This chapter is again 22 verses long, but the verses do not all start with the succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Some see this as representing the disintegration of Jewish society, though this may be a rather fanciful notion.
The writer calls on the Lord to remember what has happened to Jerusalem and to the nation of Israel. There is a total disintegration of society. Families have been ripped asunder, the economy has totally collapsed. As happen in all wars, women are raped (v11).
Joy has departed from the land.
Verse 19 is a declaration of God's greatness, yet it seems empty because He seems to have forgotten them. Even so he calls on God for salvation. The only hope is that God has not written them off forever.
So in the Book of Lamentations we have a graphic description of the agony they were going through, a recognition that is was all deserved, it was all a result of their sinfulness. God is their only hope. If He has rejected them forever then all hope truly has gone.
There are those who say that Israel no longer has any special place in God's plans. Such a view seems totally at odds with the whole teaching of the Bible. The Bible is completely realistic and open about the sinfulness of Israel, yet even in the midst of her sinfulness there is always hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment