Lamentations is not an easy book to keep on reading, and in some ways I have found chapter 2 harder than chapter 1. For chapter 2 forces us to confront the reality that Jerusalem’s pain at this point in her history was in large part the consequence of her own sinful and foolish choices. Jerusalem had been warned – a reading of 1-2 Kings and the prophets will show that all too clearly. Yet she had not heeded the warnings.
Yet we need to read it to understand how it feels to be under Yahweh’s judgement, and what brings about that judgement. We also need to read it to see that sometimes Yahweh’s judgement comes about through means that we do not understand or approve of – there is a fundamental level of mystery here.
We also read it as those who, in the main, do not know whether any given modern experience of suffering is Yahweh’s judgement on a nation, or whether it is simply a result of living in the midst of a fallen world. We read Lamentations against the backdrop of the prophetic writings, and we do not generally have the same degree of specific revelation about nations as the prophets were given.
This may well be because God’s people are no longer defined by any given nationality (and should never try to be associated with any given nation) – we are strangers and exiles in the world. We live in the midst of nations that rise and fall, and any given failure may at the least be an outworking of God’s general judgement on human pride – but we do not know to what extent.
At a personal level too, there are times when our sin has obvious consequences. But it does not always – there are many times when it seems that people ‘get away with it’ and the truth is only discovered later.
For us this experience of Yahweh’s judgement on Jerusalem also forces us to look forward to the promised day when God will judge. Every act of human oppression and evil will be dealt with in a way that is perfectly just. Perhaps we should read these chapters and think – if this is how bad it is to experience Yahweh’s temporal judgment in human history, how much worse will it be to face his burning anger on the day when there is no place to hide?
v1-8 Yahweh’s Anger
There is a subtle shift of focus in Lamentations chapter 2. The same distress is clearly articulated, but the emphasis becomes on the one who has caused the distress. The tone is accusatory, and addressed to Yahweh, who has done all this.
The writer is reflecting on the distress of Jerusalem, articulated in chapter 1, and crying out in anguish at her state. Yet he does this knowing that ultimately Yahweh is behind the fall of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not simply the victim of the latest superpower maneuverings. Jerusalem’s fate is a result of their sin.
The description of Yahweh’s actions is relentless, verb after verb describing Yahweh’s judgment in graphic detail. There is no letting up for the first 8 stanzas – 24 lines each describing a different aspect of Yahweh’s action in judgement.
The writer of Lamentations does not allow Yahweh to escape responsibility. The Yahweh on whom Jerusalem was supposed to rely to be a wall of fire protecting them, whose presence in their midst was their security – it is this Yahweh who has destroyed his city.
v9-13 Yahweh’s Judgement
These verses move on to describe the resultant horror of Yahweh’s judgement. The kingdom is ruined, utterly disintegrated. Kings and princes are in exile, the law “is not” and even the prophets do not see any visions from Yahweh. From old to young the population is utterly desolated.
In v11 the poet joins the weeping – in fact his eyes are spent with weeping. He sees children crying desperately for food that does not come as they waste away and die. There are no words left that can bring comfort. He addresses Jerusalem directly, but ultimately the conclusion is simply a question “your ruin is as vast as the sea – who can heal you?”
The ‘obvious’ answer is Yahweh – but in v14 the extent of the people’s departure is underlined.
v14 Deceptive Prophets
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.
Lamentations 2:14
Anyone involved in any kind of Christian leadership should ponder these verses, and those of us who sit in churches should likewise ponder hard on what they uncover about our hearts and the results of deceptive ministry. Jeremiah and Isaiah spoke of times like these – prophets who only speak ‘smooth things’, and people who do not want to be confronted with the reality of the Holy One of Israel.
As we ponder this we should resist the temptation to point the finger at other churches or other Christian networks. Instead we should measure ourselves against these words. Do we avoid the truth that will expose our iniquity, and hide behind false and deceptive visions? These falsehoods may not be the outright false teaching of some. It is possible simply to deceive by omitting small parts of the truth – and it is easy to deceive by omitting to uncover particular ‘minor’ sins.
By contrast if they had listened to the prophets who did preach the truth, and exposed sin, then they would have seen their fortunes restored. Perhaps today, writing from a UK context, we need to have people who will expose our sins of respectability, our desire to conform and to be thought highly of, to be a part of establishment society. Perhaps we need to have our desires to be part of an ‘inner circle’ of those in the know rebuked.
So often we have overlooked the sins of those who were able to increase our influence, or sound convincing amongst those thought to be important. So often we have overlooked those who preach true doctrine but whose lives do not match that truth and who teach by example – if not by words – their protegees to follow the same gospel denying lifestyles. We have been fooled by deception, and we need to repent.
If the ruined church of the West is to find restoration we will not find it by prophets with convincing schemes for a more successful or effective church. We will find restoration and healing in listening to those who expose our sin so that we can repent. We need, more than anything else in our day, to be confronted by a fresh vision and sense of the Holy One of Israel in our midst.
v15-19 The nations mock
The attention of the prophet now turns to the reaction of the nations around who rejoice at Jerusalem’s fall. Yet even this rejoicing of the enemy is under Yahweh’s sovereignty. Yahweh has carried out his purposes, set out long ago. The poet concludes his words with this appeal to the city of Jerusalem.
The response of the ruined city of Jerusalem must be to cry out to Yahweh. To plead to him for life. The first response to disaster and devastation in God’s people must be to return to Yahweh. We need to pour out our hearts to him. We need to expose our hearts to his life-changing presence.
v20-22 Jerusalem speaks
The poet has made his appeal, but now we return to Jerusalem. She pours out her heart to Yahweh with a set of questions (v20) followed by a reiteration of the utter terrors of her situation. There may be justice in Yahweh’s anger, but it feels remorseless. It feels as if Yahweh has turned on Jerusalem.
We are left almost where we started the chapter. Jerusalem knows the grief of her destruction, and at some level is aware of the reasons for that grief – and yet she is not able to move beyond the immediate pain.
Again we may want to bring hope quickly, but is this not how grief so often works? Whether it is suffering brought about by our own sin, as here, or entirely innocent suffering, there are periods and times when we are stuck. We cannot get past one or other aspects of the problem.
These verses in Lamentations show us that an important part of processing the darker times of life is allowing people to express their confusion and questions. Patience is needed to do this. We might feel that the answer is ‘obvious’, we may wonder why someone cannot simply ‘pull themselves together’ – and yet from the pit there are no easy answers – we simply need to be able to listen and encourage the person suffering to give a voice to their cry.
There may come a time when we can help the sufferer to process the experience and work out the lessons to be learnt going forward – but the initial period will simply be a time to listen, and to hear, and to pray. This is where the structure of Lamentations is a helpful guide for us in that it provides a way of giving space to our sorrows and pain by taking time to articulate them comprehensively, rather than trying to bury them.
Joshua's Tree Rooted 