LAMENTATIONS - OVERVIEW
The Book of Lamentations is a collection of funeral poems about the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. In the Old Testament, it follows the Book of Jeremiah, who is understood to have been its author.
Author
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet who wept throughout the Book of Lamentations.
Tone in the Book of Lamentations
--- The tone is bleak.
--- God does not speak.
--- The degree of suffering is presented as overwhelming.
--- Expectations of future redemption are minimal.
--- The city, and even the author himself, have profusely sinned against God
--- God's wrath is justified.
--- God is presented as righteous, just, and merciful.
Keyword
The word "lament" appears in the Book of Lamentations in the King James Bible 21 times.
Message From the Book of Lamentations
Lamentations is a book in the Bible that describes the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon. It is a memorial to the pain and confusion of the Israelites after the city's fall. The book's message is that people can express their feelings of despair and suffering through prayer and then turn to God in trust.
Things to See in the Book of Lamentations
---mourning the desertion of the city by God
---Jerusalem's destruction
---the ultimate return of the divinity
---parallel of the funeral dirge in which the bereaved bewails and addresses the dead
Key Themes
--- Pain: The book acknowledges the reality of pain and suffering, and that God seems absent.
--- Sin: The book shows how people's sins and rebellion led to their suffering.
--- Hope: The book offers hope in the midst of darkness, and shows that God can be trusted.
--- Response to suffering: The book shows how people can respond to suffering through prayer, acknowledgment of sin, and contrition.
Chapters
The book consists of five separate poems in five chapters.
Chapter 1: The desolate city is personified as a weeping widow (Lady Zion) overcome with miseries, such as grief, shame, and trauma.
Chapter 2: The Fall of Jerusalem and God's wrath because of national sins.
Chapter 3: There is hope for justice in the midst of grief
Chapter 4: Laments the ruin and desolation of the city and temple but traces it to the people's sins.
Chapter 5: A communal prayer for God’s mercy
Things to Remember
The Book of Lamentations combines elements of a funeral dirge for the loss of the city and the "communal lament" pleading for the restoration of its people. It reflects the view that the destruction of the holy city was a punishment by God for the communal sin of its people.
Familiar Verses
"Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.(Lamentations 3:22-23)
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