THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS

INTRODUCTION:

1.TITLE: “Tears, Dirges, Lamentations” (a dirge or lament is a song of mourning; The Book is a funeral song for the “daughter of Zion” who had died).

2.AUTHOR: Internal and external evidence supports the view that it was Jeremiah.

3.Background of the Book - 2Kg 22-25; 2Ch 34-36; Jer 52:4-27.

a.Jeremiah preached during the reigns of Josiah and the last four kings of Judah (all the last four were bad kings).

b.Prophets who were contemporary with Jeremiah: Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Daniel, Ezekiel.

c.In the last forty years of the monarchy Jeremiah stood as a pathetic and lonely figure, giving God’s last message to His rebellious and idolatrous people.

d.Southern Judah finally reached the depths of moral and spiritual decay, just as Northern Israel had done earlier.

e.In the latter part of Jeremiah’s life Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and took the people into captivity; There was no longer public worship.

f.Not long after the destruction, Jews who refused to submit to Babylon took Jeremiah to Egypt - Jer 43:1-7.

g.David’s 400-year earthly kingdom was finished -- Christ, the Gospel, and the spiritual kingdom were to come later.

4.DATE: It was written after the destruction of Jerusalem, probably before the Egyptian trip - Jer 39:2; 41:1,18; 43:7; So, about 585 BC.

5.THEME: Sorrow over the captivity of Judah and the desolation of Jerusalem and the temple.

a.Jeremiah identified with his people (because of who they were, not what they were), and wrote these funeral songs for his City.

b.This Book is a commentary on Proverbs 14:34 -- It emphasizes that the same principle (“righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people”) still governs the destiny of nations.

6.JEREMIAH anticipates the fall; LAMENTATIONS looks back on it:
JEREMIAH (DEFEAT AND) LAMENTATIONS
WARNING (DESOLATION) MOURNING
LOOKING AHEAD (OF JERUSALEM) LOOKING BACK

7.The Book is divided into five lament poems about the defeat, destruction, and desolation of Jerusalem.

1.JERUSALEM DESERTED -- POEM ONE: CHAPTER 1 --
THIS IS AN ACROSTIC OF 22 VERSES.

A.“ACROSTIC”: In the original language each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in sequence from first to last.

B.This is a powerful call to consider the destruction of Jerusalem.

C.Verses 1-11, A lament by Jeremiah, as he speaks in the third person about the City and describes its terrible plight.

1.He was stunned and grieved; He wept over the misery of his people and the sad plight of the great City of Jerusalem.

2.Verse 8, He points out the reason for the great destruction.

D.Verses 12-22, A lament by personified Jerusalem, in the first per-son, speaking of itself and bemoaning its terrible condition.

1.Verses 12-13, All are invited to enter into Jerusalem’s sorrow.

2.Verse 18, Again the reason for the tragedy is identified.

3.Verses 20-22, The City was left desolate because of grievous sins, and her enemies rejoiced at the ruin.

2.JERUSALEM DESTROYED -- POEM TWO: CHAPTER 2 -- THIS IS AN ACROSTIC OF 22 VERSES.

A.Verses 1-12, Jeremiah emphasizes God’s anger as he gives a first-person account of the thoroughness of the destruction: He describes the desolation, and explains it as being the necessary judgment from Heaven.

B.Verses 13-19, A second-person exhortation to Jerusalem.

1.Babylonia was the Lord’s instrument of judgment to destroy the City, to terminate all religious observances, and to remove the prophets, priests, and kings.

2.Jeremiah grieves over his people’s suffering (they brought it on themselves through their rebellion against Jehovah).

3.Verses 15-16, The enemies are elated.

C.Verses 20-22, Jerusalem’s supplications complete this lament.

D.Verses 1,2,3,4,6,21,22, Notice how the destruction is attributed directly to the anger of God.

3.JEREMIAH’S DISTRESS -- POEM THREE: CHAPTER 3 --
THIS IS AN ACROSTIC OF 66 VERSES.

A.Verses 1-39, Jeremiah’s personal sorrow and suffering; He identifies with his people and enters into their miseries.

1.Verses 1-20, Affliction for the Nation.

2.Verses 21-39, But with hope -- This is an abrupt turn, as Jere-miah reflects on the faithfulness and love of God; Had it not been for His Grace, this would have been a total tragedy.

a.This is the high point of the Book, as Jeremiah finds comfort and help in spite of the dismal circumstances.

b.Verses 21-23, He complains, but he also acknowledges that the people deserved worse. NOTE: Except for God’s Mercy, things would be worse with us, so let us also praise His Mercy!

c.Verses 24-39, In this “comfort section” there is a gleam of hope for the renewal of God’s Mercy (cf Verses 24-26,31-33).

B.Verses 40-66, Jeremiah prays and appeals; He cries out in sorrow.

1.Verses 40-54, He makes a National appeal as he petitions God to deliver the people from the problems which they had brought on themselves by their sin.

2.Verses 55-66, His grief: This is his personal appeal to God (cf Verses 8,44).

4.JERUSALEM DEFEATED -- POEM FOUR: CHAPTER 4 --
THIS IS AN ACROSTIC OF 22 VERSES.

A.Here is seen a contrast between Jerusalem’s former state of prosperity and her present state of poverty.

B.Emphasis again is on Jehovah’s anger, but whereas in Chapter 2 His anger was described, here it is explained and defended as it is shown to be because of Jerusalem’s sin.

C.Verses 1-11, In a series of contrasts between the Jerusalem that was and the Jerusalem that is, Jeremiah remembers the suffering, starvation, and horrors of siege of the City (cf Verse 6).

D.Verses 12-20, He now reviews the causes of the terrible siege, especially noting the sins of the leaders.

1.Verse 12, This was the beautiful City of God’s special care, chosen for a unique mission in history; Well fortified; Favored and privileged above all other cities; In view of all that -- How could this happen?

2.Verses 13-14, Prophets and priests had led in these sins.

3.Verses 17-19, One problem was their foolish trust in human aid.

4.In spite of all the horrible sufferings, Jerusalem failed to learn the lesson God was teaching -- For after the Captivity the City was rebuilt, but it soon rejected and crucified the Messiah, and was destroyed again in 70 AD.

E.Verses 21-22, The Poem closes with a glimmer of hope for Jeru-salem, and a warning to Edom of future punishment.

5.JERUSALEM’S DESIRE -- POEM FIVE: CHAPTER 5 IS 22 VERSES -- BUT THIS TIME THERE IS NO ACROSTIC.

A.Verses 1-18, Jeremiah’s last dirge is his cry to God to remember the Nation; It is a melancholy description of his people’s condition; Punishment complete, they now are in Captivity.

B.Verses 19-22, His prayer that Jehovah, in His sovereignty and faithfulness, will deliver the Nation.

NOTE: We never have the right to complain, but only to repent, and plead for Mercy when it may seem God has forsaken us.

**CONTRIBUTION OF THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS TO
THE BIBLE:

1.Beautiful Hebrew poetry in acrostic form expresses the full range (from A to Z) of the suffering of the people of Judah.

a.ACROSTIC: Each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in sequence from first to last.

b.A favorite form of Hebrew poetry -- An aid to memory.

c.In Chapters 1, 2, and 4 there are twenty-two verses, one verse for each letter of the Hebrew Alphabet; Chapter 3 has three verses for each letter; Chapter 5 has twenty-two verses, but it is not in alphabetical order.

2.The BOOK emphasizes the hopelessness of people who do not walk according to truth - cf Eph 2:12.

3.“The book is filled with tears and sorrow. It is a paean of pain, a poem of pity, a proverb of pathos, a hymn of heart-break, a psalm of sad-ness, a symphony of sorrow, a story of sifting, a tale of tears, a dirge of desolation, a tragedy of travail, an account of agony, and a book of ‘boo-hoo.’ It is the wailing wall of the Bible.” -- J. Vernon McGee.

**CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS:

1.Jeremiah’s weeping over the City because of what had happened brings to mind that the fact that six centuries later The Messiah, Jesus Christ, wept over the City for what was about to happen - Mt 23:37-38; Lk 19:41-44.

2.And it reminds us that He, like Jeremiah, identified personally with human suffering caused by sin.

**LAMENTATIONS IN TWO WORDS:

Jerusalem’s Funeral.

**CONCLUSION:

1.Sin can destroy ANY nation (America included!) - Pro 14:34.

2.Sin and error also destroy churches and individuals.

3.Whereas sin always brings misery into our lives, God’s Compassion is marvelous - cf Ac 22:16; Eph 2:13.

4.LAMENTATIONS ends in darkness; We are in darkness until we turn to the only true LIGHT - Jn 8:12.