Hope Amidst Tragedy
Notes
Transcript
The book of Lamentations has historically been attributed to Jeremiah, though his name appears nowhere in the book. Ancient Jewish tradition, the early church, the Greek and Latin translations of the Old Testament all attribute the book to him. The writing of Lamentations gives a strong impression that its writer is an eyewitness. There are some similarities in writing between Jeremiah and Lamentations that support the idea that Jeremiah is the author of both.
Both books describe the downfall of Jerusalem, the capitol city of Judah. The word Lamentations is descriptive of the book’s contents as the writer is lamenting over the fall of this once great city. A lament is a passionate expression of sorrow. When someone is lamenting, they are expressing extreme grief. The situation is a heavy weight on the person. You feel the pain and sorrow one is experiencing.
The book has some very interesting characteristics that are missed in English translations unless the translators put notes in the Bible to show them. The book can be divided into five sections, and they are neatly divided by chapter. Each chapter, except for chapter 5, follows the same pattern in Hebrew. They are all acrostics, meaning that each line begins with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapters 1 & 2 have 22 verses each. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Each line begins with the next letter in the alphabet. If we were to replicate this in English, it would be like writing a poem where the first line starts with A, the second B, the third C, and so on. This is not the first time this has happened in the Bible. Psalm 119 is famous for not just being the longest chapter in the Bible, but following the same pattern. Proverbs 31:10-31, the description of the virtuous wife, follows the same pattern as well. The reasoning for this structure is unknown. Some believe it was to provide order to the writing amidst a chaotic time. Some believe it served as a tool to teach young Jewish students the alphabet. Some believe that it was a literary device used to aid in memorization of the scripture. Whatever the reasoning is, the book is intentionally crafted this way.
Chapter one highlights Jerusalem’s grief and shame as the author comes to terms with reality. Jerusalem has fallen. This once great lively city now lies desolate. Chapter 2 recounts the fall of Jerusalem. Chapter 3 sees the writer identify himself with his people as their representative. He sees the reason for his affliction, and therefore, the affliction of the nation. Israel has sinned. There has been a long period of rejection of God in favor of other gods. The leaders are corrupt, their prophets are corrupt, and the people are corrupt. God promised Israel if they followed His commands, they would live in the land and prosper. If they did not, they would face judgment and exile. What we see in this period of history is God keeping his promises.
We begin to see this ray of hope midst the tragedy starting in verse 19:
Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.
Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me.
This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
He says to remember his affliction and then in verse 20 he says that his soul does remember and is bowed down within him. This speaks of a posture of humility. The affliction that has come against Jerusalem has humbled him. In his spirit he is bowed down. The pattern of sin in your life leads you to believe that nothing of any real consequence will happen to you. Israel had hundreds of years of warnings and they did not heed them. Now they know God meant business. Jeremiah’s humility is a response to his affliction and he remembers that there is hope.
We face perilous times today. You only have to turn on the news for a few minutes to realize that we are on a dangerous course. A country that was once united is now divided. Our culture is polarized on just about every issue. So much so that if you disagree even slightly with another person’s viewpoint, you are demonized. The media aggressively silences any dissenting voice. Cancel culture shows no mercy for people who have an opinion other than their own. The cultural and political landscape of our nation is declining into self ruin.
It does not take much of a stretch of the imagination to relate to Jeremiah. He witnessed the downfall and the destruction of his homeland. Twenty years ago we would not have thought that this is the situation we find ourselves in. Jeremiah is among a long list of prophets who stood before powerful men to call out their corruption and the need for their repentance and return to the Lord. Today we stand in a position that is not too dissimilar. Our leadership is corrupt. We were once one nation under God and now we are a nation that has lost our way. As such, I believe in the face of our rejection of him, He is removing His hedge of protection from us.
When we read the book of lamentations we feel the sorrow. Place yourself in his shoes. Imagine an enemy comes and destroys everything you have. Imagine walking the streets and all the shops are closed, the grocery stores are empty, people are scarce, and the ones you do find are homeless and starving because it has all been taken from them. Now imagine you are one of them. This is the plight of Jeremiah. But in the middle of the toughest tragedy he has ever faced, there is a word of hope.
Because God is faithful to his covenant promises, we can trust that he will bring complete restoration.
Listen to what he says in verse 22:
The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
The Lord’s lovingkindnesses never cease. That word lovingkindness is God’s covenantal love for his people. God’s love for Israel will never cease. He made a promise to Abraham that is everlasting. He will not break that promise. He made a promise to Moses as Israel’s representative. He promised blessings for their faithfulness. If they followed God and worshipped Him only, they would live long in the land. They would be prosperous. They would have safety and protection from their enemies. But He also promised that if they disobeyed Him punishment would come. They would lose their possession of the land. They would lose the blessings they had. They would lose the protection and safety God had provided.
Jeremiah is in the midst of a tragedy and he pauses right here to say great is thy faithfulness.
Remember God’s faithfulness (v. 22-23)
Remember God’s faithfulness (v. 22-23)
When we face tragedies in life we begin to turn inward. It feels like we are on an island. The focus is on us and what we are going through, but we lose sight of what is true. God’s faithfulness to you will never cease. We know this to be true because God never changes. Scripture teaches this vital truth.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent;
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
God is faithful to all generations and his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed his hand has provided. God is not one to go back on his promises and we see that demonstrated through Israel’s history. God is consistent in his promise keeping. He consistently kept his promises when they were faithful and he was consistent in keeping his promises when they were not. Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, remember that you can count on him to keep his promises to you. In the tragedies of life, God never changes.
Continue to Hope in Him (v. 24-26)
Continue to Hope in Him (v. 24-26)
Let’s look at verses 24 and 26:
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
Here the prophet says God is his portion. It is a possessive term. It speaks of an inheritance. The exact concept is difficult to convey in English. The concept of possessing God a little hard for us to understand. What is being said here is something like, “I have the Lord and I need nothing else.” It speaks of the trust one has in the Lord and therefore does not need anything else. God is sufficient, therefore I have hope in Him. This hope comes from a recognition of his faithfulness to his covenant.
The Lord is good to those who wait for him. This waiting is an expectant hope. Jeremiah knows God is ultimately good. Justice is being poured out as God had promised, but it will not last forever. Again, this waiting is not on any empty hope, but based on God’s demonstrated faithfulness to his people. I know it is hard to understand why these things are happening across our country, but for decades America has turned its back on God. We have to remember that his chastisement is designed to bring us back to him.
He is faithful to keep his promises. There may be more storm to weather in our future. There’s a saying that goes, “The night is darkest before the dawn.” It means that the problem always seems worst right before it improves. Whether it is that corrupt politicians finally answer for their crimes or that Jesus returns and establishes his kingdom, there will come a day when things will get better. We wait expectantly for that day.
Practice true repentance (v. 39-40)
Practice true repentance (v. 39-40)
Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?
Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the Lord.
Jeremiah prophesied against his brothers, but he identified as one of them when judgment came. He presents this question about how any man can offer a complaint in view of his sins. The people of God should know that when they are chastised for their sin against God that they are deserving of it. There are two kinds of offenders in this world. There is the one who does wrong and blames someone else, and there is the one who does something wrong and takes ownership of his actions. When we reject God, how can we complain when he disciplines us?
God’s discipline is like that of a parent disciplining a child. He doesn’t want to do it but he has to. If he doesn’t do it, his children will never understand the danger, the pain, and the suffering we will put ourselves through. If he does not judge sin, then he is not a fair judge. Discipline is part of his character. It can seem harsh but we have to understand we are deserving of it and every time he does discipline us he is merciful because we are not destroyed. Jeremiah knew that though the fall of Jerusalem was tragic, the people deserved it as they had shaken their fists at God for centuries.
The parallels between then and now are uncanny. Our Jerusalem has not fallen yet, but the alarm has gone off. What are we supposed to do? Practice true repentance. Let us examine and probe our ways and return to the Lord. We have a mess on our hands. Jeremiah knew he was part of the mess. When I encounter a mess in my life, the first question I ask myself is what did I contribute to that mess? Then I know what I need to do to clean up my part of that mess.
You and I are part of this mess, whether we like it or not. What part have we contributed, and what do we need to do to clean it up?