What a Mess!

In Lamentations 5:2-15:, each of the verses describes a kind of suffering that the remnant (after the Babylonian takeover of Jerusalem) was experiencing. Here’s an example:

Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.

Lamentations 5:2 NIV
https://lamentations.bible/lamentations-5-2

Let’s run through these quickly:

Verse 2: The Promised Land, which the Israelites tied closely to their identity as God’s chosen people, and had received after being rescued from slavery (and then 40 years in the wilderness due to disobedience), was now under foreign control.

Verse 3: The Judean men had been slaughtered or exiled. While a few men might have been left, the people who survived included orphans and widows as a result of the invasion.

Verse 4: What used to be readily available (water to drink and wood to cook with) was now scarce enough to have to be purchased. Maybe the wells had been spoiled and the trees had been burned, or maybe the Babylonians were now charging for access to either. The Lookout suggests that there weren’t enough people left (perhaps in a given family) to get all of these things, so they had to be purchased.

Verse 5: The people live in fear of attack. Like those on the run from a pursuing army, they are exhausted from having to stay ahead of their oppressors, or to avoid attacks from bandits.

Verse 6: Their independence as a nation has had to give way to needing help from nearby countries, just to survive. Rather than being a political powerhouse in the region, they are having to yield to other nations to get enough to eat. The Lookout relates this verse to Israel asking for help from these countries even before Jerusalem fell, which ended up not paying off for them when Nebuchadnezzar’s troops captured and destroyed it.

Verse 7: This verse is almost defensive, as if the people are lamenting that they are still paying for the sins of those who have gone before them. The reality is that bad choices by one generation can spill over into harming the next generation, and even generations after that if nothing is done about the root cause.

Verse 8: I’m not sure who these slaves were, but I wonder if nations that had previously been conquered by the Israelites (and forced into labor as a result) were now subjugating the remnant of Judah. The Lookout says, “People groups who should have been Israel’s slaves now ruled over them.” A commentator [Willis] suggests that they were ruled by servants of foreign kings (think caretakers or stewards, for instance), rather than the foreign kings themselves. The Israelites didn’t even get to be oppressed by the king, just designated provincial leaders who were assigned to watch over parts of the kingdom.

Verse 9: Even going out into the desert to find food leaves the people at risk, because there are those who will attack them there. Notice the dramatic contrast to when God fed His people with manna in the desert, and protected them during their 40 years in the wilderness.

Verse 10: When food and wood cost money, and gathering in the desert is risky, the people are starving. We’ve probably seen the pictures of children in the world who don’t get enough to eat, but I don’t think that anyone was pledging money to help God’s people in Jerusalem at this time.

Verse 11: While this verse describes really ugly behavior, it is regrettably something that still happens in the modern era, especially in times of war.

Verse 12: Here, I think of the Romans, who executed criminals (and at least one innocent man) publicly, both to make a show of force and to discourage others from doing the same thing. Apparently, the Babylonians were also making sure that everyone knew what would happen to those who led groups to resist or rebel against them.

Verse 13: What happens when adults are executed and exiled? Children are left to fill in for grown-up work. I’m not sure if the work described here was just to survive and keep food on the table, or if it was slavery imposed by others. The Lookout suggests that animals would normally have done these jobs.

Verse 14: Here, the author remembers the good times, when justice could be served by elders in the gate making judgments (and perhaps even teaching others), and when the music of celebration could be heard in the streets. The elders may be dead, exiled, or in hiding, and when only a remnant remains, survival takes precedence over celebration.

Verse 15: With no music, there’s no dancing, but I don’t think that anyone felt like dancing those days. Joy is gone, and is replaced with mourning.

This isn’t copy for a promotional sales brochure. The reality of life in and around Jerusalem that is described in this chapter was messed up. There’s more to say, though, but before the next article is published, I encourage you to read through the entire chapter of Lamentations 5, and have compassion on those who are suffering today.

From Sunday School lesson prepared for May 14, 2023

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