Chapter 1
I’ll deal with this book on a chapter by chapter basis, rather than verse by verse as its form lends itself more to this approach. Jeremiah, assuming he was the author, is looking over the ruins of Jerusalem and Judah. Jeremiah had been prophesying that this would happen for many years, and now it had come to pass. She had sought help from many nations and idols, and they had all betrayed her. Judah’s enemies were now her master, dominating her. And all this was brought by the Lord, and He had done this because of her sins.
Because she had deserted the Lord, she had lost all her splendour. Rom 1:18-32 describes a similar situation for the whole of mankind. When the church chooses to follow the world rather than the Word it too becomes futile. So this chapter is a both a lament for the state that Judah was now in, but also a lament for the results of her sinfulness. There is also a clear belief that the disaster was sent on her by the Lord, it was a direct action of God, not just a series of unfortunate events. This is not a thought that we are happy with these days, but it is the truth. It is also a source of hope. For if our captivity is a result of God’s judgement it also means that the same God is able to save us, and this He has done in Jesus Christ. We are so reluctant to face up to the reality of sin, but unless we do so we will never find salvation. For Jesus came to save us from our sins.
“The Lord is righteous, yet I rebelled against Him”. We are fools when we sin, for when we sin we choose to go against the right way, against the way that brings peace and blessing. There is no one to comfort Judah, the only hope is in God.
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