Lamentations Jeremiah Weeps Lamentations 3:21-26 January 20, 2018
Today
As noted last week, king Josiah led the last revival in Judah. Many hearts were moved, but for the majority, it was only a surface change.
Like Zephaniah, Jeremiah began his prophetic ministry during the reign of Josiah and continued through the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedikiah. Also like Zephaniah, Jeremiah attempted to call Judah back to God, but he was never able to prevent the downward spiral and eventually, those conditional prophecies became a certainty.
As the sun rises and he peers through the morning mist and smoke at the rubble of his beloved city, Jeremiah falls to the ground, tears streaming down his face as sobs shake his body. Jerusalem is GONE! It had been the capital for some 400 years and now it’s just GONE!
In Lamentations we see the very heart of Jeremiah. He had poured himself into the task God had given him to bring Judah back before it was too late and now his heart is broken.
Why Jerusalem? WHY? WHY? WHY?
The 1st explanation – “they sinned greatly”.
• Lamentations 1:8 - Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean. All who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns away.
The 2nd explanation – “God is righteous” - God did it and He was right in what He did.
• Lamentations 1:18 - The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled against his command. Listen, all you peoples; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into exile.
God’s people have sinned and yet He loves them. Just like a surgeon who hates the cancer ravaging the body or the parent who hates the drugs destroying his/her child, God hates the sin that WILL destroy us. Therefore, we must see God’s anger and hatred of sin as coming out of His great personal love for us.
God took full responsibility for what the armies of Babylon had done:
• Lamentations 2:7 - The Lord has rejected his altar and abandoned his sanctuary. He has handed over to the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have raised a shout in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast.
3 reactions:
• The people are sad because of what they lost – theirs was a worldly heartbreak.
• Jeremiah is heartbroken – his is a Godly heartbreak.
• The enemies of God rejoice.
Jeremiah had endured much (Jeremiah’s family wanted to kill him. He was put in the stocks. He was put in the royal prison and a group of priests threw him down an old well). Even though Judah had chosen rebellion, Jeremiah did not gloat. Instead:
• Lamentations 3:21-26 -Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
In spite of the severe judgments of God, Jeremiah can see His merciful hand. Judah would have been utterly destroyed if not for the mercy of God. If God had given them what they really deserved, they would have disappeared from the face of the earth.
God is faithful:
• He promised Abraham to make his family into a great nation – this nation.
• He promised Moses that He would take them to the land of Canaan.
• He promised Joshua that He would establish them there.
• He promised David that ONE would come through his line who would reign on the throne forever.
• The prophets warned that because of their persistent rebellion God would judge them, but would preserve a faithful remnant and would make them a nation again.
God IS faithful!
As Jeremiah looks at the once proud and beautiful city, he thinks about the human cost of rebellion:
• Lamentations 4:1-2 - How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at the head of every street. 2 How the precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter's hands!
The finest young men are gone! Broken! Shattered! Like any earthen jar…
The most awful thing about war is the human cost:
• 620,000 soldiers killed in the Civil War (not including civilians)
• 16 million soldiers/civilians killed in WW I.
• 60-70 million soldiers/civilians killed in WW II.
• 3 million soldiers/civilians killed in the Korean Conflict.
• 3.4 million soldiers/civilians killed in Vietnam
The siege of Jerusalem was a terrible thing. The people suffered in the extreme, but they refused to surrender.
• Lamentations 4:4-6 - Because of thirst the infant's tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth; the children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them. 5 Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets. Those nurtured in purple now lie on ash heaps. The punishment of my people is greater than that of Sodom,
Why? The sins of God’s people were worse because their spiritual privilege was so much greater. They KNEW better – or SHOULD HAVE known better! The sin of the world is great, but the sin of the person who sits in a pew, hears the word of God and does nothing about it – is far worse!
• Lamentations 4:12-13 - The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the world's people, that enemies and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem. 13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteous.
Because the false prophets and priests did not tell the people the truth – instead, telling them what they wanted to hear – and because they eliminated (or tried to eliminate) anyone who disagreed, they are guilty of murder. As for the people, they are guilty because they paid no attention to those who were preaching the truth.
Jeremiah concludes with a prayer:
Lamentations 5:1-22 - Remember, O LORD, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. 2 Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, our homes to foreigners. 3 We have become orphans and fatherless, our mothers like widows. 4 We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price. 5 Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest. 6 We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. 7 Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment. 8 Slaves rule over us, and there is none to free us from their hands. 9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. 10 Our skin is hot as an oven, feverish from hunger. 11 Women have been ravished in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah. 12 Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders are shown no respect. 13 Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. 14 The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. 15 Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. 16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! 17 Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things our eyes grow dim 18 for Mount Zion, which lies desolate, with jackals prowling over it. 19 You, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. 20 Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? 21 Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old 22 unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.
Take Aways
It was all so UNNECESSARY!! God does what He does because He is righteous. He cannot shut his eyes to evil and must act, even though it breaks His heart. When Jeremiah weeps, God is weeping; when Jeremiah mourns, God is mourning; when Jeremiah is filled with sorrow, God is too.
Jeremiah weeping over a destroyed Jerusalem reminds us of Jesus weeping over the future destruction of Jerusalem:
• Matthew 23:37-38 - O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.
• Luke 19:41-44 - As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-- but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."
The universe is only eternally safe because God cannot and will not tolerate sin. Sin will be destroyed – our choice comes in whether or not we will be destroyed with it.
Charles Swindoll: At one time or another, all of us have enjoyed the fleeting pleasures of sin… Because, we are sinners by nature, we are prone to shove aside, the anguishing reality of the effects of compromise, so that, we can more thoroughly embrace the thrills of evil. Realizing this, the Lord has graciously inspired and preserved the Lamentations of Jeremiah, which records, the devastating consequences that flowed from Judah in rebellion against God. As we read the pages of this book, we will find ourselves asking if the bitter fruit of disobedience is worth the tremendous price it exacts.