Judah joyful at heart. Life under an oppressive regime had removed all the joy out of life. And instead of meeting to dance, the women would gather to mourn.
5.16
The crown is fallen from our head’ might be a reference to the fact that they no longer had a king ruling over them. But far more likely in mind was the festal garland crown often worn at feasts. Compare Isaiah 28.1 where it had become faded and was being grossly misused). It was a symbol of fruitfulness and joy. But there was no grounds for wearing such a crown in those difficult and oppressive times, for there was nothing to be joyful about. The people who had once gathered in festal joy now had no grounds for festivities. The crown of joy and fruitfulness lay discarded on the ground.
‘Woe to us, for we have sinned.’ And now after the long catalogue of miseries that they were enduring we come to the people’s admission as to why things were like this. It was because they had sinned. That was why these woes had come upon them. This was one of the most important lessons to come from the laments, an admission that their condition was due to their sins.
5.17
It was because of all these things that their heart was faint, and their eyes were dim with weeping. Life had become a burden, full of sorrow and tears.
5.18
Capping all that has gone before was the fact that the mountain of Zion, that mountain that had once throbbed with the sound of worshippers walking in and around the Temple, was now desolate. It had become the haunt and walking place of jackals. Outwardly it looked as though YHWH was no longer interested in the land, or in His people.
5.19
But the prophet knew differently. The Temple site may be desolate, the Temple might lie in ruins, but he knew that YHWH sat on His throne for ever. For His throne was an eternal throne, surviving from generation to generation. Here was the climax of the lament, the certainty that, despite all that had happened and all the gloom and misery, YHWH was on His throne. And if that were so nothing else was of comparative importance.
5.20
The incongruity of the situations in which God’s people found themselves as described in this chapter, as compared with YHWH’s eternal throne, now raises questions in the prophet’s mind. Why does this powerful almighty King leave them in this parlous state. Why is He taking so long to remedy the situation? So the cry goes up from his heart:
The years had ground past and the time seemed endless. It had been such a long time. Why then did YHWH not DO something? Had He really determined to forget them for ever? Had He forsaken hem permanently?
Of course, by praying this the prophet was not expressing his own conviction, he was seeking to stir up God’s compassion as He looked down on what they were enduring. He was hoping He would act NOW.
5.21-22
But he also realises that they cannot expect YHWH to act if they remain unchanged. There had to be a true turning to God. But he recognises that it will not come just from the people themselves. So he calls on YHWH to right the situation. Let Him turn His people towards Himself, and then they will be turned. He recognises that man’s sinful condition is such that unless he is turned by the Lord he will not turn.
Let Him ‘renew their days as of old’. He recognises that what was needed was a complete renewal resulting from repentance and a true response to God. Compare Psalm 51.12; Jeremiah 31.18.
But then he adds a proviso, although he cannot really believe that it can be so. What if YHWH has utterly rejected them? What if He is still very angry with them? Those are the only reasons that he can think of as to why YHWH should not act.
And so the book ends on the note of a plea for true spiritual revival, subject to YHWH’s will and purposes. He has removed from despair to hope, a hope based on the salvation of God.
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