Jonathan Gibson
Lamentations
Overview
In our English Bibles Lamentations is nestled between the two great prophetic works of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Nevertheless, while the book is small in size compared to its literary neighbors, it more than makes up for that smallness in content and feel. Lamentations is one of the most moving books of the biblical corpus, serving as a fitting complement to Job and the psalms of lament. Whether it be the lamenting note expressed for a beloved city in the book’s opening verse (“How lonely sits the city that was full of people!”; 1:1), or the pitiful cry of the lonely figure of chapter 3 (“Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!”; 3:19), or the impassioned plea of the exiled community in chapter 5 (“Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace!”; 5:1), the words of this ancient book draw the reader in and stir the emotions and affections.
From 605 to 586 BC the people of Judah experienced three waves of exilic removal to Babylon, the final one resulting in the climactic and cataclysmic destruction of Jerusalem and, most significantly, the temple (cf. 2 Kings 25:1–21). The author of Lamentations seeks to express in words what the final destruction of city and temple mean for the people of God. In doing so his purpose is to call God’s exiled people to repentance for their sin and to hope in God’s steadfast love for forgiveness and restoration. The devastating judgment they have experienced has come to them not by blind fate but by divine fiat. Judah and its city and temple are in their current state because of the people’s own sin. This is a reality they must face, but when they do—as hard as that self-reflection may be—they will find hope (Lam. 3:22–24). One can have hope in the Lord, even in the pain and agony of admitting one’s sinful past, because the Lord’s discipline and punishment of his beloved is never final (3:31–33). In the end, as sinners our only hope is in the God who holds us accountable for our sin. As the one who has the power to punish us for our sin, he is also the one who has the power to restore us after we have sinned, which leads to the book’s conclusion:
Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old—
unless you have utterly rejected us,
and you remain exceedingly angry with us. (5:21–22)
Title and Author
Strictly speaking, the title of the book in the Hebrew Bible is ʾEikhah, taken from the opening word “How!” as in “How lonely sits the city . . . !” However, Jewish tradition came to name the book Qinot, meaning “Lamentations,” since this best describes its content; this title was adopted by the Latin Vulgate and carried over into English from there. The author of Lamentations is not named, although from the earliest translations Jeremiah has been identified as the strongest contender. An additional verse in the LXX names Jeremiah as the author, which is followed by the other ancient versions.
Several factors favor Jeremiah as author. The prophet was known for composing laments (cf. 2 Chron. 35:25), and a number of texts in his prophetic book speak of lamenting over the punishment that came upon Jerusalem (Jer. 7:29; 8:21; etc.). Both books reflect eyewitness accounts of the destruction of Jerusalem and link it to the same cause (Jer. 14:7; 16:10–12; 17:1–3; Lam. 1:5, 8, 14; etc.). Both books contain similar metaphors or figures of speech (e.g., “virgin daughter of Zion”; Jer. 8:21; 14:17; Lam. 1:15; 2:13) and near identical phrases and clauses (e.g., “I have become the laughingstock,” Jer. 20:7; Lam. 3:14; “wormwood/bitter food” and “wormwood and gall,” Lam. 3:15; cf. Jer. 9:15; 23:15).1 However, while these parallels make a strong case for Jeremiah, or at least a contemporary of Jeremiah, as author, we do not know for sure who wrote Lamentations.
Despite Lamentations’s authorship remaining unknown, the book’s inclusion in the canon of Jewish and Christian Scripture has never been challenged. Its placement, however, has varied. In the Jewish Scriptures it is placed in the Writings for two thematic reasons. The oldest tradition, going back to the Talmud, places it as an introduction to the exilic books in the Writings, coming before Esther and Daniel. The exile theme is brought to a close with the return books of Ezra–Nehemiah and the idealized kingdom of David in Chronicles. The medieval Jewish tradition placed Lamentations in the Megilloth (“Five Scrolls”) as part of a festival liturgy: the Song of Solomon (Passover), Ruth (Feast of Weeks), Lamentations (Summer Festival in the month of Ab commemorating the fall of Jerusalem and her temple),2 Ecclesiastes (Feast of Tabernacles), and Esther (Purim, held in the spring to celebrate the defeat of Haman’s plot). In either location the inclusion of Lamentations in the Writings suggests that its purpose is to teach God’s people wisdom for how to live in the most difficult of times, including exile. The LXX places the book after Jeremiah because of its view that Jeremiah wrote it. Thematically, Lamentations fits nicely between Jeremiah and Ezekiel, since both books concern the exile of God’s people to Babylon.
Date and Occasion
Scholars generally agree that whoever wrote Lamentations was an eyewitness to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 586 BC. So the book was written at least within the lifetime of one witnessing that devastating event. As will be demonstrated below, the historical context for the book cannot be overstated: the destruction of Zion (the city of God) and her temple (the dwelling place of God) were of cataclysmic significance for Judah (the people of God). In the desolation of both city and temple Judah’s world fell apart. As with other prophetic books, Lamentations wrestles with the question of how Jerusalem and her people could have been brought into such a desolate state, given the promises and purposes of God for his beloved people.
Genre and Literary Features
The genre of Lamentations is that of lament, in particular that of funeral dirge. The book is written in Hebrew poetry and reflects a number of distinct literary features, the main one being its acrostic structure.
Although other isolated acrostic poems are found in the Psalms and Proverbs, Lamentations presents the most concentrated acrostic literature of the OT. The book comprises five clearly demarcated acrostic poems: chapters 1–4 form four distinct acrostic poems, composed according to the order of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet (with some variation between the order of the letters in chapters 1 and 2); chapter 5 forms a quasi-acrostic poem (it contains twenty-two verses but does not follow the order of the Hebrew alphabet for semantically pragmatic reasons of focus). More specifically, Lamentations 1 consists of twenty-two stanzas, generally comprising three sets of parallel lines (bicola) per stanza.3 Only the first word of the first line of each stanza begins with the respective letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Lamentations 2 follows the general pattern as chapter 1, with twenty-two stanzas generally comprising three sets of parallel lines (bicola) per stanza.4 The chapters differ in terms of the alphabetic order: chapter 1 follows the order ayin then pe (similar to Psalm 119), while Lamentations 2 follows the order pe then ayin (similar to Prov. 31:10–31).
Lamentations 3 reflects a more elaborate acrostic form. As with chapters 1 and 2, it consists of twenty-two stanzas comprising three sets of parallel lines (bicola) per stanza, only this time each parallel line (bicolon) within each stanza begins with the respective letter. Lamentations 4 reflects the same pattern as chapters 1 and 2, but the twenty-two stanzas comprise two sets of parallel lines (bicola) per stanza, not three. Lamentations 5 is the slight anomaly; while it does not follow the Hebrew alphabet, it still contains twenty-two stanzas, which comprise one set of parallel lines (bicolon) per stanza. As will be noted below, chapter 5 does not follow the acrostic form of chapters 1–4 because it aims to focus key terms at the beginning of each colon for rhetorical purposes (especially in the first half of the chapter).
The acrostic form of Hebrew poems serves to aid memorization by providing a logical order, aesthetic beauty, and completeness of thought.5 The last point is significant. By using acrostic poems as the integrated building block for the book, the prophet aims to provide a comprehensive theology of suffering—an A–Z, if you like, of what it means to suffer for one’s sin under divine providence.
Theology of Lamentations
Lamentations is a theologically complex and difficult book, since the majority of the laments concern the devastation and desolation that God has brought upon his people. God’s covenant with Israel, established first at Sinai (Exodus 19–20) and then renewed at various points in her history (Exodus 32–34; Joshua 8; 23–24; 2 Samuel 7), forms the context for God’s actions against his city, temple, and people. The covenant in operation at this point in redemptive history is the covenant of grace, a covenant that develops and unfolds in various ways at different epochs of history: in the covenant of restoration with Eve and her offspring (Gen. 3:15), the covenant of promise with Abraham and his offspring (Genesis 12; 15; 17; 22), the covenant of law with Israel and to a thousand generations (Exodus 19–20; Deuteronomy), and the covenant of the kingdom with David and his Promised Son (2 Samuel 7).
The framework of the covenant of grace between God and Israel reveals the following structure: grace, law, then blessing or curse. This framework is reflected in Exodus 19–20 and the book of Deuteronomy. God initiates his covenant relationship with Israel by grace (Ex. 19:3–4; Deut. 4:37–38), but with grace comes the responsibility to obey (Ex. 19:5; Deut. 4:39–40; 5–11; 11:26–28). For obedience God promises blessing in abundance (Deut. 28:1–14); for disobedience he threatens curse in abundance (Deut. 28:15–68). The long list of curses outlined in Deuteronomy 28:15–68 provides the backdrop to many of the curses experienced by the people of Judah in Lamentations as a result of their sin. In other words the suffering that Jerusalem-Judah experiences at the hand of the Lord is due to her covenant unfaithfulness. This is made explicit at points in the book (e.g., Lam. 1:5, 14, 18).
In this sense there is no real mystery to the suffering of Jerusalem-Judah compared to the book of Job. In the latter Job is presented as an innocent sufferer; in the former Jerusalem-Judah is presented as a guilty sufferer. The suffering makes sense because it is a result of sin. And yet the punishment from God still comes as something of a surprise given what Jerusalem and her people mean to God (Lam. 2:15; 4:20; 5:17–18). The shock and horror of what has become of Jerusalem and her people is due to the confidence expressed in the Songs of Zion, in which Zion is described as impenetrable and inviolable precisely because God is in her midst (Psalms 46; 48; 76). Obadiah, writing in the ninth century BC, predicted the rise of Mount Zion and the demise of Mount Esau:
Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion
to rule Mount Esau,
and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s. (Obad. 21)
And yet the opposite happened. The daughter of Zion was exiled to Babylon, while the daughter of Edom dwelt secure in her homeland of Uz (Lam. 4:21). For a people attuned to these songs and familiar with such prophecies the theological dissonance is palpable.
Having established the theological context of Lamentations, we turn to the following theological concerns discerned in the book.6
(1) Seriousness of Sin
The writer of Lamentations employs a wide range of OT words to describe sin: the common nouns of “transgressions” (1:5, 14, 22), “uncleanness” (1:9; 4:15), “iniquity” (2:14; 4:13, 22; 5:7), and “sins” (3:39; 4:13) are used, as well as key verbs such as “sinned” (1:8; 5:7, 16), “rebel” (1:18, 20; 3:42), and “transgressed” (3:42). Only in one place does the writer expand on what he means by these terms, reducing them to one simple concept: “rebell[ion] against [God’s] word” (1:18). The definition connects to the first sin committed in the garden of Eden, in which Adam disobeyed the command of God in relation to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3:11, 17). The language is used also by Moses to describe Israel’s future sin while in the land (Deut. 28:15). It is employed again when the prophet Samuel confronts Saul with his sin (1 Sam. 13:13; cf. 13:14; 15:19). Climactically, similar language is used in God’s warning to Solomon about disobeying his commandments or statutes (1 Kings 9:6), the consequences of which would involve being cut off from the land and becoming a proverb and a byword among the nations (1 Kings 9:7)—the very thing that Lamentations describes as a present reality for exilic Judah (Lam. 2:15; cf. 3:14, 61–63).
In Lamentations the seriousness with which sin is taken is hard to miss. For Judah’s sin God has afflicted her with the curses (1:5). From on high he has sent fire (1:13). He has made her transgressions into a yoke and placed it on her neck (1:14). He has caused her strength to fail and handed her over to those she could not resist (1:14). He has summoned others against his precious people and crushed them in a winepress like grapes (1:15). The Lord has scorned his altar and disowned his sanctuary (2:7). He has planned for the city to lie in ruin (2:8), throwing down without pity (2:17). Most serious of all is that, as Judah’s King and one known for his steadfast love (3:22), Yahweh has become like an enemy to them (2:5); he has given “full vent to his wrath” and “poured out his hot anger” on Judah, kindling a fire in Jerusalem (4:11), ultimately “forsaking” and “rejecting” her (5:20, 22). If there is one thing that these verses convey, it is that sin is serious in God’s sight.
(2) Suffering as Consequence of Sin
The prophet not only defines sin and then states the seriousness of sin but also paints the suffering that results from sin in vivid terms. Lamentations presents a city, temple, and people in desolation as a result of their breach of the covenant between themselves and their covenant Lord. The covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 have left them in a sick, sorry, and sorrowful state. The city is personified as “lonely,” a “widow,” and a “slave” who weeps bitterly with none to comfort her (1:1–2, 16). She has become “filthy,” despised, and groaning in her nakedness (1:8, 17). Her strongholds have been brought to ruins (2:2, 5, 9). Her enemies taunt and mock her: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?” (2:15; cf. 3:14, 61–63). Mount Zion lies “desolate,” with jackals prowling around it (5:18). The temple has been desecrated by foreigners (1:10), laid to waste and ruin by God himself (2:6), disowned by him (2:7). Foreigners have raised a clamor in it like the festivals of old (2:7).
The people are in “exile,” finding “no resting place” and in “distress” (1:3, 18, 20). They are hungry, despised (1:11, 19), groaning and faint in heart (1:22). Their princes, the future kings of Judah, have fled (1:6) or “perished in the city” (1:19). Indeed, priest and prophets have been “killed in the sanctuary of the Lord” (2:20). King and priest have been spurned by God himself (2:6), scattered among the nations. Her prophets receive “no vision from the Lord” (2:9) but instead provide “false and deceptive” ones for the people (2:14)—even the chosen king, “the Lord’s anointed,” can provide no safety for them (4:20). Their children are starved of basic food and drink (2:11–12, 19); they “beg for food” but receive none (4:4). Worst of all, mothers “eat the fruit of their womb” (2:20)—they “boil their own children” for food (4:10).
In chapter 5 the writer brings the suffering of the community to a crescendo, describing the devastation in comprehensive ways. Materially, their inheritance and homes have been dispossessed by foreign nations (5:2). Relationally, children have become orphans; mothers and wives have become widows (5:3). Economically, they must now pay for what was once free—water and wood (5:4)—getting their bread “at the peril of [their own] lives” as they hunt for it in the wilderness (5:9). Liberty-wise, the nation that was once rescued out of slavery to Egypt has now returned to a position of slavery under nations such as Egypt and Assyria—slaves are now their masters (5:6, 8); young men “grind at the mill” and “stagger under loads of wood” (5:13). Physically, their skin has become hot like an oven due to the “burning heat of famine” (5:10). Their women, young and old, are raped in Zion’s city and Judah’s towns (5:11). Their princes are hanged; their elders disrespected (5:12). Merry hearts have ceased, and “dancing has . . . turned to mourning” (5:15). All told, sin in Lamentations is presented as carrying devastating consequences for the perpetrators (e.g., 2:13; 3:46–48).
(3) Providence of God
The writer of Lamentations makes it abundantly clear that the consequences of Judah’s sin against God occur at the hand of other nations. For example, her neighboring friends have become her enslaving oppressors (1:2–3). They are described as Judah’s “enemies” (1:2, 10, 16, 21; 2:3, 7, 16, 17; 4:12), “pursuers” (1:3; 4:19), and “foes” (1:5, 7, 17; 2:17; 4:12). They are named in only a few places: Edom (4:21–22), Egypt, and Assyria (5:6). But at no point does the writer imply that these enemies are the ultimate agent or author of what has happened to Judah. Rather, it is clear that none of what Judah has experienced has occurred outside God’s providence or purpose. Divine fiat, not blind fate, has superintended their suffering. While the agency of foreign nations is acknowledged, the covenant Lord stands as the author behind Judah’s calamity. This is especially seen throughout chapter 2, in which the nations are reduced to intermediate agents while God is spotlighted as the ultimate agent and sole author of Judah’s desolation. In three places the providential and purposeful dealings of God with Judah are made crystal clear (1:21c; 2:17; 3:37–38). The Lord has ordained whatsoever has come to pass for Judah (WCF 3.1).
(4) Justice of God
While Lamentations pinpoints the ultimate cause of Judah’s afflictions on God himself, the book does not even hint that God is somehow unjust or unrighteous in his providential dealings with the nation. God is just—Judah has only received what she deserved. The grounds for God’s inflicting punishment on Judah is stated in several causal or consequential statements. Some verses make the logical connection explicit (1:5, 8, 9; 4:12–13; 5:16); other verses make the connection implicit (3:42; 4:6, 22). However, the justice of God extends not just to Judah for her sins but also to those used by God as agents to bring about his justice. Recompense will also come to the surrounding nations who invaded Judah and destroyed Jerusalem. Just as Judah was punished, so will they be (1:21–22; 3:64–66; 4:21–22).
As Paul House comments, “God has punished as thoroughly as Israel has sinned.”7 In this regard there is no theological conundrum in Lamentations as there is in the book of Job. There is no mystery to Judah’s suffering. There is a simple cause-and-effect relation. Judah sinned; therefore Judah suffered. And in all this God was just. The prophet, himself one who suffered with the people, acknowledges as much: “The Lord is in the right, for [Hb. ki] I have rebelled against his word” (1:18). However, there is some relief for Judah: justice will also be meted out to those who were agents of divine punishment—they too will be held accountable for their actions, especially if it was disproportionate.
(5) Faithfulness of God
Lamentations 1–2 provide no real comfort or hope for the people. The prophet accepts and acknowledges the justice of God’s punishment on Jerusalem-Judah for her sins. This continues into chapter 3 through the lone voice of a single representative of the people, the prophet himself, the “man who has seen affliction under the rod of [God’s] wrath” (3:1). A litany of statements concerning God’s active involvement in the prophet’s misery pour out like a cascading waterfall, one after the other (3:1–17), to the point where he concludes: “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord” (3:18). And yet, ironically, in that moment of hopelessness, the prophet calls out to the one who has made him feel hopeless—he calls out to God himself: “Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!” (3:19).
Why turn to the one who has brought him into his debilitating situation, however? Why hope in the one who has made him feel hopeless? The prophet’s answer is clear: God is faithful (3:22). Comfort and hope in suffering are found in the God who is sovereign over suffering; he is no vindictive tyrant but the God whose love is steadfast and whose mercies are “new every morning”—great is his faithfulness (3:23). God is faithful to his character and his covenant, and it is this that provides the prophet with hope in a seemingly hopeless situation. The challenge for the prophet is to trust God for his faithfulness in his current plight. For now he must accept the Lord’s sore providence—indeed, his just punishment—but he must do so knowing that “the Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him” (3:25). For now he should endure the suffering in silence, but not without hope (3:29). Why? Three causal statements provide the answer:
For [ki] the Lord will not
cast off forever,
but [ki],8 though he cause grief, he will have compassion
according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
for [ki] he does not afflict from his heart
or grieve the children of men. (3:31–33)
The first causal statement speaks to the temporal nature of the Lord’s punishment on the prophet and his people: “the Lord will not cast off forever.” The second statement reminds the prophet that suffering is not the only thing he will experience at the hand of God: God will also “have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.” And the third statement explains that suffering is not something God has delighted in or purposed as an end in itself: “he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.” Together the three reasons encapsulate the Lord’s faithfulness to his character and covenant. While God has been just in bringing his devastating punishment on his people, judgment is not the final word; rather, it is restoration. God will be true to who he is—a God abounding in steadfast love (3:22); he will be true to his promise—he will restore their fortunes after the curses have come upon them (cf. Deut. 30:1–3). God is perfectly just, yes, but he is perfectly faithful too.
(6) Comfort in Suffering
Acknowledging the providence of God in suffering is foundational to finding the necessary comfort to endure that suffering. Even though God’s providential dealings with his people can be sore and severe at times, hope and comfort lie in the God of such providence. For, if God is the one who has brought the pain, then he is the one who can bring the relief; if God is the one who has brought the calamity, then he is the one who can bring the comfort. This is why throughout the book, even in the midst of his suffering, the prophet turns to God for help (1:11, 20; 2:20; 5:1, 21–22). Each of these direct commands reveals something specific about God: he can “look,” he can “remember,” and he can “restore” and “renew.” If God were not sovereign over suffering, then these prayers of lament would be pointless. Comfort in suffering is found in God alone, because only God can remember, restore, and renew (cf. 5:1, 21–22). This answers the lamenting refrain that dominates the first chapter of the book: “she has none to comfort her” (1:2, 7, 9, 16, 17, 21). It is certainly true for Judah: among her friends-turned-enemies there is none to comfort. Even among her own people there is none to comfort. Not even the prophet knows how: “What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion?” (2:13) In short, the people and the prophet himself are brought to an end of themselves so that they might find their comfort in God alone.
(7) Prayers of Lament
Since God alone is the one who is able to deliver Jerusalem-Judah, then it is to him that the people should pray. Lamentations teaches us what such prayer looks like in the face of sin and judgment. As House comments, “Lamentations is nothing if it is not a book of prayer. This fact forces readers to deal with the nature, purpose, and boundaries of prayer, especially those of lament.”9 The nature of prayer in Lamentations is an honest wrestling with God in the midst of justified suffering for one’s sin. The transparency is seen as the prophet acknowledges his own and his people’s sins: the nation has committed a “multitude” of “transgressions” (1:5); her capital, Jerusalem, has “sinned grievously” (1:8); and she has “rebelled against [God’s] word” (1:18). As a result, she has suffered devastating “affliction” (1:3, 9; 3:19), which is unpacked in comprehensive terms in the communal lament of chapter 5. The people are “despised” (1:11), “distressed” (1:20), and “disgraced” (5:1). Given the dire circumstances of the nation and prophet, the prayers take on the tone of deep lament. These are heartfelt pleas, not heady petitions. As such they have particular boundaries and a specific focus: the people call on God to “look and see” their sorry state (1:11, 20; 2:20; 5:1), to “remember” their affliction and wanderings, “the wormwood and the gall” (3:19), and all that has “befallen” them (5:1).
Such commands to God might give the impression of a disrespectful presumption unless one understands what they entail: to ask the all-seeing, all-knowing God to “look and see,” to “remember,” is not to question his omniscience but rather to plead by faith for him to act. When the Bible speaks of God’s remembering his people, it is followed immediately with his action on behalf of his people, often in terms of deliverance. So, for example, God “remembered Noah” and then “made a wind blow over the earth” to subside the waters (Gen. 8:1); God “heard” the groaning of Israel in Egypt under their severe bondage of slavery and “remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob” (Ex. 2:24), and so he called Moses to go and deliver them. To ask God to “look,” “see,” and “remember” is to ask God, in the light of the circumstances, to act according to his character and covenant. This in essence is what prayer is: asking God to be who he is and do what he said he would do in the present circumstances.
The purpose of prayer in Lamentations is thus twofold. First, the nation and prophet lament in prayer to God because it is the means to their deliverance. This is seen in the individual lament of chapter 3, as the prophet recalls how God responded to his own cry for help and drew near to redeem his life (Lam. 3:55–58). It is also seen in the communal lament of chapter 5, as the community calls upon God to restore its fortunes (5:21–22), as God had promised to do in the new covenant promise of Deuteronomy 30 (Deut. 30:3). These two examples demonstrate that prayer in Lamentations is viewed as the means of deliverance for God’s people. The whole book, written in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem and subsequent exile of Judah, is intended to lead the people of God in prayer toward repentance for sin and in hope of restoration. The communal lament of Lamentations 5, in particular, encourages the community of God’s people to pray along with the prophet.
Second, prayer in Lamentations serves the purpose of bringing retributive justice on the nations for their sins against God’s people (1:22; 3:64–66). Judah, as noted above, deserved the full fury of God’s wrath for their sins—they got what they deserved. And yet the agents who administered that judgment from God were not righteous themselves. They too were guilty of evildoing (1:22) and sin (4:22). Indeed, in their defeat of Judah they adopted a proud and sarcastic attitude, mocking and taunting as they triumphed over them (2:15–16; 3:59–63). For this, and their own sin, they would be punished (e.g., 4:21–22).
Relationship to the Rest of the Bible and to Christ
As noted above, the theological context for the book of Lamentations is the covenant relationship between God and Israel. The people of Judah have experienced the covenant curses that Moses threatened for disobedience to God’s law (e.g., Deut. 28:15–68; 30:1–3); they have undergone the day of God’s wrath about which prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah forewarned. From a redemptive-historical perspective the book of Lamentations is the outcome of what was predicted in the Law and the Prophets.
The centrality and importance of Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel/Judah cannot be overstated, and this is no less true in Lamentations. The city of Jerusalem represented the nation as a whole, but it also stood as a visible symbol of God’s steadfast love for, and protection of, his chosen people, signified most clearly in God’s presence in the temple on Mount Zion. The idea of God’s enjoying a covenant relationship with his people expressed in cultic worship at a temple mount goes all the way back to the garden of Eden in Genesis 2. The garden took the form of a prototypical temple in which man enjoyed fellowship with God in his presence on Mount Eden.10 Noah worshiped God on Mount Ararat with sacrifices after the earth had been cleansed of wickedness in the flood, while Abraham worshiped God on Mount Moriah, where he was called to offer the sacrifice of his son Isaac. However, the clearest example is when God rescued his people Israel out of bondage in Egypt so that they might worship him at Mount Sinai with sacrificial offerings (Ex. 3:18; 4:23; 5:1; 10:9).
At Mount Sinai God gave Moses instructions about making him a dwelling place so that he might live among his people as they traveled to the Promised Land (Exodus 25–31). The tabernacle was a recovery of the garden-temple arrangement in Genesis.11 But this arrangement was not intended to be permanent; God intended to bring Israel to his mountain dwelling place in the Promised Land, a place he had chosen for his own sanctuary home (Ex. 15:17). This place, later identified as Jerusalem, is where God chose to set his name and dwelling place (Deut. 12:5, 11).
The city of Jerusalem was captured by David soon after his installation as Israel’s king (2 Sam. 5:1–5), and its establishment as Israel’s capital was made permanent through David’s bringing the ark of God and the tabernacle to the city from Kiriath-jearim (2 Samuel 6) and building himself a palace in the city (2 Sam. 7:1–3). This was given further confirmation under Solomon when he built a permanent temple for God on Mount Moriah, which became known as Mount Zion (1 Kings 8). The establishment of the temple on Zion was the high point of restoring God’s dwelling with his people since the days of Eden. Out of this historical moment arose the Songs of Zion, which celebrated the blessing of God’s presence among his people in the citadel of Jerusalem and her temple (Psalms 46–48; 76). Such songs celebrated the near inviolability and impregnability of Zion: “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved” (Ps. 46:5). From Zion “God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne” (Ps. 47:8). Indeed, Zion became the envy of the whole world (Ps. 48:1–3). In what stark contrast, then, stands the opening words of Lamentations:
How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
has become a slave. (Lam. 1:1)
It is a statement of shock and horror, of disbelief, given what the Songs of Zion affirmed. The people believed that with God in their midst, and with the Lord’s anointed as their king, they would dwell securely among the nations (4:20). But not so! Indeed, the disbelief at the ease with which Jerusalem falls in the end is even shared by Judah’s enemies (4:12). Yet the reality is sickening to the community of God’s people who reflect on their current plight (5:17–18).
However, this should not have been a surprise to God’s people. While the Zion songs sang about Jerusalem’s significance and security, they did not guarantee her inviolability or impregnability. God had always made it clear to his people that he would forsake his beloved city if his people were disobedient to his covenant laws. With Moses God had forewarned his people that disobedience to his laws would result in their exile (e.g., Deut. 28:63). As biblical history unfolded the threats became more particular and directed to Jerusalem and the temple. God forewarned Solomon and the people that disobedience would lead to exile from the land, which would include his house (the temple) being made a “heap of ruins” (1 Kings 9:6–9). The same warnings were given by the prophets. Isaiah predicted the destruction of the city and nation for their disobedience to God (Isa. 1:7–8; 3:16–26; 29:1–4), while Jeremiah spoke directly to Judah’s presumption that, despite their disobedience, the temple would be safe and secure (Jer. 7:1–15). The situation that Lamentations presents, therefore, of a nation, city, temple, and people languishing in exile is not a mystery: Judah has reaped what she has sown. Yet, given the significance of the city and temple in God’s redemptive purposes, the situation is lamentable.
Jerusalem, her temple, and her people lay in a depressing and desolate state. The situation could not have been more grim. However, a glimmer of hope remained. The urgent call for God to visit the nations with his judgment (Lam. 1:22; 3:64–66; 4:21–22) and the contrite request for God to restore and renew the fortunes of Judah (5:21–22) indicates that there may yet be a future for Zion. What are mere embers of hope in Lamentations are fanned into flame by prophets such as Ezekiel and Zechariah. Ezekiel predicts a return to the land and a reunification of Israel and Judah into one nation under one shepherd, a new David (Ezek. 37:24–28). Ezekiel also speaks of a renewed temple that will outsize and outshine the first (Ezekiel 40–48). Zechariah prophesies that the Lord will again return to Zion and dwell in her midst; Jerusalem will again be called “the faithful city,” and its mountain will again be holy (Zech. 8:3). Indeed, the return of God to his holy mountain will attract the nations to come and worship him in Zion (Zech. 8:20–23).
Under Ezra and Nehemiah the return to the land does not produce the kind of glorious fulfillment that Ezekiel and Zechariah predict. The temple that is rebuilt is not as glorious as the first; in fact, it comes nowhere near that of Ezekiel’s vision. Furthermore, rather than the city mount being known as a holy mountain, it soon becomes defiled in its worship and everyday life through the people’s intermarriage to foreigners (cf. Ezra 9–10; Nehemiah 13; Mal. 2:10–16). By the time Judah’s Messiah arrives four hundred years later Jerusalem and her people are in dire need of the kind of restoration and renewal that Lamentations 5:21–22 encourages. Jesus’ mission is, as he explains to the Samaritan woman, to seek out a people who will worship his Father neither in Jerusalem (the Jewish capital) nor in Gerizim (the Samaritan capital) but in spirit and truth. Jesus does not do away with Zion theology but—through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension—simply relocates it. Following his resurrection Jesus ascends to heaven and sits down at his Father’s right hand to become a “minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man” (Heb. 8:2). Mount Zion is now in heaven and no longer on earth, and it is to this Mount Zion that Christians from every nation, tribe, and tongue now gather to worship God by faith (Heb. 12:22–24).
In the meantime the church on earth is God’s holy people; as with Jerusalem of old, we are a “city set on a hill” (Matt. 5:14), a “temple” of the Holy Spirit corporately (1 Cor. 3:16) and individually (1 Cor. 6:19), being built up as a spiritual house, “to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5).
Preaching from Lamentations
For the Christian minister Lamentations presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is the general unfamiliarity of the book for the person in the pew. The outline below will help to discern how the book may be divided for a sermon series. There is also the challenge of preaching through a book that provides little relief from lament. Navigating the lament-upon-lament flow of the book will require some pastoral wisdom and creativity on the part of the preacher. He may wish to consider pausing in the series to preach whole sermons on a single (or a few) verses (e.g., 1:1, 12; 3:22–24, 31–33; 5:1, 21–22), which might provide some relief through a more concentrated Christological focus. There is also the opportunity to preach whole sermons on Christ, the “Great Lamenter” of Lamentations. The latter would be appropriately suited for the season of Easter, when the book has traditionally been read in private and public as preparation for Holy Week. Besides the practical challenge of communicating a much-neglected book to a modern audience, there is the opportunity for the Christian minister to preach three main theological concerns to God’s people and world.
(1) Sin and Judgment
One of the dominant themes of the book is the sin of Judah that led to her suffering. Faithful exposition of the text will preach the doctrine of sin: what it is and how it offends a holy God and incurs his righteous anger. People today think that sin is fun and enjoyable, carrying few, if any, consequences. Lamentations, however, shows us the seriousness of sin and its consequences. Care will need to be taken to distinguish between suffering that arises from sin and suffering that arises from simply living in a fallen world. With the distinction made, however, the faithful preacher will want to make clear the cause-and-effect relationship between sin and divine punishment. The believer, as well as the unbeliever, cannot think that there are no consequences to sin.
(2) Christ and Salvation
Lamentations presents us with the bad news of sin and judgment but also the good news of hope and deliverance according to God’s steadfast love. Interpreting the book with a Christocentric hermeneutic, making careful and thoughtful connections to Christ, provides a wonderful opportunity to preach the good news about our Savior. The difficulty for most preachers, however, is making the connection from Lamentations to Christ. There are no predictive prophecies in the book, leaving the trajectories to Christ to be of a purely typological nature via the temple, city, nation, offices in the theocracy of Israel (prophet, priest, king), the weeping prophet, the man who has seen (and experienced) affliction, and the event of the exile itself. Once a typological hermeneutic is adopted, the connections begin to unfold more naturally and persuasively. Indeed, preaching the book from this perspective illuminates aspects of the Lord Jesus and his work that will enrich our understanding of his beauty and glory as the great Man of Sorrows, whom every grief has known.
(3) Sorrow and Comfort
Lamentations, as its name conveys, is a book full of lament. It is perhaps the most sorrowful book in the whole Bible, even more so than Job. The book’s laments never give way to rejoicing, unlike in the Psalms or in Job with its happy, restorative conclusion. Lamentations is full of sorrow from beginning to end. In this way the book provides opportunity for the Christian church to learn again what it means to lament. Since sorrowing sheep require comfort, it is important that Christian ministers, serving as Christ’s undershepherds, provide pastoral comfort from Lamentations too. It will be the Christological hermeneutic applied throughout the book that will take the preacher (and his hearers) beyond the exile to the NT, where the ultimate comfort from sin and sorrow can be found in a new exodus inaugurated by the suffering prophet, Jesus Christ himself.
Interpretive Challenges
The preacher of Lamentations is presented with three main interpretive challenges.
First, the alternation between speakers in Lamentations creates a certain dissonance in the book, often leaving the reader asking, Who is speaking? Who is suffering? Three different speakers are heard at various points: (1) An objective narrator dominates in chapters 1–2 (1:1–11, 15, 17; 2:1–20) and chapter 4 (vv. 1–16). (2) An individual voice is heard at times in chapters 1–2 as the city is personified as a widow (1:12–16, 18–22; 2:21–22); the individual personification changes in chapter 3 to that of an afflicted, representative man (vv. 1–39, 48–66). (3) The voice of the community dominates the whole of chapter 5, though it is also heard at points earlier in the book (3:40–47; 4:17–22). The voices converge to produce a lament from different perspectives.
Second, variegated personifications in the book add to the dissonance experienced by the alternation of speakers. At first the city is personified in female terms: a once-glorious princess becomes an abandoned widow (1:1)—indeed, a prostitute (1:8–9) who has been deceived and forsaken by her lovers (1:19). By chapter 3 the personification changes dramatically to an afflicted man who suffers alone for his sins (3:1–39). Added to this are the many metaphors used to describe the people of Judah: Her princes are like deer, finding no pasture as they flee from their pursuers (1:6). Jerusalem is a prostitute, filthy and naked, having had her skirts covered in uncleanness (1:8–9). The virgin daughter of Jerusalem is a bunch of grapes treaded in the winepress of God’s anger (1:15). She has been like a promiscuous lover with other nations (1:19). “Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk” (4:7), but have now become “blacker than soot” (4:8). The people became prey for the eagle nations hunting them on the mountains (4:19). By chapter 5 the metaphors disappear and the reality of Judah’s situation is stated in a rather matter-of-fact fashion.
Third, perhaps the trickiest interpretive challenge lies in the central verse of the whole book, 3:33: “for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.” The verse implies that God afflicts Judah somewhat reluctantly or even against his own will. He did it, but he did not really want to do it. Such an interpretation presents God somewhat at odds with himself, which contradicts other biblical portrayals of him being an “everlasting rock” (Isa. 26:4) or one who does whatever he pleases (Ps. 115:3). Other texts add to the complexity of interpreting Lamentations 3:33, such as Jeremiah 32:41: “I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul” (cf. 1 Chron. 17:19). Scripture presents God as doing some things with his whole heart (e.g., doing good to his people) and not doing other things from his heart (e.g., afflicting and grieving his people). Conceptually, this is similar to the language of God’s delighting to show mercy (Mic. 7:18) and not delighting in the death of a sinner (Ezek. 18:32), or his being “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Jonah 4:2).
These kinds of texts touch on issues that pertain to the doctrine of God, namely, his simplicity, impassibility, and immutability. The Reformed faith affirms that God is simple (“a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts”; WCF 2.1), impassible (“without passions”; WCF 2.1), and immutable (“God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass”; WCF 3.1). So how do we reconcile the historic Christian doctrine of God with the biblical texts noted above?
(1) In several places the Bible speaks of God in anthropomorphic and anthropopathic terms. For example, God is spoken of as having human body parts, such as eyes and ears and a heart (e.g., Lam. 3:33). These descriptions of God are anthropomorphisms, since God is a spirit and does not have a body like we do (cf. John 4:24). On other occasions God is spoken of as expressing himself in human passions with regret or grief, such as in Genesis 6:6. This is an anthropopathism, since God is the eternally happy God (cf. 1 Tim. 6:15). The presence of anthropomorphism or anthropopathism in the Bible should not be understood to mean that Scripture reveals a God different than the one who exists in eternity; rather it is to respect the Creator-creature distinction and acknowledge that all talk about God is, at a foundational level, analogical and therefore condescended or accommodated speech. Put differently, God may be truly known in his revelation but not exhaustively known. Commenting on Lamentations 3:33, John Calvin explains it this way: “God, we know, puts on, as it were, our form or manner, for he cannot be comprehended in his inconceivable glory by human minds. Hence it is that he transfers to himself what properly can only apply to men.”12
(2) Similar concerns emerge in other passages that speak of God’s “regretting/repenting” or “grieving in his heart,” such as Genesis 6:6; 1 Samuel 15:11, 35. When Scripture speaks of God’s “regretting/repenting” or being “grieved in his heart,” it is with respect to his work in the world, not his will in eternity. God’s decree does not change, but his disposition or attitude toward people does change (e.g., his stance changes from one of wrath to one of mercy when people repent). God may change what he does (in his acts), but he never changes who he is (in his being) or what he plans (in his decree).
(3) While Genesis 6:6; 1 Samuel 15:11, 35 speak of the regret/repentance/grief of God in relation to his work of creation or providence, Lamentations 3:33 speaks of the reluctance/unwillingness of God in relation to his work of punishment. Just as God does not regret/repent with respect to himself but may regret/repent with respect to his work in the world, so God does not act reluctantly or unwillingly with respect to himself but may act reluctantly or unwillingly with respect to his work in the world.13 God was not reluctant/unwilling in his will to punish, but he was reluctant/unwilling in his act of punishment. That is, God did not punish Jerusalem-Judah from his heart, which is slow to anger, but he would later show compassion to them from his heart, which is abounding in steadfast love. This brings us to the “heart” of God and the intent or end for which God acts willingly or unwillingly.
(4) In the Bible the “heart” refers to the volitional or intentional center of a person; it relates to his will and intent. Thus, when used in relation to God, we have a glimpse into the will or intent of God. When God causes affliction or grief, he does not intend it “from his heart”; that is, he does not delight in it as an end in itself (e.g., Lam. 3:33). However, when God shows compassion, he does intend it “from his heart”; that is, he does delight in it as an end in itself (e.g., Jer. 32:41).14 That is to say, in causing affliction or grief for his elect people or in damning sinners God has “higher ends” in mind, and so does not do these things “from the heart,” as ends in themselves. In contrast, when God shows compassion, he has no higher end in mind; he does it “from his whole heart,” as an end in itself.
The distinction is necessary to understanding Lamentations 3:33: when God afflicted Judah for her sins and caused her grief, he intended it not as an end in itself but as a means to another end. The affliction of God was the means to bring his people to repentance so that they might experience God’s forgiveness. As Ambrose comments, writing on repentance, God “waits for our tears that he may pour forth his goodness. . . . For he does not wholeheartedly bring down those he intends to forgive.”15 This reading of Lamentations 3:33 does justice to the biblical text, while maintaining (and respecting) the divine simplicity, impassibility, and immutability of the God who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Outline
I. Lament for God’s City (1:1–22)
A. Lament for Desolate Jerusalem (1:1–11)
1. Shocking Reversal (1:1–3)
2. Mournful Abandonment (1:4–6)
3. Enemy Affliction (1:7–10)
4. Groaning Hunger (1:11)
B. Lament to the Sovereign Yahweh (1:12–22)
1. Sorrow from Yahweh (1:12)
2. Affliction by Yahweh (1:13–16)
3. Enemies from Yahweh (1:17)
4. Prayer to Yahweh (1:18–22)
II. The Day of God’s Anger (2:1–22)
A. The Terrifying Day of God (2:1–10)
1. God the Enemy-Warrior (2:1–5)
2. God the Temple Demolisher (2:6–7)
3. God the City Destroyer (2:8–9a)
4. Scattering and Shattering, Silence and Sackcloth (2:9b–10)
B. The Terrible State of God’s People (2:11–17)
1. Emotional Involvement (2:11–12)
2. Beyond Healing (2:13)
3. Prophetic Deception (2:14)
4. Enemy Mockery (2:15–16)
5. Foreordained Destruction (2:17)
C. The Plea of God’s Prophet and the Protest of God’s People (2:18–22)
1. The Urgent Plea of God’s Prophet (2:18–19)
2. The Earnest Plea-cum-Protest of God’s People (2:20–22)
III. Hope in Suffering (3:1–66)
A. A Journey toward Hope (3:1–24)
1. A Harsh Shepherd (3:1–6)
2. An Oppressive Jailor (3:7–9)
3. A Wild Animal (3:10–11)
4. A Deadly Hunter (3:12–13)
5. Recipient of Mockery (3:14)
6. A Cruel Torturer (3:15–16)
7. Death of Hope (3:17–18)
8. Hope Springs Eternal (3:19–24)
B. A Lesson in Suffering (3:25–39)
1. The Good in Waiting (3:25–27)
2. The Silence in Waiting (3:28–30)
3. Three Reasons for Waiting (3:31–33)
4. Three Disapprovals of Injustice (3:34–36)
5. Three Affirmations of Divine Sovereignty (3:37–39)
C. Repentance and Intercession (3:40–51)
1. A Call to Repentance (3:40–42)
2. The Inaccessibility of God (3:43–45)
3. The Destruction of the Enemy (3:46–48)
4. The Intercession of the Weeping Prophet (3:49–51)
D. Deliverance and Recompense (3:52–66)
1. Deliverance: You Redeemed My Life (3:52–58)
a. Damned in the Pit (3:52–54)
b. Redeemed from the Pit (3:55–58)
2. Recompense: Judge My Cause, O Lord (3:59–66)
a. God Sees (3:59–60)
b. God Hears (3:61–63)
c. God Repays (3:64–66)
IV. Deterioration of Community and Leadership (4:1–22)
A. The Shocking Deterioration of the Community (4:1–10)
1. So Worthless (4:1–2)
2. Starving (4:3–4)
3. Scavenging (4:5–6)
4. Shriveled (4:7–8)
5. Slowly Dying (4:9)
6. Savage Behavior (4:10)
B. The Shocking Deterioration of the Leadership (4:11–16)
1. Agents behind the Deterioration (4:11–12)
a. The Lord (4:11)
b. The Enemy (4:12)
2. Divine Reversals (4:13–16)
a. Reason for Fall of Jerusalem (4:13)
b. Seers Made Blind (4:14a)
c. Clean Pronounced Unclean (4:14b–15)
d. Rejected by God and Men (4:16)
C. The End of All Hope (4:17–20)
1. No Nation to Save (4:17)
2. Nowhere to Run (4:18–19)
3. No King to Protect (4:20)
D. A Ray of Hope (4:21–22)
1. Punishment on Edom Foretold (4:21)
2. Punishment on Judah Finished (4:22)
V. Disgrace in Suffering and Faith in Waiting (5:1–22)
A. The Disgrace of Economic Oppression (5:1–10)
1. Appeal to Remember (5:1)
2. Litany of Losses (5:2–10)
B. The Disgrace of Social Oppression (5:11–14)
1. For Women (5:11)
2. For Leaders (5:12)
3. For Youth (5:13)
4. For Men (5:14)
C. The Disgrace of Mount Zion (5:15–18)
1. The End of Joy (5:15)
2. The End of Dignity (5:16)
3. The End of Zion (5:17–18)
D. The Disposition and Difficulty of Faith (5:19–22)
1. Statement of Faith (5:19)
2. Questions of Complaint (5:20)
3. Appeal to Restore (5:21)
4. Statement of Doubt or Fact? (5:22)
Lamentations 1:1–11