Everyone Has Hurts Hurts, Hang-­‐ups, and Habits, Lesson 1 Richard Leslie Parrott Friends: This week we begin a four-­‐week series on “Hurts, Hang-­‐ups, and Habits.” Dr. Timothy Taylor with Pastor Milburn are preparing a wonderful set of lessons for our classes. I’m adding a few discussion questions along with additional resources. The first lesson is about Hurts. Pastor’s message is from Lamentations 2. The Sunday School lesson delves into God’s willingness to heal our hurts as we open up emotionally and admit we are powerless to help ourselves. In addition to the lesson, there are several resources that introduce the Book of Lamentations including a commentary on Lamentations 2. I strongly recommend this 5-­‐minute video on Lamentations. It is excellent: https://vimeo.com/42788471 If you are looking for a “mood-­‐setting” video that presents the challenge of hurt: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x19d44_rem-­‐everybody-­‐hurts_music Dr. Parrott LESSON #1, August 23 EVERYONE HAS HURTS BUT GOD IS STILL GOD! Definition of a hurt – “an emotional reaction to another person’s behavior or to a disturbing situation” (Abuse, abandonment, codependency, divorce, relationship issues, etc.) Scripture Lesson – Lamentations 5:1-­‐22. The background of the passage is the destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of God’s people. Life’s Healing Choices Pastor Milburn and Dr. Taylor A Story Of Healing Choices Bob grew up in a dysfunctional home. His Father and Mother were both teachers, and while they had the potential of financial stability, poor choices left them struggling financially. The home that Bob grew up in was also emotionally unstable. Bob’s Mother had been hurt by her mother and likewise became emotionally un-­‐
attached to her children. Bob’s Father held some past hurts of his own and showing love was something he withheld. One day, while a seven-­‐teen year old Senior in High School, Bob heard his parents arguing saying they didn’t have enough money to send Bob to college. Feeling unloved and a burden, Bob joined the Air Force to “get away”. While in the Air Force, Bob married, had children, rose to higher ranks in the service, and even taught at the prestigious Air Force Academy. Yet, there was something inside of him that was broken, and he didn’t know how to fix it. While serving in an eastern European country, Bob met a fellow serviceman who re-­‐
acquainted him with God. There, in an ocean setting, Bob was baptized and became a follower of Christ. Yet, those memories of being unloved and abandoned continued to weigh him down. That is, until Bob realized that Christ not only wanted to forgive him for his sins, but also wanted to help him with that deep seated hurt of long ago. Through a period of time, Bob was helped to understand his hurt. He learned how to forgive his parents for their lack of emotional support. In fact, he not only learned how to forgive them, but to accept them for who they were and to love them unconditionally, even though conditions had always been placed on him. Today, Bob is a Vice-­‐President of an institution of higher learning and shares his story with others who have been emotionally hurt. He has learned how to share his hurt with his wife and children, and they have found freedom to love one another that Bob never knew growing up. If you have a hurt like Bob, you are not alone. Each one of us, if honest with ourselves, have experienced to some degree a hurt, habit, or hang-­‐up. We may feel 2 as though “our lives are tangled up with hurts that haunt our hearts, hang-­‐ups that cause us pain, and habits that mess up our lives”. QUESTION: What part of Bob’s story did you recognize in yourself? QUESTION: Notice that Bob learned many things from other Christians. He learned how to forgive, accept, and love unconditionally those who hurt him. He learned to share his hurt and find the freedom to love others. How can we help each other learn these essential lessons in our life in Christ? Life’s Healing Choices, an eight-­‐week investigative look in to our lives, will give you the tools to begin the healing process of dealing with your hurts, habits, and hang-­‐
ups. Join thousands like Bob who have found even greater freedom in Christ. The beginning steps are found in Isaiah 57:18-­‐19; “I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the Lord. “And I will heal them.” In this passage, God extends five promises: 1. If you are hurt, God says, “I will heal you.” 2. If you’re confused, God says, “I will lead you.” 3. If you feel hopeless, God says, “I will help you.” 4. If you feel alone, God says, “I will comfort you.” 5. If you feel anxious and afraid, God says, “I will offer peace to you.” QUESTION: Of these five promises, which one has been most helpful to you in your past? Which one do you need to hear from God today? Self-­‐Inventory 1. Is there an area of my life that needs healing? If so, what is it? 2. Are you confused by something that has happened to you? What surrounds that confusion? 3. Do you sometimes feel hopeless? If so, what is the root cause of that hopelessness? 4. Do you sometimes feel alone or isolated? If so, what stops you from sharing your feelings? 5. Are their areas of your life that lead to anxiety and fear? If so, what are they? Name them. QUESTION: Of these five questions, which one speaks most personally to you today? 3 Trough Life’s Healing Choices, you will learn to trust in God’s answers that bring wholeness, growth, and spiritual maturity. These principles come from the “Beatitudes of Jesus”. (Matthew Chapter Five) “Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor.” “Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” “Happy are the meek.” “Happy are the pure in heart.” “Happy are those who greatest desire is to do what God requires.” “Happy are those who are merciful.” “Happy are those who work for peace.” “Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires.” QUESTION: Which beatitude best describes your life right now? Life’s Healing Choices Small Group Study is an eight-­‐week study that is designed to help you start to discover and face your hurts, hang-­‐ups, and habits, perhaps for the first time in your life. Pastor Bob Milburn will lead a Small Group Study on Wednesday nights at 6:30 PM and Dr. Tim Taylor will lead a Small Group study at 10:00 AM on Sunday mornings. Join one of these eight-­‐week studies to begin the journey of dealing with your hurts, hang-­‐ups, and habits. How About Those Hurts? Dr. Timothy A. Taylor An undeniable part of the human condition consists of pain and suffering. Everyone has hurts. If you belong to the human race, somewhere along your path, a situation or someone has hurt you. You may not recognize that hurt until you are in a moment that resembles or replicates that someone or something. One moment you are doing life, and the next moment, a thought, a memory, a scene, a smell, or conversation drives you back to that hurt. Why? QUESTION: Why do these feelings continue to stay with you? You know that you are a Christian and that you have Christ in your life. You attend church regularly, and even though you are doing the right things, hurt remains seated in the recesses of your mind. Can God rid me of that hurt? The answer is, of course, yes. Yes, God can do anything God chooses to do. But often before God deals with the hurt, he first deals with your emotions. The “feeling of being HURT is an emotional reaction to another person's behavior or to a disturbing situation such as abuse, abandonment, codependency (which is unhealthy psychological reliance of one person on another), divorce, relationship issues, etc.” Therefore, when you take your petition to God for deliverance from that hurt, you may have failed at looking at your emotions surrounding the situation. 4 John D. (Jack) Mayer, personality psychologist and author of Personal Intelligence: The Power of Personality and How It Shapes Our Lives, states; “Emotions operate on many levels. They have a physical aspect as well as a psychological aspect. Emotions bridge thought, feeling, and action – they operate in every part of a person, they affect many aspects of a person, and the person affects many aspects of the emotions.” Dr. Maurice Elias, Professor of Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University states; “Emotions are human beings’ warning systems as to what is really going on around them. Emotions are our most reliable indicators of how things are going on in our lives. Emotions help keep us on the right track by making sure that we are led by more than the mental/ intellectual faculties of thought, perception, reason, memory.” QUESTIONS: How do emotions warn us concerning what is going wrong and keep us on the right track? Consequently, when you remember an instance of hurt, you remember that scene, smell, conversation, or negative action spoken you. This causes your emotions to bubble up to the surface leaving you to either (1) cry your emotions out or; (2) hold tightly on to them or; (3) avoid them entirely. Crying out your emotions demonstrates the deep hurt that remains in you. Holding on to your emotions and playing your emotional cards close to your chest most often alienates others (and God). Avoiding your emotions masks the pain, but doesn’t take it away. QUESTION: So what then are we to do? What is another alternative for dealing with emotions? Admit we are powerless. Admitting we are powerless to solve these issues on our own opens the door for God to step in and begin the healing process towards wholeness. The Apostle Paul in Second Corinthians 1:9 states that; “We saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead.” (LB) The writer of Proverbs teaches us this principle by saying; “You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you.” – Proverbs 28:13 (TEV) 5 The challenge before us is to 1-­‐open up our emotional bank and 2-­‐admit that we are powerless to control our hurts, habits, and hang-­‐ups. QUESTION: Why is it difficult to do these two things? How can we help each other be emotionally open and confess that we are powerless When we do these two things, God begins the process of healing. So go ahead -­‐ open up to your emotions, and then admit that you alone are powerless. Now, you and God are on your way to a whole new level of doing life. 6 RESOURCES ABOUT LAMENATIONS 1-­‐A video introduction to the Book of Lamentations I strongly recommend this short video that does a great job explaining the book of Lamentations. This is five minutes that will help you understand the book. https://vimeo.com/42788471 2-­‐Graphic presentation of the Book of Lamentations LAMENTATIONS
"Cry Aloud"
Lamentations 1 Lamentations 2 Lamentations 3 Lamentations 4 Lamentations 5 LAMENT PRAYER Acrostics Not Acrostic The Grief The Cause The Hope The Repentance The Prayer Crushed City Broken People Suffering Prophet Ruined Kingdom Penitential Nation Jerusalem Weeps Jehovah Punishes Hope in Midst of Affliction Sin the Cause of Punishment Plea for Mercy Jerusalem's Plight: Zion, the Widow (Lam 1:1-­‐11) Zion's Confession (Lam 1:12-­‐22) Jehovah's Anger The Anger Described (Lam 2:1-­‐12) The City Exhorted (Lam 2:13-­‐22) Jeremiah's Grief Affliction, Yet Hope (Lam 3:1-­‐39) Plea: National, Personal (Lam 3:40-­‐66) Desolation of Jerusalem Destruction of Jerusalem Distraught Prophet Defeated People Prayerful People Jerusalem -­‐ A Weeping Widow in sorrow God's Burning Anger Against Sinful Israel Jeremiah's Personal Lament; Closes with Hope for the Future National Confession of Israel's Sin Prayer in the Midst of Pain -­‐ Cry for Restoration "They" "I" Each verse begins with an acrostic Each line begins with an acrostic Writer Addresses Himself to His Readers 7 Jehovah's Jerusalem's Anger Prayer Contrasts...And Plea: Zion is Why Stricken (Lam 4:1-­‐11) (Lam 5:1-­‐18) Onlookers...Kings, Plea: Jehovah Can Edom Restore (Lam 4:12-­‐22) (Lam 5:19-­‐22) "We" Each verse begins with an acrostic No acrostic Writer Prays to God 3-­‐A connection between Lamentations 2 and Deuteronomy 28 The Catastrophe in Lamentations / The Punishment in Deuteronomy Lamentations Deuteronomy 2:15 All who pass along the way 28:37 You shall become a horror, a clap their hands in derision proverb, a taunt among all at you the people where the Lord will drive you. 2:20 Should women eat their offspring? 28:53-­‐57 2:21 On the ground in the streets 28:50 lie young and old Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body .... ...who shall have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young 4-­‐Short Written Overview of the Book of Lamentations Author: The Book of Lamentations does not explicitly identify its author. The tradition is that the Prophet Jeremiah wrote Lamentations. This view is highly likely considering the author was a witness of the Babylonians destroying Jerusalem. Jeremiah fits this qualification (2 Chronicles 35:25; 36:21-­‐22). Date of Writing: The Book of Lamentations was likely written between 586 and 575 B.C., during or soon after Jerusalem’s fall. Purpose of Writing: As a result of Judah’s continued and unrepentant idolatry, God allowed the Babylonians to besiege, plunder, burn, and destroy the city of Jerusalem. Solomon’s Temple, which had stood for approximately 400 years, was burned to the ground. The Prophet Jeremiah, an eyewitness to these events, wrote the Book of Lamentations as a lament for what occurred to Judah and Jerusalem. Key Verses: • Lamentations 2:17, “The LORD has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, he has let the enemy gloat over you, he has exalted the horn of your foes.” • Lamentations 3:22-­‐23, “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 5:19-­‐22, “You, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. Why do you always forget us? Why do you 8 forsake us so long? Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.” Brief Summary: The Book of Lamentations is divided into five chapters. Each chapter represents a separate poem. In the original Hebrew, the verses are acrostic, each verse starting with a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Book of Lamentations, the Prophet Jeremiah understands that the Babylonians were God’s tool for bringing judgment on Jerusalem (1:12-­‐15; 2:1-­‐8; 4:11). Lamentations makes it clear that sin and rebellion were the causes of God’s wrath being poured out (1:8-­‐
9; 4:13; 5:16). Lamenting is appropriate in a time of distress, but it should quickly give way to contrition and repentance (3:40-­‐42; 5:21-­‐22). Foreshadowings: Jeremiah was known as the “weeping prophet” for his deep and abiding passion for his people and their city (3:48-­‐49). This same sorrow over the sins of the people and their rejection of God was expressed by Jesus as He approached Jerusalem and looked ahead to her destruction at the hands of the Romans (Luke 19:41-­‐44). Because of the Jews’ rejection of their Messiah, God used the Roman siege to punish His people. But God takes no joy in having to punish His children and His offer of Jesus Christ as a provision for sin shows His great compassion on His people. One day, because of Christ, God will wipe away all tears (Revelation 7:17). 5-­‐Commentary on Lamentations 2 Here is a free online commentary on Lamentations by James E. Smith. Originally published in the Bible Study Textbook Series, College Press, 1972; Revised Edition 2006
BROKEN PEOPLE LAMENTATIONS 2:1-­‐22 In content, form and theology chapter 2 is a continuation of chapter 1. Like chapter 1, the second chapter is also a national lament but the focus here is on the entire nation rather than just on the city of Jerusalem. The poem is in acrostic form which is almost identical to that used in the first chapter except that the sixteenth and seventeenth letters of the Hebrew alphabet are transposed. Since this transposition does not interrupt the train of thought it must be viewed as intentional rather than accidental as suggested by some commentators. The same phenomenon occurs again in chapters three and four. Theologically this chapter again emphasizes the fact that Judah’s punishment came as a result of sin and that the punishment was entirely justified. In vv 1-­‐10 the prophet describes the divine judgment upon his people. In vv 11-­‐16 he expresses his sincere sympathy for his people in their sufferings. He exhorts them to present their case before God (vv 17-­‐19) and sets the example for them by offering a model 9 prayer on their behalf (vv 20-­‐22). WHAT THE PROPHET SAW, 2:1-­‐10 The way the prophet emphasizes that the destruction of his people was an act of divine judgment is striking. In spite of the fact that God administered the stroke against Judah the prophet is not bitter. He knows that the judgment was proper and appropriate in view of the terrible sin of his countrymen. The detailed account of these vv points to the fact that the writer was an eyewitness to the catastrophe which he describes. The first ten vv of ch two should be read with the warning of Heb 10:31 constantly before the reader: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” A. Judgment in General (2:1-­‐6): 1. Cloud and fall (2:1): How sad that the Lord in His anger has covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud! He has cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel! He did not remember His footstool in the day of His anger. Jeremiah almost exhausts the possibilities of human language in describing the burning wrath of a holy God against His apostate people. A great cloud of calamity settled down over the daughter of Zion in the day of His wrath. Like a star falling from the heavens so the glory of Israel fell to earth that day. God did not even spare His own footstool, the Temple or perhaps the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. It is possible that the phrases “daughter of Zion,” “glory of Israel,” and “His footstool” are to be regarded as progressive phrases designating the nation as a whole, the city of Jerusalem and the Temple or alternatively, Jerusalem, the Temple and the ark of the covenant. 2. Devoured and defiled (2:2): The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the inhabitants of Jacob. He has cast down in His wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah, bringing them to the ground. He defiled the kingdom and her princes. The Lord has consumed the dwelling places and destroyed the strongholds of His people. He has caused the princes of the land to be profaned i.e., captured, mutilated, and slain by ungodly forces. 3. Withdrawn support (2:3): He has cut off in His burning wrath all the horn of Israel. He has withdrawn His right hand in the face of the enemy. He has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob consuming all around. He has cut off the horn (power) of Israel by withdrawing His powerful right hand of defense as the enemy approached. He has caused the territory of Jacob to be put to the torch. 4. Bow and fire (2:4): He has bent his bow like an enemy, standing with His right hand like a foe. He has slain all that were pleasant to the eye. In the tents of the daughter of Zion he has poured out his wrath like fire. After the capture of Jerusalem in 587 BC the city was burned to the ground (Jer 52:13). Judean resistance to the Chaldean onslaught of 587 BC was useless from the start because the real adversary was none other than God Himself. Through the instrumentality of Nebuchadnezzar’s 10 soldiers the divine archer 14 drew His bow against Jerusalem and slew “all that were pleasant to the eye” i.e., the finest young men of the Judean army. Even in the tent of the daughter of Zion (the Temple) He poured out His fiery wrath. 5. Devouring and mourning (2:5): The Lord has become like an enemy, swallowing up Israel. He has swallowed up her palaces, destroyed his strongholds. He has caused mourning and lamentation to increase in the daughter of Judah. It is none other than the Lord who has caused all the destruction and death and resulting lamentation in the land. 6. Destruction and repudiation (2:6): He has torn down His tabernacle like that of a garden, destroying His meeting place. The LORD has caused solemn assembly and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion. In His fierce indignation He has repudiated both king and priest. He has not hesitated in destroying His tabernacle, His meeting place, any more than a gardener might destroy a watchman’s booth when the harvest season was over. The mockery of Judah’s festivals and sabbaths He has brought to an abrupt halt. Even the kings and priests, normally spared the indignities of war, have felt the blast of divine indignation and judgment. B. Judgment on Places (2:7-­‐9a): 1. Sanctuary and palaces (2:7): The LORD has scorned His altar, disowned His sanctuary. He has given into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces. They made noise in the house of the LORD as on the day of an appointed feast. How can the Lord allow the sacred city to be so humiliated? Because the Lord has scorned His altar and disowned His sanctuary. It takes more than outward ritual to prevent divine judgment. The Lord has turned the city over to the enemies of Judah. A shout has been heard in the precincts of the Temple—not the shout of joyous worshipers but of looting enemy soldiers. 2. Walls (2:8): The LORD determined to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He stretched out the measuring line; He did not withdraw His hand from devouring. He has caused the rampart and wall to lament; they languish together. The destruction of Jerusalem was no afterthought; it had been predetermined by God. The Lord had marked off the city for destruction with a measuring line. The outer defenses of the city, the rampart and wall, had fallen to the enemy after incessant bombardment. 3. Gates (2:9): Her gates have sunk into the earth; He has destroyed and broken her bars. The heavy gates of the city and the powerful beams which secured them during siege have been battered to the ground. C. Judgment on Populace (2:9b-­‐10): 1. Kings and prophets (2:9b): Her king and her princes are among the nations where there is no law; even her prophets have not been able to find a vision from the LORD. Zion’s king and princes are in exile among the heathen who know not the law 11 of God. The prophets are without vision. 2. Elders and maidens (2:10): The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence; they cast dust upon their heads having put on sackcloth. The maidens of Jerusalem have brought their heads down to the ground. The sagacious elders of Jerusalem have no advice or counsel to offer. They sit silently with sackcloth about their loins and dust upon their head as a sign of bitter mourning. The bright young maidens of Judah hang their heads in remorse. WHAT THE PROPHET FELT, 2:11-­‐16 In vv 1-­‐10 the prophet described what he saw when Jerusalem fell in 587 BC. In vv 11-­‐16 he describes what he felt as he looked upon the pathetic plight of his kinsmen. A. Grief over the Little Ones (2:11-­‐12): 1. He saw their plight (2:11): My eyes are spent with weeping, my inward parts are troubled, my heart is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because infants and babies have fainted in the streets of the city. The prophet’s eyes shed tears till they could shed no more. His inward parts (lit., bowels) and heart (lit., liver) were overwhelmed by anguish. The tender-­‐
hearted prophet is particularly upset as he recalls the agonizing death of starvation to which the innocent babes and infants were subjected. 2. He heard their cries (2:12): To their mothers they said, Where is the grain and wine? as they faint like wounded men in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out upon the bosom of their mothers. He hears their pitiful cry for food which had to remain unanswered. He sees them dying, some in the streets where they have been abandoned by their despairing mothers, others clutching to the breasts of their mothers who are helpless to do anything to preserve the young life. B. Grief without Comfort (2:13-­‐14): 1. No comfort in comparisons (2:13): What shall I testify to you? To what shall I liken you in order to comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For vast as the sea is your destruction! Who shall heal you? The prophet tries desperately to think of a word of instruction, edification or comfort which he can bring to those people who had to live through the horrible days of Jerusalem’s fall. He tries to think of some like catastrophe with which to compare the present plight of his people. Search as he may he cannot find any tragedy equaling the destruction of the daughter of Zion. Her ruin is as unlimited and unfathomable as the ocean itself. The lament of the prophet reaches a climax with the question asked at the end of v 13, Who shall heal you? Certainly Zion’s wound, by human standards, is incurable. 2. No comfort in prophetic oracles (2:14): Your prophets have seen for you falsehood and foolishness; they have not exposed your iniquity in order to reverse 12 your fortunes but have seen for you false and misleading oracles. The prophets are certainly not able to help for they have never been able to correctly assess the situation in Zion. For a number of years they have actually encouraged the national hypocrisy and wickedness of their false and foolish visions. They have made no effort to expose iniquity, encourage repentance which would permit God to reverse the miserable condition of Zion. Their false and misleading oracles (lit., whitewash job) could not heal the wound of Zion. C. Grief over Gentile Mockery (2:15-­‐16): 1. Passers-­‐by (2:15): All who pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying is this the city which was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth? Much less could the caravaners and travelers who passed along the busy highways do anything to aid Zion. They have actually joined in the mockery of the fallen city by contemptuously clapping their hands, hissing and wagging their heads. Having looked upon the city which had been renown for its beauty they jeer, “1s this the city which was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?” 2. Enemies (2:16): All your enemies rail against you, hissing and gnashing their teeth. They have said, “We have swallowed her up! Ah, this is the day we longed for; we have found it! We have seen it!” Still less would neighboring nations be able to heal the broken nation of Judah. They had actually been looking forward to the day when Jerusalem would fall and they would be able to swallow up the territory she once possessed. Who then can heal the wound of Zion? EXHORTATION TO THE PEOPLE, 2:17-­‐19 A. Reason for their Plight (2:17) The LORD has done what He planned. He has fulfilled His word which He decreed in days of old. He has torn down without pity, made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the horn of your foes. In preparing to answer his own question, who can heal you, the prophet reminds the people of a basic fact. The destruction of Zion was not due to the power and cunning of Zion’s enemies but was in fact the fulfillment of threats made centuries earlier (cf. Dt 28:15ff). By disobeying the commandments of God the people had violated the terms of the covenant and thus had incurred the penalties for disobedience specified therein. This is the real reason Israel had been brought so low and the horn or strength of their enemies had been exalted. B. Appeal for Prayer (2:18-­‐19): 1. Appeal for earnest petition (2:18): Their heart cried unto the Lord! O wall of the daughter of Zion! Let tears run down like a river both day and night! Give yourself no rest! Let not the pupils of your eyes cease! Because the Lord is responsible for the destruction of Zion He alone can restore her fortunes. In bold personification the 13 prophet calls upon the broken wall of Jerusalem to cry unto the Lord in supplication day and night. Without respite those walls should continue their pleadings with the Lord for reconstruction. 2. Appeal for continual petition (2:19): Arise! Cry in the night at the beginning of the watches! Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord! Lift up your hands unto Him for the sake of your children who faint for hunger at the head of every street. The people must continue to pray right on through the night. The beginning of the three night watches, sunset, should find them still pouring out their heart like water before the Lord and lifting up their hands toward heaven in expectation of receiving divine blessing. If they become weary in the work of prayer they should remember the little children who are suffering immeasurably on every street of the ruined city. Jeremiah makes no promises but his exhortation implies that God will hear the agonizing cry of His penitent people just as he heard their cry when they suffered during the Egyptian bondage (cf. Ex. 3:7). PRAYER FOR THE PEOPLE, 2:20-­‐22 In vv 20-­‐22 the prophet prays the prayer he has been urging the nation to pray and in so doing teaches them how to properly approach the throne of God. These vv remind one of Jeremiah 14:17-­‐19. The prophet boldly presents all the cogent arguments of which he can think in his effort to influence God to aid the people of Judah. A. First Grounds of Appeal (2:20) Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom You have done this! Shall women eat their offspring, babes who are carried in the arms? Shall priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord? First, the prophet asks God to consider that it is His own people who are suffering (cf. Ex 32:11-­‐13). Divine judgment has caused the people of Judah to sink into the lowest kind of human behavior, cannibalism. Surely God will intervene when men are driven to the point of consuming one another! Priests and prophets who have been anointed to the service of the Lord are being slain in the sacred precincts of the Temple. B. Second Grounds of Appeal (2:21) On the ground in the streets lie the young and old. My maidens and young men have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger, slaughtering without mercy. Surely God will intervene when religious massacre is taking place! Young and old, male and female, lie dead on the streets of Jerusalem, slain by the sword of the divinely appointed enemy of Zion. C. Third Grounds of Appeal (2:22) You called, as in the days of a solemn assembly, my terrors round about. On the day 14 of the anger of the LORD there was not one who escaped or survived. Those I carried in the arms and raised up my enemy has consumed. Surely God will intervene when outrage is committed in public without regard to sex or age. The terrors of war—famine, sword and pestilence—have been summoned by God against Judah just as He might summon His worshipers to a festival. In that day of the Lord’s anger no one escaped or survived. The enemy has even consumed the babes in arms! So the prayer ends as it began, with a reference to the slaughter of the innocents. This rehearsal of Judah’s tale of woe is an implied request for mercy and deliverance. The matter is left in the hands of the Lord in the firm belief that the Judge of all the earth will surely do what is right. REVIEW 1. Does this chapter reflect a bitterness toward God because He has allowed and permitted the destruction of Zion? 2. In what sense was God responsible for the calamity of 587 BC? 2:1-­‐10. 3. What is meant by the phrases daughter of Zion, glory of Israel, and his footstool? 2:1. 4. From what sources would Zion not find healing? 2:13-­‐16. 5. What is the poet encouraging his people to do in vv 17-­‐19? 6. What arguments does the prophet present in vv 20-­‐22 to influence God to aid His distressed people? 15