Lamentations 4
COMMENTARY:
: 5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. (4574 “delicately” [ma‘adan] means dainties, delight, food, refreshment, fine quality food, finery or delicious.)
DEVOTION: There is a difference between those who are rich and those who are poor. They wear the more expensive clothes. They go to the more expensive restaurants. They have time and money to do many things while on vacation. They go places that cost more money. When the rest of the world is concerned about paying for groceries they are not worried. Their cupboards are full.
When the stock market crashed in the 1930’s many rich people became poor. Some of them adjusted but many didn’t. Some committed suicide. Some gave up on life. Some turned to addictions.
People handle things differently. Some can handle being rich or poor. Some handle hard labor better than others.
Here we find people who were used to the better things in life losing everything. Their property is burned to the ground. Their finances are worthless. Their food is gone. They are out in the street looking through garbage dumps for food.
Our world is following the same path of the children of Judah. There was a God fearing time in the past in this country. People who weren’t believers were willing to allow us to worship in peace. They allowed us to state our beliefs without harassment.
Today everything is different. If you don’t believe the way those in power believe you are ignorant or prejudice or just plain phobic of some sort. The children of Judah were going away from the LORD and wouldn’t listen to anything that Jeremiah had to say. They thought he was wrong. They thought that he should either be quiet or they should kill him. They were not in the mood to hear different beliefs.
Now they had to deal with the consequences of their actions. Those who people of power and influence lost it all. They were going to die with nothing.
In fact, before they died they were going to be with all those people that they looked down on before the Babylonians arrived. They were part of the group. It was sad.
CHALLENGE: We should be the ones who appreciate either being rich or poor. We should be the ones who are helping those in need. We should be the ones who are not collecting possessions. We should be the ones who are willing to lose it all to follow Jesus.
: 10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of MY people. ((1310 “sodden” [bashal] means to immerse or be immersed in a boiling liquid, often for cooking purposes, boil, roast, or fry.)
DEVOTION: During a time of great persecution these mothers would boil their children to eat. The children of Israel were under attack from their enemy and had nothing to eat and so they took their children and ate them.
How could any people get so low to let this happen. The nation of Israel had rejected the LORD and thought they could do anything and the LORD would protect them from all their enemies.
They were wrong in their actions and in their thinking. The LORD allowed them to do what they wanted but HE also allowed them to pay the consequences of their actions. It is sad to have those who had it all with the LORD turn their back on the LORD and think that HE would protect them.
Does this happen today? Do Christians act as they please and think the LORD will protect them for their sins? Sad but true even today.
There are consequence to our actions and if we are not keeping short accounts with the LORD HE will cause the same things to happen today as they did to HIS people in the Old Testament.
HE is longsuffering and not willing for any to perish but there is a limit. This is true of those who claim Christ but walk their own way without HIM until things get bad and then they want the LORD’S help.
CHALLENGE: The LORD is watching our actions today and HE will bless or judge us for those actions. If we want the LORD’S blessings, we need to act in a way that is pleasing to HIM.
: 13 For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her. (5030 “prophets” [nabiy’] means spokesman, speaker, or them that prophesy.)
DEVOTION: Jeremiah is struggling with all that is happening in his world. He is crying for the city of Jerusalem and the people who lived there. He had been preaching repentance. He wanted the people to stop rebelling against the LORD.
He was almost alone in his message because most of the other religious leaders were preaching that the LORD would bless them because they had the Temple. They were teaching the people that there would be peace soon.
Throughout history the LORD has sent his messengers to tell the people what the LORD expected of them. Those who were the true prophets of the LORD were one hundred percent right in their prophecies. Some listened but most did not. It has not changed. More are talking the wide road to hell instead of the narrow road to heaven.
In this chapter we find that the ones who are listed as the chief sinners are the ones who prophesy and the priests. The ones who were supposed to represent God were the worst sinners. They were to be the anointed of the LORD to prophesy truth to the people. They allowed the people to worship other gods. They allowed the Temple to be what they worshiped rather than God.
Jeremiah showed that most of the spokesmen were only in it for the money. The false spokesmen were the ones who were allowing the true spokesmen to be killed. Throughout the book of Jeremiah, we find that they are the ones who put Jeremiah in prison or in a cistern or wanted to have him killed. In this second book written by Jeremiah he is going through the grief process over Jerusalem.
Today we have many men and women who are in the pulpits of our country who are not given the TRUE Word of God to the people. They doubt that the Bible is all TRUTH. They don’t believe there are any absolutes. They instruct the people that the culture has changed, so the message must change. They put doubt in the minds of the people they are teaching. They are false spokesmen and women.
They are allowing people to believe that there is more than one way to get into heaven. They say that all people believe in the same God. There is only ONE true God. They will be judged of the LORD. The ONLY way to heaven is through Jesus Christ!!! The real problem is that they are leading people down the wrong path.
They are taking money that should be going into the spreading of the true gospel for a false gospel. Christians are being lead into all kinds of causes in this world but few are being led into witnessing and winning souls for the LORD.
FEW churches even have a visitation program to reach their neighborhoods for the LORD. Most churches don’t even visit those who visit them in a given week. The cults are not doing this. They are visiting every week.
Our first responsibility is to visit and talk to people about where they are going to spend eternity. Have we shared the gospel with someone this week? Are we occupying till the LORD returns?
CHALLENGE: Ask the LORD to instruct you in the proper way to represent HIM in your world. Ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to the right people who will listen to your witness. Praise Jesus Christ for HIS death for your sins.
: 22 The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion, HE will not more carry you away into captivity: HE will visit your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; HE will discover your sins. (1540 “discover” [galah] means to make known information that was previously known only to a few people or that was hidden or meant to be kept a secret, uncover, remove, disclose, lay bare, reveal, or uncover a confidence.)
DEVOTION: The children of Edom are descendants of Esau. They were against the children of Israel because they thought their descendant was cheated out of an inheritance. They have been enemies of the children of Israel since those days.
Now when the children of Israel were going into captivity to Babylon the children of Esau captured those who were running away from the Babylonians and gave them to them for captivity or worse.
There are people alive today who hate those who are genuine believers in Jesus Christ. They don’t like them witnessing in public. They don’t like their standards in dating and marriage. They don’t want them to influence the newborn babies that are coming into this world. They don’t want parents to raise their children to love Jesus.
All this is witnessed on our television sets each day. Our government doesn’t want our soldiers to honor the LORD on any basis. Our schools are trying to erase every trace of Christianity out of them while training students in other religions. It seems that we are living in a day and age that doesn’t want to have any recognition of our Savior Jesus Christ.
If there was an invasion and the ones coming in wanted to kill all Christians there would be people just like the Edomites that would turn them in to the invading army. God is going to judge those who move against HIS people back when it was the Israelites and even today.
CHALLENGE: Remember that the LORD is still on the throne. We are in HIS hands which are good hands.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SOUL
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Sanctuaryverse 1
Priestsverse 16
Rejoiceverse 21
Be gladverse 21
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)verses 11, 16, 20
HIS furyverse 11
Anger of the LORDverses 11, 16
Kindled a fire in Zionverse 11
HE will no more regard themverse 16
Anointed of the LORDverse 20
HE will visit your iniquity – Edomverse 22
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Sodomverse 6
Kings of the earthverse 12
Inhabitants of the worldverse 12
Adversaryverse 12
Enemyverse 12
Heathenverses 15, 20
Nation that could not saveverse 17
Persecutorsverse 19
Daughter of Edom judgedverses 21, 22
Dwells in the land of Uz
LORD will visit their iniquity
LORD will discover your sins
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Cruelverse 3
Tongue of the sucking child cleaves to the roof of his mouth for thirstverse 4
Children ask bread and no man breaks it to themverse 4
Iniquity verses 6, 13, 22
Sinverses 6, 13, 22
Shed bloodverse 13
Polluted with bloodverse 14
Uncleanverse 15
Not respecting person of priestsverse 16
Not favoring eldersverse 16
Watch for vain helpverse 17
Persecutorsverse 19
Lay in waitverse 19
Heathenverse 20
Drunkenverse 21
Nakedverse 21
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Justverse 13
Deliveranceverse 17
Anointedverse 20
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Sons of Zionverses 2, 11, 22
Daughters of Israel are cruelverse 3
Daughter of MY people verses 6, 10
My peopleverses 6, 10
Nazaritesverses 7-9
Pitiful womenverse 10
Gates of Jerusalemverse 12
Sins of her Prophetsverse 13
Iniquities of her Priestsverse 13
Wandered as blind men in the streetsverse 14
Polluted themselves with bloodverse 14
Eldersverse 16
Our end is comeverse 18
Anointed of the LORDverse 20
Daughter of Zion – punishment of your iniquity is accomplishedverse 22
Carried you away into captivityverse 22
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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