Lamentations 2:11-22
11 My eyes fail with tears,
My heart is troubled;
My bile is poured on the ground
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
Because the children and the infants
Faint in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers,
"Where is grain and wine?"
As they swoon like the wounded
In the streets of the city,
As their life is poured out
In their mothers' bosom.
13 How shall I console you?
To what shall I liken you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is spread wide as the sea;
Who can heal you?
14 Your prophets have seen for you
False and deceptive visions;
They have not uncovered your iniquity,
To bring back your captives,
But have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.
15 All who pass by clap their hands at you;
They hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
"Is this the city that is called
The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth'?"
16 All your enemies have opened their mouth against you;
They hiss and gnash their teeth.
They say, "We have swallowed her up!
Surely this is the day we have waited for;
We have found it, we have seen it!"
17 The LORD has done what He purposed;
He has fulfilled His word
Which He commanded in days of old.
He has thrown down and has not pitied,
And He has caused an enemy to rejoice over you;
He has exalted the horn of your adversaries.
18 Their heart cried out to the Lord,
"O wall of the daughter of Zion,
Let tears run down like a river day and night;
Give yourself no relief;
Give your eyes no rest.
19 "Arise, cry out in the night,
At the beginning of the watches;
Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.
Lift your hands toward Him
For the life of your young children,
Who faint from hunger at the head of every street."
20 "See, O LORD, and consider!
To whom have You done this?
Should the women eat their offspring,
The children they have cuddled?
Should the priest and prophet be slain
In the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 "Young and old lie
On the ground in the streets;
My virgins and my young men
Have fallen by the sword;
You have slain them in the day of Your anger,
You have slaughtered and not pitied.
22 "You have invited as to a feast day
The terrors that surround me.
In the day of the LORD's anger
There was no refugee or survivor.
Those whom I have borne and brought up
My enemies have destroyed."
This half of the chapter shows God’s sorrow through the tears of Jeremiah for His people. The prophet was sick to his stomach and extremely troubled inside over their demise due to their unrepentant sin. As their lives were poured out in the open streets God’s compassion was poured on them through the heart and message of Jeremiah who desired to comfort and console the broken in heart. But healing seemed out of reach because they had listened to false teachers promising health and wealth instead of accountability for their idolatry and immortality. Even today we see these same type of false teachers who peddle false prophecies and delusions over the truth of God’s design for us of holiness and righteousness through repentance and faith according to his word. God’s people then were mocked at their fall from grace and badly talked about openly. That is the result of not living by God’s word while resting on their laurels of being the chosen people. God was not and is not so mocked by our self righteousness but looks for the humble heart to trust in His righteousness and walk in holiness as we were called to in Christ and as Israel was called to in the spirit of the Law (John 4:24) given to teach them reliance on Him in all things (Galatians 3:23-24). The nation chosen did not individually choose to trust and obey from their hearts and therefore God fulfilled His word to judge them according to his word given many times with that warning. This warning of living by doing the letter of the Law was to teach them and us to trust the LORD in faith to live by His word because it would be impossible to keep every letter of the Law to perfection; only God Himself can do that, and that living Word is Christ Jesus (John 1:1, 14). That is how worshiping in spirit and truth with humility and reliance on God was to be understood. They did not yet grasp this and suffered defeat at the hands of their enemies. Yes, they were told to seek God’s grace in seeking Him as verse 19 says, pouring out their hearts to Him. Jeremiah did not quite understand either and asked why the people had to suffer so greatly as without pity, even though he had brought them the message of accountability to judgment for their rejection and lack of repentance to life (Acts 11:18). God had invited disaster on them as a nation that each might understand and repent instead of being overtaken by the enemy. It seemed quite hopeless until we read further. Also as Ezekiel 33:11 and 2 Peter 3:9 explain to us, it is not God’s desire for us to face judgment but to find life in forgiving grace in Him and not our own vain efforts. There is such hope as Romans 15:4 reminds us daily.
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