365 Reflections

Lamentations 4 is another sad poem chronicling Israel's demise as she lies in exile. The passage gives far more clarity than others as to the people's perception of themselves before their defeat by the Babylonians.  We find that people were unaware that anything like this could ever happen. First, Jeremiah laments the tarnish on her royalty by noting the gold is now diminished: Lamentations 4:1–2 (ESV) How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The holy stones lie scattered at the head of every street. 2 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! Riches blind a person and a country. They make you think you are impervious to disaster. But there are many ways to lose money. One of the consistent warnings in the Old and New Testaments is how unreliable wealth is to one's defense of life.  Proverbs 23:4–5 (ESV)  Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. 5...

The Bible is relatable because it is filled with the ups and downs, the hopes and miseries of life. Jeremiah is a case in point. The faithful young prophet who resisted God's calling at first and became a stalwart of truth for his generation rode the waves of trouble and triumph through Israel's last years as an independent monarchy. Ultimately, he was in Babylon in captivity, lamenting the pain of his life's work.  Lamentations 3:1–3 (ESV) I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; 2 he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; 3 surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. An unnamed man describes his misery for the next 20 verses in Lamentations 3. He speaks of his physical maladies, his bitterness, and the sense that God is no longer interested in hearing his prayers. He talks of God's attack on his life and feels no endurance for the struggle. Is this Jeremiah? Or is Jeremiah personifying the men of ...

Trouble has come to Israel. And in Lamentations, Jeremiah pulls no punches about what has happened. The Lord Himself has taken her down. Lamentations 2 rehearses the nature of her judgment as nothing less than God's active wrath poured out upon His own chosen people.  Lamentations 2:5 (ESV) The Lord has become like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel; he has swallowed up all its palaces; he has laid in ruins its strongholds, and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. When we are disciplined for sin, it can seem like God is our enemy. And let us not forget that Lamentations is the cry of Jeremiah's heart over what has transpired. He expresses what the people perceive. They felt abandoned by God but it was they who abandoned Him. Sin carries severe consequences.   Lamentations 2:11–12 (ESV) My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because i...

Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. He wrote the Book of Lamentations to mourn the loss of his nation. The book reads like a funeral dirge with glimpses of hope scattered throughout. In this first chapter, we see the prophet overlooking the city, now emptied of all her glory and community. As we read, we learn what true repentance looks like. Lamentations 1:1–2 (ESV) How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. 2 She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies. Notice the final assessment of Jerusalem here. Opening with a depiction of loneliness. Jeremiah notes that "her lovers" are not there to comfort her. What a picture of sin. It promises community but leaves you empty. It promises you family...

The fall of Judah is the last moment of the monarchy of Israel from which the nation would never recover. Zedekiah, the puppet king enthroned by Nebuchadnezzar, is the final link in a chain full of ever-devolving leaders who led Israel further and further away from the Lord. In the final analysis, we study the history of Israel to learn for our own time. Sin destroys nations.  Jeremiah 52:1–3 (ESV) Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 3 For because of the anger of the LORD it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. Now, some would fuss over this concept. How could sin destroy a nation? Well, sin is ultimately the serving of self's lust at the expense of everyone around you...

Jeremiah 51 is a long chapter describing the reason and manner by which the Lord will execute Judgment on ancient Babylon. It is a fierce declaration of total destruction. Their proud rulers will fall, their idols will be smashed, and the people who listen to the Lord will escape her and return home, for God will not abandon Israel.  Jeremiah 51:4–5 (ESV) They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and wounded in her streets. 5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD of hosts, but the land of the Chaldeans is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. The Lord recounts through Jeremiah the fact that Babylon was His tool in His hand all along. Jeremiah 51:7 (ESV) Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, making all the earth drunken; the nations drank of her wine; therefore the nations went mad. But now the Lord will fill this proud nation with foreigners who will destroy them from within, and He will surround them with the Medes who wil...

When you read Jeremiah or any prophet of scripture it is important to remember they are often talking about two events or eras in history. First, the are addressing the fulfillment of their words in the age they live and second, they are predicting the cosmic fulfillment of their words in the last days. There can be no doubt Jeremiah has the New Covenant promises in mind when he announces Babylon's destruction.  Listen to the words of prophecy in chapter 50: Jeremiah 50:18–20 (ESV) Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, as I punished the king of Assyria. 19 I will restore Israel to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead. 20 In those days and in that time, declares the LORD, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon those whom ...

The discipline of the Lord is not pleasant. Scripture affirms this in Hebrews 12.  Hebrews 12:11 (ESV) For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Yes, that "fruit of righteousness" is to come, but the admission is clear. Before the fruit, there's a lot of hurt.  The difference between the Lord's discipline and how life can shape us is simple: God is 100% in control of the agents of your discipline. And when the work is finished, the Lord will do with them or it as He pleases. This is what Jeremiah taught the exiles who suffered mass deportation under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.  Jeremiah 50 opens after a long list of proclamations of woe against Israel, Judah, and the nations surrounding her, each of which states clearly that their time of judgment had come at the hands of Babylon, and this was God's doing.  Now, it's Babylon...