In the last post I introduced the theme and structure of Lamentations. Now it is important to sit with the reality of the text itself. We need to read, and we need to sit with what it says, and listen to it. It will be important to situate it in the context of the whole of Scripture, but first we need to listen to its unique contribution.
I am going to comment on a few verses at a time. It will not be an exhaustive commentary – there are other places to go for that, but aim is to reflect on the text in the light of our world and encourage us that there is much benefit in sitting with less frequently used texts such as Lamentations.
I will often use Yahweh to refer to God – this is our best guess at the Hebrew pronunciation of the name of God revealed to Moses at the burning bush, usually written LORD in our English Bibles. I do this because it reinforces the reality that God has a name, not simply a title. He is personal and relational – yet the fact that we do not know the pronunciation for certain reminds us of the mystery involved in knowing this God.
v1-3 The end of the story?
Jerusalem is portrayed here as a woman, widowed and left all alone. A once thriving city is now deserted. The city of David and Solomon which claimed the allegiance of kingdoms represent a vast expanse of land has come crashing down. There is no one left to bring comfort, in a bitter irony her lovers and friends have deserted her. The predictions of prophets such as Jeremiah have come all too true.
Judah is exiled, overtaken by her enemies, with no place to rest. The story is, to all intents and purposes, over. Israel’s story began with a song of praise to Yahweh at the parting of the Red Sea, rejoicing over the certainty that Yahweh would bring them to a resting place, a place of security – his holy dwelling. Now that is gone, and only despair remains.
v4-6 Desolation
There is mourning, there is grief. There are no festivals any more. Just desolation, groaning priests and grieving women, at the ‘bitter anguish’ of Jerusalem. Perhaps the most bitter part of this reality is that Yahweh has done this. Yahweh has brought grief because of sin. The exile was promised from the beginning, and Yahweh had shown patience upon patience with his people, but now the promised punishment had happened.
At this point it is worth reflecting on those times when we face situations where the consequences of our sins are visiting us with a fury we had not anticipated. Perhaps a character flaw we have never addressed has consequences we would never have desired. In such times we can express our perplexity and sorrow before God.
v7-11 Look! See!
The next verses are characterised by the word ‘look’. Jerusalem’s enemies look on her, while Jerusalem remembers the past, her enemies look on and laugh at her pitiable state. Her sin has brought her to disgrace.
These words are hard to read, especially given the portrayal of Jerusalem as a woman. We have to allow ourselves to feel the shock as we read such verses. They are not unique in scripture. God’s people are often portrayed as a woman, and are sometimes portrayed as a woman who is punished and shamed by her husband.
To understand such a portrayal requires us to step inside a different world, a world that can seem alien and at odds with how we think a Christian should view people. It seems like we are being told that God is part of a system that oppresses women, and thinks that they should be publicly shamed.
We need to be very clear that nothing in these verses is saying it is good to abuse women. Rather the portrayal of Jerusalem is using language and concepts familiar to ancient readers to illustrate the impact of sin and Yahweh’s punishment. Jerusalem is shamed by this comparison to the state of a woman left exposed because of her adultery – a comparison the first listeners and readers would have understood – without that comparison in any way indicating Yahweh’s approval of such exposure.
Such imagery needs to be put in the overall context of Scripture’s valuing and affirmation of women. That valuing and affirmation of women sowed the seeds for a moving towards a far higher status and value for women, and gives us the basis for objecting to mistreatment, abuse, bullying and silencing of women today. Sadly, while our ability to recognise barbaric abuse in an ancient text is acute, our ability and sometimes even readiness to solve the problem of abuse and of male violence in our own world is far from acute.
Jerusalem’s fall makes her feel as a woman in that culture would feel when exposed by her husband. She feels alone, naked and vulnerable. It is deeply uncomfortable to read such language and allow ourselves to feel its force. It may be uncomfortable because it reminds us of times we have felt alone, naked and vulnerable.
It may also be uncomfortable because, as a white western male I have been part of systems and experiences that have left others feeling that way. In that case I have to sit with the discomfort, and face the reality of the world in which we live. I have to ask myself the hard questions of whether my actions or my silence has ever contributed to the suffering of others.
In the verses here we note that Jerusalem has only one place left to turn: Yahweh. While her enemies look on and laugh, she pleads with Yahweh to look on her affliction. She pleads with Yahweh to look and consider her despised state. She longs to be really seen by her God.
Despite her vulnerability and shame, her prayer revealed two things that deep down she still believes about God:
Yahweh is sovereign. He may not have literally cut Jerusalem down, but he has used the Babylonians to punish his people. When the survivors come to Yahweh they come to the one who has permitted their suffering as a punishment for the sins of the nation.
Yahweh is good. Yahweh is the compassionate and gracious God who will relent when he sees the suffering of his people. That is why Jerusalem pleads on God to “look”. She knows such action may not be immediate, but she knows that God cannot overlook his people’s sufferings for ever.
In the midst of any sorrow, any suffering, any confusion, any turmoil this is what we need to recall – our God is sovereign, and our God is good. And yet that awareness does not always bring comfort. It is the reality of just how dark the situation can seem that we will consider in the next section of the lament.
Joshua's Tree Rooted 