Wednesday, May 11, 2016

UNDER THE CLOUD OF JUDGMENT



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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion with the cloud of his anger! He has hurled down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth; He has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.

Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob; in His wrath He has torn down the strongholds of Daughter Judah. He has brought her kingdom and its princes down to the ground in dishonor.

In fierce anger, He has cut off every horn of Israel. He has withdrawn His right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it.

Like an enemy, He has strung his bow; His right hand is ready. Like a foe, He has slain all who were pleasing to the eye; He has poured out His wrath like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion.

The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for Daughter Judah.

He has laid waste His dwelling like a garden; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The Lord has made Zion forget her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths; in His fierce anger, He has spurned both king and priest.

The Lord has rejected His altar and abandoned His sanctuary. He has given the walls of her palaces into the hands of the enemy; they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord as on the day of an appointed festival.

The Lord determined to tear down the wall around Daughter Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withhold His hand from destroying. He made ramparts and walls lament; together they wasted away.

Her gates have sunk into the ground; their bars He has broken and destroyed. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and her prophets no longer find visions from the Lord.

Lamentations 2:1-9

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we have seen over and over again in our journey through the Old Testament, God hates sin and He will not hesitate to bring judgment on His people when they reject His righteousness to commit transgressions. And when that judgment comes, it hangs like a shroud over those he is punishing.

Just ask the Israelites who are at the center of today’s devotion as we look at the opening verses of Lamentations 2, and in doing so, get a look at what things look like under the cloud of God’s judgment. Look again at these verses:

How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion with the cloud of his anger! He has hurled down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth; He has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.

Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob; in His wrath He has torn down the strongholds of Daughter Judah. He has brought her kingdom and its princes down to the ground in dishonor.

In fierce anger, He has cut off every horn of Israel. He has withdrawn His right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it.

Like an enemy, He has strung his bow; His right hand is ready. Like a foe, He has slain all who were pleasing to the eye; He has poured out His wrath like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion.

The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for Daughter Judah.

He has laid waste His dwelling like a garden; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The Lord has made Zion forget her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths; in His fierce anger, He has spurned both king and priest.

The Lord has rejected His altar and abandoned His sanctuary. He has given the walls of her palaces into the hands of the enemy; they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord as on the day of an appointed festival.

The Lord determined to tear down the wall around Daughter Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withhold His hand from destroying. He made ramparts and walls lament; together they wasted away.

Her gates have sunk into the ground; their bars He has broken and destroyed. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and her prophets no longer find visions from the Lord.
Lamentations 2:1-9

What happened under the cloud?

There were nine specific events:

1. God hurled down the splendor of Israel.

“How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion with the cloud of his anger! He has hurled down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth.”

His people had it made. God was their God and they were His people. The only way they could mess that up was to turn from Him to sin, from blessing to evil, but unfortunately, that’s exactly what they did and so they got what they deserved. God cast them out of His glory and splendor. Their blatant disobedience showed that they weren’t worthy of being there.

2. God chose to not remember His people.

“He has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.”

The Israelites had turned away from God to worship other gods, even though He had commanded them not to do so. Under the cloud of His judgment, they would find out how it felt to be abandoned.

3. God swallowed up all that His people had.

“Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob; in His wrath He has torn down the strongholds of Daughter Judah. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds.”

When the Babylonians had finished their assault on Judah and its holy capitol city of Jerusalem, nothing was left standing. As He placed His people under the cloud of His judgment, God swallowed up their palaces, strongholds, and dwellings. Everything was demolished and left in ruin.

4. God brought down the kingdom of Israel and left it in dishonor.  

“He has brought her kingdom and its princes down to the ground in dishonor. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it.”


5. God withdrew His protection.

“In fierce anger, He has cut off every horn of Israel. He has withdrawn His right hand at the approach of the enemy.”

When the people were God were living in His favor, they could always trust and rely on the fact that He was their great Protector. But after the Israelites decided to sin in God’s sight and do so without reservation, God chose to withdraw His protection and, in doing so, opened up the door for the Babylonians to attack and conquer.

6. God actually became like an enemy unto His people.

“Like an enemy, He has strung his bow; His right hand is ready. Like a foe, He has slain all who were pleasing to the eye; He has poured out His wrath like fire on the tent of Daughter Zion. The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel.”

The Israelites chose to oppose God the moment they rejected His ways for sin and so God took the challenge and showed His people that it was a big mistake to come against Him. No one ever wins when they do.

7.  God increased the grief and sorrow of His people.

“He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for Daughter Judah.”

God’s discipline is not meant to be enjoyable. It had to be harsh enough to serve as a deterrent so His people would not repeat their sins again.

With this, it only makes sense that the Israelites would be miserable under the cloud of God’s judgment, mourning and lamenting over the hardship and difficulty they experienced while in Babylonian captivity.

8. God saw to it that His holy temple was destroyed.

“He has laid waste His dwelling like a garden; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The Lord has made Zion forget her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths; in His fierce anger, He has spurned both king and priest. The Lord has rejected His altar and abandoned His sanctuary.”

Read about the sins of the Israelites and you’ll find that the sin extended even into the spiritual leaders. The priests were just as guilty as the people God entrusted them to shepherd and guide. And so when God deemed that Jerusalem would fall, He didn’t spare His holy temple and allowed the Babylonians to demolish His place of meeting. The days of people coming to celebrate the traditional Jewish festivals and observe the Sabbath were over and would be so for the next seventy years.

9. God destroyed Jerusalem.

“He has given the walls of her palaces into the hands of the enemy; they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord as on the day of an appointed festival. The Lord determined to tear down the wall around Daughter Zion. He stretched out a measuring line and did not withhold His hand from destroying. He made ramparts and walls lament; together they wasted away. Her gates have sunk into the ground; their bars He has broken and destroyed. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and her prophets no longer find visions from the Lord.”

Lifeless. That’s what the world’s holiest city became under the cloud of God’s judgment. Nothing was spared. Everything was broken, razed, and left in ruin. All the people, including the king and all his officials, went into exile at the punishing hand of the Lord.

Now, ask yourself if you would ever want to be in the crosshairs of God’s judgment. Only someone crazy would wish all of these kinds of events to come to pass. But guess what? It didn’t stop after the Israelites suffered through their Babylonian captivity. Other mighty kingdoms rose and fell at the hands of the Lord. It happened throughout history and it will continue to happen until every nation bows and submits to the will of the Lord God Almighty, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

For when that day comes, if it comes, we can see the clouds of judgment give way to the sun as it shines down the warmth of God’s favor upon us.

It’s a far better environment to live in, trust me.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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