Lamentations 2:17-22 says...Bible reading week 18, day 3

Todays verses are Lamentations 2:17-22, which read,

17 - The LORD has done what He purposed; He has accomplished His word which He commanded from days of old.  He has thrown down without sparing, and He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you; He has exalted the might of your adversaries.

18 - Their heart cried out to the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night; give yourself no relief, let your eyes have no rest.

19 - "Arise, cry aloud in the night at the beginning of the night watches; pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord; lift up your hands to Him for the life of your little ones who are faint because of hunger at the head of every street."

20 - See, O LORD, and look!  With whom have You dealt thus?  Should women eat their offspring, the little ones who were born healthy?  Should priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

21 - On the ground in the streets lie young and old; my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword.  You have slain them in the day of Your anger, You have slaughtered, no sparing.

22 - You called as in the day of an appointed feast my terrors on every side; and there was no one who escaped or survived in the day of the LORD'S anger.  Those whom I bore and reared, my enemy annihilated them.

We continue to struggle through the book of Lamentations.  It is depressing to read but remember it is speaking of the Israelites who have been disobedient to God and handed over to their enemies.  The city of Jerusalem has been put in ruins and they have been carried away to Babylon, the city of their enemies.  They have been warned by the prophets and specifically the prophet Jeremiah but they have ignored those warnings and kept doing what was right in their own eyes instead of the following the words of God.  Keep our own country in your sights as we read this together and also the general church in America.  This might help us as we read about what these people are going through.

Verse 17 tells us that God is sovereign.  The suffering they are going through was known by Him, prophesied to them by Him through the prophets, and carried out by Him through the hands of their enemies.  This suffering has a purpose by God and for God in their lives that is beyond the pain they are feeling.  

Verse 18 has the prophet Jeremiah pleading with them to cry out to the Lord.  He tells them to shed tears before God that run like a river and flow day and night.  Before the appeal council to determine to be put out on probation in the general public instead of staying in prison, the panel is looking for remorse in the voice and body language of the accused person.  Jeremiah is crying out to the accused disobedient Israelites to show remorse before God.

Verse 19 gives us Jeremiah's words.  Voiced prayers are important.  Confessions before God are important.  Being on your knees and lifting up your hands in surrender to God are important.  Putting yourself in a physically vulnerable position to signify your spiritual vulnerable position is important.  Don't be so concerned about what others might think with this outburst of action that seems to out of place but get in the right posture before the Holy God.  How many confessions don't happen because we have our eyes focused on the wrong person?

Verses 20 through 22 give us a vivid picture of what life was like under captivity and the 18 month siege.  This is hard to read but cross references are Lamentations 4:10 which reads,

The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children; they became food for them because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Leviticus 26:29 says,

Further, you will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.

Deuteronomy 28:53, 56, and 57 says,

Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you.  The refined and delicate woman among you who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your towns.

And lastly Jeremiah 19:9 says, 

I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.

Those are some hard verses to read but the Israelites are experiencing the consequences of their sin.  It sounds like hell and let us relate it to the disobedience of man and the ultimate consequences that God has warned us of that is to come.  If these things happened as He said then let us trust also that other things He has said will come to pass and not disregard the warnings.  

Let me end with a "flip over."  The many prophecies of the coming Messiah came to pass as he said.  We experience the joy of salvation because of Christ's death on the cross and rising from the grave.  We are also told of the prophecies of His coming again and that of a new heaven and a new earth.  These are prophecies experienced by those who hear God and follow after Him.  We are given not only the information but have also been given the Savior who paid the price for our sins on the cross.  We are called upon by Him to obey and therefore things glorious things are in store for us.  The prophet's cry is the same as the preacher's cry today.  Let us experience the joy of the Lord rather than the wrath of Him.  Let us pray.

"Lord, what a vivid picture we are given today of a people who experienced the consequences of their sin.  They were warned by You.  They were guided by You.  They were blessed by You.  But they didn't follow You.  Help us to see how we can be just like them and how we can heed You instead of avoid You.  May we desire the experiences of Your joy and follow with actions that bring You glory.  Amen."

Pastor Adam