The Ciity's Destruction PT-2 (Lam. 2:10-17)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/11/2014 10:28 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The City’s Destruction PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Lamentations 2:10-17

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we will look at the second section from the second chapter of the book of Lamentations.

            The Suffering People (Lamentations 2:10-17):  “10 The elders of the daughter of Zion Sit on the ground, they are silent. They have thrown dust on their heads; They have girded themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem Have bowed their heads to the ground. 11 My eyes fail because of tears, My spirit is greatly troubled; My heart is poured out on the earth Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, When little ones and infants faint In the streets of the city. 12 They say to their mothers, "Where is grain and wine?" As they faint like a wounded man In the streets of the city, As their life is poured out On their mothers’ bosom. 13 How shall I admonish you? To what shall I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what shall I liken you as I comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is as vast as the sea; Who can heal you? 14 Your prophets have seen for you False and foolish visions; And they have not exposed your iniquity So as to restore you from captivity, But they have seen for you false and misleading oracles. 15 All who pass along the way Clap their hands in derision at you; They hiss and shake their heads At the daughter of Jerusalem, "Is this the city of which they said, ’The perfection of beauty, A joy to all the earth’?" 16 All your enemies Have opened their mouths wide against you; They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, "We have swallowed her up! Surely this is the day for which we waited; We have reached it, we have seen it." 17 The LORD has done what He purposed; He has accomplished His word Which He commanded from days of old. He has thrown down without sparing, And He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you; He has exalted the might of your adversaries.”

            As I begin to read the first few verses of this section I can’t help but to think about thinking about the early chapters of the book of Job.  Now I am not actually thinking about the first two chapters, but the early chapters that see Job setting on an ash heap covered with boils, but he was wondering why all of this happened to him, while these Jews knew why all of this happened to them as we read further down into these verses, and it was because of their sin, of listening to the false prophets. 

            We often think about what could have been, how we could have changed things when tragedy comes upon us, and this was what the elders were thinking as they had no food to eat because of the destruction of the city by their enemies, and what they could have been doing was sitting at the gate in honor and managing the affairs of the city.  The young virgins think about what could have been, being married, having children, but no this was not to be.  The young mothers actually killing and eating their young children in fulfillment of what is seen in Deuteronomy 28:56-57 “56 "The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, 57  and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your towns.”    Lamentations 4:10 reads as follows “10 The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.”  Now these are not easy things to write about, but this shows us how far sin will cause us to go, and these scenes really happened, and it was because of the disobedience of these people, the sins they committed.

            As we look at verse thirteen we see that Jeremiah actually ran out of things to say about what was happening.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “He (Jeremiah) could neither comfort the people nor himself.  God would have buried the nation’s sins in the depths of the see (Micah 7:19), but instead, their wound was as deep as the sea and incurable.”  We see in verse 14 and also 4:13 the reasons for this calamity, something we have discussed on many occasions while looking at Jeremiah and now Lamentations. 

            In verses 16-17 we see a very deep cut that happened to the Jews as a result of their sin and that is the mockery of the Gentiles as they walked past the devastated city.  They were saying that the Jews were getting what they deserved and were happy for what happened to them, but that was certainly the wrong thing for them to do, for God will always protect the Jews as he told Abraham which was a part of the covenant that He made with him when God told Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 “1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2  And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3  And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."”  Even though this was part of the plan that God had for the Jews because of their breaking their covenant with the Lord that is found in Deuteronomy 28, God still loved Israel and even was upset with the Babylonians for going too far in their dealings with Judah, so much that God would destroy Babylon as we learned in our last Spiritual Diaries that we did from Jeremiah 50-51. 

      Spiritual meaning for my life today:   Sin Will Take You Farther

Author: Harold McWhorter
Copyright: Homeward Bound Music (BMI). Used by Permission
Album: Goin’ in Style (1988)

1. As a child I foolishly turned God away
Not knowing the heartache a sinner must face
But God in His goodness has let me return
To share with His children this lesson I’ve learned

(Chorus)
Sin will take you farther than you wanna go
Slowly but wholly taking control
Sin will leave you longer than you wanna stay
Sin will cost you far more than you wanna pay

2. So with pleasure and promises sin took control
Leaving me dying with nothing to show
Gone were my loved ones and my dearest friends
Only a Savior could love me again

Repeat Chorus twice

(Tag)
Sin will cost you far more than you’ll wanna pay.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to do exceedingly abundantly more than I ask or say.  (Eph. 3:20)

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-8.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set you mind on the things above, not on the things are on earth.  3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the children of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Offending a little child” (Luke 17:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “What did Jesus advise if the right hand offend you?

Answer and explanation in our next SD.

9/11/2014 11:11 AM