Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Lamentations 1:1-7
The Prophet Pines Over What Jerusalem Has Lost (Lamentations 1:1).
In these opening verses (Lamentations 1:1) Jerusalem is pictured by the writer in terms of how it now was, an empty city, a widow and forced-labourer (helpless people subject to the winds of fortune), one who was despised by the nations, her people in exile, her worship non-existent, ruled over by her enemies, her treasures all gone, and all because she had turned from the Lord and from His covenant, and had done it so often that in the end He had had enough.
The verses bring out a number of deliberate contrasts:
· She had been full of people, a busy thriving city, but now she was empty (Lamentations 1:1 a).
· She had been great among the nations, but now she had become a helpless and undefended widow (the most unheeded of people) grieving the loss of her husband, indeed even a forced-labourer, one of the riff-raff caught up by fate and respected by none (Lamentations 1:1 b).
· She had had many friends and lovers among her allies, who had honoured and respected her, but now they despised her and have become her enemies (Lamentations 1:2).
· She who had been at rest and well established as the capital of a nation had now been taken into captivity, scattered and dwelling among the nations, finding no rest (Lamentations 1:3).
· She who had been a thriving worship centre, was now deserted. None came to her in order to enjoy her festivals (Lamentations 1:4).
· Those who had been kept in check by her as her regional enemies, were now instead head over her (Lamentations 1:5).
· She had been full of treasures (pleasant things), but now those treasures were but a memory. They had gone (Lamentations 1:7).
We can understand from this the cry from the prophet's heart. Jerusalem had lost everything. Whilst the city would not be literally empty, and some of the poorest of the land would still be living there amidst its ruins, she was an empty, broken-down shell. The eternal city was no more. It is a picture of a city and nation which, because it had lost its soul, had therefore now lost everything.
We cannot fail to recognise in all this what can happen to the church of Jesus Christ (and has happened through the ages) when it falls short in its witness and life and becomes superficial. Its congregations can begin to dwindle. It can lose respect. It can find itself deserted. It can lose its spiritual riches and its first love. It has happened to much of the church in England (although thankfully with many exceptions). It is happening in the US. And it all arises through disobedience and neglect, through self-praise and self-gratification, through self-satisfaction, and through an attitude that worships other things than God. It is something that can also happen in the individual. It is a picture of the consequences when the world has crept in and has gradually taken over, it is a picture of the consequences of backsliding, of a spiritually bankrupt life.
(Aleph) How the city sits empty (solitary),
Which was full of people!
She is become as a widow,
She who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
Is become a slave-labourer!
As the writer surveys what remains of Jerusalem his heart is moved to cry out. He could remember how it had once been a teeming city, full of bustle and noise, its streets filled with people. But now it was empty. Those who did still dwell there were despondent and discouraged as they crept around its ruined streets, ruled over by outsiders. It was a city which had lost its heart.
It had become like a widow, one who wept because she had lost her protector and provider, one who often lived on the edge of poverty, who was ignored by all, and was an irrelevance to all, with no one to take up her cause. Life had passed her by. (Compare the vivid picture of the enforced widowhood of Babylon found in Isaiah 47, and Israel as a widow in Isaiah 54:4; See also the indications of a widow's lot in Deuteronomy 24:19; 1 Kings 17:9; Isaiah 10:2; Ezekiel 22:7). Jerusalem/Judah had once been great among the local nations, highly regarded, and looked up to as a royal city, ‘a princess'. But now it had become a forced-labourer, one set to the task force, at the beck and call of its taskmasters.
‘A princess among the provinces.' This is looking back to the times when surrounding nations had been subject to Jerusalem in the times of Hezekiah, and earlier. Then she had been like a princess among them. The word for ‘provinces' indicates a nation or nations subject to another nation (compare Ezra 2:1; Nehemiah 7:6; Esther 1:1; Esther 1:22)
We are reminded by this of the Ephesian church which had lost its first love and would eventually have its light of witness removed (Revelation 2:2), which was eventually brought down to the depths, and of the Laodicean church, which had not yet realised that it was poor and wretched, miserable, blind and naked (Revelation 3:17). The secret of the maintenance of true spirituality is eternal vigilance and remaining close to God.
(Beth) She weeps sore in the night,
And her tears are on her cheeks,
Among all her lovers
She has none to comfort her,
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her,
They are become her enemies.
Jerusalem in her desolation had become like a deserted lover, weeping bitterly in the night, tears running down her cheeks, her lovers no longer there to comfort her because they have treacherously entered into relationship with her enemies. She had been deserted. All the nations that she had relied on had turned from her, making terms with the Babylonians and acting against her (Psalms 137:7; Ezekiel 25:3; Ezekiel 25:6; Obadiah 1:11; Jeremiah 40:14). She has been left alone to face her destiny.
In the past she had looked to those others for sustenance instead of to her Lord (Hosea 2:7; Hosea 7:11; Hosea 8:9; Jeremiah 22:20; Ezekiel 23:1; Isaiah 30:1; Isaiah 31:1; 1 Kings 15:16; 2 Kings 16:5), and now those others had failed her and she was left bereft. Not one could be relied on. It is a reminder that we also need to beware of too much reliance on people, instead of relying on our Lord. He is the only One Who will never let us down.
(Gimel) Judah is gone into captivity (exile),
Because of affliction, and because of great servitude,
She dwells among the nations,
She finds no rest,
All her persecutors overtook her,
In the midst of her distress.
One of the great promises to God's people had been that they would find rest (see Deuteronomy 12:9; Deuteronomy 25:19; Joshua 21:44; Joshua 23:1; 2Sa 7:1; 2 Samuel 7:11; 1 Kings 8:56). But from now on there would be no rest, for those who were the heart of the nation had been carried away into captivity. Some were suffering great affliction, others were facing great servitude. See the vivid picture in Deuteronomy 28:64. Like the Israelites who had wandered in the wilderness under Moses, they too would wander among the nations, unable to find rest (Psalms 95:11). And of those who had not gone into captivity large numbers had sought refuge in Egypt, equally becoming exiles. For them the future was just as bleak as Jeremiah makes clear. Meanwhile her own land had been invaded and settled by other neighbouring nations (e.g. the Edomites in the south) who had acted against her in her abandoned state.
It is noteworthy that later in the book ‘the daughter of Zion' is promised that she will no more be carried into captivity once the punishment of her iniquity is accomplished (Lamentations 4:22). The book is therefore an assurance that this is only a temporary experience.
This picture of a people unable to find rest is taken up by the writer to the Hebrews in Hebrews 3-4, as he warns a group of Jewish Christians of the dangers of falling back into Judaism. It is a warning to us also lest we fall back into apathy, or think that we can be ‘believers' without making a genuine response in our lives.
(Daleth) The ways of Zion mourn,
Because none come to the solemn assembly,
All her gates are desolate,
Her priests sigh,
Her virgins are afflicted,
And she herself is in bitterness.
In spite of its extravagant seeking after false gods Jerusalem had taken great pride in being the centre of Yahwism, the place to which people flocked at the times of the great feasts, singing as they came. It was the place where many gathered to worship the true God. But now the roads along which they had travelled mourned because no one travelled along them, no one came for the feasts. Jerusalem's very gates were unused and desolate, no pilgrims flocked through them. Her priests sighed, either because no one made use of their services (the context may be seen as suggesting that these are minor priests left in Jerusalem), or because having been carried off into a far country they could no longer serve. Her virgins were afflicted, and no longer took part in the festivals (virgins/young women were regularly associated with festival worship - Psalms 68:25; Judges 21:19 Exodus 15:20; Jeremiah 31:13) partly because there were no prospects of marriage for them as a result of the slaughter, and partly possibly because they had been repeatedly raped by the invading forces and had lost their virginity. Meanwhile the whole of Jerusalem, instead of being festive, was in deep bitterness.
Many today can look back to the past and see what once was, remembering past days of blessing which have been lost. And it is all too often because of the sin of God's people who have failed in their responsibility, indeed, bringing it closer to home, it is because of our sin. We have only to think of past revivals to ask ourselves, why have the places in which there was once such rejoicing and worship, become places which are spiritually barren and fruitless?
(He) Her adversaries are become the head,
Her enemies prosper,
For YHWH has afflicted her,
For the multitude of her transgressions,
Her young children are gone into captivity,
Before the adversary.
Grievous to the prophet was the sight of Jerusalem and Judah ruled over by foreigners. Babylon now ruled them by direct rule through her appointees, stationed elsewhere than Jerusalem. Initially it was by Gedaliah, no doubt watched over by Babylonian advisers, and then by whoever replaced him. But the authority to rule had been taken away from Jerusalem.
‘Her enemies prosper.' The neighbouring nations were no longer subject to Judah's hand upon them, and instead prospered at her expense. And all this was because YHWH had afflicted her. It was YHWH's doing.
And that is why her people, and even her young children, had gone into exile, either forcefully or voluntarily. (‘Before the adversary' could indicate that they had been driven as captors, or that they had fled from their vengeance). It was because of their transgressions against the covenant with YHWH, which included the ten words/commandments. So the message is that it is YHWH Who has done it because of their disobedience to His requirements. This is the explanation of the catastrophe. This emphasis on the fact that it was YHWH Who was responsible for what had happened, and Who had brought this catastrophe on them, is a theme of the book. See Lamentations 1:12; Lamentations 1:17; Lamentations 2:1; Lamentations 2:17; Lamentations 3:1; Lamentations 3:37, Lam 43-45: Lamentations 4:11. It was a message that enabled a broken and disheartened people to make sense of what had happened. It enabled them to recognise that if only they would respond to Him truly they were still His people. For we must remember that however deep our sin, God will always provide us with a way back through true repentance and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Waw) And from the daughter of Zion,
All her majesty is departed,
Her princes are become like harts,
Which find no pasture,
And they are gone without strength,
Before the pursuer.
For the majesty that has departed from the daughter of Zion compare Ezekiel 16:14. YHWH had made her majestic in the eyes of the nations, partly because of her unique faith and her unique God, but now that majesty has departed. Instead of standing proud among the nations her princes had become like deer without pasture which become weak and feeble, and lose their strength. ‘Before their pursuer' suggests here a special reference to the way in which Zedekiah and his princes and advisers had fled ignominiously by night seeking to escape from those who surrounded Jerusalem. But they had lacked the strength and stamina to escape as a result of the starvation rations that they had been living on and had been overtaken at the Arabah (2 Kings 25:5; Jeremiah 39:5; Jeremiah 52:7).
(Zayin) Jerusalem remembers,
In the days of her affliction and of her miseries,
All her pleasant things,
Which were from the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary,
And none did help her,
The adversaries saw her,
They mocked at her desolations.
The prophet pictures Jerusalem in her poverty and desolation as remembering the treasures that she had lost, the treasures which had made her such a desirable city, and especially the treasures of the Temple removed by Nebuchadrezzar (Jeremiah 52:17; 2 Kings 24:13). Then she had been admired and honoured. But now her treasures were gone, for she had fallen into the hands of the adversary, and none had helped her. And indeed her adversaries now saw her desolations and mocked at her. She was a laughingstock among her neighbours.