Lamentations 4

OUTLINE -

Lamentations 4:1-6 “How dark the gold has become, How the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out At the head of every street. The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as earthen jars, The work of a potter’s hands! Even jackals offer the breast; They nurse their young; But the daughter of my people has become cruel Like ostriches in the wilderness. The tongue of the nursing baby cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The infants ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them. Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those reared in crimson Embrace ash pits. So 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 whirled toward her.”

Gold does not tarnish.

What was once pure is now impure

Lamentations 4:7-12 “Her Nazirites were purer than snow; They were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than corals, Their polishing was like lapis lazuli. Their form 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. Better are those pierced through with the sword Than those pierced through with hunger; For their life flows away, being stricken For lack of the produce of the field. The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people. Yahweh has spent His wrath; He has poured out His burning anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has devoured its foundations. 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.”

1 - YOU CANNOT SAVE YOURSELF

You cannot save yourself.

If you go your own way you will die.

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.”

God poured out His wrath on Jerusalem.

He gave them ample warning

Jeremiah preached it for 40 years

ROMANS 2:9 “There will be affliction and turmoil for every soul of man who works out evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,”

No one is above God’s law.

1 Corinthians 10:11-12 “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

We are warned

Lamentations 4:11-16 “Yahweh has spent His wrath; He has poured out His burning anger; And He has kindled a fire in Zion Which has devoured its foundations. 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. Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who have shed in her midst The blood of the righteous; They wandered, blind, in the streets; They were defiled with blood So that no one could touch their garments. “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 sojourn with us.” The presence of Yahweh has eradicated them; He will not continue to look at them; They did not honor the priests; They did not favor the elders.”

2 - HUMAN LEADERS CANNOT SAVE YOU

What was the iniquity of the priests?

Jeremiah 5:30-31 ““A horrible and appalling thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy with lying, And the priests have dominion by their own hand; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?”

They prophesy and rule by their own authority.

Lamentations 4:17-20 “Yet our eyes were spent, Looking for help was vanity; In our watching we have watched For a nation that could not save. They hunted our steps So that we could not walk in our open squares; Our end drew near, Our days were finished, For our end had come. Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They hotly pursued us on the mountains; They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness. The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Yahweh, Was captured in their pits, Of whom we had said, “Under his shadow We shall live among the nations.””

3 - WORLD NATIONS CANNOT SAVE YOU

Lamentations 4:21-22 “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, Who inhabits the land of Uz; But the cup will pass on to you as well; You will become drunk and make yourself naked. The punishment of your iniquity has come to an end, 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!”

Edom’s demise Prophesied in Jeremiah 49:7 “Concerning Edom. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman? Has counsel been lost to the understanding? Has their wisdom decayed?”

This is the faithfulness of God to His covenant people

Genesis 12:3 “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.””

4 - ONLY GOD CAN SAVE YOU

Jeremiah 33:7-8 “‘I will return the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first. ‘And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me.”