In the following posts, I will offer some thoughts on the book of Lamentations. It is a book that documents in poetic form the destruction, violence, cruelty and pain of the city of Jerusalem in 568 a.C by the Babylonians. It is a not popular nor a well-known book among Christians. In this post I want to highlight some of the distinctives that make this book unique and useful for our lives as Christians.
1. It is a poetic book that appeals to our emotions.
First, it’s poetic in its structure. Among the books of the Bible, there is the poetic genre. Some of the Psalms fall into this genre. Lamentations also has a unique poetic structure.
The first four chapters are written in an acrostic form where each sentence begins with one of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 3 has three sentences for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The last chapter is not in an acrostic form; it has twenty-two sentences like the Hebrew alphabet.
It is also poetic also in its content. Lamentations was used in temple worship and it was read during the commemoration of the destruction of the temple (the first and second temples). It has also been used by Christians during Holy Week. This book was written not for the intellect but for our emotions. The purpose is not for us to respond with an intellectual response but to be able to respond with our emotions. But this emotional response is not out of control but is guided by God’s truth by showing us how things happen and in some cases why they happen. Even though it may not give us a rational, logical explanation, it will show us God’s perspective.
2. It is a book about lament for divine punishment.
Wrapped in the historical background of Judah’s siege and captivity, Lamentations presents us with a visible disastrous picture of divine punishment on his people. The theology (which teaches us about God’s character and nature; the consequences of sin in a theocratic nation) found in this book is not very popular today. An author says:
“In Lamentations, God cares about sin, suffering, and depravity and does something about them. In Lamentations, there is no ease regardless of what the people of God do. In Lamentations, God is fair, tough, caring, and ultimately faithful.” – Paul House, “Lamentaciones” Word Commentary
Lamentations invites us to join in lament. This is something that is not easy for us to understand because there is no nation that has experienced this kind of punishment directly from God. However, we can learn to mourn how horrendous disobedience to God is and the disastrous results it causes. Sin is in force in our times and the results are obvious. So it’s applicable to our times.
3. It is a book that teaches us how to use lament in worship of God.
In the church, this book, like the Lamentation Psalms, helps us understand that worship of God not only involves joy but also pain, suffering, and lament. The book Psalms has a significant number of lament psalms. These kinds of Psalms include, lament, confession, and trust in God’s sovereignty. Similarly, Lamentations possesses these characteristics.
One author says that, “Praise is the language of celebration. Lament is the language of suffering.” He also states:
“Laments are prayers of petition arising out of need. But lament is not simply the presentation of a list of complaints, nor merely the expression of sadness over difficult circumstances. Lament in the Bible is a liturgical response to the reality of suffering and engages God in the context of pain and trouble.
The hope of lament is that God would respond to human suffering that is wholeheartedly communicated through lament.” – Rah, S.-C., & McNeil, B. S. (2015). Prophetic lament: a call for justice in troubled times. Westmont, IL: IVP Books.
4. It is a book that shows us that we need deliverance from our sins through Christ.
We know we’re sinners due to our innate sinful nature. The evidence lives within our hearts . Our actions many times affirm that we are people who have severely offended God with our sins. Sin is horrendous before our Holy God. We cannot grasp the magnitude of how serious it is before God because we have lived accustomed to sinning. When we see evil, suffering, and pain, we try to find human answers to help us make sense of it. But the truth is that we cannot. It leaves us yearning for divine justice.
Divine justice has already been executed on our sin on the cross. It was our Lord who came to become human like us, who felt our pain and our suffering not only during his life and ministry, but experienced the most severe punishment anyone has ever experienced when he died on the cross for us. It was there, as he called in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) that he experienced the divine punishment for our sins.
Israel (Judah) experienced divine punishment without the reality of the cross. Today everyone who believes in Christ as their Lord and Savior can face suffering, pain, injustice, and even the Lord’s discipline knowing that He paid the highest price. We can look to our Savior and live confidently that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord..” (Rom. 8:38-39, NIV)
The lament of the fall of the city of Jerusalem, the city of God represents the fall of the nation of Israel because of her sin. As we will look in this book, God has not forgotten her and she will be restored when the 70 years of exile are fulfilled (Isa. 14:1; Jer. 32:1-15; Psalm 126).
Take a few minutes to read the first chapter and join in the author’s mourning. I recommend reading Robert Alter’s Translation. Here is a sample of reading of chapter 1.
