background of lamentations 3
They did it by despising him (their reproach), with schemes, with whispering lies, and their taunting song against him. Title. Such services began as early as the months after the temples destruction in 586 BC (Jeremiah 41:45). It is not enough to be under the rule of others. This essay selects Lamentations 3: 1-18 as a "case study" that assesses the prevalent use of divine metaphors in Lamentations 3:1-18 with insights of Vietnamese theory of metaphor. 12-13 v. 5 v. 14 v. 6 vv. As in the book of Jeremiah, so in Lamentations we see that it is those who were called to lead Gods people who are largely responsible for misleading them. But each line in Lamentations 3:1-3 begins with aleph; Lamentations 3:4-6 has each line begin with beth; and so forth. 3 - Surely he turns his hand against meagain and again all day long. If therefore you cannot speak, weep tears also have a voice; [Psalms 39:12] if you cannot weep, sigh a storm of sighs may do as much as a shower of tears; if you cannot sigh, yet breathe, as here. His sense is that they should patiently receive the suffering and reproach God had appointed for them. Background of Lamentations Richard W. Nysse The book is traditionally read in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E. Repay them, O LORD, according to the work of their hands: God had repaid Jerusalem and Judah for all their sin and disobedience. Here is the danger of forms and modes. It is important to reflect on national tragedy as it happens and to empathize with its victims. It begins, "I am the warrior who has seen the woe by means of the anger of God's rod" (Lamentations 3:1). II. Watch our overview video on the book of Lamentations, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. V. The self-examiner is a profitable attendant in the services of the church. Now Jeremiah prayed that Yahweh would repay their enemies, and give them a veiled heart even as Judah was blind. Context and Background of Lamentations. . You can also change some of your preferences. Hope, not despair, is the central theme in Lamentations. Prayer isnt about getting something from God, but rather connecting with him. We owe an appeal on whatsoever concerns us to the personal providence of God, and the actual government of God. Here too there is a yoke, and a yoke-bearing, or else a refusal of the yoke, with many sad consequences of sorrow and shame. a. We need 2 cookies to store this setting. Lamentations was most likely written to be prayed or sung in worship services devoted to asking Gods forgiveness. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Silence implies both an acceptance of Gods will and a refusal to complain to men. I am their taunting song. The meaning of Lamentations 3:22-23 is a powerful reminder of what God has done for us. II. I do not think that any man who finds sleep an easy thing has ever calculated rightly its inestimable value. Those curses came upon Jerusalem in Jeremiahs day; now he prayed that those curses come upon their enemies. And be full of reproach. It also makes sense to date the book as close to the invasion as possible, meaning late 586 BC or early 585 BC, due to the raw emotion Jeremiah expresses throughout its pages. For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love (Lamentations 3:3132). If you cannot speak, cry, sob, or groan, then be still. The two terms signify the fervour and earnestness of prayer joined to persistency in that fervour; and the rare combination of these gives the highest character to the tone of cur devotion. viii., No. We read that it was the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests (Lamentations 4:13) that resulted in the Lord giving vent to his wrath and pouring out his anger on Jerusalem (Lamentations 4:11). There is no greater evil committed by any of us than a practical forgetfulness of the common mercies of life: mercies, which because of their commonness, cease to be regarded as mercies. You have made us an offscouring and refuse It means complete, be concluded, be gone, be finished, be accomplished, or come to an end. God's faithfulness ( Lamentations 3:23) and deliverance ( Lamentations 3:26) are attributes that give us great hope and comfort. a. 2. Surely He has turned His hand against me. How easy and how common it is to discourse in a querulous and reproachful strain, on the fact of our being made to suffer for a forefather's transgressions, and on the fact of our deriving a polluted nature from guilt in which personally we took not any share. a. If we do not recognise this we are disloyal, we set up some false god, we are guilty of the sin of idolatry, we break the first and chief commandment in His holy law. Lamentations often utilizes qinah meter, a type used in some passages that mourn the dead (e.g., Isaiah 14 . And its important that we keep this on the forefront of our mind. When you remember that man is a transgressor, not only by imputation, but by every positive and personal working of evil, surely the marvel must be, not that so much of wormwood should drug the cup of human life, but that so much of sweetness should still have been left. References: Lamentations 3:41 . Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. It will help your own faith wonderfully to be engaged in some real labour for the Lord. That, whatever sorrow we are in, it is what God has allotted us, and his hand is in it. There is One who uses this very figure concerning His own Divine office. Do you see any of that destroyed city in your own life? This change in art style made Giotto one of the pioneering forerunners . He hath 6 builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail. Lamentations has much to say about pain. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillot (or "Five Scrolls") alongside the Song of Songs, Book of Ruth, Ecclesiastes and the Book of Esther although there is no set order. We shall find increasingly, "how good it is." b. I also receive Insight [for Today] daily. Much better is social and political advocacy and solidarity, even as we weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). If so, complaint is at once removed by the second consideration which our text suggests. II. Do you not sometimes come from the place of prayer with the guilty consciousness that you have not prayed. Like a lawyer pleading for his client, God pleaded the case for his life. Taking the opening of the chapter along with the text, we seem to find a good deal of inconsistency and, in fact, positive contradiction. Though He causes grief, (2) The one is needful to raise the other to its full strength. Faith is our response to the great and steadfast love he has shown us. iv., p. 432. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND A. Background. I said, I am cut off! We owe it to the Divine precepts, invitations, and promises. Believed to author the Book of Lamentations, prophet Jeremiah . Jeremiah gives us two notions about human discipline as regulated by God the Judge and God the Father. Lamentations 4:2 . It means complete, be concluded, be gone, be finished, be accomplished, or come to an end. The possession of reason should stir us up to daily thanksgiving to Him whose mercies are new to us every morning. S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 1st series, No. Tired of Empty Promises? III. Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. The Psalmist calls upon us to "forget not all God's benefits," and he thus indicates our perpetual danger, a danger which he himself felt, and against which he had to guard his own soul. Contact us and one of our teammembers will personally respondto you by email. (Lamentations 3:19 Erwin) Jeremiah reminds God of his situation in life . For the Lord will not cast off forever: The suffering endured was not everlasting. 103:19 ). It is to this that our blessed Saviour invites us when He says, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me." Lamentations speaks from within that judgment. What questions do you have? He hath hedged me about, that I cann 8 get out: he hath made my chain heavy. to this point? Lamentations presents many key theological realities from an important era in Israels history: 1. beacon to all those suffering under the consequences of their own sin and disobedience. He is faithful and he will do it! The book of Lamentations is all poetry that deals with many different key themes throughout such as justice, sin, and various imagery. The Lamentation (c. 1304 - 1306) by Giotto di Bondone is from the proto-Renaissance art period, which portrays more three-dimensionality and volume in its subject matter compared to how Christian art was painted, flat and two-dimensional, in the preceding Byzantine period. Keep silent: There came a young man to Demosthenes to learn oratory; he talked away at a great rate, and Demosthenes said, I must charge you double fees. Why? he asked. The waiting habit is as constantly commended to us as the seeking: (1) as the test of real earnestness, and (2) as its stimulant. It will never fail. Let such authority be ever so great, there is still a sphere to which it cannot extend, and in which there is scope for a man's own conscience to assert its command. The book of Lamentations deals with suffering. The Book of Lamentations is a detailed account of the sufferings of Jerusalem's people, through the siege and its later conquest, due toGod's punishment for their individual and national sins. We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. I called on Your name, O LORD, If he be tempted to murmur, let him remember that he is yet alive, and that is more than his part cometh to, since it is the Lords mercy that he is not consumed, and sent packing hence to hell. Explain with Let us search out and examine our ways, There we are before the throne of God by anticipation, that throne before which the man found without the wedding-garment, when questioned why he has it not, is speechless. . In other words, God's mercy toward you will never finish, be concluded, or come to and end. There hath nothing befallen thee save the just recompense of thy misdoing. ( b ) The next element in Christian hope is faith. Roman Empire Map - Large Map of the Roman Empire in the Early First Century - Click around on the Places. All their schemes against me, Gods response to this seeking soul was, Do not fear!, i. (1) The one is needful to save the other from sinking into sin. And thats where the meaning of Lamentations shines through. When we consider how closely the reason is allied with the brain and with the whole nervous system, it is a surprising circumstance that insanity is not a more widespread evil than it is. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. Answer: https://www.insight.org/resources/bible/the-major-prophets/lamentations "Like the book of Job, Lamentations pictures a man of God puzzling over the results . Now, faith isnt just about what we believe in our heads. It is good for a man to bear in his youth the yoke of personal affliction. You have seen all their vengeance, III. All the prisoners of the earth, It provides great insight into the nature of pain, sin, and redemption. . IV of Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1966). Floyd fell on Tuesday afternoon and suffered a severe concussion. Because of the Lords great love we are not consumed. Lamentations provides eyewitness testimony of Babylon's destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC in vivid, poetic detail. We thank You that Your love and mercy, Your grace and compassion, Your strength and your peace are new every morning. It is he that causes grief, and therefore we may be assured it is ordered wisely and graciously; and it is but for a season, and when need is, that we are in heaviness, 1 Pt. . Jeremiah was present for both events. Before the face of the Most High, Because of all the daughters of my city. I. Although it recounts suffering as bluntly and awfully as anywhere in the Bible, the high point of Lamentations is its spelling out of a steady trust that the Lord is good to those who wait for him (Lamentations 3:25), for the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end (Lamentations 3:22). The key passage in Lamentations is 3:1924, which affirms that belief in Gods mercy and faithfulness is the key to a restored relationship with God. And said, Do not fear! AUTHOR: Probably Jeremiah the Prophet A. Your browser does not support JavaScript. Even in the midst of this low point in Israels history, however, hope remains. The rest of the meaning of Lamentations 3:22-23 ties into this first truth. However, while Job dealt with unexplained evil, Jeremiah lamented a tragedy entirely of Jerusalems making. We can know that God has not utterly rejected us (Lamentations 5:22) because Gods own Son was rejected in our place. We owe it, further, to the character of God. Our Creator intended us for labour, not for indolence. Its his faithfulness to his promise that allows us to receive his mercies. Most of this book is lamenting, but sandwiched in the middle is incredible hope found in the meaning of Lamentations 3:22-23. Essay, Pages 3 (663 words) Views. holy God, and the results were devastating. Judge my case. To turn aside the justice due a man Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 90. There are two great causes which may be said to account for our forgetfulness of the mercies of God, which are new every morning. In 1, 2, and 4, each of the 22 verses begins with a successive letter of the Greek alphabet. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. In this patient seeking of God, there is reason for hope. In addition, when the early Christian church father Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, he added a note claiming Jeremiah as the author of Lamentations. When we sincerely repent and long for the ways of the Lord, we can trust in his salvation and be renewed. The pain so evident in Jeremiahs reaction to this devastation clearly communicates the significance of the terrible condition in Jerusalem. Thus are these two arguments of the text demonstrative of the unfairness of human complaint when the dealings of the Most High pass under review.