There is a little book tucked away in the Bible with a very sad title—that I am sure many people do not read.
It is called "The Lamentations of Jeremiah."
But it will be good spiritual discipline to read it carefully.
The Jews had sinned grievously against the much more abounding grace of the Lord. Jerusalem had become filled with rebellion against the Lord; now she was to suffer grievous punishment because He had withdrawn Himself from them. It wasn't that the Lord hated them—He still loved them; but there was no way that He could express His love for them except to let them suffer what it meant for Him to withdraw Himself from them.
"Her gates are sunk into the ground. ... The law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the Lord" (2:9). "The children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city. They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? ... " (2:11, ff.).
This of course is post Babylonian conquest of 586 B.C. In beautiful Hebrew poetry, Jeremiah describes the desolate state of Jerusalem:
The beautiful teenage girls and handsome teenage boys "lie on the ground in the streets" (2:21). The Lord has punished me severely, cries Jerusalem; speaking for Jerusalem, the prophet writes: "[The Lord] hath hedged me about. ... When I cry and shout, He shutteth out my prayer. ... He hath made my paths crooked. He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. ... He hath bent His bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow" (3:7-10, 12).
This is terrible for "Jerusalem" to say these things to the Lord! But they did say them in prayer after 586 B.C. when the Lord was forced to let the Babylonians take over.
If you have never read this book because the title is so forbidding, let the Lord speak to you in it.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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