Bitter Fate
October 30 Lamentations 3:1-66
BITTER FATE
Dark Shadows are all around and Jeremiah is looking at the fulfillment of his prophecies right before his very own eyes. They sting from his salty tears.
This man who wore a dirty loin cloth as an object lesson of obedience for God’s people now writes, “‘Jerusalem has sinned greatly, so she has been tossed away like a FILTHY RAG.”
Today we will look at Lament #3 which deals with the prophet and God.
First of all, how does God feel about Jerusalem?
“On the holy mountain stands the city founded by the LORD. He LOVES the city of Jerusalem more than any other city in Israel. O city of God, what glorious things are said of you!”
He LOVES them. They are HIS favorite, and yet He is ANGRY with them and they are in a state of ruin and destruction all around Jeremiah.
Jeremiah described it like this, “The city gates are silent, her priests groan, her young women are crying--how bitter is her fate!
BITTER FATE is a hard pill to swallow!
A young person gets behind the wheel of a car and drives under the influence and takes out an entire family with children and a baby in the car. Yes, there was wrong and there was innocence and the scene is beyond sorrowful…
Unimaginable. Unforgettable. Unforgivable.
Why couldn’t “someone” do something to stop this? We all know who that “someone” is…
Don’t we?
Jeremiah writes, “I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the LORD’S anger. He has led me into darkness, shutting out ALL LIGHT. He has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long.” (3: 1-3)
Here is what he tributes to the LORD’S hand, “He has made my skin grow old, buried me in a dark place, walled me in, made me chew on gravel”… and on and on.
In other words, Jeremiah has been right in the “suffering seat” WITH GOD!
Jeremiah was BRUISED FOR THE people’s iniquities and the Chastisement of THEIR SINS were placed on him…
Do you see a glimpse of Jesus in the book of Jeremiah?
It is inescapably powerful, isn’t it?
God loves Jerusalem but He can not take AWAY their BENT to sin!
The LAW and the TEMPLE in all of its glory were NEVER ENOUGH.
In the beginning, Satan was an angel of light residing in Heaven with God, but that was not enough either. Out of PRIDE, he wanted to be God’s equal in power and might. That could never stand and it is not to be tolerated by God’s wicked people either. They are filled with PRIDE and arrogance.
Righteousness demands justice, not just mercy and grace.
There must be payment for this kind of continual rebellion. God finally takes his hands off of their protection and warns of their upcoming destruction.
This passage points us to the future of Jerusalem in so many ways. Like Jeremiah, we see Jesus weeping over Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’.”(Luke 13:34-35)
After all of Jeremiah’s person lamenting he lifts his eyes and writes,
“The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!’ The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.” (Lamentations 3: 22-26)
Where is God during this travesty upon Jerusalem? He is in the very same spot He was in when he sent His only son. He wept, mourned, and waited…
Why doesn’t He “Do Something”? Well, He is about to do EVERYTHING, even the gift of his only begotten son!
Their BITTER FATE would bring about God’s BIGGEST SACRIFICE!
