Lamenting What Could Be

This morning I took some time to catch up on my personal Bible reading. I'm almost done reading through the Bible in a year, and it only took me three years to do it! Anyway, today's passage was Lamentations. A more festive chunk of holy writ I could not have chosen. And yet it was very enlightening.

I found two powerfully engaging elements to Lamentations: 1) the riveting imagery painted by Jeremiah's words concerning the desolation and suffering of Jerusalem and her people, 2) the parallels between God's people in the Eastern World of 2300 years ago and those of us in the Western World today.

The prophet cycles through stages of self-pity, confusion, clarity and hope. He displays an acute awareness of the source of the suffering: God's hand has moved against His people because of her rebellion and callousness. As I read the judgments of God against His people, it spoke not simply of a people who, so long ago, defied God's heart. It reverberated through my own mind and heart as an all-too-real warning to the Church of today. Have we become like Judah of the mid-8th Century BC? A sampler of the charges against Judah strike a nerve:

• Her violations are many - 1:5, 8-9
• She has rejected the clear instruction of God's Word - 1:18a
• Her religious charade was condemned - 2:6-7
• She refused to speak and refused to hear the truth from God's spokesmen - 2:14
• She acted unjustly and abusively toward other human beings - 3:34-36
• She enjoyed wealth, but ignored the purposes of God - 4:5-8
• She committed bloodshed while pretending holiness - 4:13-14

For a fuller picture of her rebellion read Jeremiah. Suffice it to say that the people of God had lost the heart of God. Namely, they had turned their backs on caring for one another. They had rejected the needy among them - the orphan, widow and alien. They had engaged in religious ritual devoid of genuine devotion. They had honored self above God. Due to their power and wealth, they had become comfortable worshippers, only giving the tip of a hat to God when the religious calendar dictated.

One of the most telling passages appears early on:

My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail; the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand.

Lamentations 1:14

The very sins which were indulged by the evil heart have become the slave-master. How often has God allowed our wickedness to become a tyrant, ruling, not with pleasure, by with misery.

Though the reflections of Jeremiah seem little more than historical poetry, they can serve as an instructive warning for us today. The slow slide into spiritual complacency can become a full-scale rebellion and, ultimately, the catalyst for our exile.

Instead, the call to repentance in Lamentations 5 is a teacher brimming with hope and promise. Come to the Lord. Run to Him. Thirst for Him. Drink deeply of Him. Plead for His heart to become yours. You will find freedom everlasting.