God’s Anger with Jerusalem
With a acloud in His anger!
bHe cast down from heaven to the earth
cThe beauty of Israel,
And did not remember dHis footstool
In the day of His anger.
All the dwelling places of Jacob.
He has thrown down in His wrath
The strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
He has brought them down to the ground;
bHe has profaned the kingdom and its princes.
Every1 horn of Israel;
aHe has drawn back His right hand
From before the enemy.
bHe has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire
Devouring all around.
With His right hand, like an adversary,
He has slain ball who were pleasing to His eye;
On the tent of the daughter of Zion,
He has poured out His fury like fire.
He has swallowed up Israel,
He has swallowed up all her palaces;
bHe has destroyed her strongholds,
And has increased mourning and lamentation
In the daughter of Judah.
bAs if it were a garden;
He has destroyed His place of assembly;
The Lord has caused
The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion.
In His burning indignation He has cspurned the king and the priest.
He has1 aabandoned His sanctuary;
He has given up the walls of her palaces
Into the hand of the enemy.
bThey have made a noise in the house of the Lord
As on the day of a set feast.
The awall of the daughter of Zion.
bHe has stretched out a line;
He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying;
Therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament;
They languished together.
He has destroyed and abroken her bars.
bHer king and her princes are among the1 nations;
cThe Law is no more,
And her dprophets find no vision from the Lord.
| << Lamentations 1:22 | Lamentations 2:2 >> |
What Does Lamentations 2:1 Mean?
Lamentations 2:1-3
Despite this vivid chapter's impressively detailed description of God's personal involvement, does it not appear that, because the world is so evil, Satan has far more to do with affairs on earth than God? Countering that, though, is that God's Word shows Satan has a tight-enough leash on him that he can do only what God permits. The reality is that, despite appearances, God is in complete control.
How can we know this for certain? It depends on whether we are walking by faith or by sight. What does walking by faith signify? It means that our thoughts about life's events and the circumstances they create and our conduct are regulated and carried out based on the Word of God. It is literally and truly our guide.
News reports indicate that the pillars of our culture are crumbling and are clearly out of joint (Psalm 11:3). We know from Bible prophecy that living conditions are going to get worse. With that witness so apparent before our eyes, whom do we believe is regulating affairs on this earth—God or the Devil?
Consider an example that is especially close to many of us. As our former church fellowship blew apart, many said Satan did it. Did he? No, he did not. Saying that Satan did it is nothing more than an easy escape from the reality that we may have had a part in causing its breakup. It is more likely that our Father in heaven took us to the woodshed.
Our perspective on this might simply be ignorance of biblical reality. To anyone who understands what the Bible says, only one Person could do such a thing, and that is our sovereign God. Who scattered Israel? Did Satan? The Bible barely mentions him in this context. God boldly takes credit for scattering Israel directly and the church in symbol in Lamentations 2 and many other places.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Living By Faith and God's Sovereignty
Lamentations 2:1-9
Jeremiah is the likely author of Lamentations, writing after reflecting on the devastation of Jerusalem following the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian army. A number of prophets, Jeremiah being the most obvious, had thoroughly warned the Jews for many years. God even raised up a righteous king, Josiah, to provide godly governmental and religious leadership, but it was to no avail because the people were not truly repentant and sincere in any changes they made. The changes were only on the surface, not reaching their hearts, so idolatry—especially—continued to rage unabated.
The chapter continues with more of the same, leaving no doubt at all that God was directly responsible for His reaction to their sins. Jerusalem's devastation did not merely happen randomly in the course of history. God was directly involved. He brought on the horrific fear and pain. It was His warnings through the prophets that were ignored because they did not fear the Lord and did not truly believe that they were answerable to Him.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Fully Accepting God's Sovereignty (Part One)
| << Lamentations 1:22 | Lamentations 2:2 >> |
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