LAMENTATIONS 2

Lamentations 2. As the Bible says:

Lament for the Misery of Jerusalem

God has totally and completely humiliated His daughter, Zion. Seriously, he didn’t hold anything back. He let Babylonians destroy the temple in Jerusalem. God watched them tear down houses, walls, doors, and military bases. He even brought down the kingdoms and rulers of Judah.

God cut down all of Judah “in fierce anger”

This is the underestimation of the 6th century BC. The poet thinks that the Almighty stopped helping people. He acted like an enemy who was ready to shoot arrows directly at them. He even killed his own people. God rained down fire and destroyed the whole city. And his whole way of life. God just left the suffering and agony in place. Seriously, he doesn’t play games.

Probably the worst part is that God took out his own house. The Temple is gone and so is the tabernacle that was inside. Now there is no reason to celebrate festivals or observe the Sabbath. God has given this sacred place to his enemies. It’s super awesome and sad.

There are no more kings. No more priests. There is no one to lead the people. All anyone can do is sit on the streets and cry. The Poet personally spends most of his time crying. The Poet is literally sick to his stomach when he sees what happened to his city. Babies are starving in the streets. Their mothers are begging for food and wine while their children collapse in their arms. It is horrible.

How can the poet discover how to describe all this? What could he compare it to? I have never seen anything so horrible before. What can he say to comfort people? Is there anyone who can heal the city? It seems that the answer to those questions is a big “no”.

Before the city fell, the city’s prophets led everyone astray when they said things would be all right. They were a little out of line with those predictions. Just a little. Now everyone in the world is making fun of Judah. This is a delightful victory for the enemies of Judah. They had waited so long to bring them down. Now, they finally have to see Jerusalem fall and they love it. It’s like Christmas … you know, even before there was Christmas.

All this happened just as God said it would. He threatened people with destruction a long time ago and they never listened. He finally fulfilled his promise. That’s one thing about God. He has a long memory. The poet tells people that they need to cry out to God. They should spend all their time crying, weeping and repenting for the bad things they have done. Perhaps then God will stop allowing little babies to starve. Perhaps…

Seriously, God. Look what you’ve done. Think of the misery you have inflicted on the chosen people. It’s quite a horrible scene. Is it right for a mother to eat her own children because she is starving? Should a priest be killed while serving at the Temple of God? Is this great with you, God? Is it?

Many people are dead. Both young and old. Those who are left are in total misery. God killed these people in anger. He had no mercy on them. It is as if he made a feast and invited all the enemies of Judah. Then, he lay back and watched as his children were forced from their homes and killed.

Commentary on Lamentations 2: 1-9

Here is a sad representation of the state of the church of God, of Jacob and Israel; but the warning seems to refer mainly to the hand of the Lord in his calamities. However, God is not the enemy of His people when He is angry with them and corrects them.

And the doors and bars are useless when God withdraws his protection. It is right with God to bring down those by judgments, who degrade themselves by sin; and to deprive those of the benefit and comfort of the Sabbaths and ordinances, who have not properly valued and observed them.

What should they do with Bibles, which do not improve them? Those who abuse the prophets of God lose them in righteousness. It becomes necessary, though painful, to turn the thoughts of the afflicted to the hand of God raised against them, and to their sins as the source of their miseries.

Commentary on Lamentations 2: 10-22

The causes of the regret are described. Crowds perished from hunger. Even small children were killed by their mother’s hands, and eaten, according to the threat, Deuteronomy 28:53. Their false prophets deceived them.

And their neighbors laughed at them. It is a great sin to joke about the miseries of others, and it adds much sorrow to the afflicted. Their enemies triumphed over them. The enemies of the church tend to take their shocks for their ruins; but they will find themselves deceived.

Calls are made to lamentation; and comforts are sought for the cure of these lamentations. Prayer is an ointment for every sorrow, even for pain; a remedy for every disease, even the most serious. Our business in prayer is to refer our case to the Lord and leave it with him. His will be done. We fear God, and let us walk humbly before him, and take heed lest we fall.

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