Lamentations 2 THE CAUSE God’s patience has limits. Even though the word “daughter” is used around ten times in this chapter in reference to Jerusalem, there is also just wrath against their sin. God’s love and compassion for sinners are real, but when it is spurned, scorned, and rejected, God does ultimately turn away from the sinner to whom He has shown great grace for so long. Unless there is repentance for sin and faith put in Him, there will be no justification or reconciliation. God does not compromise His integrity and holiness. He is open to hearing the calls of real repentance but does not reach out in grace to rescue those who despise and reject Him. Those who refuse Him and rebel against Him will be rejected by Him.
This chapter describes the misery of Jerusalem and the causes of it. Derision from the nations around them, shows them to have been enemies all along. Toward the end of this chapter, there are exhortations to demonstrate true sorrow and repentance and to turn to the Lord in fervent prayer like the prayer of Jeremiah. What God had done to that city was likened to a beautiful daughter in whom there was glory and honor, but because of willful sin was brought down to the ground to where even the temple was a footstool. The homes of the Jews and the military fortifications were decimated. The whole kingdom including the leaders of the nation were brought down to where they were no more than polluted merchandise.
Every form of strength, God had left to act on their own and they were defeated like fire would devour a house. Even the temple was devoured without any consideration for what was its original intent. It had been polluted by the sins of the people who had misused it and taken everything it stood for, as of little value. The people Jeremiah was looking on and mourning for, had lost all that was important and it was too late to get it back.
The temple had been the central place of worship in form, but the people really wanted their idolatry and lascivious religions rather than fellowship with God. They had the temple as a place of importance rather than the Lord who “dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” They likely thought because the temple was called “the house of God,” that God would never let anything happen to it. Where we worship, is not as important as who we worship and why we worship Him. Reality and sincerity in our worship of God are what have meaning to the Lord. The death of the “daughter of Zion” was deliberately planned and executed. Just judgment came on those, whose apparent worship, was merely a pretense and a form. Jerusalem had come far short of what God had intended. So, the temple, the law, and the forms people practiced had become a reproach and a dishonor. “Cursed be he that doeth the work of God deceitfully (negligently).”
Everything that seemed to have strength and value was gone. The leaders of government, and even those prophets who spoke to the people for the Lord, had no word from the Lord. Their protection, their leadership, their guidance, and their vision they had taken for granted. They had become so used to what they had but didn’t claim, that they became comfortable in their sin. Their false sense of security had replaced God. Even when confronted and called to repent and return to the Lord, they wouldn’t. The whole population was brought down to the ground in the dirt with their heads hanging down, and nothing in them but sorrow and humiliation. “The wages of sin” have to be paid.
A relationship with the Lord is not based on symbols, religious practices, and man-made designs of worship and service. The word of God is clear as to what pleases God. The reality of living for God and with God is not a religious experience, but a manner of life and walk based on shared values given to us by God Himself in His word.
The prophet Jeremiah was so grieved over all that had happened to his people, he was physically sick as well as being blinded by his tears. He had been grieved over their sins before, when they had ignored and then rejected his warnings. Now, he was mourning with godly sorrow over what was happening to them – men, women, and children. The consequences of their sin had overcome them, and the innocent children as well as adults were suffering. The condition of the people was incomparable and incurable. There was no defense for them, nor was there any way to help them recover what was lost.
The people of Judah and Jerusalem had chosen to listen and pay heed to their hired false prophets who told them what they wanted to hear. They chose to believe them rather than Jeremiah and the prophets the Lord had sent. They were encouraged by their paid hirelings to enjoy their sin, but now they were suffering the consequences of disobedience, idolatry, and their rejection of God. Their misery was greater than that of those who had surrendered to the Babylonians a few years earlier, and who had been taken captive before the terrible judging war and devastation swept over the nation.
God had blessed them and they had taken all His blessings for granted. Now that everything was gone and those who remained were desolate with nothing left, they became the object of derision by those nations around they had wanted to be like. Strangely, there are those who have grown up and lived in places of blessing, with parents and forebears who were people of dignity and honor; seem to want to get away from the “restrictions” of morality and righteousness so they can “experience what they have been deprived of.” After they have tried one thing, and “found it wanting,” they have to try another, and another, and another. Even though they were taught that there is “No satisfaction without salvation,” they reject that advice and the warnings that are given.
Strangers that passed by Jerusalem scorned the people who had nothing but once had everything. Their enemies rejoiced over the downfall of Jerusalem because the day they had hoped for, had actually come, and the proud were now humbled. Contempt, derision, and mockery were heaped upon the Jews. It is not uncommon today for people who had the opportunity to live for the Lord and to use their God-given gifts for the benefit of others, to leave the place God had been using them effectively, and go to where nothing at all is expected of them. They can do what they want and no one asks a thing of them. They can live independently of God and God’s people. They can do what they want, but in the end, they find no lasting joy and no place for repentance.
The people of Jerusalem should not have been surprised by what happened to them. The Lord had told them many times before what He had planned to do if there was no repentance for their sin and no evidence of regret or recovery. They had brought this judgment down on themselves because of stubborn rebellion against the Lord. Their wickedness brought suffering to innocent children as well as the adult population. The guilty were punished and the residual effects of that were felt by those over whom they had control and leadership. The sins of the fathers fall on the children of the third and fourth generations. The fault lay with the wayward sinful people. God had warned them of the consequences of their sin, and how everyone around them would be affected, both old and young.
Pride, an independent attitude, and refusal to repent bring the consequences of sin down on a whole nation. When there is no admitting of guilt; no sorrow for sin; then there will be no forgiveness. The terrible results of human sin can be avoided when people will listen to warnings, pay heed to the advice given, and take action to repent and make right what has been wrong. Then when one turns in faith to the Lord, they can find mercy. Tragedy comes when sin has its way. Sorrow and devastation will not be avoided when willfulness to do evil prevails.
We know God is longsuffering and not willing that any should perish. He is also slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. But when rebellion and disrespectful rejection of God and His word continue; His justice demands an end to it. Divine wrath is far beyond man’s ability to conceive of or defend against. There are limits to divine patience. He is open to hearing those who call upon Him with a pure heart and will respond in grace to the truly repentant person and nation. There is hope for reconciliation with God. This is how salvation from divine wrath comes. With that response of faith comes the gift of God which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.