Lamentations (4)

There’s a line in chapter 3 of Lamentations that I’ll be revisiting when I write about Haggai because the two correlate so well. The line is this:

Let’s take a good look at the way we’re living and reorder our lives under God.

I’ll get to that in a few days, but for now, let’s dive into Lamentations 4…

We’ve already seen the first two and a half chapters of Lamentations were full of cries of lament. Then somewhere in chapter 3, Jeremiah started writing about God’s tender love and mercies. Then, late in chapter 3, it almost turned vindictive. Now, in chapter 4, it seems Jeremiah is describing the state of the land and the people.

Let’s just say it isn’t pretty.

Whether it’s hyperbole or real, this is one of the lines that you simply can’t believe is in the Bible:

Nice and kindly women
    boiled their own children for supper.
This was the only food in town
    when my dear people were broken.

It’s awful. It’s grotesque. And yet, it’s here in Lamentations 4.

Somehow, someway, Jeremiah found himself living through this hell on earth. It wasn’t because of his sins that Jerusalem and Zion were being punished. Yet, he wasn’t spared from having to experience it.

I think about different times in history when God’s children, His followers, have had to live through hell on earth. I think of Viktor Frankl and Dr. Edith Eva Eger.

Maybe you’ve gone through hell on earth. I’ve had a few times of it myself.

Here’s a video that may help you. I know it’s helped me.