Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
If you are familiar with your typical fairy tale or children’s story book, you will know how they end – “and they all lived happily ever after” So we are used to happy endings.
And you could say that chapter 3 of Lamentations has kind of prepared us for a happy ending. The first two chapters of Lamentations were extremely bleak and agonising descriptions of a destroyed Jerusalem. And a good chunk of chapter 3 was equally grim and harrowing. Despite the fact that most people think that mankind is basically good and that if there is a God He must only be a gentle teddy-bear sort of deity, the truthes revealed in those chapters were that man is really, really bad and that God is really, really angry with sin. But in the middle of chapter 3 we read this, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” And those words broadcast the truth that God’s grace is really, really powerful. Despite the reality of sin, all hope is not lost because there is forgiveness for sins in the Lord Jesus.
So, we might be hoping that we have gotten the sin and destruction and punishment and death stuff out of the way so that we can have the nice happy ending we expect. Well, yes and no There is a wonderful hint of hope in this chapter. But as we shall see, there is also a lot more destruction and devastation and God’s wrath in this chapter.
And in case you are starting to inwardly groan, just remember that this is the living Word of God. Some of us, perhaps, are finding this hard going. Some of us, perhaps, would like to shut the book on Lamentations and move to a ‘nicer’ part of the Bible. Some of us, perhaps, find the ‘nasty’ God of Lamentations a bit embarrassing. But 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that “All Scripture (including all 5 chapters of Lamentations) is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” Lamentations is a vital part of understanding who God is, who we are, and what the Lord Jesus came to do. If we want to help our neighbours come to know Christ, we have to know that God is a judging God, that we are wretched sinners and that our sin is repulsive to Him, and that the only answer is His grace to sinners in the Lord Jesus. As one commentator put it, “If you can’t handle Lamentations then you can’t handle the gospel. Every thread in this book is divinely stitched to Calvary.”
So let’s see how this is so with the fourth of the five poems of Lamentations. For here in this chapter, A RETELLING OF A RETOLD TALE OF DESTRUCTION REVEALS THE REAL DELIVERER.
Much of what we read in Ch. 4 we are hearing for the fourth time. We read similar descriptions in ch’s 1-3. So it is a retelling of a retold tale of destruction. But that means we can move pretty quickly through these verses.
I. So let’s begin with vv1-10 where the SHOCKING SITUATION IN JERUSALEM is again described with a list of reversals.
A. Look firstly at vv1-2:
How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The holy stones lie scattered at the head of every street. The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen pots, the work of a potter’s hands!
In Exodus 25-30, God tells Moses how to build the TABERNACLE and its furniture and the sacrificial implements. And this is what you read again and again, “make it out of pure gold,” or “overlay it with gold.” Approximately one ton of gold was used – a small car – $32 million in today’s money! The golden lampstand, for example, would be worth $1.7 million by itself! In the middle of the wandering people of Israel and eventually in the centre of their worship life in the Promised Land there was this golden tabernacle.
But that was nothing compared to the TEMPLE that Solomon built. You can read about that in 2 Kings 6. Solomon used 5,500 tons of gold – Value Cars Warehouse – 350 cars – 15 of them! – $176 billion!
But it is all gone, smashed, taken away, crushed and scattered. So a place that was valuable and precious is now worthless.
Just the other night, Brother Arjen spoke very briefly about his recent visit to Europe. Europe was the home of the Reformation! But now you have to travel far to find a church that truly preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ. And those countries are rapidly becoming just a shadow of their former glory in both a spiritual and physical sense.
And THE LESSON FOR US as a congregation or families or individuals is that if we also fail to hold on to the gold of what we have and what we are in Christ, if being a Christian just becomes a cultural thing that does not affect the way we live, then we also will become worthless, in every sense of the word.
B. But look now at vv3-4:
Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. The tongue of the nursing infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives to them.
Mother OSTRICHES, it is commonly believed, lay their eggs and just leave them. You can actually read a description of this in Job 39. They are described there as dealing cruelly with their young. Well, things were so bad in Jerusalem that mothers could not breastfeed or provide bread for their children, or even worse, they could but chose not to because of their own hunger. So children who should be nurtured had been starved.
C. Then comes vv5-6:
Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple embrace ash heaps. For the chastisement of the daughter of my people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands were wrung for her.
Here we have a picture of the rich forced to search for food from the rubbish bins.
And what is striking is that the poet describes this punishment as worse than that the Lord rained down on SODOM, which you will remember was destroyed by fire and brimstone that came down from heaven, because at least Sodom’s punishment was instantaneous. But Jerusalem’s punishment is drawn out and painfully slow. As we have noted previously, the siege of Jerusalem went on for two years!
So as a reader, what conclusions should you be drawing from these words? If Jerusalem’s punishment is worse than Sodom’s, it must be because Jerusalem’s sin is worse than Sodom’s. The Jews had the OT and the temple and the priest and prophets, etc. Sodom had nothing.
Jesus said, “To whom much is given, much is required.” And do you remember the parables of the talents that Jesus told? Well, if He has caused you to be born into a believing family and to have Sunday school and cadets and catechism and youth group and hear two sermons a Sunday, ever since you were born, you have been given much…
D. But look next at vv7-8:
Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form was like sapphire. Now their face is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets; their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as wood.
Good health was once the norm in Jerusalem. People had healthy complexions. The princes even had time to put makeup on! But now even the Fashionistas are as shriveled up and dirty as the poorest of the poor.
E. Things are so bad, as we come to vv9-10, that it is said:
Happier were the victims of the sword than the victims of hunger, who wasted away, pierced by lack of the fruits of the field. The hands of compassionate women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The living would rather be dead and the caring have turned into cannibals.
And so, once again, we have to see and agree that man is really, really bad. He is truly capable of great wickedness. He is a sinner who deserves the wrath and judgment of God. And if we are under any illusions about we being more civilized and advanced today, let me quickly pop that balloon by telling you of a fact we worked out in Catechism class just the other week. 50 abortions a day take place in NZ. Add that up back to 1975 and you have 738,000 human beings killed in the womb – almost twice the current population of Christchurch. One of the reasons the Holocaust of WWII was so evil is because Hitler said the Jews were not really people so killing them was not wrong. Well that is the same reasoning used now to kill the unborn. Man is really, really bad.
II. So the second section of this poem begins with THE WRATH AND JUDGMENT OF GOD that we read about in v11: The LORD gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire
in Zion that consumed its foundations.
A. And what we read here is that the Lord did not hold anything back in His anger; He ‘bent His back,’ as it were, He let loose with all His might, such was His indignation at Jerusalem’s wickedness.
1. It is a horrifying picture. It is a terrifying image. It is a vivid portrayal of the truth that God is really, really angry with sin.
2. It is in prefect accord with what we read in PSALM 11:5-6: The LORD tests the righteous, but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.”
I said at the beginning of the sermon that Lamentations is a vital part of understanding who God is, who we are, and what the Lord Jesus came to do. If we want to help our neighbours come to know Christ, we have to know that God is a judging God, that we are wretched sinners and that our sin is repulsive to Him, and that the only answer is His grace to sinners in the Lord Jesus. Go into a vast majority of the churches here in Christchurch or pretty much anywhere in the West today and you will almost invariably here this gospel being preached: God loves you and He has a perfect plan for your life. Won’t you accept Jesus as your Saviour? But that is not the gospel! The gospel is, from Romans 3:23, that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are, by nature, “children of wrath,” according to Eph 2:3. “The wages of sin is death,” explains Rom 6:23, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That is the glorious full-orbed gospel. You are a wicked sinner who will go to hell unless you repent and believe in the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. That is the message of Lamentations, and that is the message we need to share out there.
III. But as we come to the third section of the poem, vv12-20 now, we read about THE FAILURE OF ISRAEL’S PROPHETS, PRIESTS, AND KINGS:
A. v12 says, The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
Whether it was during their travels in the wilderness or as they came into the Promised Land or once they had established themselves in Jerusalem, God had secured one miraculous victory after another for His special, covenant people, Israel. So the poet explains that the common belief of the kings and nations of that time was that Jerusalem just could not be defeated.
B. But as we know, it was. Why? Well, we are told as the poet continues with vv13-16:
This was for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed in the midst of her the blood of the righteous. They wandered, blind, through the streets; they were so defiled with blood that no one was able to touch their garments. “Away! Unclean!” people cried at them. “Away! Away! Do not touch!” So they became fugitives and wanderers; people said among the nations, “They shall stay with us no longer.” The LORD himself has scattered them; he will regard them no more; no honor was shown to the priests, no favor to the elders.
The PRIEST AND PROPHETS of Israel had become corrupt and greedy and false. And if you are familiar with the ceremonial law of the OT, you will know that it was the priests who had to decide the fate of someone who came to them with a skin issue that could be leprosy. If it was, that person had to live outside the community and cry out ‘unclean!’ if anyone came near. Well, in another reversal, it is the priests and prophets who are now the social pariahs. And we see this same phenomenon today when someone in a trusted position of leadership falls into sin – corrupt policemen, paedophile priests, abusive teachers or doctors, etc. They usually have to move away and change their identity, because of harassment or even death threats. We do not like corrupt leaders.
James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” That is wise counsel but also a call to prayer that we might regularly pray for our leaders in churches, schools, and government.
C. So the priest and prophets had become dirty and defiled. But there is a reversal for the kings as well as we see in vv17-20:
Our eyes failed, ever watching vainly for help; in our watching we watched for a nation which could not save. They dogged our steps so that we could not walk in our streets; our end drew near; our days were numbered, for our end had come. Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles in the heavens; they chased us on the mountains; they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. The breath of our nostrils, the LORD’s anointed, was captured in their pits, of whom we said, “Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.”
2 Kings tells us that when the Babylonians first came to Jerusalem, the locals were sure that the army of Egypt would come and help them because of alliances that had been made. But this did not happen. That’s what we read about in v17.
And when the Babylonians had Jerusalem under siege, 2 Kings 25 tells us that King Zedekiah and his sons and the army escaped from the city. But the Babylonians chased them down and caught them. And do you know what they did? They made King Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons and then they put out his eyes so that was the last thing he saw, and then they took him in chains to Babylon and put him in prison. That is what v19 describes.
If anyone ever asks you what the OT is all about, one way to summarize it is as A RECORD OF PROPHETS, PRIESTS, AND KINGS.
Adam is the first one. He is supposed to tell future generations the things of God – a prophet, he is supposed to offer himself and his work to God – a priest, and he is supposed to rule over and subdue creation – a king. But he fails.
So we read on and we encounter Abraham and Moses and Aaron and Joshua and Samuel and Saul and David and Eli and Elijah and Ahab and Hezekiah and Josiah Isaiah and Jeremiah, and others, priest, prophet, and king after priest, prophet, and king. But they all fail.
But the very fact that the OT is full of prophets and priests and kings prepares us to expect A prophet/priest/king who will not fail; who will do what these others priest and prophets and kings did not do.
And so, as Philip Ryken says in his commentary, “At their best, the prophets, priests, and kings of the Old Testament foreshadowed Christ’s coming [what they did well we expect Him to do perfectly]. At their worst, they showed why His coming was so necessary [their failures help us see why we need Jesus!].” As we read in the Catechism answer earlier in the service, unlike Jerusalem’s false prophets, Jesus tells us the truth about God, about ourselves, about salvation, and about this world and the age to come. And unlike her unholy priests, He has offered Himself as a once for all and acceptable sacrifice for sin. And unlike her selfish kings, He selflessly defends His people from all their enemies and governs us by His words and Spirit.
IV. So as we come to the last section of this poem, vv21-22, and with the truth of Jesus as our perfect prophet, priest, and king in view, we come to THE GLIMMER OF HOPE in this poem:
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup
shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare. The punishment of your iniquity, O
daughter of Zion, is accomplished; he will keep you in exile no longer; but your iniquity, O
daughter of Edom, he will punish; he will uncover your sins.
A. The nation of EDOM lay just to the South of Israel. The people there were the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob. So they should have been the firm friends of the people of Israel. But instead they were devious self-serving enemies. So here the Lord promises vengeance for their treachery. Edom will get what is coming to them.
B. So that’s the first piece of good news, if you like; the first hint of hope. But Zion or Jerusalem or God’s people are also told that their punishment is accomplished. God has promised to bring His people back to Jerusalem and to rebuild the city. So the poet is reminding them here that one day this will all be over. So that’s piece of good news No2!
1. And let’s think about that for a moment. Look again at v11. There we read, “The LORD gave full vent to his wrath; He poured out His hot anger, and He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations.” We described that verse as God bending His back in punishment and holding nothing back. But what did we read in Lamentations 3:22? “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
2. And the same Hebrew word is used in 4:11 and 3:22. In effect we are being told that God has fully used up His wrath and that the Lord’s compassions are not fully used up. For His chosen people, there is a time when His anger comes to an end but there is never a time when He runs out of compassion!
a. We are being pointed to Calvary. For there the Lord gave full vent to His wrath; there Jesus endured the full wrath of God. And we know this because of the darkness that descended for three hours and Jesus’ cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and then His final cry, “It is finished.” We know this because then the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom, ending the ceremonial sacrifice system and revealing that we no longer need earthly prophets and priests and kings to stand between us and God because we now have Jesus as our heavenly prophet, priest and king!
b. And because God fully used up His wrath on Jesus, He is free to love us! “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.”
c. Earlier in the service I mentioned abortion. It is a wicked sin. But there may be someone here who has had an abortion and fears the wrath of God. If so, you need to know that God’s wrath was fully used up on Jesus. You are free to know His forgiveness and His compassion and His love. You just need to believe that Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins.
d. And that goes for all of us and for all our sins – gossip, anger, lust, selfishness, irritability, envy, addictions… God’s wrath was fully used up on Jesus. You are free to know His forgiveness and His compassion and His love. You just need to believe that Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins.
Do you see what we meant when we said that “every thread in this book is divinely stitched to Calvary”? Amen.