WEEKLY SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

An international Sunday school lesson commentary

For Sunday April 25, 2021

 

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THE NATION’S PLEA

(Prayer for restoration)

(Lamentation 5)

 

   The prophet Jeremiah probably penned the book of Lamentations in a time period that was sandwiched between the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in 586 B.C., and the time he himself was taken into Egypt following the death of Gedaliah, who had been appointed Governor over the people who had been left in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, circa 583 B.C.

    The name, “Lamentations”, finds its origin in “the Septuagint” where the name is translated from the Greek word “Trenoi”, which means “dirges”, or “laments”, and from the Latin “Vulgate” (the first Latin translation of the Bible), where it translates, “threni”. These terms were chosen because they best describe the contents of this “poetic” rendering by Jeremiah, who became known as “the weeping prophet”, and the translators of the English Bible followed suit.

    The first four chapters of the book of Lamentations are all written in “acrostics”. This means that each verse begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in consecutive order. For example, in English this would be like beginning the first verse with an “A”, the second verse with a “B”, and so on.

    There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabets, and thus there are 22 verses in chapters 1, 2, and 4 of Lamentations. Chapter 3, however, while still being written in acrostics, is a little bit different in that it contains three times as many verses as the other chapters (66 verses), and thus the acrostic pattern, or format, appears 3 times.

    The book of Lamentations is a mournful postscript to the book of Jeremiah, and through the use of five “dirges”, or, “funeral songs”, Jeremiah grieves over the painful effects of GOD’s judgment on Jerusalem because of her sins against HIM. It is a grim reminder of how sin, as exciting and alluring as it can be, does carry with it, a heavy weight of grief, sorrow, and pain.

    During this time in Israel’s history, there was an ever-tightening grip by the Babylonian army on Judah, as Nebuchadnezzar progressively laid siege on its capital city of Jerusalem. As the southern kingdom of Israel began to unravel, even the help of her unlikely ally, Egypt, could not save her from destruction. The long siege on Judah (2 years) had taken its toll, and now, it was a common sight to see starving mothers cooking and eating their own children to survive. And strangely, even now the practice of idolatry continued to flourish, and the wayward people of Israel sought after any and every god they knew, seeking their deliverance.

    The book of Lamentations also bears a striking relationship to Deuteronomy 28, as Jeremiah seems to be attempting to show Israel the fulfillment of the curses that were laid out by Moses some 850 years earlier. Here in this period of Lamentations, GOD is faithful in carrying out those curses.

    Ironically, the same characteristics that are shared in Deuteronomy 28, also makes this book of Lamentations, “a book of hope”, because the same covenant that promises “judgment for disobedience”, also promises “restoration for repent”.

    Here in Lamentations 5, the acrostic format is abandoned, even though it, like chapters 1, 2, and 4 also has 22 verses. This discontinuation of the acrostic pattern is probably no accident as Jeremiah may have been seeking to mimic the ebbing fortunes of the people of Judah, who, by now, were on the very verge of destruction, and their cries to GOD would bring them no further help.

    However, Jeremiah continues to use characteristic Hebrew repetition, piling on synonyms to emphasize his point. Here he strives to give a full account of the pain that Israel would feel because of their continued disobedience to GOD. It is “a prayer for restoration” from Jeremiah that would be answered because GOD is faithful, and not because the people of Judah were faithful.

    The prayer itself is composed of two sections, each of which summarizes the response that the remnant of Judah needed to have. The first section is a call for GOD to remember the condition that the people had gotten themselves into by way of their disobedience (Vs.1-18). This section also includes a confession of their sins against GOD. The second, smaller section, calls for GOD to restore HIS wayward people back into a relationship of friendship with HIM (Vs.19-22). It is a call to restore, both, the land of Israel, and GOD’s Covenant with Israel.

    Over in the book of Ezekiel, in chapter 4, verse 6, GOD tells HIS prophet, Ezekiel, in HIS warning of the coming siege of Jerusalem by Babylon, to lay on his right side for 40 days to symbolize one day for each year that Judah indulged in idolatry against HIM, while all the time, ignoring HIS messages through the prophet Jeremiah, during his final 40 years of Judah’s existence, prior to Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion.

    GOD never has to be reminded of our troubles and pains that come as a result of our disobedience to HIM. HE HIMSELF, through those troubles and pains, is reminding us of what the results from our sinful choices must entail. And GOD remains the same forever, for HE has no reason to change. Perfection never needs to change. It is us, the imperfect, who need to fall in line with the LORD’s Will, and HIS ways. And when we do, unlike us, GOD is faithful to do what HE says HE will do to restore us, and deliver us, into salvation.

          

A Sunday school lesson by,

Larry D. Alexander

 

 

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