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NLT

English Standard Version (ESV)

New Living Translation (NLT)

2 The Lord in his anger the Lord has shown no mercy even to his Temple. 2 Without mercy the Lord has destroyed dishonoring the kingdom and its rulers. 3 All the strength of Israel like a raging fire. 4 He bends his bow against his people, on beautiful Jerusalem. 5 Yes, the Lord has vanquished Israel upon beautiful Jerusalem. 6 He has broken down his Temple before his fierce anger. 7 The Lord has rejected his own altar; as though it were a day of celebration. 8 The LORD was determined have fallen down before him. 9 Jerusalem’s gates have sunk into the ground. no more visions from the LORD. 10 The leaders of beautiful Jerusalem hang their heads in shame. 11 I have cried until the tears no longer come; are fainting and dying in the streets. 12 They cry out to their mothers, as they collapse in their mothers’ arms. 13 What can I say about you? Who can heal you? 14 Your prophets have said filling you with false hope. 15 All who pass by jeer at you. and ‘Joy of All the Earth’?” 16 All your enemies mock you. and it is finally here!” 17 But it is the LORD who did just as he planned. and has given them power over her. 18 Cry aloud before the Lord, give your eyes no relief. 19 Rise during the night and cry out. they are faint with hunger. 20 “O LORD, think about this! within the Lord’s Temple? 21 “See them lying in the streets— slaughtering them without mercy. 22 “You have invited terrors from all around, whom I carried and raised.”

Introduction to Lamentations

Background of Lamentations

What Is the Book of Lamentations About?

Time: 4 Minutes

We do not often use the word “lament.” We might “vent” with our friends, complaining about discomforts and daily grievances, but we rarely reveal our deepest sorrows. In the Bible, lament is more common. People lament by crying out to God with their fear and grief and regret. While a human counselor can give us helpful tools to manage grief, God has power to walk us through grief and fill us with hope. For this reason, biblical prayers of lament are always filled with hope.

The Bible does not name the author of Lamentations. Some think the book was written entirely by Jeremiah (based on 2 Chronicles 35:25), and others think that it was collected from multiple sources. What we know from the book itself is that the author witnessed Babylon plundering and terrorizing Jerusalem in 586 BC. He describes an abandoned city (Lamentations 1:1-6) with its walls in ruins (Lamentations 2:8-9) and its temple destroyed (Lamentations 2:6-7).

In the book of Lamentations, the author tours the smoldering wreckage one last time before being taken as a war captive to a foreign country. We hear him weeping over the devastation of Jerusalem, which is only the physical representation of a deeper tragedy—the moral failure of God’s people and the relational ruin it caused.

Remember that the people of Israel were God’s chosen people. In Deuteronomy, Moses reminded the Israelites, “if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God… [he] will set you high above all the nations of the earth” (Deuteronomy 28:1 ESV). This promise came true during the glorious reign of Solomon when nations flocked to Jerusalem to learn the secret of Israel’s success (1 Kings 4:20-34).

In the same Deuteronomy passage, God warned his people that their disobedience and faithlessness would have consequences. Moses predicted, “The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth” (Deuteronomy 28:25 ESV).

The author of Lamentations grieves the loss of Jerusalem, and the horrors that accompanied its fall, but he is most distraught over Israel’s broken relationship with God. He urges the people to “Arise, cry out in the night… Pour out your heart like water” (Lamentations 2:19 ESV).

The book of Lamentations is not all sad and gut-wrenching. In fact, it includes one of the most beloved and hopeful Bible verses right in the center of the book:

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
his mercies never come to an end
They are new every morning
great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV)

Biblically speaking, lament always leads to hope. When we bring our sorrows, sufferings, and sin to the Lord, we are met with his perfect wonderful character. Despite Israel’s grievous sin and failure, and their suffering of the consequences of that sin, God’s character has not changed—he is still merciful.

Biblically speaking, lament always leads to hope. When we bring our sorrows, sufferings, and sin to the Lord, we are met with his perfect wonderful character.

The answer to Israel’s suffering and the ultimate expression of God’s mercy is Jesus. Israel had reached a point where they believed they were beyond redemption (Lamentations 5:21-22). God answered Israel’s lament by sending his own Son to bear the punishment for their sin (John 3:16).

When we read Lamentations today, we know that God did indeed hear the cry of his people. He sent Jesus to bear the punishment we deserve for our sins, so that we could be restored to a right relationship with God (Lamentations 5:21)—never again to suffer God’s wrath for our sin.

Lamentations is in the Bible to remind you that just as God heard Israel’s lament, he also hears your deep cries when you weep to him. He even hears your groans and cries when they come from the grief you experience over the consequences of your own sin. God has provided mercy for you in Jesus Christ, who lovingly bore the eternal consequences of your sin so that you might experience God’s love and mercy if you will turn from your sin and cry out to God.

Lamentations is an eager invitation for you to ask for the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy. Open Lamentations and discover how to mourn with hope, and may you find rest in God’s mercy which never, ever comes to an end.

What Is the Background of Lamentations?

Time: 20 Minutes

The Background of Lamentations

1

Author and Date

The author of this literary masterpiece is unknown. Lamentations provides eyewitness testimony of Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC in vivid, poetic detail. It was likely written between 586 and 516 BC, with an early date being more probable.

2

Theme

The key passage in Lamentations is 3:19–24, which affirms that belief in God’s mercy and faithfulness is the key to a restored relationship with God. Forgiveness is possible even for people who have deserved God’s judgment (Lamentations 1:18). Hope, not despair, is the central theme in Lamentations.

3

Purpose

Lamentations was most likely written to be prayed or sung in worship services devoted to asking God’s forgiveness. Such services began as early as the months after the temple’s destruction in 586 BC (Jeremiah 41:4–5). They continued after the temple was rebuilt during Zechariah’s time (c. 520 BC; see Zechariah 7:3–5; 8:19). In later years, Lamentations was read and sung as part of annual observances marking the temple’s destruction.

4

Key Themes

Lamentations presents many key theological realities from an important era in Israel’s history:

1. It includes memorable prayers that confess sin, express renewed hope, and declare total dependence on God’s grace.

2. It is the only book in the Bible written by a person who actually lived through the divine judgment the Bible often refers to as “the day of the Lord” (see Joel 2:1–2; Amos 5:18; Zephaniah 1:14 –16).

3. It provides great insight into the nature of pain, sin, and redemption.

4. Like so many other Old Testament passages, Lamentations teaches that Jerusalem fell:

a. because of the people’s sins (1:18);
b. because they rejected God’s Word sent through the prophets (2:8, 14, 17);
c. because their leaders led them astray (4:13).

5. It affirms God’s never-ceasing mercy (3:19–24; compare Deuteronomy 30:1–10). Readers can know that God never gives up on his people, even when they sin greatly.

6. Lamentations agrees with the Psalms that prayer is the way to restore a broken relationship with God. It also shares the Psalms’ emphasis on God’s sovereignty (see Psalm 103:19).

7. Like many of the prophets, Lamentations warns of the “day of the Lord.” This is the day when God judges sin. That day has already occurred in historical events like the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. It will occur again at the end of time as the final “day of the Lord.” People need to take seriously the warnings about such days of judgment.

5

Outline

I. How Lonely Sits the City (1:1–22)
II. God Has Set Zion under a Cloud (2:1–22)
III. I Am the Man Who Has Seen Affliction (3:1–66)
IV. How the Gold Has Grown Dim (4:1–22)
V. Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord (5:1–22)

The Global Message of Lamentations

Jewish tradition tells us that Lamentations was written by Jeremiah, though no author is identified in the book itself. Regardless of who wrote it, the historical events of Lamentations overlap significantly with those of Jeremiah. The key event in Lamentations, as in Jeremiah, is the capture and destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 BC.

1

The Catastrophe in Lamentations

Such a disaster in the life of God’s people cannot be overestimated. The author of Lamentations recounts some horrific circumstances taking place in Jerusalem as the city starves, yet the greatest disaster is the apparent failure of God’s covenant with Israel. The entire Old Testament has been gradually working toward the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1–3—promises of blessing, descendants, and land. With the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the people to Babylon, the third of these—the promise of land—appears to have failed. And not only are God’s people failing to enjoy promises made to them, but they are also now failing to be a light to the nations. Instead of bringing God’s saving purposes to the world, they are being conquered by a godless nation.

2

The Hope in Lamentations

Lamentations points to the people’s sins as a reason Jerusalem is falling (Lamentations 1:18), as well as leaders who have failed (Lamentations 4:13) and people who have refused to follow their leaders. Even in the midst of this low point in Israel’s history, however, hope remains. At the climax of the book, God’s covenant faithfulness is affirmed and celebrated. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lamentations 3:22). God “will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (Lamentations 3:32).

This steadfast love is expressed ultimately in the coming of Christ, the great hope of Old and New Testament believers alike. Those who trust in the Lord can know, when facing adversity, that they will never be forsaken by their Father, because Jesus hung on the cross and cried out in lamentation and was forsaken by his Father. We can know that God has not “utterly rejected us” (Lamentations 5:22) because God’s own Son was rejected in our place. And one day, because of Christ’s restorative work, the city that was destroyed 2,500 years ago will come down out of heaven, restored and remade, in glory and beauty (Revelation 21:2, 10–11).

3

Universal Themes in Lamentations

The Reality of Pain

Lamentations has much to say about pain. God seems to be absent, and his promises seem to be forgotten (Lamentations 1:12; 2:1). Indeed, God himself is inflicting this pain upon his own people (Lamentations 2:1–8; 3:32). Women are being raped (Lamentations 5:11) and are even boiling and eating their own children (Lamentations 2:20; 4:10). The cause of all this pain is unmistakably clear: the people have sinned (Lamentations 1:5, 8, 14). They “have been very rebellious” (Lamentations 1:20). Yet while Lamentations speaks of pain resulting from a very specific historical event, the dismay and despair that resound through its pages are universal experiences in this fallen world, right up to the present time. Indeed, God’s own people often suffer greatly due to their loyalty to Christ (Matthew 10:16–25; Acts 14:22; 2 Timothy 3:12).

The Certainty of God’s Mercy

Just as pain is a global and ever-present experience, however, so too is God’s mercy for those who trust him through Christ. 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). As surely as judgment awaits the faithless, mercy awaits the faithful—those who look to God, waiting on him, trusting in his Son, and yielding themselves to him.

The Importance of Godly Leadership

As in the book of Jeremiah, so in Lamentations we see that it is those who were called to lead God’s people who are largely responsible for misleading them. 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). In Lamentations as well as around the world and down through time, as the leaders of a people go, so go the people. As we learn from the judges and kings of Israel earlier in the Old Testament, wicked leadership breeds corporate wickedness, while godly leadership breeds corporate godliness.

4

The Global Message of Lamentations for Today

The central message of Lamentations for the church today around the world is that of God’s sustaining grace in the midst of suffering. One thinks of global poverty and mismanagement of wealth, various kinds of assault on the dignity of the human individual, and conflict at the level of the family all the way up to international conflict. Persecution, too, is as widespread and as volatile as ever it was before. More than 200 million people in over 60 nations today are socially sidelined and denied various human rights due to their loyalty to Christ.

Mere words of encouragement are not enough in the face of such difficulty. Much better is social and political advocacy and solidarity, even as we “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). Beneath all such activity, however, stands the greatest hope of all: God’s unfailing, unstoppable mercy toward his beloved people. The Lord himself sovereignly oversees all that his children go through, yet “he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men” (Lamentations 3:33). “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 3:31–32).

God draws near to his suffering saints. Indeed, in Jesus Christ, God has drawn closer to us than could have been imagined—he has become one of us, sharing in all that we suffer in this fallen world (Hebrews 2:14–18; 4:14–16). Remembering him and his cross, and the glory into which he entered and into which we too shall enter (Romans 8:17), we trustingly submit to him and his fatherly governance of our lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters around the world today.

2:1 the heights of heaven: Jerusalem’s buildings were splendid, adorned with precious metals and jewels. Jerusalem had the reputation of being the sacred city of the Lord. • his Temple (literally his footstool): Cp. 1 Chr 28:2; Pss 99:5; 132:7.

2:1-2:22 This chapter graphically portrays the Lord as Jerusalem’s destroyer.

2:3-2:4 bends his bow: In the past, the Lord had been a mighty warrior on Israel’s behalf (see Exod 14:13–15:21; Josh 23:9-11; Judg 7; 2 Kgs 19:32-35); now he waged war against Jerusalem (see Isa 63:10; Ezek 24:25).

2:6 A garden shelter was a temporary structure that harvesters put up to provide shade. God had promised to take care of his Temple forever (1 Kgs 9:3), but now it seemed that he had abandoned it.

2:7 The Temple was destroyed because the sins that the priests and the people had committed within its walls had defiled its holiness (cp. Jer 7:3-15; 26:3-6, 12-13; Ezek 24:21).

2:8 Ramparts were stone walls or mounds of earth built around a city to protect it from assault by an enemy army.

2:9 no more visions: Daniel and Ezekiel were prophets of the Lord who had visions while they lived among the exiles far from the land of Judah (Ezek 1:1; Dan 7:1). This verse refers to prophets in Jerusalem who claimed to have visions that proved to be false.

2:10 Burlap (or sackcloth) was made of goat or camel hair and was often used for grain sacks or for items to be carried on pack animals. Poor people wore it as clothing because it was inexpensive, and people in mourning wore it as a sign of their deep sorrow (its dark color matched their mood, and its roughness matched their discomfort). • Throwing dust on their heads and clothing was a sign to neighbors that a family member had died.

2:13 Who can heal you? Reputed healers and prophets were all liars and frauds (Jer 6:13-14).

2:16 Their enemies were glad that Jerusalem was defeated.

2:17 promises . . . made long ago: God’s promises of blessing were always contingent upon Israel’s obedience to the law (Deut 8). He had promised to destroy them if they disobeyed it (Lev 26).

2:18-2:19 Repentance and prayer are the proper responses when facing the devastation of God’s judgment.

2:20 Jeremiah had predicted that the same cannibalism that occurred during a siege of Samaria (2 Kgs 6:28-29) would happen in Jerusalem (Jer 19:9; see also Lam 4:10; Ezek 5:10; cp. Deut 28:53-57).

2:22 calling them to a day of feasting: The poet compares Jerusalem’s destruction to an invitation to a banquet at which war, famine, wild animals, and sickness would feast on the wicked in Jerusalem (Deut 28:15-68; cp. Rev 19:17-21).

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