A new book to study - Lamentations...Bible reading week 15, day 3

We start this morning a new book of the Bible to walk through with many others to follow.  It is the book of Lamentations.  I draw from my study Bible to give you some background to this book.

The title "Lamentations" means "loud cries."  How did this come to be?  It is an expression of dismay.  It is a book of one long lament or dirge that might be more appropriate at the funeral.  It is proclaiming how things are but also remembering how they were once.  It was great but now it is not so.

Most believe that the book of Lamentations was written by Jeremiah the prophet based on internal and historical indicators.  Jeremiah is known at the "weeping prophet" and the one who wrote laments.  Lamentations is like the sequel to the book Jeremiah but a sequel that shows Jeremiah's heart heavy over seeing Jerusalem's fall in 586 B.C.  Jeremiah prophesied that destruction was coming and he saw it happen and then he writes of the sorrow after it happened.

Lamentations has 154 verses and part of our sacred canon of Scripture.  Lamentations is read in the Jewish synagogues on the 9th day of their month called Ab to remember the date of Jerusalem's destruction by Nebuchadnezzar.  This date is also the date of the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in A.D. 70.

There are five laments.  The first is the lament of Jerusalem's devastation.  The second is the lament of the Lord's anger explained.  The third is the lament of Jeremiah's griefs expressed.  The fourth is the lament of God's wrath detailed.  The fifth is the lament of the Remnant's prayers.  We will walk through these as we go through this book.

One last interesting fact about the book of Lamentations is how it is written.  Chapter 1 is 22 verses long.  There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet.  Verse 1 starts with "a", verse 2 starts with "b", verse 3 starts with "c" and so on.  Of course I mean with the Hebrew alphabet and not ours.  Chapters 2 and 4 follow this same suit.  Chapter 3 is 66 verses long, 3 times as long, and it uses the same letter to start the verse 3 times and then moves onto the next letter.  Chapter 5 breaks this pattern but still has 22 verses.  Many times this way of writing was an aide to memorize Scripture by just going down the alphabet for each verse.  Again, you won't see that in our Bibles unless you are reading this book in the Hebrew language.

Let me give you just the first verse which sets the scene.

How lonely sits the city that was full of people!  She has become like a widow who was once great among the nations!  She who was a princess among the provinces has become a forced laborer!

You get the picture that the picture has changed.  The city of Jerusalem that was once full of people sits empty.  The city that was teeming with life is now in mourning like a widow who has lost her spouse.  Jerusalem was great among the nations.  Jerusalem was a beautiful city like a beautiful princess among all the other cities.  But now the princess has turned in her regal clothing for the maids rags and gone from sitting on plush thrones to cleaning the privy pot.  May this just give a picture of what is ahead of us through this book.

Maybe we will see some comparisons to our day.  Many have equated America to Jerusalem in the sense of its prominence and position.  But things in America have drastically changed.  Let us pray.

"Lord, may Your Spirit help us as we go through this book of the Bible.  You have given it to us to read and study and may we learn what we need to know and therefore live.  In our sorrow may we seek Your comfort and settle on continuing to follow after You.  Amen."

Pastor Adam