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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull!
The sacred gems are scattered at every street corner. How the precious children
of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the
work of a potter’s hands!
Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but
my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert. Because of thirst
the infant’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth; the children beg for
bread, but no one gives it to them. Those who once ate delicacies are destitute
in the streets.
Those brought up in royal purple now lie on ash heaps. The
punishment of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in
a moment without a hand turned to help her. Their princes were brighter than
snow and whiter than milk, their bodies more ruddy than rubies, their
appearance like lapis lazuli. But now they are blacker than soot; they are not
recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has
become as dry as a stick.
Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die
of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field.
With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who
became their food when my people were destroyed.
The Lord has given full vent to His wrath; He has poured out
his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations. The
kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the peoples of the world, that
enemies and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem. But it happened because of
the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her
the blood of the righteous. Now they grope through the streets as if they were
blind. They are so defiled with blood that no one dares to touch their
garments. “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them. “Away! Away! Don’t
touch us!” When they flee and wander about, people among the nations say, “They
can stay here no longer.” The Lord himself has scattered them; He no longer
watches over them. The priests are shown no honor, the elders no favor.
Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from
our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us. People stalked us at
every step, so we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near, our days
were numbered, for our end had come. Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in
the sky; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the
desert.
The Lord’s anointed, our very life breath, was caught in
their traps. We thought that under His shadow we would live among the nations.
Lamentations 4:1-20
This ends today’s
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
For the majority of Chapter 4 of Lamentations, we get a
glimpse of what life would look like when God vents His full wrath and pours
out His fierce anger on His people. It would consist of the following
hardships:
1. Lost wealth.
How the gold has lost
its luster, the fine gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at every
street corner. How the precious children of Zion, once worth their weight in
gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!
Judah was a nation of great wealth. Its people were people
who had great value, the prize jewels in God’s eye.
But sin took over, sin that God despises, and so what had
great worth had lost its luster and become dull. What was sacred was scattered.
The Israelites went from being golden to being as worthless as lumps of clay
used to form pots.
2. Severe famine.
Even jackals offer
their breasts to nurse their young, but my people have become heartless like
ostriches in the desert. Because of thirst the infant’s tongue sticks to the
roof of its mouth; the children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them. Those
who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets.
Those killed by the
sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they
waste away for lack of food from the field. With their own hands compassionate
women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were
destroyed.
How bad was starvation?
So bad that the people of God felt it would have been better
to be struck down by a sword than have to die from famine.
No one was spared by the onset of abject hunger. Not the
adults and not even the children, possibly the most gut-wrenching aspect of the
extent of God’s wrath and an aspect of it that should be a major deterrent to
ever placing ourselves in a position to experience it.
3. Ruined royalty.
Those brought up in
royal purple now lie on ash heaps. Their princes were brighter than snow and
whiter than milk, their bodies more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like
lapis lazuli. But now they are blacker than soot; they are not recognized in
the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a
stick.
The kings of the
earth did not believe, nor did any of the peoples of the world, that enemies
and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem. But it happened because of the
sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the
blood of the righteous. Now they grope through the streets as if they were
blind. They are so defiled with blood that no one dares to touch their
garments. “Go away! You are unclean!” people cry to them. “Away! Away! Don’t
touch us!” When they flee and wander about, people among the nations say, “They
can stay here no longer.” The Lord himself has scattered them; He no longer
watches over them. The priests are shown no honor, the elders no favor.
Kings, princes, priests, and prophets. All had prominent
places of authority in the Israelites community, authority vested in them by
God. But again, sin entered into the picture and the blood of the righteous was
shed. So the Lord disempowered all who committed iniquities against Him and
held those in authority accountable for their actions.
The princes were left so destitute that they became
unrecognizable.
The kings falsely assumed they would be safe and no one
could enter Jerusalem but they assumed wrong. We know the Babylonians broke
through the city’s security and took over, removing the kings from power.
The priests, prophets, and elders, once revered for their
piety, were now seen as unclean and left to wander about with no one willing to
take them in. God scattered them and no longer kept them in His care.
4. Horrific judgment for sin.
The punishment of my
people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment without
a hand turned to help her.
The Lord has given
full vent to His wrath; He has poured out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire
in Zion that consumed her foundations.
Think about how devastating God’s judgment was on the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah. They were both leveled by the Lord as He rained down
burning sulfur from the heavens.
Now consider that the Israelites viewed the seventy year
exile as greater punishment than that, a testimony to the degree of severity
that came when God vented His full wrath on them. He kindled a fire that
consumed the very foundations that the Israelites had built their lives.
5. No help from anyone.
Moreover, our eyes
failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that
could not save us.
Maybe there is no worse feeling than knowing you are alone
and isolated, abandoned and without help.
This is where the Israelites found themselves. They no
longer had any allies, no one who was willing to come to their rescue. And who
could blame other nations because think about who they would be coming to
oppose: the Lord God Almighty Himself. No one stood a chance trying to go
against God and so nations did the smart thing and they stayed away, leaving
the Israelites to fend for themselves.
6. Overwhelmed by adversaries.
People stalked us at
every step, so we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near, our days
were numbered, for our end had come. Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in
the sky; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the
desert.
The Lord’s anointed,
our very life breath, was caught in their traps. We thought that under His
shadow we would live among the nations.
With the Lord removing His protection from His people and
allowing them to be attacked by the Babylonians, the Israelites became easy
targets for their assailants. Those who were once the Lord’s anointed were now
caught up in the traps of those who came against them. They were stalked and
captured before being hauled away into captivity, something they never dreamed
would happened but then again, I’m sure God never dreamed His people would put
Him in a place where He had to send judgment in the first place.
Lost wealth. Severe famine. Ruined royalty. Horrific
judgment for sin. No help from anyone while being overwhelmed by adversaries.
This what any nation can expect if they sin against God and
instigate Him sending judgment spurred by the full vent of His wrath.
The scriptures are sending us fair warning through what
happened to the Israelites more than 2,000 years ago.
We had better take notice and never repeat the mistakes of
the biblical past.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
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