Till We Are Home

Last week I wrote about the blazing center of hope for those who are hurting in the book of Lamentations. We hear of Jeremiah’s incredibly difficult experience watching Jerusalem and its people suffer greatly, even hearing of his own personal afflictions. The heaviness we find in this book and the images of extreme suffering are hard to work through. Yet, the Lord offers so much help to those who endure their darkest of days with words that offer understanding and hope. 

But, I don’t think Lamentations stops there.

No, instead, I think the book of Lamentations offers much, much more. 

The book of Lamentations screams not just an offer of help to those in extreme seasons of sorrow, but it screams of our need for a Savior. 

As we read through the pages of this book, we hear of a creation broken under the weight of sin. We hear of God’s people crushed by ongoing circumstances, leading them to acts they previously thought they would never do. God’s people lament of their once impenetrable city now lying in ruin and bringing with it untold vulnerability to their enemies. And, all of this screams for someone to come rescue them…someone to redeem them from the pit…someone to make things right.

Right away in chapter one, we read in verse three, “Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress.” God’s people were removed from their home and find no place to rest. What they need is the only One we find our rest and home with, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28)

Then, in verse seven of chapter one, he says, “Jerusalem remembers in the days of her affliction and wandering all the precious things that were hers from days of old.” Not only does this ring true for Jeremiah and Israel at the time, but this is the groan we all face. This world and all it contains is passing away. The good things we enjoy will fade along with all of creation. What we need is One who gives us so much more – One who brings with Him an eternal inheritance. “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,” (Eph 1:11). And, also, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,” (1 Pet 1:3-4).

Jeremiah describes their vulnerability and weakness – we feel the same, too, throughout our lives as ones who need a defender. “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Ex 14:14)

In the pages of Lamentations, Jeremiah and God’s people wallow in suffering and need some comfort from the Lord. We hear of God’s heart to bring comfort to His people in passages like Isaiah 40:1, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” Following the train of thought this passage starts with, we hear that only Jesus fulfills all that chapter 40 speaks to and that He alone is our comfort.

Lastly, Lamentations does not shy away from the truth that it was the Lord who brought about this calamity to God’s people through passages like:

“How the Lord in his anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud! He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.” (Lam 2:1)

“I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath;” (Lam 3:1)

“He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding;” (Lam 3:10)

“The Lord gave full vent to his wrath; he poured out his hot anger, and he kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations.” (Lam 4:11)

These and others testify to the Lord’s discipline of His people; of His wrathful anger poured out upon their sins. Lamentations should serve as a warning to those naked in their sin – without a protector and defender, they, too, will suffer greatly under the wrath of God. But, praise be to God that for His people we will not face the same indignation from the Lord for Jesus has already suffered all of this in our place!

“He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned — every one — to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isa 53:5-6)

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21)

“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Rom 5:9)

Oh, the depths and riches and the splendor of the glory of God we have in Jesus Christ!! He is our redeemer, He is our comforter, He is our protecter and defender…He is our Savior!! 

Lamentations is a picture of the devastating effects of our sin. God’s people felt the mighty sting of their sin on this side of heaven in a way that some still feel today to one degree or another. These are reminders to all of us that what we need most in life is not relief from our circumstances…no, what we need most is Jesus who is our Savior.

Lamentations screams of a need for a Savior, and our lives each day do too. May we listen, may we respond in repentance and faith, may we be led to the only path for help and hope and salvation. May we follow the roads to the narrow gate of Jesus Christ…

Till we are home…