Lamenting the Death of a City (part 2)

In the following verses of Lamentations the author expresses what Jerusalem has lost because of her rebellion and asks God to look at her suffering and hear her.

First, he remembers what she had before and lost. 

“Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
    that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into enemy hands,
    there was no one to help her.
Her enemies looked at her
    and laughed at her destruction.” v. 7 (NIV and all subsequent verses unless otherwise stated.)

If we look at the fall of Jerusalem historically, we think that this was the result of the politics of that time. But the cause of her banishment by the nation of Babylon was not political but theological. Jerusalem fell into the hands of the enemy because of her rebellion against God. And since it was God who brought this on her, “there was no one to help her.”

There is a very important principle in all of this. And it is that what happens in our lives, as children of God, is sovereignly directed by God. We may think that what happens to us is something due to culture or politics or circumstances or even chance. But we know that the Lord is always working sovereignly in our lives. Jerusalem remembers what happened to her. She remembers what she had before it happened. But the reality is that she has fallen as a city and no longer has anything or anyone to help her. Her enemies laugh at her downfall.

How sad to think that we had before and lost because of our sins! How sad it is that others mock our fall! If this hasn’t happened to you individually, thank God!

We also see that her sin was the cause of her loss and banishment.

“Jerusalem has sinned greatly
    and so has become unclean.
All who honored her despise her,
    for they have all seen her naked;
she herself groans
    and turns away. ” v. 8

Without hesitation, Jeremiah says the cause of her loss and her exile: “Jerusalem has sinned greatly.” The author’s emphasis is that the sin of Jerusalem was great. This was no small thing, and it is not that she did not deserve to be removed. The author uses the comparison of a woman who has been unfaithful to her husband and now “All who honored her despise her, for they have all seen her naked.” She lost her honor among the nations. Her shame is compared to a person showing her nakedness, something that in this context was very shameful. It is a great shame! Her nakedness is her sin that others can now see and reject. It is a deplorable thing!

So is our sin before God. It is embarrassing. It is something that robs us of our dignity.

Her spiritual immorality brought her shame and her downfall.

“Her filthiness clung to her skirts;
    she did not consider her future.
Her fall was astounding;
    there was none to comfort her.  v. 9

The author continues with the comparison of the unfaithful woman saying that she is an unclean or impure woman (she is in her period). The impurity of it is evident to all. But she has not listened. She has not noticed her sin. And the results is that she has fallen as a nation and there is no one “to comfort her.” No one was there to help her, she was left alone.
Her unfaithfulness to God has astoundingly brought her this shame. This affliction, this punishment, this exile.

These verses remind us of the warning in Hebrews 10: 29-31 for those of us who are Christians, have been purified by the blood of Christ and continue to sin deliberately:

“How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. “

So our duty is to listen and obey the voice of God:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
    as you did in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:15)

Now the author turns to her cry to God. She calls on to God to see her affliction.

The nation of Judah did not listen to God’s voice nor seek Him when all was well. When she had prosperity, allies, and she had everything, she did not seek God. When she was unfaithful to the Lord by going after other lovers and following her gods, she did not repent nor listen to the voice of God.

Now that her city is destroyed, she experiences the consequences of her unfaithfulness and has lost left alone and heartbroken, she cries out to the Lord. She cries out to the Lord to look and see what the enemy has done to her. All her “precious things” from the temple have been taken and the place where God dwelt has been desecrated.

Jerusalem’s response to what had happened to her is very similar to ours when the consequences of our sins come to us. We cry out to God asking him to look at our situation and help us.

Jerusalem expresses to God the sufferings she is going through. They sold the most valuable for food. They have suffered from hunger during the siege, so much so that they were forced to eat the flesh of their dead children to stay alive (ch. 4:10). Their clamor was evident. The city calls on the Lord to look at her situation, to look at her dejected state.

Application questions

• Do you know someone who is suffering due to disobedience to God? Take time to mourn and ask God to make help this person get through it calling upon Him.
• Think about your faithfulness to God. Is there something that He wants from you but that you are ignoring? Are there idols in your life that you should remove?
• This week take time to passionately cry out to God about the wickedness, injustice, and consequences of sin. Pray that God will make you sensitive to the pain of others. Pray that God will reveal himself in the lives of those who suffer.