HISTORICAL POSTSCRIPT (52:1-34)
Jeremiah’s message of judgment has been his prediction of the destruction of the sacred city of Jerusalem. This final chapter fittingly and finally vindicates those words concerning the fate of Jerusalem and Judah.
Another element prominent in Jeremiah’s preaching was the promise of restoration. Judgment is certain; exile is sure; but it is not the end. God still has a purpose for His people. The realization of this promise may have seemed very slow to the exiles in Babylon. But when the exiled king, Jehoiachin of the Davidic dynasty, was released by evil Merodach after thirty-seven years of imprisonment, the exiles saw in it a sign of better days ahead. They had hope for the fulfillment of promises made by Jeremiah of a glorious future for the people of God. Therefore, the Book of Jeremiah ends on a muted note of hope.
Book of LAMENTATIONS
Since the Book of Lamentation is so short and so connected to the Book of Jeremiah, it is included in this course. Lamentation was written by Jeremiah that consists of five separate poems, also known as laments, based on what happened in the Book of Jeremiah. This further proves that Jeremiah was the "weeping prophet."
When a people study both books, they can't help but see that the Book of Jeremiah focuses on the prophecies of Jeremiah about the future destruction of Jerusalem. The Book of Lamentations focuses on what actually happened to cities and the people who went into exile.
Even though Lamentations is not a prophetic book, it is located next to Jeremiah in the Bible because Jeremiah is the author, and both of his books are placed together just as other books in the Bible are grouped together.
Lamentations is a book of mourning the desolation of the city by God, its destruction, and the ultimate return of the divinity. It is also a funeral dirge as the community mourns over the death of the beloved city of Jerusalem. The tone is bleak, and God does not speak at all just as He didn't speak in the Book of Esther.
Chapters 1, 2, and 4 each have 22 verses, corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This can't be detected in our Bibles written in English. The
Each chapter consists of a separate poem or lament. The book may be divided as follows:
-- Chapter 1 Jerusalem highlights the desolation of Jerusalem.
-- Chapter 2 God's wrath and Zion's ruin.
-- Chapter 3 Hope for the people of God. This is the longest chapter in the book with 66 verses of hope in the middle of the book. A most quoted verse is Lamentation 3:22-23, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."
-- Chapter 4 The ruin and desolation Jerusalem and the temple are lamented because of people's sins.
-- Chapter 5 This final chapter is the community's lament to the Lord.
Jeremiah lamented over Jesus thousands of years before Jesus did (Mathew 23:37-38; Luke 19:41-44).
Further parallels are:
-- Lamentations 2:15-16 - Matthew. 27:39
-- Lamentations 3:8 - Matthew 27:46
-- Lamentations 3:19 - Mathew 27:34
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