Lenten Study Lamentations Ch 4
The horrors of the siege and aftermath are nearly over. Jeremiah carried them for all his remaining days. The prophet had clear and indelible images burned into his mind of exactly what wicked disobedience to God’s ways resulted in for God’s people. I wonder if that fueled his zeal for communicating God’s message to people or if it drove him out of the public square? Given what he witnessed, I cannot blame him for either response.
"Michelangelo, Jeremiah lamenting the fall of Jerusalem, detail of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1508-12" by Prof. Mortel is marked with CC BY 2.0.
1 How dark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out At the corner of every street.
Lamentations 4:1 (NASB)
That which the Worldly find value in is no more valuable than any other material wealth when you are starving. Jeremiah remembers the horrors within the walls of Jerusalem during the siege before the city’s fall. You cannot eat gold. You cannot eat idols made of stone. You cannot eat those material goods pursued in place of God’s ways.
2 The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as earthen jars, The work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer the breast, They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become cruel Like ostriches in the wilderness.
Lamentations 4:2-3 (NASB)
Historically, we know what went on inside the city’s walls during the siege. The parents consumed the children out of hunger. I cannot fathom sacrificing my children, thinking so little of them that I would kill and eat my kids. That is just devoid of any connection to humanity I can think of. I’m not even going to try and explain it away in any fashion. That thing in a parent’s life that should be considered the most valuable wasn’t even as valuable as the simple clay anyone could dig up. This is one of the many reasons why this book of scripture is called Lamentations.
4 The tongue of the infant cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.
Lamentations 4:4 (NASB)
The only thing I could see someone trying to use as an excuse for this behavior was that the children were dying anyway. Still, I don’t think I could bring myself to do this, even starving to death, and my children have died already. It is more than I want to contemplate, and Jeremiah lived through it and witnessed it. How deep must his emotions be on this subject?
5 Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those reared in purple Embrace ash pits.
Lamentations 4:5 (NASB)
All the wealth in the world for those citizens of Jerusalem did them no good. They joined everyone else, searching for food anywhere they could. The interesting thing here is that the wealthy had no experience exerting themselves, no knowledge of where to look for food, and no understanding of what to do with what they found, thanks to their soft lifestyle.
6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown as in a moment, And no hands were turned toward her.
Lamentations 4:6 (NASB)
Sodom likely did everything the people of Jerusalem were doing, so how is Jerusalem’s sin worse? Simple, they were the people of God. They knew better. They had lived under God’s blessings, knew His ways, and had seen His hand in life. Knowing all this, they still departed His ways.
7 Her consecrated ones were purer than snow, They were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than corals, Their polishing was like lapis lazuli.
8 Their appearance is blacker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin is shriveled on their bones, It is withered, it has become like wood.
Lamentations 4:7-8 (NASB)
Now, everyone is the same; the worldly wicked and the children of God are alike in their punishment. No one is spared, including Jeremiah, and we know him to be righteous. This is a very dark time for the city of Jerusalem.
9 Better are those slain with the sword Than those slain with hunger; For they pine away, being stricken For lack of the fruits of the field.
Lamentations 4:9 (NASB)
This has been my thought these last several days reading Lamentations. It must have been merciful for those slain in battle to not have had to go through starvation and witness the horrors inside the walls.
10 The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Lamentations 4:10 (NASB)
Do not think Jeremiah was the only prophet of this horrific event. Leviticus 26:29, Deuteronomy 28:57, 2 Kings 6:29, Jeremiah 19:9, and Ezekiel 5:10 all mention this event. Some of these references are before and some after, but the result is scripture corroborates this happening and prophets warning Israel it was coming.
11 The LORD has accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has consumed its foundations.
Lamentations 4:11 (NASB)
Once again, Jeremiah leaves no question about why this is happening to Jerusalem. God is angry with the people of the city. This is righteous punishment for their evil ways.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous;
14 They wandered, blind, in the streets; They were defiled with blood So that no one could touch their garments.
15 “Depart! Unclean!” they cried of themselves. “Depart, depart, do not touch!” So they fled and wandered; Men among the nations said, “They shall not continue to dwell with us.”
Lamentations 4:12-15 (NASB)
Pride. Much like the people building the tower of Babel, the occupants of Jerusalem at the time believed what they built with the hands of Man was unconquerable. Safe inside their walls of pride, they descended into acts of evil, permitted those acts where they did not participate, and turned a blind eye to what everyone else was doing. This sounds like what worldly, modern people ask of Christians every day, “judge not lest ye be judged!” they shout at us. Repent and turn from your wicked ways. I say lest we all be consumed in the righteous fire of God for the evils of the world. They did not believe the prophetic warnings from Jeremiah then, and they do not listen to Christians today who proclaim that God does indeed have things He likes and dislikes, and it does matter what we do, say, and permit in the world.
16 The presence of the LORD has scattered them, He will not continue to regard them; They did not honor the priests, They did not favor the elders.
17 Yet our eyes failed, Looking for help was useless; In our watching we have watched For a nation that could not save.
Lamentations 4:16-17 (NASB)
When the inevitable enemy approached the city gates, those wicked citizens began to search for salvation. However, they did not search for it from its source, God. They turned to the World and sought salvation from a place that cannot save: Mankind. Humans cannot save in an eternal sense of the world. Things of the world, material goods, and riches cannot provide salvation, yet that is where the people of Jerusalem turned once they finally recognized the peril they were in. It was too late at that point.
18 They hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our streets; Our end drew near, Our days were finished For our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
Lamentations 4:18-19 (NASB)
If we identify that we are in the midst of God’s chastisement for our actions, there is nowhere we can run to, nowhere we can hide to escape His wrath. The only solution to our problem is turning to Him, repenting our sins, and asking His forgiveness. Many in the world cannot and never will consent to that. It will have everlasting consequences.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the LORD’S anointed, Was captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, “Under his shadow We shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, Who dwells in the land of Uz; But the cup will come around to you as well, You will become drunk and make yourself naked.
22 The punishment of your iniquity has been completed, O daughter of Zion; He will exile you no longer. But He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins!
Lamentations 4:20-22 (NASB)
Jerusalem will be rebuilt, but this version of the city will not survive the deprivations of its citizens. God’s wrath is poured out on Jerusalem for all to see. That is true, given we are still discussing it over 2500 years later.