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He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying;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.
aSit on the ground and keep silence;
They bthrow dust on their heads
And cgird themselves with sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem
Bow their heads to the ground.
| << Lamentations 2:6 | Lamentations 2:8 >> |
What Does Lamentations 2:7 Mean?
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 2:6 | Lamentations 2:8 >> |
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