Questions about Lamentations

Here are a few things to consider.

Romans 11:22  Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

A Combination:  It is no surprise if both horrible judgment and great mercy come together in the same Scripture and even the same event. The Second Coming combines eternal punishment and eternal bliss. So it will not be a puzzle if they appear together in Lamentations. Lamentations is mostly real lamenting over the consequences of sin from the hand of God. It dwells on that more, even much more, than the theme of grace.

The Object of Wrath and Mercy: But a situation we never have is ultimate wrath and saving grace on the same person. The object of the wrath and the object of the grace is different even if we do not see that distinction spelled out in Lamentations.

In the Book of Jeremiah itself there is very good news spelled out, the new covenant (chapter 31), plus some glimpses of a bright picture concerning the exiles in Babylon (chapter 24). In Lamentation 3 we find the same contrast. It begins with devastation well deserved with no apologies made for it. Jerusalem got what it deserved. That does not mean God has changed. The gracious Lord made huge promises to Abraham and enlarged on them within the Book of Jeremiah. In Lamentations the fury of God had been expressed very recently, but that was not the future. The ungodly have been dealt with, and they are off to hell awaiting the Judgment Day. “ … He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” (Romans 9:18). Within the visible church and Israel long ago, there was and is a godly remnant of believers distinguished from the hardened rebels who do not repent – thus the very strong medicine in all five chapters of the book.

Much in Lamentations is personalized. Certainly Jeremiah suffered greatly seeing his land overrun, his people in rebellion, and the deserved wrath of God falling. In Lamentations God’s punishment had already landed. Looking at it as no longer threatened but “just now” delivered, Jeremiah spoke as an observer of that desolation evident all around him. The Babylonians went on a rampage of merciless bloodshed, as in Psalm 137:8,9.  Jerusalem speaks as the recipient of God’s wrath.  The painful voice of Jeremiah and the agony of the city are fused together so tightly that Jeremiah is expressing as his own the suffering of Jerusalem.

3:22  The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;

The punishment via Babylon is not the final scene. It is for the rebels, but not the saints.

3:23  they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. There will be a morning for Israel to look forward to. Read Luke 1:50-55. With Christ coming, the promised mercy also comes. Read what the father of John the Baptist said in Luke 1:67-79.

3:24  “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” 

3:25  The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 

3:26  It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. 

3:27  It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 

This is the language of patient faith.

3:28  Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; 

3:29  let him put his mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope; 

3:30  let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. 

3:31  For the Lord will not cast off forever, 

Believers should accept God’s decision about the nation without complaint. Notice v. 39 below.

3:32  but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 

The grief was threatened through the prophet Jeremiah, but the promise of steadfast love to his faithful people was never withdrawn, and never will be.

3:33  for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men. 

3:34  To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, 

3:35  to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, 

3:36  to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve. 

God hates injustice in others and will not be unjust to Jerusalem.

Lam 3:37  Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? 

Lam 3:38  Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?  That statement explains Lamentations!

Lam 3:39  Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?  Another explanation.

And now what should we do?

Lam 3:40  Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! 

Lam 3:41  Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: 

Among the people then and always, there were those who did not worship idols; they are the remnant. At times this was a small minority. God’s promises were unchanged for those who would cleave to him. Therefore chapter 3 has many words of hope (3:21) in the steadfast (unchanging) love of the Lord (3:22).

Opposite themes

But just as in the long prophecy of Jeremiah, opposite themes are plainly present. Warning, severe warning was the true word from God. The false prophets gave soft and comfortable messages. Jeremiah’s prophesies were as blunt as God made them. He was the channel of God’s message, not an innovator making one up. His message included these words of hope from God: “And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD” (31:28).  And also:

“And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (31:34).

Often devotional writings pick up a sentence here and there while ignoring its context. When they speak of unconditional love, as so many do, I rarely hear John 14:21: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Hell is not full of the unconditional love of God!  The favor of God is conditional. In the obedience of Christ, favor was won and merited for us. Instead of unconditional love, we should speak of steadfast love for us acquired for us by Christ who met the condition; this love is now produced in us by the Spirit. Because of this foundation, the promise of the Father’s steadfast love is assured, since the basic condition has been met in advance. Now in God sanctifying us, the condition is being produced in us and thus rewarded graciously.