Lamentations
Lamentations
Structurally, the majority of the book of Lamentations is composed of four acrostic poems. Here Jeremiah used each letter of the Hebrew alphabet as the start of a verse; four times over! He followed these poems of confession and repentance with a prayer for restoration. Jeremiah demonstrated a profound literary skill in describing the personal anguish caused him by the fall of the city of David, and concluded his lament with a closing prayer similar to what one might expect from the prophet—who wished God would restore His people to Himself (5.21). The downcast theme of the book has given rise to its title: “Lamentations.” This English derivation has come through a chain of transmission that began with the Hebrew title, “How!” which prompted the writers of the Septuagint to translate the term, “threnoi,” or “dirges.”
In Jeremiah’s lament over Jerusalem (ch 1), he employed the metaphor of harlotry to describe Judah’s transgression of the Mosaic covenant. Concerning the city he said: “There is no one to offer her comfort, not one from all her lovers” (v. 2); “Her uncleanness stains her skirts” (v. 9); “I called to my lovers but they betrayed me” (v. 19). Among the other literary features noteworthy in this chapter is the way the prophet personified the city of Jerusalem, writing in the first-person to accentuate how he, God, and even the city felt (vv. 12-16). Yet the LORD was not unjust; Jeremiah confessed for his contemporaries and the city of Jerusalem in a pluralistic first-person singular confession: “The LORD is in the right, for I have rebelled against His command” (v. 18).
Jeremiah described the LORD’s judgment on Jerusalem in terms of military warfare (ch 2). The prophet said: “In His wrath He has demolished the fortified cities of Daughter Judah” (v. 2); “Like an enemy He has bent His bow; His right hand is positioned like an adversary” (v. 4); “The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel” (v. 5). All of this was too much for the melancholy prophet. In the midst of describing the LORD’s judgment on the city, Jeremiah was worn out with grief and remembered that much of the blame should be on the heads of Jerusalem’s prophets—who, “saw visions for you (the exiles) that were empty and deceptive; they did not reveal your guilt and so restore your fortunes” (v. 14). Because Jerusalem and Judah had made the LORD their enemy, He made them His enemy—and allowed their enemies to have victory over them (vv. 15-16, 21-22).
Despite all of this, Jeremiah understood that one can yet have hope through God’s mercy (ch 3). After several lines describing personal angst (vv. 1-21), the prophet—in what seems a move of strict volition—announced a dawn of hope: “Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: ‘The LORD is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him” (vv. 22-24). Jeremiah went on to urge his audience to join him in hope, “For the Lord will not reject us forever. Even if He causes suffering, He will show compassion according to His abundant, faithful love. For He does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind” (vv. 31-33).
While Jeremiah urged his companions to hope in the LORD, he was yet mindful of the current destitution of Jerusalem (ch 4). Foremost in the mind of the prophet was the demolished temple; he said, “How the gold has become tarnished, the fine gold become dull! The stones of the temple lie scattered at the corner of every street” (v. 1). In the prophet’s view of things the people of the city were no better off; dignitaries—once brighter than snow, whiter than milk with ruddy and brilliant appearance—now looked of shriveled skin and were unrecognizable (vv. 7-8).
Jeremiah’s lament concluded with a prayer for restoration (ch 5). The prophet transitioned to the conclusion of his dirge with the petition: “Yahweh, remember what has happened to us. Look, and see our disgrace!” (v. 1). After several lines of recounting the themes he set forth in the first four chapters, the prophet erupted into ejaculatory praise, “You, LORD, are enthroned forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation” (v. 19). Yet this statement of praise is the very basis for the prophet’s anguish; if the LORD is sovereign over His people, why had he yet to restore them? The prophet concluded his sorrowful plea with a ray of hope against some very dark clouds: “LORD, restore us to Yourself, so we may return; renew our days as in former times, unless You have completely rejected us and are intensely angry with us” (vv. 21-22).
Jeremiah’s prophetic lament provides not only a window into his soul, but also a composite of his understanding of the LORD: sovereign, just, merciful. The prophet’s poems were thus resourceful for the storyline of Scripture, employed by the writers of the New Testament to describe the suffering of Christ, warn believers against unfaithfulness, and anchor God’s righteous judgment:
- In 2.15, the prophet wrote: “All who pass by scornfully clap their hands at you. They hiss and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem: Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?” His words echo in Mk 15.29-30, where the evangelist described Jesus on the cross, saying: “Those who passed by were yelling insults at Him shaking their heads, and saying, ‘Ha! The One who would demolish the sanctuary and build it in three days, save Yourself by coming down from the cross!”
- In 1.3, Jeremiah wrote: “He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything in its path.” His words may have been on the mind of the author to the Hebrews, who also understood the active justice of God. He thus warned his readers, as he had from the outset (cf. 2.1-4), that they ought not take the word of the new covenant lightly, saying: “See that you do not reject the One that speaks; for if they did not escape when they rejected Him who warned them on earth, even less will we if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven…for our God is a consuming fire” (12.25, 29)
- In 3.64 Jeremiah penned concerning his enemies, and those of Judah: “You will pay them back what they deserve, LORD, according to the work of their hands.” The apostle John employed Jeremiah’s understanding of God’s righteous judgment in describing the great and final judgment; he wrote: “I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books” (Rev 20.12)
*For a complete list of references, please see scripturestoryline.com