WWUTT 2654 Remembering the Iniquity of Jerusalem (Lamentations 4:1-10)

Things got really, really dark in Jerusalem when God brought the punishment upon him that he did. But it is necessary for the Jews to remember this darkness that they would repent of it and not repeat it when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky.

Jerusalem’s Iniquity and God’s Promise of Restoration

In our study of Lamentations, we come now to Chapter 4, and this is the darkest of the chapters of Lamentations. We haven't had a whole lot of high points anyway. I said at the very beginning of this study, this was a very depressing book, and we needed to keep in mind the hopeful promise that's right there at the center of Chapter 3.

The rest of Lamentations revolves around this reminder that God is compassionate. His mercies are new every morning, and great is his faithfulness. Remember that Israel, Judah, Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is going to be the focus here in Chapter 4.

They have sinned against God. They worship false gods. They went after the ways of the pagans around them. What they deserve is judgment, and God has certainly brought that against them, but he has also promised to restore them, and that same promise exists here in Chapter 4 as well.

When we get to Chapter 5, we're going to read a prayer of restoration, but first we're going to remember just how low, how dark things got for Jerusalem, and that's what Lamentations 4 reminds us of. This is divided into two parts.

In verses 1 through 10, we are reminded of Jerusalem's iniquity, and then in verses 11 through 22, the judgment that God brought upon them. Now, in the last two verses, 21 and 22, the mention of judgment is split between Edom and the daughter of Zion, Jerusalem.

Edom is going to continue on into judgment and be destroyed, but God's judgment against Jerusalem is spent, and then he will later restore them. First of all, for this lesson this week, as we look at verses 1 through 10, we are reminded of just how bad things got for Jerusalem when they had betrayed the Lord and had done wickedly.

Reading Lamentations 4:1–10

Let me begin reading in verse 1, and once again, this reminder that each of these verses is separated with a Hebrew letter of the alphabet. That's something that the Legacy Bible preserves, so I'm going to mention the letter and then read the corresponding verse.

Hear the word of the Lord. Aleph. How dark the gold has become, how the pure gold has changed. The sacred stones are poured out at the head of every street. Bet. The precious sons of Zion weighed against fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen jars, the work of a potter's hands.

Chemel. Even jackals offer the breast, they nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness. Dalet. The tongue of the nursing baby cleaves to the roof of its mouth because of thirst.

The infants ask for bread, but no one breaks it for them. Hay. Those who ate delicacies are desolate in the streets, those reared in crimson embrace ash pits. Vav. So the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands whirled toward her.

Zion. Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than corals, their polishing was like lapis lazuli. Het. Their form is blacker than soot, they are not recognized in the streets, their skin is shriveled on their bones, it is withered, it has become like wood.

Tet. Better are those pierced through with the sword than those pierced through with hunger, for their life flows away being stricken for lack of the produce of the field. Yod. The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children, they became food for them because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Remembering Jerusalem’s Desolation

Like I said, this chapter gets very dark, but we're reminded of just how wicked Jerusalem had been and the judgment that they deserved. And yet, this judgment is not total, they deserve worse than this.

But as I mentioned at the end of the chapter, it is said that God's judgment against Jerusalem is spent, and then he would begin the process of restoration for them. Let's come back up to the beginning of the chapter, how dark the gold has become, how the pure gold has changed.

The sacred stones are poured out at the head of every street. There was once a time when Jerusalem was so rich that people were coming, leaders were coming from other parts of the world to witness the richness of Jerusalem and even the wisdom of Solomon.

You're surely familiar about that with Solomon because the Queen of Sheba came from such a great distance to behold his wisdom and see the wealth that was in his hands. I don't remember where I read this, this was a long time ago, I don't even know that I preserved the fact in some of my files somewhere.

But there was a guy that I read from a number of years back where he had calculated the amount of money that was in Jerusalem at the time of Solomon. Those things are detailed in 1 Kings. So there's information there about just how rich Jerusalem had become.

With all of this wealth that was coming in, they were on a major highway of trade. A lot of things had to go through that part of the Middle East. There were nations from the north that came through there, nations from the south going to the north.

So because there was so much money that was flowing into Jerusalem, it became very, very wealthy. And there was a guy that calculated all the riches that are described there as having belonged to Jerusalem and Solomon and the people of Israel.

And even though Israel was not like a major empire at the time, it certainly wouldn't hold a candle to something like ancient Greece or ancient Rome or even the Babylonians. Even the Babylonians were bigger than Israel.

Of course, that would be the nation that would come against Israel and judge them. That was who God was using in his judgment upon Judah. But even though it was not some large empire, it could very well have been the richest empire that there ever was.

And the calculation that I read was that Israel had the highest or the most amount of money per capita per person that lived there in Israel at that time. So if you were to have taken all of the wealth that had been accumulated in the days of Solomon, which was like pinnacle, that was the peak wealth that Israel had in its existence was when Solomon was king.

You took all of that wealth and you distributed among all of its citizens. And that was the richest that a nation had ever been in the history of the world. If you could have distributed all that wealth to every single person, but now all that wealth was gone.

They used to be the talk of the world. People would travel far and wide and they would they would envy Israel and just how rich it was, knowing that their God dwelled with them. And they were blessed because of the God of the Hebrews.

But all of that gold is now gone. All of the luster that Jerusalem used to have. Nobody in any nation of the world right now is venturing to Jerusalem to see it at the time that we're reading this in lamentations because it's been laid waste and everything is gone.

There is nothing to gain from it. So how dark the gold has become, how the pure gold has changed. The sacred stones are poured out at the head of every street. And so there is that longing, this remembrance for the days when Israel was great, though they are no more.

And at least from the perspective of those who have been taken away into exile, they're surely wondering, will we ever see anything like that again? How could we ever become what we once were? And this is to remind that people of the wickedness that they had done so they would repent of it and not return to it.

The Collapse of Jerusalem’s Strength and Compassion

In verse 2, the precious sons of Zion weighed against fine gold how they are regarded as earthen jars, the work of a potter's hand. So even the men of Israel at one point would have been the envy of the world.

They would have looked at the men of Israel and said, how are these guys so strong? How are they so blessed and healthy? But now they're like earthen jars. They're worthless. They're potty pots. They do not have the value, the stature, the example of manliness that Jewish men were at the time of their prosperity.

But now all of that is gone. And nobody's looking at the men thinking, oh, what precious men of gold. No, they're like earthen jars. They're what you would use to go to the bathroom in and then throw them out, toss them out to be used never again.

So we go on in verse 3. Even jackals offer the breast. They nurse their young. But the daughter of my people has become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness. So we have two animals that are mentioned here.

And both of these animals are, I mean, they're not domesticated. They're not the kinds of animals that you want to encounter in the wild. They are animals that inhabit a place that's not being occupied by people.

So the jackals, even this disgusting creature that was considered unclean and we don't have anything to do with it. But even jackals know how to offer the breast. Even a jackal knows how to care for its young.

But the daughter of my people has become cruel. They're not taking care of their young. They are like ostriches in the wilderness. Now, ostriches are not necessarily cruel to their young. Even though that's the way that they are pictured here.

The daughter of my people has become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness. And ostrich will, they do take care of their young. And one of the things that an ostrich will do when a predator comes to the nest.

If you were a kid and you ever learned anything about ostriches. I remember this. I remember this lesson about ostriches. An ostrich would leave the nest and pretend to be injured. So that the predator would go after the ostrich and avoid the nest.

And then once the predator got close to the ostrich, it's a pretty fierce bird. So then it would show itself to be, I'm not injured after all. Kick it in the face or maybe run away further to lead the predator even further away.

So that's a way that an ostrich will take care of their young. But in ancient times, that was regarded as cowardice. That the ostrich didn't want to be snatched by the predator that was coming. So instead it abandoned the nest and acted injured far away from the nest.

So that was regarded as weakness among ancient peoples. And that's why the ostrich is viewed in this way. Also if an egg rolls out of an ostrich nest, they don't try to recover it. It just ends up outside the nest and it stays there.

And then of course not being incubated, it'll just die. It'll be a rotten egg. And then the ostriches will leave it there for the young to eat later. And that's also viewed as an ostrich being cruel to their young.

Because if an egg rolls out of the nest, they won't try to recover it and save it. And hatch it into young. So these ostriches here, like ostriches in the wilderness. It's as if they've abandoned their nest or even left their young to die.

And with some of the description that we have here, you understand where that comes from. So then going on to verse 4. The tongue of the nursing baby cleaves to the roof of its mouth because of thirst.

The infants ask for bread, but no one breaks it for them. So children yearning for food, but their parents are not taking care of them. And a child cannot take care of themselves. They have to have mom or dad there in order to survive, in order to live.

Childlike Dependence and Spiritual Life

Jesus had said to his disciples in Mark 10. He says, unless you become like children, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. And you've certainly heard it said that it is with the faith of a child that we enter into God's kingdom.

Well, what Jesus means by that is children are fully dependent upon their parents. They cannot live. They cannot even survive without the help of their parents. Kids don't know how to find food, to feed themselves, clothing, shelter.

They would probably just die in the wilderness if it were not for their parents caring for them. So this is showing just how bad the judgment had become upon Israel. That they were not even caring for their children anymore.

They had nothing to care for their children with. And whatever gain they would find, they hoarded for themselves instead of sharing it with the children. So an entire generation is dying and wasting away.

All having to do with the judgment that God had brought upon this people because of their wickedness. It is their fault that things have gotten so bad that even their children cannot eat. Their hearts so cold that they won't sacrifice for the sake of their children.

From Prosperity to Ash Pits

Going on to verse 5. Those who ate delicacies are desolate in the streets. Those reared in crimson embrace ash pits. So at one point, it used to be that there was so much wealth in Israel, they were eating the best of foods.

But now they're in the streets. They've gone from the rich places, the palaces that they used to live in, and now they just live on the streets. Those reared in crimson, those that had the richest and finest clothing on, well now they embrace ash pits.

There is no wealth left for Israel. They are wallowing in the dirt. But mourning over the sin that they've committed against God, that they would repent and not repeat it. Verse 6. So the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands whirled toward her.

A similar statement is going to come up again in Ezekiel chapter 16. We're going to go on to Ezekiel after we finish this study in Lamentations. A statement made about how the iniquity of Jerusalem is greater than the sin of Sodom.

And it's greater especially because Sodom didn't really know what they were doing. You could say that Sodom did wickedly, and they should have known it was wicked because they behaved in a manner that went against natural law.

And of course when we're referring to Sodom and Gomorrah, you understand the unnatural desires that they had for one another. And they went against nature, the way that God had created people to be. Purposed a man and a woman for marriage and to procreate and have children.

Sodom and Gomorrah went against that. And because of the wicked passions of the flesh, God brought judgment upon them, incinerating the cities of the plain, as they were called. And the smoke that went up from their place continued to be a testament to other people about the judgment of God.

So they had done wickedly, they were punished. It's being said here though that Jerusalem's sin was greater. In what way? Well, Sodom didn't know any better, but Jerusalem did. They had the law of God.

They had the very presence of God in their midst, dwelling with them in the temple. The presence of God actually leaves Jerusalem to allow it to be taken by the Babylonians. That's something else we're going to read about in Ezekiel, where Ezekiel has a vision of God leaving Jerusalem that he may give it over to the hands of their enemies.

Jerusalem had the law of God. They knew what God expected of his people. And yet, though they had seen God, they knew the true God. They went after false gods, and that made their sin even worse than Sodom's.

Was there homosexual immorality that was going on in Jerusalem? Yeah, actually the scriptures do tell us that. That was going on as well. So they had all of the sins of Sodom, but worse. And Sodom was overthrown in a moment, the passage says.

Sodom didn't have to go through this long, agonizing punishment. They were taken away in a moment. But Jerusalem, this has been a long time. It was a long time with the Babylonians coming against Jerusalem.

Now they are languishing. It has been a long time since they've had any confidence that there's going to be food for them to eat. So this is an agonizing, long, slow, and painful death. If that would certainly be the direction that it was going for Jerusalem.

Holiness Lost and the Horror of Hunger

Verse 7, her Nazarites were purer than snow. They were whiter than milk. Remember, Nazarites are people who have taken a vow, and they desire holiness. So now we're even talking about spiritual matters, spiritual problems that exist for Jerusalem.

They are no longer filled with people who are committed to their vows and holiness before God. It used to be that they were more ruddy in body than corals. They had a good appearance about them. They were handsome.

Their polishing was like lapis lazuli. But then, verse 8, their form is blacker than soot. They are not recognized in the streets. Their skin is shriveled on their bones. It is withered. It has become like wood.

There is nothing about Jerusalem's appearance that is desiring to anyone anymore. Verse 9, better are those pierced through with the sword than those pierced through with hunger. This goes back again to saying Sodom was destroyed in a moment.

They did not have to go through this long suffering of their punishment. But those who are pierced through with hunger, they are suffering a long time. It would be better to be pierced through with a sword than to be in such hunger, and knowing that at the end of that is death anyway.

The rest of verse 9, for their life flows away being stricken for lack of the produce of the field. And finally, verse 10, the hands of compassionate women boiled their own children. They became food for them because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

And there are occasions that we have read about women devouring their own children, as talked about in 1st and 2nd Kings, because an enemy had laid siege to the city, and the people couldn't get out. And once all of their supply was depleted, then they turned to consuming their own children.

And this is how dark, this is how bad it has gotten for Jerusalem, since this punishment God has brought against them. But again, there is a restoration that is promised. God is compassionate. His anger will not endure.

His mercies are new every morning. And great is His faithfulness. Friends, we can get to some very sinful, wicked places, and God will turn us over to suffer the consequences of our sins. It is necessary for us when we are experiencing those consequences, to know just how bad we've gotten, how dark things have become, so that we will turn to Christ to be forgiven and not return to those sins again.

Remember 1st John 1, 9, if we ask forgiveness for our sins, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, just because it is said there that He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that doesn't mean that all happens in a moment.

That cleansing could be a period of time, a long sanctification. But it is by God's grace and mercy that we would be purified and made holy before Him, conditioned and prepared for the eternal perfect kingdom that He has prepared for us.

But we have to be sanctified before we get there. Put away all sin and filthiness and rampant wickedness. Do not walk in it anymore. Be convicted over your sin. Repent, be cleansed, and live in the holiness that God has given through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer for New Life in Christ

Heavenly Father, we thank You even for what we've read. The darkness of this chapter reminds us that sin is dark, it is bad, it is evil, and what we deserve for our rebellion against God is destruction.

But You sent Your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins, to rise again from the dead so that all who believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Help us in this new life to walk in a way that is pleasing to our God.

Convict our hearts when we sin. Pick us up when we stumble. May we keep our eyes on Christ and desire to be like Him. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.

Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's Word when we understand the text.