June 17, 2011
Central Truth
There is no place that offers comfort or the kind of contentment found in obedience to God's standards.
My eyes fail because of tears,
My spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is poured out on the earth
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
When little ones and infants faint
In the streets of the city.
They say to their mothers,
"Where is grain and wine?"
As they faint like a wounded man
In the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
On their mothers' bosom.
(Lamentations 2:11-12)
1
How the Lord in his anger
has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud!
He has cast down from heaven to earth
the splendor of Israel;
he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.
2
The Lord has swallowed up without mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath he has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought down to the ground in dishonor
the kingdom and its rulers.
3
He has cut down in fierce anger
all the might of Israel;
he has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.
4
He has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set like a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes
in the tent of the daughter of Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.
5
The Lord has become like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel;
he has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
mourning and lamentation.
6
He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins his meeting place;
the LORD has made Zion forget
festival and Sabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7
The Lord has scorned his altar,
disowned his sanctuary;
he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
they raised a clamor in the house of the LORD
as on the day of festival.
8
The LORD determined to lay in ruins
the wall of the daughter of Zion;
he stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to lament;
they languished together.
9
Her gates have sunk into the ground;
he has ruined and broken her bars;
her king and princes are among the nations;
the law is no more,
and her prophets find
no vision from the LORD.
10
The elders of the daughter of Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they have thrown dust on their heads
and put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11
My eyes are spent with weeping;
my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out to the ground
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because infants and babies faint
in the streets of the city.
12
They cry to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers' bosom.
13
What can I say for you, to what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14
Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen for you oracles
that are false and misleading.
15
All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
they hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of all the earth?”
16
All your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We have swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; we see it!”
17
The LORD has done what he purposed;
he has carried out his word,
which he commanded long ago;
he has thrown down without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the might of your foes.
18
Their heart cried to the Lord.
O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears stream down like a torrent
day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!
19
“Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
20
Look, O LORD, and see!
With whom have you dealt thus?
Should women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of their tender care?
Should priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21
In the dust of the streets
lie the young and the old;
my young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
you have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering without pity.
22
You summoned as if to a festival day
my terrors on every side,
and on the day of the anger of the LORD
no one escaped or survived;
those whom I held and raised
my enemy destroyed.
As I was reading this passage, I found it very troubling that this city, to which God had shown so much favor, simply would not repent and turn to God for direction.
Then suddenly it hit me why it concerned me so--because I am this city. As I sit here writing in tears of gratitude, I realize that I am the rebellious child that God has protected and shown favor to over the years. But how soon will I forget about His sovereignty and instead return to managing my own life according to my flesh. I still find myself at times, just like the people in Jerusalem, lost and insecure about where to find safety and refuge in a war that I have waged against myself.
Jeremiah allows us to see the massive wake of destruction that our sin can leave behind, including the painful repercussions of God's wrath that are never pretty!
It is only when we ask the Lord to remove the scales from our eyes that we can see ourselves and our city in the same state of destruction and despair they faced back in 586 B.C. We might not be facing famine, but families are starving for our time and undivided attention. Perhaps we aren't being killed at the city gates, but we are killing ourselves by trying to manage our sin and make it through life on our own.
God shared this story of His wrath on Jerusalem to show us that without accepting His love and mercy we are all headed for destruction. May we be led to consider sin as the cause of all our calamities and to exercise submission, repentance, faith, and prayer with the hope of promised deliverance through God's mercy.
1. What sinful desires are you allowing to linger that can rob you of joy and true intimacy with Christ?
2. Do you really trust that God is sovereign and has your best interest at heart?
3. Is there someone in your life who is not afraid to tell you the truth?
4. What does authentic biblical community look like to you?
WEEKLY FAMILY ACTIVITY
JEREMIAH 50-LAMENTATIONS 2 (JUNE 13-17)
Read Jeremiah 50:17-20.
What does this passage say about the Israelites in verse 17? What is God going to do with the Israelites (verse 19)?
What does God say will be true about God's people in verse 20? Why will there be no sin found in them? Do you think this means they would never sin again?
Let's look at us today. Do you sin? What does Psalm 103:11-13 say about our sin?
How is our sin removed from us? If you trust Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, you are clean before God. It doesn't mean you will never sin, it just means that the payment for your sin has been made.
ACTIVITY: Practice as a family sharing the gospel. Check out how to explain the bridge illustration here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQCeXkn0aMU.
Read each verse and answer the questions provided:
Romans 3:23: Who is separated from God and why?
Romans 6:23: What is the consequence of our sin?
Romans 5:8: What did Jesus do for us?
Romans 10:9 and Ephesians 2:8-9: What is grace, and how do you get it?