Week of September 14
The Helping Hand Out of Moral Catastrophe
Read: Lamentations 1-2; Obadiah; Revelation 14
“How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
has become a slave.”
Lamentations 1:1, ESV
Introduction
Solomon writes, “A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart” (Proverbs 21:2). Jerusalem, the City of God, considered its ways to be right, despite the warnings from the Lord, and it suffered ultimate ruin. An eyewitness experienced firsthand the horror that fell upon the city when it was overthrown. Like this Old Testament event, the advent of the internet in our contemporary world has made it possible to view in instant and graphic detail the overthrow of cities, violence in our schools and churches, as well as harmful acts inside our homes. Let’s consider how hope may arise from the ruin of a way of life.
Interpreting the Bible Text
Literary beauty that describes utter moral and physical ruin
Jeremiah provides us in the book of Lamentations a spiritual masterpiece about both the terrible consequences of sin and rebellion and the restoration of hope. We have before us not paint thrown violently against a canvas, but carefully pondered brush strokes that show us in excruciating detail the story of utter loss, pain and suffering, and the rebirth of hope! The book’s literary beauty is unsurpassed, and its message is timeless.
The person who wrote the book of Lamentations was witness to the actual fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Therefore, its authorship has traditionally been assigned to Jeremiah even though the book does not state who penned it. The book, filled with deep emotion, takes into its view both the deserved calamity that befell Judah and Jerusalem as well as the longing for God to restore His people. Five poems within the pages of the account correspond to the chapter divisions in our Bibles. Four of the five poems are acrostics in which each verse begins with a successive letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Jeremiah crafted a literary masterpiece with a message that speaks directly to the hearts of a fallen and broken people.
The person who wrote the book of Lamentations was witness to the actual fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Therefore, its authorship has traditionally been assigned to Jeremiah even though the book does not state who penned it. The book, filled with deep emotion, takes into its view both the deserved calamity that befell Judah and Jerusalem as well as the longing for God to restore His people. Five poems within the pages of the account correspond to the chapter divisions in our Bibles. Four of the five poems are acrostics in which each verse begins with a successive letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Jeremiah crafted a literary masterpiece with a message that speaks directly to the hearts of a fallen and broken people.
Hope for broken hearts
Our focal chapters provide us the two sides of the same coin—Jerusalem’s affliction (1:1-22) and the Lord’s judgment (2:1-22). Surely, this total view presents the story of humanity (Romans 3:23). If we read it carefully, we will see that Jeremiah points the way for the people to make a slow climb out of their moral collapse back into a right relationship with God. He does this by acknowledging God’s “faithfulness and compassion,” and he makes his appeal based on these attributes (HCBC). I recall times in my own pilgrimage where the verses in this story of failure provided me with steppingstones across the great divide between the Lord and me. So, what steps are we to take?
The climb out of moral collapse
First, our sin must become odious to us before we may begin to see the way out of it (cf. Prodigal son Luke 15:14-17, “came to his senses”). Spiritual death leads to unspeakable acts. Bible scholars believe that the phrase, “they trade their treasures for food,” refers to the consuming or selling of their children into slavery for food to eat in the city when it was under siege (1:11; EBC; NAC). Either way, the depths to which the people had fallen was evident (cf. 2:20; 4:10; prophesied in Deuteronomy 28:53-57; see also 2 Kings 6:28-29). I believe that it is important to see our sin for what it truly is and confess it to God.
Secondly, we must recognize that God will punish sin. Others were God’s instrument of judgment, but He was the one who poured out His punishment upon Jerusalem (1:13-14). Our sin brings separation from the God who loves us (1:15). To state that we are “rejected” means that we are treated with scorn. The Babylonians trod Jerusalem under foot because the Lord was no longer supporting their struggle against this enemy.
Thirdly, we are to grieve over our sin and its consequences (1:16). We are truly sick and needy and find ourselves pleading for anyone to help when we fail miserably (1:17). There was no one to help and not even Jerusalem’s neighbors came to her aid. Confession begins to build the pathway to forgiveness! Jerusalem confesses that God is righteous (right) and that she had rebelled against Him (1:18-20). God would make a way forward for His people, as dismal as these circumstances may seem to us. God makes a way forward for you and me as well, even when our sin casts a dark shadow across our lives (cf. Romans 5:8).
Secondly, we must recognize that God will punish sin. Others were God’s instrument of judgment, but He was the one who poured out His punishment upon Jerusalem (1:13-14). Our sin brings separation from the God who loves us (1:15). To state that we are “rejected” means that we are treated with scorn. The Babylonians trod Jerusalem under foot because the Lord was no longer supporting their struggle against this enemy.
Thirdly, we are to grieve over our sin and its consequences (1:16). We are truly sick and needy and find ourselves pleading for anyone to help when we fail miserably (1:17). There was no one to help and not even Jerusalem’s neighbors came to her aid. Confession begins to build the pathway to forgiveness! Jerusalem confesses that God is righteous (right) and that she had rebelled against Him (1:18-20). God would make a way forward for His people, as dismal as these circumstances may seem to us. God makes a way forward for you and me as well, even when our sin casts a dark shadow across our lives (cf. Romans 5:8).
Applying the Text to Your Life
There is a family story about me that makes its rounds several times a year. It is entirely true and there are pictures to prove it! I have a bad habit of climbing onto roofs from which I am unable to get back down. One event followed my attempt to remove the Christmas lights from the uppermost peak on our home. I lost my grip and slipped down the rooftop into a gully and “flowed like water,” even farther down, until I was able to grab hold of a vent pipe, and there I clung. I often wondered what those plastic things were for, but now I know. Saved by the pipe! It provided me with 45 minutes of reflection as I held on and considered how to get off that roof. It also gave me time to weigh the consequences of an ill-advised climb!
Let me insert a spiritual segue here. The “vent pipe” in Lamentations, as it were, was “God’s righteousness.” Jeremiah grabs hold of that attribute and hangs onto it. We must do that same thing when we fall into sin. God knows, and provides, the way out of our fall (Romans 10:9-10).
Let me insert a spiritual segue here. The “vent pipe” in Lamentations, as it were, was “God’s righteousness.” Jeremiah grabs hold of that attribute and hangs onto it. We must do that same thing when we fall into sin. God knows, and provides, the way out of our fall (Romans 10:9-10).
For Reflection and Action
1. I keep the picture of my “roof failure” because it holds a spiritual reminder for me. My moral rescue follows my confession of it and the need for God’s help. We must face and confess our sins for God to restore us to fellowship with Him. Do so today. You will thank God for it.
2. For Families: The story told in Lamentations is applicable to our families. The steps that Judah took to recognize, grieve, repent of their wrongdoing, and to cling to God’s righteousness as He restored them, are the same steps for our reconciliation with God, too.
Some parents use the “time out chair” method to stop wrong behavior and provide a space to reconsider one's decisions. Our children and grandchildren had a little chair. Maybe you do too? If the child misbehaved, or displayed a rebellious attitude, for example, they were sent to sit in the chair for as many minutes as they were old.
They were encouraged to think about their poor decision and its action. Then they stated what it was that put them in the chair. They asked for forgiveness. Then Mom or Dad would put arms around them and make things right. Reconciliation! All of us come out of failure in our lives the same way. Lamentations is the story of all of us.
May your paths be straight,
Larry C. Ashlock
2. For Families: The story told in Lamentations is applicable to our families. The steps that Judah took to recognize, grieve, repent of their wrongdoing, and to cling to God’s righteousness as He restored them, are the same steps for our reconciliation with God, too.
Some parents use the “time out chair” method to stop wrong behavior and provide a space to reconsider one's decisions. Our children and grandchildren had a little chair. Maybe you do too? If the child misbehaved, or displayed a rebellious attitude, for example, they were sent to sit in the chair for as many minutes as they were old.
They were encouraged to think about their poor decision and its action. Then they stated what it was that put them in the chair. They asked for forgiveness. Then Mom or Dad would put arms around them and make things right. Reconciliation! All of us come out of failure in our lives the same way. Lamentations is the story of all of us.
May your paths be straight,
Larry C. Ashlock
Posted in Pathway Devotionals