- Chapter 1: View-The city from an outside view
- Chapter 2: Inside view
- Chapter 3: God’s view
- Chapter 4: Overall view
- Chapter 5: Future view: The prayer
In Matthew 16:13 Jesus was mistaken for Jeremiah. Why? Because they had one thing in common…their hearts were hurting for the people he loved.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Chapter one: We know that before this Lament Jeremiah mentioned Babylon as the instrument for judgment 164 times! How many times will Jeremiah mention Babylon in Lamentations? ZERO. Babylon was just the instrument.
The Lord has brought her grief
because of her many sins.
Her children have gone into exile,
captive before the foe.
- Jeremiah first viewed Jerusalem’s destruction as an outsider looking in.
- Verses 1-7 describe the extent of the desolation
- verses 8-11 its cause.
(verse 1-7 broke my heart!)
Chapter 2:
17: The Lord has done what he planned;
he has fulfilled his word,
which he decreed long ago.
Before entering the Promised Land, God gave them a warning. If you want to read it click here. It is astonishing to see the fulfillment of it.
Verse 11-19 contains five pictures of Jerusalem’s condition. Notice the change from the third person, in the previous section, to the first person
in this one.
One verse that stopped me to reflect on was:
14 The visions of your prophets
were false and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
to ward off your captivity.
The prophecies they gave you
were false and misleading.
I thought of it historically of course thinking about all the false prophets at the time speaking on their own behalf, but then I started to think about when we minister to people (especially friends), and tell them what they want to hear. Not Truth at times. Trust me I am not talking about beating someone up with scripture, because I see that done by the self-righteous all the time, BUT I am talking about sharing doctrine or truth when needed.
Chapter 3:
So there I was with my pen circling the common words: “He” and “I” when suddenly I came to:
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
HOW MANY SONGS CAME OUT OF THAT?? What song came to mind??
Alright, this is an amazing chapter. Here is the truth…I wanted to skip Lamentations just from writing the overview I thought to myself….” another weepy book” but Lamentations chapter 3 rocks!!
31 For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.
Rather than me copying all of chapter 3, click here and start at verse 22 and reread it.
Reading the Bible - 2021 