Ezekiel 7

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In the final years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, God stood against His people with holy indignation. “I will judge you according to your ways, and I will punish you for all your abominations.” He spoke to His hardhearted children about “disaster” and “doom,” referring to Himself as “the Lord who strikes.”

Throughout Ezekiel 7 Jehovah revealed the chain of evil that had led to this sad day for the chosen people. It began with sin and pride. Their arrogance and desire for glory was tested by the “stumbling block” of riches. If they had “silver and gold,” would they use these gifts for the glory of the Almighty in kindness to the poor, or would they build idolatrous monuments that displayed their own self-centered rebellion? Sadly, they gave themselves and their money to objects of worship that their own hands had made. False devotion eventually led to exile. When some among them were forced from the holy city of Jerusalem, the Lord's temple was eventually defiled by invading Gentiles. They lost not only their remaining treasures, but also their own inner peace. They were overcome by “disaster” and “terror.”

This ugly portrait of wickedness and divine censure was not the final stage of God's work with them. Amazingly, the Lord added a note of veiled hope. Though “according to their judgments I will judge them,” there would also be growth in their understanding of the God who made them. “They shall know that I am the Lord.”

That last phrase could be fulfilled in two very different future outcomes. Those who would be stubborn in their rebellion would know God in His holy severity, but all those who would turn from evil would discover a different path of blessing from above.

God's testified about His eternal work of grace in Romans 8:29-30. The first link in His plan of biblical hope was forged in eternity past through His own covenant-keeping love. “Those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.”

Only through the Lord's great mercy could any sinner find the rare jewel of Christian contentment. Without the work of Christ there could be no shalom from God, but with the death and resurrection of our Savior, the joy of the Lord has now become our strength.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Great King of Heaven, Your wrath against sin is justified and completely righteous. Any trouble that could ever come against us is more than deserved because of our transgressions. All of this righteous punishment came upon Your beloved Son on the cross. He took this great wrath and has worked out the demands of Your holy justice for Your servants. Thank You, O Lord. We will not be ungrateful for such a wonderful love. Take away from us the love of sinning, so that we will worship You from the heart. We long for our complete sanctification, not only for us, but for all Your elect. Today the church continues to sin. Only You can change us, O Lord. We plead the blood of Christ. Please forgive us, O God.

Ezekiel 6

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The Lord God was determined to bring judgment upon Jerusalem. He revealed through Ezekiel that He was “broken” by the unfaithfulness of His own people. They imagined that they could worship idols and multiply places of sacrifice and incense altars without any consequences in their lives. They would soon discover how wrong they were. “Wherever you dwell, the cities shall be waste.” What of all their efforts to gain prosperity despite their unwillingness to listen to the Almighty? Their “works” would be “wiped out.”

The God of the Jews would “leave some of you alive” for His own purposes. Chief among His gracious goals would be that His people would again “know that I am the Lord.” This statement of God's supremacy over all His creatures is a very basic affirmation of religious truth. How could His people have become ignorant of this central doctrine? Yet mankind has had this fatal weakness since sin entered into the world, that we delude ourselves into imagining that it will be permissible for us to be lords over our own lives.

Israel and Judah's stubborn rejection of the lordship of Jehovah led to significant trials for God's chosen people. “They shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.” What would become of the Promised Land? God would stretch out His hand against His children, and the very territory that He had given to them so many centuries before would become “desolate and waste.” Why would He do all this? “Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

This strong medicine was necessary in order for Jehovah's gracious purposes to be accomplished. The disease of rebellion was spreading among them and God needed to administer a very painful remedy. Love insisted on this divine severity so that God's own people would acknowledge that He was the one and only Leader over all. If Jehovah insisted that He be known by His Old Covenant people as the only living God, how can the church of Jesus Christ be allowed to thrive while ignoring His commandments?

Many in our day claim to follow the Savior but reject their need to participate in a church. He calls us to gather together for worship with others who call upon His Name. Why would we believe that we don't need to obey this command? Hebrews 10:24-25 insists on this with very plain words, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” How could it possibly be permissible for us to claim that Jesus is Lord and yet excuse ourselves from the covenant gatherings of the faithful?

Of all those on the face of the earth, we who believe that Jesus died for our sins should be the very first to obey Him as Lord. Will we continue to be safe and prosperous if we pretend that we are free to violate His precepts?

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Father God, You will not tolerate false worship in Your sanctuary. Loosen the grip of our sinful minds on idolatrous thoughts and affections. Help us to feel the wretchedness of spiritual adultery. Shall more people die because we are unwilling to devote ourselves truly to You? Our blood cannot make atonement for our sins. Your Son’s sacrifice is more than sufficient for our greatest assurance of Your steadfast love. We turn to You now as our Savior and our Lord.

Ezekiel 5

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“Son of man, take a sharp sword.” Ezekiel was told to give himself a haircut and a shave with a dangerous weapon. He would act out the carnage that would soon come upon the people of Jerusalem. His hair would be used to give a picture of divine judgment. As the prophet was to split up the cut strands from his head and face into three piles, there would be three groups represented. The first third would “die of pestilence and be consumed of famine in your midst.” The second would “fall by the sword all around you.” God would scatter the final third “to all the winds” and He would “unsheathe the sword after them.”

A few stray hairs would be left over. In the parable these would be bound up “in the skirts” of the prophet's robe. They would symbolize the small group of survivors, although even some of these would soon lose their lives. A few that lived on would suffer, but the Lord would use them for His own secret purposes in the generations to come. “From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.”

This would be the fate of Jerusalem and any surviving Jews in the days of the Babylonian Empire. God had set the city “in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.” Though Jerusalem had rebelled against His Law, the Lord had a plan for His servants who would live.

When Jesus spoke to Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 long after the days of Ezekiel, He testified to His own holiness and love. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” Our only appeal to our Lord for His saving kindness must be based upon His mercy for repentant Law-breakers. We are like the tax collector in Luke 18:13 who said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

It is a comfort to our souls that the Jesus who will one day come in judgment has called on His people to be agents of compassion. Remember what He said to those who opposed Him in Matthew 9:13, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The Lord will not tolerate rebellion against His Word, yet He has chosen some to be recipients of His gracious favor. He will use His beloved children in every generation. Filled with the Spirit of holiness, they will be a powerful instrument of eternal love in the hands of the Almighty.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

O Father, how can we dwell in Your presence? You demand righteousness, and there is much evidence that confirms that You are uncompromising concerning Your holy Law. Your people of old rejected Your statutes. They did not even act as well as the nations all around them who did not know You. The depth of the sin of Your chosen ones was obvious, and You withdrew from them. So many died. Your anger came upon them. Are we any better in Your church? Do we imagine that You have no claim upon our lives? Thank You for the cross and resurrection of Your Son, which is our only hope. May we never forget to be merciful to others, for You have been full of compassion toward us.

Ezekiel 4

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The Lord was bringing punishment upon His own beloved people, and particularly upon His chosen city, Jerusalem. This was not accidental or passive on His part. He was actively engaged in this work of holy destruction.

Ezekiel was God's agent in acting out parables regarding the events that would soon take place. When the prophet was instructed concerning the building of a little model of what would soon come to pass, the Lord told him, “This is a sign for the house of Israel.”

It would be uncomfortable to deliver the message God's way. Ezekiel had to lay on one side of his body for a time, and on another for a specified duration. These displays formed the Lord's dramatized prophecy “against the city.”

God's ambassador among the exiles would have to eat special bread and drink a very limited amount of water in order to give testimony regarding the physical deprivations that the people of Jerusalem would have to endure. Their trials would go beyond the wasting away of their bodies. Their souls would also be vexed by the events all around them. Jehovah said, “I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem, They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink by measure and in dismay.” This would be the story of the covenant people when they faced the curse of God coming against them for their disobedience.

Why do we have so many chapters warning Israel and Judah concerning divine judgments? Of what use to us today are these accounts that show the trials that eventually came upon the Lord's people? These sections of the Bible help us to consider the future sufferings of our Savior who bore our guilt. They are parables for us of what He faced in His earthly ministry and in His death on the cross.

Was Jesus hungry and thirsty when He fulfilled Isaiah 53:5 by being “crushed for our iniquities?” Yes, He certainly was, but He was also grieved in His Spirit. His anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane becomes all the more real to us when we allow the divinely ordained hardships of Israel and Judah to prepare us for the passion of the Messiah. Our careful reflection on the warnings of God through the prophets will be profitable for our souls if we let them increase our understanding of what Jesus faced for us. When we then consider His victory over death and the grave, we will yield to Him even more heartfelt worship for having heard and valued every Word that God has spoken.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord God, great trouble came against Your holy city of old. This was well known to Your prophets, and they warned Your people. Yet those who were called by Your Name still would not hear Your Word. Will we be so foolish? Having the completed Word of truth in the Old and New Testaments, will we consider Your holy Scriptures as nothing? We are defiled by the filth of our wickedness. Our uncleanness is not merely outward and ceremonial. We are unclean within. Grant us ears to hear and hearts to obey by the gift of Your Spirit.

Ezekiel 3

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“Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go speak to the house of Israel.” Throughout his time as a prophet of the Lord, Ezekiel was instructed by God to do some very unusual tasks. Readers of the New Testament will remember that the Apostle John was similarly told in Revelation 10:9 to eat a scroll. That little book, like the one given to Ezekiel, was “sweet as honey” in his mouth, but John was assured that it would make his stomach “bitter.” Speaking for the Lord, whether in the days of Israel or in the New Covenant era, would not always be pleasant.

Prior to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, the prevailing instruction to the Lord's prophets was to go “to the house of Israel” rather than “to many peoples of foreign speech.” With the beginning of the worldwide church, however, the commission for God's people would be greatly expanded. They would eventually go not only to Jerusalem and Judea, but to Samaria and even to the furthest reaches of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Ezekiel learned in his day that Gentiles would have actually listened to his message more readily than God's own children. Yet he was commanded to go to the Jews, even though the Lord assured him that “the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you.” The prophet was not permitted to abandon God's explicit directive, despite the fact that proclaiming the Word to the Jews would be very frustrating. The Lord Jehovah brought Ezekiel where He wanted him to be and He told him what to say and to do when he got there.

The prophet was clearly instructed that there would be grave consequences if he were to shrink back from his duty as a “watchman for the house of Israel.” Even after the most sober warning, the message of his ministry was not left to chance. The Lord took away the prophet's voice when he was supposed to be silent and He gave it back to him again when God had a Word for His people. As with Jesus so many centuries later, the primary sign of the successful ambassador would be faithfulness to the Lord God and not the approval of the majority of any audience among mankind. “He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse.”

In John 5:19 and John 12:49-50 we learn from the mouth of the true Son of Man that He did “nothing of His own accord.” Our Savior insisted, “I have not spoken on my own authority.” The message of Jesus was entirely based on the directives of the Father. Our Lord was the fulfillment of the prophetic ideal that was modeled so many centuries before by men like Ezekiel. Yet there was no need to make Jesus mute or to restrain His mobility in order to keep Him from abandoning His mission. Every impulse of His being was in perfect accord with the Father.

Imagine what a change it will be for us when all vestiges of sin have been entirely removed from our lives. Until then we do well to seek the Lord together as the body of Christ and to encourage one another according to the Scriptures, lest we veer off to the right or to the left.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Sovereign Lord, we love Your Word. Help us to follow it. Thank You for Your prophets and apostles who have spoken this Word of truth. Thank You especially for the work of Your Holy Spirit. Without Him we would never have the will to hear and obey You. Restrain our sin, and not only our sin, but the sin of Your church throughout the world. Father, constrain Your ministers to speak Your Word in truth. They must warn Your people not to sin, or the guilt of many rebellious souls will be on the heads of Your ambassadors. They must not speak to us whatever our itching ears demand to hear. They must be true to You.

Ezekiel 2

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The Lord addressed Ezekiel as “son of man” long before the coming of the One who would be the most famous bearer of that title. Ezekiel's life tells us that these words meant more than just a male descendant of another human being. The “son of man” in Ezekiel was the Lord's chosen prophetic instrument. Ezekiel indicated that “the Spirit entered into me.” What did God intend to do with Ezekiel? “I send you to the people of Israel.”

The “Israel” referred to here was not just the former northern kingdom that was taken over by the Assyrians many decades earlier. All of the scattered descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were the Israel of God. Yet they were plainly “rebels” against the Lord.

Ezekiel was to address Israel with the uncompromising content of divine oracles. “They will know that a prophet has been among them.” He was not to be unduly influenced by their words against him or by their disapproving countenances. Though they might wish to stop him, Ezekiel needed to be faithful to the task that God had given him.

The warning that God spoke from the frightening glory chariot of the previous chapter came with these solemn words: “Be not rebellious like that rebellious house.” God gave Ezekiel a scroll filled with writing. The Word that the Lord had for His people was one “of lamentation and mourning and woe.” It needed to be spoken clearly and boldly.

Jesus was the ultimate Son of Man, but also the eternal Word of God. He brought all of creation into being and performed amazing miracles. His authoritative teaching amazed all those who heard Him. He was obedient in everything, especially in His death on the cross. Like our Master, we have been called to be faithful servants of God's Word. The New Testament warns us that the day will come when the church may want some other ministry rather than the truth. (See 1 Timothy 4:11-16 and 2 Timothy 4:1-5) We must be steadfast in our devotion to God and faithful to His directives even though it might seem that some other strategy would be more effective.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Father God, You sent Your own Son to save us. He spoke as the greatest of all prophets. Have we listened to Him and obeyed His Word as we should? Forgive our many transgressions, O Lord. Jesus had no sin at all. He was a perfectly faithful messenger of Your everlasting truth. Teach us to live and to speak as the true followers of our Savior.

Ezekiel 1

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Ezekiel “saw visions of God.” These came to him at a particular time in the history of Jehovah's people, “the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin.” The Word of the Lord recorded in Ezekiel 1 was given after the beginning of the exile to Babylon, but before Jerusalem had been destroyed. False prophets were suggesting that good times would soon return to Judah, but they were very wrong.

During that important moment when some were certain of an almost immediate deliverance, God gave Ezekiel a vision of the majesty of the Almighty. The prophet saw angelic creatures bearing a “human likeness” with faces, wings, feet, and hands. Their appearance was “like burning coals of fire.” A frightening heavenly chariot of God was very closely associated with those amazing creatures. Even the rims of the wheels were overwhelming to Ezekiel, for they were “full of eyes.” Everything in this other-worldly transportation system was alive, since “the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.”

Above the Lord's conveyance was an “awe-inspiring” expanse. When the angelic beings moved their wings, the noise they made was deeply impressive, “like the sound of the Almighty.” But greater still was the throne of God above the expanse, and “the likeness with a human appearance” with fire and great brightness seated above all of creation.

Ezekiel concluded his description of the vision with these words: “Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” What was the prophet's reaction? “When I saw it, I fell on my face.”

Throughout the history of God's revelation of His judgments and mercies there have often been those who insisted that we should have all of the Lord's blessings right now. Satan tried to entice even Jesus with this tactic. Our Redeemer secured the greatest of all kingdoms not through any quick get-rich scheme, but by His own death and resurrection. The devil's claim was that the Son of God would gain everything that He could ever want immediately by disobeying the Word of the Father. There would be no cross, no burial, no persecution, and no centuries of sacrificial mission in bringing the gospel to the world. The Lord's plan was far better.

The suffering we experience now is not a mistake, but is actually part of a larger divine purpose. One day Jesus will come again in glory. We will see Him in all His power and dominion, we will worship Him forever, and He will wipe away every tear from the eyes of His beloved children who face much suffering in this present evil age.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Glorious Lord, You are with Your people in the place of exile and suffering. Your Word comes to us even there. You grant to us messages from Your heavenly courts to encourage us even in a land of imprisonment. Thank You for the work of Your angels, who are before Your holy presence continually. There is so much that we do not understand. We ask that You would help us to know what we should know, and to have peace regarding those things that we cannot know at present. You go where You will, O God. We are confined to a place. We face limitations. You are different. You are a fiery presence of purity. We are afraid as we hear Your Word, and are comforted by our remembrance of Your Son’s death for sinners.

Lamentations 5

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The suffering of Judah at the time of the exile was not merely spiritual. The bodies of God's children felt the impact of numerous afflictions. The prophet called upon the Lord to “look and see our disgrace.” Some had become orphans, while others were now widows. They faced the loss of their wealth and were weary from serving their oppressors as slaves.

We read of physical hunger so severe that they could testify, “Our skin is hot as an oven with the burning heat of famine.” Women in their communities had been raped. Once respectable young men were “hung up by their hands.” No honor was given to the leading elders among them, and the music and dancing that had once filled their towns had been replaced by sounds of mourning.

The author remembers not only the trespasses of the fathers who “are no more,” but he also admits the personal responsibility of those who are still alive. “The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned.”

Their flesh was damaged and their souls were greatly wounded. With broken hearts they considered the holy place on Mount Zion, now destroyed by their enemies. They could only turn to the Almighty for help. “But You, O Lord, reign forever; Your throne endures to all generations.” As they called upon God for the restoration that would eventually come, they still wondered whether Jehovah had “utterly rejected” them. “Why do You forget us forever, why do You forsake us for so many days?”

The faith that we hold to does not deny the many present hardships of our lives. As God gives us strength, we must remember the Lord's promises and turn to Him with whatever measure of hope He grants to us in our distress. Thankfully we have strong encouragement that comes from the Suffering Servant who bought us with His blood. He has assured us of life beyond bondage and pain with these powerful words: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Father, we face the truth of our affliction with brutal honesty. Food, shelter, safety, life… these are things we need. Celebration is only a bitter memory, yet You are still the Lord. You will reign forever. Restore us, O God. Our confidence is in Your Son, for He was utterly condemned for our transgressions and rose again for our justification.

Lamentations 4

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“How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed!” We do not expect gold to lose its value very quickly, but in Lamentations 4 the “holy stones” that “lie scattered at the head of every street” are identified as “the precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold.” Instead of being recognized for their inherent glory as chosen vessels of the Lord's grace, “they are regarded as earthen pots” and have been thrown away like jars of clay that are of little use.

The people of Judah would have remembered the story in Genesis about God's judgment upon Sodom. The writer of Lamentations declares that the fate of the men and women of Jerusalem was far worse. Sodom and Gomorrah were “overthrown in a moment.” Jerusalem had been through the prolonged torment of a blockade that led to extreme starvation and death. Now that the city had finally been destroyed, he considers that sudden destruction would have been much better than the horrifying events of the last several years.

Those who died quickly on the battlefield were better off than the “victims of hunger who wasted away.” How could it be that such a disaster had befallen the one people group that God had chosen as His own children? “The Lord gave full vent to His wrath.”

The events that had recently transpired were shocking news to everyone. Even foreign observers had never expected that Jerusalem's enemies would finally make their way through the city gates. The reason for this defeat was not the relative military strength of the parties at war. The loss of this great city was because of “the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests.” These religious leaders who should have been speaking the truth of the Lord with love for Jerusalem, had instead shed “the blood of the righteous” in the midst of the city.

The fault was not only that of the top officials of God's covenant people. The citizens of Judah as a whole had looked for deliverance from foreign nations rather than repenting and turning back to Jehovah. Others imagined that they would find their rest under the protection of the weak and evil kings of Judah. They ended up being greatly disappointed.

In the midst of their misery they admitted two important truths. First, they acknowledged the sad facts of their bitter loss. Second, they owned up to their responsibility in the events that had brought such defeat. All of this destruction was because of “the punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion.” The realization of their true guilt would allow them to receive a new hope. Perhaps when God's discipline of His people was completed, the Lord would bring their exile to an end.

As followers of Christ we have seen in the cross a far more severe penalty than what happened to Jerusalem at the hand of the Babylonians. The full weight of the eternal wrath of the Almighty has come upon Jesus for our sake, and as He said in John 19:30, “It is finished.” We still face providential losses in this life, yet we look for many blessings from our heavenly Father because of Christ's victory. God has ordained everything in our lives for our good. How else could James 1:2-4 bring us any comfort? “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Lord God, what has happened to Your church? We were precious stones in Your holy temple. Where are Your children? Where have our companions gone? Where are those who once professed faith in You? How is it that they have gone out from us? Were they never part of us? Have mercy on us, O God. Your people are deeply bruised by an enemy that we cannot see. Brutal men and angels must be all around us. How could we have become a people that seem to be cursed by You? We look for help from far off. Where is our help, O Lord? The enemy seeks the ones he may devour, yet his day of punishment will surely come. Help us, O Lord.

Lamentations 3

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“I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of His wrath.” A singular speaker is featured in the central chapter of this book of sadness. He knows that he suffers at the hand of the God who is his only hope. How deep is his pain? “He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; He has broken my bones.” God has covered him with a life of “bitterness and tribulation.” He sees no way out of his troubles.

The writer envisions Jehovah as a hunter. “He bent His bow and set me as a target for His arrow.” There is an audience watching it all, and they are far from sympathetic. “I have become the laughingstock of all peoples, the object of their taunts all day long.”

At this moment of greatest despair, when he does not remember any happiness and is convinced that he simply cannot go on, the Lord of eternity produces a new song of hope from this suffering man's lips.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;

His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is Your faithfulness.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“therefore I will hope in Him.”

The writer somehow remembers the grace of Almighty God. He knows again, at least for a moment, that “the Lord is good to those who wait for Him.” He considers that God's discipline is a part of His steadfast love. He recalls the character of Jehovah, that “He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.”

This leads the prophet to a more sober consideration of the fault that God might be correcting.

Let us test and examine our ways,

and return to the Lord!

Let us lift up our hearts and hands

to God in heaven:

We have transgressed and rebelled,

and You have not forgiven.

The prophet's words are a good beginning, but important steps of corporate mourning must now take place. A true concern about the sin of God's covenant people should be honestly expressed. The entire community must turn back to the Lord with heartfelt repentance. These actions of humility coexist with continued grief for the suffering of those who belong to the Almighty. “My eyes flow with rivers of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

Lamentations 3 ends with a note of confidence concerning the Lord of Hosts. He is a God of justice who will punish the wicked, but He is also a God of mercy who will keep His holy promises to His beloved people. Such reflections remind the New Testament reader that only the cross of Jesus Christ could have ever secured our salvation. The kindness and severity of the Lord met in one sinless Man's death at Calvary so many years ago. Because of the steadfast love of Jesus, we will not be lost forever.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Sovereign Lord, we have faced great tribulation. We cry for help. Do You not hear us? Where is Your aid? O God, we hate our sin. Father, we feel no hope in our hearts, yet we remember Your steadfast covenant love, mercy, and great faithfulness. We should wait patiently for You when it seems like we have no future. Help us to persevere through affliction. Our trials will not last forever. You are not vicious toward us, O God. You must have a purpose in this day of testing. Teach us to turn away from all sin. Grant us genuine repentance. Surely there is something good that will come from all these tears. Do not close Your ear to our cries for help. Through Christ, You have surely redeemed our lives from complete destruction.

Lamentations 2

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“How the Lord in His anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud!” His chosen people were once guided through the wilderness by the glory cloud of God's presence. Now at the time of Jerusalem's destruction, God had “cast down” from heaven to earth their previous splendor. He was displeased with His beloved children.

“In His wrath” the Almighty had brought about their defeat. He did so “without mercy.” How could that be? How could the precious people of Jehovah be “cut down in fierce anger?” Why would the Lord treat the people of Judah “like an enemy?”

Before rushing to the obvious answer to these troubling questions, the prophet exposed the amazing truth of God's own lamentation in this time of great loss. The people of Judah belonged to the Lord. The Promised Land was His “garden” that was now plowed under by the gravity of divine discipline. The temple that until recently had such a prominent place on Zion's hill was important to Him. He had filled the sanctuary with His own glorious presence. Yes, they were grieving at these sad events, but so was God.

The writer of Lamentations cried out, “My eyes are spent with weeping.” His sadness should be viewed as an expression of the Lord's own heart. Why would the great God of the Jews be sad? “Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.”

What went wrong with Old Testament covenant community? The fault was not the Lord's, but the faithlessness of elders, prophets, and the people at large. “The Lord has done what He has purposed; He has carried out His Word, which He commanded long ago.” A careful reading of the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 will prove this point. God had warned His people centuries ago about what would take place.

But what could be done in response to these devastating events? God's suffering ones could only cry out to Him for help. “Look, O Lord, and see!” It would do Judah no good to deny the wrath of the Almighty. This should be a warning to the church in our day if we should turn away from the Lord who saved us with His atoning blood. How bad could it get? Read Lamentations and see the answer. Is there any hope for a community of worshipers under the severe discipline of the Lord? Yes, for we are God's people. As we will read in the following chapter, “His mercies will never come to an end,” even when our worst fears have become our present reality.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Glorious Father, have You utterly forgotten us? In Your holy wrath You send Your devastating judgments. What must the cross have been like for Your Son? He faced the fullness of Your punishment. He had no sin, yet took all our filth and rebellion upon Himself on that awful day of atoning death. Lord, we are in horrible trouble. We are in need of daily blessings so that we can stay alive here and now. Feed us from heaven. Though false prophets may have been removed from our midst, our enemies are still all around us. They think that they have complete victory over us. What can we say to You? Our cries are too deep for words. We are in distress. We have had trials beyond anything we ever expected. There is terror on every side.

Lamentations 1

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“How lonely sits the city that was full of people!” Jerusalem had become “like a widow.” She had once lived as a “princess,” but was now a “slave” of the Babylonians. The nation of Judah was grieving deeply. Even the city gates of Jerusalem and the roads that led to the temple mount were said to “mourn.” Why? “None come to the festival.”

The author of this poem was not a detached observer of these devastating days, but a lover of God who called out to the Lord in his own deep sorrow. His only hope was that deliverance would be sent forth from the Almighty, but how would the Lord save this wounded city? It was God Himself who had put such a heavy yoke upon His beloved people.

“The Lord rejected” the fighting men of Judah and crushed “the virgin daughter” of His chosen nation. The poet of Lamentations, traditionally thought to be the prophet Jeremiah, did not immediately feel the love of the Lord. The same could be said about all the faithful remnant who were scattered throughout many nations. “Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her.”

Meanwhile, the enemies of God's people were rejoicing to see the suffering of the men, women, and children of Jerusalem. The prophet turned to God concerning these cruel foes. Vengeance belonged to the Lord.

The final verse of this first of five poems gave some important concluding thoughts. First, Judah needed to admit that God had dealt with His holy city this way because of the transgression of His people. Second, the righteous remnant did not have to hide their sadness. They could be honest in grief. Third, there was no need to pretend that they were strong enough to survive these overwhelming losses without divine help. Crying out for aid made perfect sense, even though they might not feel that God was near.

Finally, the remainder of the book of Lamentations would eventually provide an outline of godly hope that would keep God's people singing for many centuries to come. Witness the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness!” based on Lamentations 3. The same Lord who had warned His chosen people for so many years regarding the eventual consequences of their disobedience was not yet finished His saving work. The promised Savior, the eternal King of the Jews, would come at just the right time. He also would be a man of sorrows, but through His atoning sacrifice and His resurrection, the future blessings of the Jerusalem above would be secured forever.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Great God, we are in need. We cry out to You. Send forth Your Comforter, the powerful Spirit of Holiness. We suffer bitterly in this great battle. We have faced horrible defeat in warfare all around us. We have spirits, but we also have bodies. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. What has happened to our homes and our places of worship? Where are our children? How have we come to this sad place? Father, we have felt something of Your discipline. You are in the right. Yet, look upon us in our suffering. Our young men and women are gone. Many have died. Others are far from Your sanctuary. We do not pretend to be strong. Our groans are many. Our hearts are faint. Send forth Your Comforter, and rescue us.

Jeremiah 52

Read Jeremiah 52

The final chapter of Jeremiah gives an account of the sad events at the conclusion of Zedekiah's reign, who “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” In those days God “cast out from His presence” His covenant people. Instead of submitting to the king of Babylon according to the direction the Lord provided through Jeremiah, Zedekiah resisted the Word of God to the very end. He saw the death of his sons at the hands of the Babylonians, after which he was blinded by his adversaries.

The fall of Judah was not only a personal disaster for one or two kings in the line of David. It involved the destruction of the temple that was the focal point of the presence of the Lord God upon the earth and the loss of all the beauty that was once God's chosen city—Jerusalem.

A number of Judeans were sent off into exile, but many of the poorest of the people remained in the land of their fathers, serving the king of Babylon as lowly slaves. One of the earlier royal exiles, Jehoiachin, was imprisoned for many years by the Babylonians, but was released by a later king. “Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table.”

These are the plain facts about two royal descendants of David who once reigned in Jerusalem. The meaning of this trustworthy biblical account comes to us from the other words of Jeremiah. We learned in great detail in earlier chapters that these men, Zedekiah and Jehoiachin, would not obey the Word of the Lord. They and all of the people of Judah were under the curse of the covenant that God made through Moses. “So Judah was taken into exile out of its land.”

A distant future relation would one day bring a more blessed fulfillment to the line of David. Our Immanuel came to His people as Truth incarnate. The entire Old Testament prepared us for the coming of this one-and-only Messiah who would fully obey the Law of God. Jesus has become for us the greatest of all certainties. He is the Rock upon which the church has been established.

Our secure hope is not in our descendants, our homes, or our cities. Our confidence is not in our buildings or our nations. Our assurance is in this one King of truth, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our salvation. He has been enthroned forever in the Jerusalem above as the Head of a new resurrection world.

Prayer from A Book of Prayers

Father God, what will Your people do when Your church is led by worldly men who will not listen to Your holy Word? Powerful enemies come against us from the nations of the world. Grant us leaders who will follow You, even if we must die. Though our bodies may soon rest in the grave, we know that we will yet live in Christ. Lord, help us to fulfill the purposes that You have for Your people. The nations come and take from Your people their gold, silver, and bronze, but nothing can separate us from Your love. If we suffer for Your sake at the hands of men, we are greatly blessed. Grant us faith that we might have eyes to see things as they are. Fill us with Your Spirit. Help us to follow our King Jesus, who died for us. Build up Your true temple through the preaching of the gospel. Gather Your Israel from every nation, as people are granted eternal life in Your Son.