"OVERVIEW OF LAMENTATIONS"

Background info –

Author – It does not specifically say who wrote the book – the majority of commentators agree that Jeremiah is the Author. Keep in mind that he was an eyewitness of the events that took place in 586 BC.

Date – 580 BC – which is six years after the Babylonians came in and destroyed Jerusalem and all of Judah.

· Jeremiah was written just a few years prior to Lamentations. Remember Jeremiah is warning the people of coming judgment, then in 586 BC God used godless people (the Babylonians) to destroy Judah and lead the people into exile. Then we come to the book of Lamentations where Jeremiah is mourning the outcome of God’s wrath on Judah.

Benware – “He (Jeremiah) was at Mizpah when Jerusalem was burned and reduced to rubble, The deep sorrow expressed in Lamentations suggests a time of writing shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem.”

Theme – “Lament, Mourning, Weeping”

As we examine the book of Lamentations this evening we will see two things – First, we will see the results of sin, and second, we will see the response to sin.

1. Results of Sin –

As we look at the results of sin let me ask you this – What was the sin of Judah?

· Idolatry

· Rejected the Lord

· Rejected the Lord’s Standards

Really this has been seen throughout the book of Jeremiah – Remember Jeremiah continued to warn Judah of coming judgment if they did not turn back to the Lord. (this takes place in Jeremiah 50 when God uses the godless people to punish the people of Judah)

a. Destruction – 1

· Destruction of fame and prestige

Lamentations 1:1

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 1:3-6

Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.From the daughter of Zion all her majesty has departed. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture; they fled without strength before the pursuer. 7 Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering all the precious things that were hers from days of old. When her people fell into the hand of the foe, and there was none to help her, her foes gloated over her; they mocked at her downfall.

· Destruction of Friends

Lamentations 1:2

She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.

Lamentations 1:8-9

Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away. 9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts; she took no thought of her future; therefore her fall is terrible; she has no comforter. “O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed!”

Lamentations 1:16-17

“For these things I weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a comforter is far from me, one to revive my spirit; my children are desolate, for the enemy has prevailed.” 17 Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her; the Lordhas commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes; Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.

Lamentations 1:19

“I called to my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food to revive their strength.

Lamentations 1:21

“They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you announced; now let them be as I am.

· Destruction of food

Lamentations 1:11

All her people groan as they search for bread; they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength. “Look, O Lord, and see, for I am despised.”

b. Wrath of God – 2

Lam 2:1-8

How the Lord in his anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud! He has castdown from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.

2 The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the habitations of Jacob; In his wrathhe has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers.

3 He has cut down in fierce anger all the might of Israel; he has withdrawn from them his right hand in the face of the enemy; he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, consuming all around.

4 He has bent his bow like an enemy, with his right hand set like a foe; and he has killed all who were delightful in our eye sin the tent of the daughter of Zion; he has poured out his fury like fire.

5 The Lord has become like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel; he has swallowed up all its palaces; he has laid in ruins its strongholds, and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.

6 He has laid waste his booth like a garden, laid in ruins his meeting place; the Lord has made Zion forget festival and Sabbath, and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.

7 The Lord has scorned his altar, disowned his sanctuary; he hasdelivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord as on the day of festival.

8 The Lord determined to lay in ruins the wall of the daughter of Zion; he stretched out the measuring line; he did not restrain his hand from destroying; he caused rampart and wall to lament; they languished together.

Lam 2:17

The Lord has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word, which he commanded long ago; he has thrown down without pity; he has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes.

c. Consequences – 4

· Famine –

Lam 4:4-5

The tongue of the nursing infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives to them. 5 Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple embrace ash heaps.

Lam 4:10

The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people.

· Loss of beauty

Lam 4:7-8

Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form was like sapphire. 8 Now their face is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood.

· Death

Lam 4:9

Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field.

· Scattered

Lam 4:13-15

This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous. 14 They wandered, blind, through the streets; they were so defiled with blood that no one was able to touch their garments. 15 "Away! Unclean!" people cried at them. "Away! Away! Do not touch!" So they became fugitives and wanderers; people said among the nations, "They shall stay with us no longer."

CLIMAX -

Lam 4:11

The Lord gave full vent to his wrath;he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations.

How do you do when you are punished for you sin?

· Maybe parents punish you – how do you respond?

· The purpose of disciple – Hebrews 12:3-11 –

Now, let us transition and look at the response to sin –

2. Response to Sin –

In chapters 3 and 5 we see Jeremiah’s response to the sin of the nation.

a. Plead for Mercy – 3

Lamentations 3:1-20 – Jeremiah is rehearsing all of the events that have taken place to the people as well as to the place Judah. Notice what his response is in 3:21 –

Lam 3:21-23

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lam 3:31-33

For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.

What an amazing response to the wrath of God!!

How do you respond when you are punished for you sin? How do you respond when you are in the midst of the punishment?

b. Plead for Restoration – 5

The first 15 verses really provide us with a great summary of all of the results of sin. Then we come to last 7 verses and you will find the plead for restoration.

Lam 5:16-22

The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned! 17 For this our heart has become sick, for these things our eyes have grown dim, 18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate;

jackals prowl over it. 19 But you, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations. 20 Why do you forget us forever, why do you forsake us for so many days? 21 Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old— 22 unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us.

Wow – How do you and I respond to disciple?

This week – Ask yourself how do you respond sin? - Proverbs 15:3