Lamentations 4-5
Notes
Transcript
Lamentations 4-5
Lamentations 4-5
Good evening church! Blessed that you joined us this evening.
Why in the world would we come out during the middle of the week to study what I described in our first week as laments or funeral songs? There is a verse written in 1 Corinthians in a section talking about all of these old testament example, and it says this...
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
School of hard knocks...
Those of you that like outlines this forth chapter, just so you know, continues in the same acrostic pattern that we observed in the first couple of chapters. 22 verses to correspond with the Hebrew alphabet. The first chapter is also 22 verses but it is not an acrostic, it does not follow that pattern of poetry, it is an appeal or a prayers.
So chapter 4 Outline is as follows....
This chapter focuses more on the laments or the sufferings of the leaders…the princes, the prophets, and the priests...
1 How the gold has become dim! How changed the fine gold! The stones of the sanctuary are scattered At the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion, Valuable as fine gold, How they are regarded as clay pots, The work of the hands of the potter!
Verse 1, the actual gold and the temple, scattered and covered with dust.
verse 2 the people, diminished in value as the strong and the young taken to Babylon.
3 Even the jackals present their breasts To nurse their young; But the daughter of my people is cruel, Like ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the infant clings To the roof of its mouth for thirst; The young children ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.
5 Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those who were brought up in scarlet Embrace ash heaps.
ostriches know for their indifference towards their young.
6 The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown in a moment, With no hand to help her!
The seige was slow and painful starvation, not like Sodom. 18 months
7 Her Nazirites were brighter than snow And whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, Like sapphire in their appearance.
8 Now their appearance is blacker than soot; They go unrecognized in the streets; Their skin clings to their bones, It has become as dry as wood.
9 Those slain by the sword are better off Than those who die of hunger; For these pine away, Stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of the compassionate women Have cooked their own children; They became food for them In the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Nazirites = Nobility
11 The Lord has fulfilled His fury, He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, And it has devoured its foundations.
12 The kings of the earth, And all inhabitants of the world, Would not have believed That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem—
13 Because of the sins of her prophets And the iniquities of her priests, Who shed in her midst The blood of the just.
Jeremiah, Lamentations (2. The Sins of Prophets and Priests (4:12–16))
The false prophets had given the people baseless confidence by messages they claimed were from God (Jer 23:9–40). The priests failed to instruct the people in the law and did not rebuke them when they sinned.
14 They wandered blind in the streets; They have defiled themselves with blood, So that no one would touch their garments.
15 They cried out to them, “Go away, unclean! Go away, go away, Do not touch us!” When they fled and wandered, Those among the nations said, “They shall no longer dwell here.”
16 The face of the Lord scattered them; He no longer regards them. The people do not respect the priests Nor show favor to the elders.
17 Still our eyes failed us, Watching vainly for our help; In our watching we watched For a nation that could not save us.
Those that had been revered and respected where now shamed and despised, scattered by the Lord as no one wanted them in their presence. It is interesting to me today how much we let the fear of man or the fear of the opinion of man today silence us, which in the end will only result in their despising them for not loving them enough to warn with the truth.
Egypt
18 They tracked our steps So that we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near; Our days were over, For our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the heavens. They pursued us on the mountains And lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, Was caught in their pits, Of whom we said, “Under his shadow We shall live among the nations.”
Egypt was quickly driven away and no others stepped up to help.
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, You who dwell in the land of Uz! The cup shall also pass over to you And you shall become drunk and make yourself naked.
22 The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; He will no longer send you into captivity. He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will uncover your sins!
Your rejoicing is only temporary, you may have been rewarded by the Babylonians, but the vengeance of God is coming.
Chapter 5 is a prayer of hope for restoration following their acknowledgement of sin. The outline is as follows...
1 Remember, O Lord, what has come upon us; Look, and behold our reproach!
2 Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, And our houses to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans and waifs, Our mothers are like widows.
See and remember how we have been humiliated.
4 We pay for the water we drink, And our wood comes at a price.
5 They pursue at our heels; We labor and have no rest.
Taxed and exploited.
6 We have given our hand to the Egyptians And the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
7 Our fathers sinned and are no more, But we bear their iniquities.
Duet chapter 5:6-11 and then Ezekiel chapter 18:1-9
8 Servants rule over us; There is none to deliver us from their hand.
9 We get our bread at the risk of our lives, Because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 Our skin is hot as an oven, Because of the fever of famine.
Some of their Babylonian rulers may have been former slaves and weren’t about to have any mercy on their former masters.
11 They ravished the women in Zion, The maidens in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hung up by their hands, And elders were not respected.
13 Young men ground at the millstones; Boys staggered under loads of wood.
14 The elders have ceased gathering at the gate, And the young men from their music.
Just a few month ago with Hamas...
15 The joy of our heart has ceased; Our dance has turned into mourning.
16 The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 Because of this our heart is faint; Because of these things our eyes grow dim;
18 Because of Mount Zion which is desolate, With foxes walking about on it.
The reason is acknowledged in verse 16 were they confess in their prayer, we have sinned.
19 You, O Lord, remain forever; Your throne from generation to generation.
20 Why do You forget us forever, And forsake us for so long a time?
21 Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; Renew our days as of old,
22 Unless You have utterly rejected us, And are very angry with us!
This is not a fairy tail ending, it’s not even a good ended, or a neutral ending, it ends with unresolved conflict, unresolved anguish, pain, doubt, and questions rather than answers. There is a saying in law enforcement that complacency kills…well the consequences when it comes to eternal security are even greater. Presumption of our position can lead to damnation. Them that is, them that ain’t, and them that thinks they is, but ain’t.
21-22-21
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
We must abide in Christ!
Grace, Mercy, and Peace!