Articles
How lonely sits the city...
The book of Lamentations as the name suggests, is one of the most sorrowful and saddening books in the Old Testament canon. The book is placed right after Jeremiah and it would seem that its events chronologically follow the prophecies of Jeremiah. Jeremiah primarily speaks to the people of Judah concerning the tragic destruction of their beloved city of Jerusalem. It is in Lamentations that Jeremiah weeps over the disaster of what was once the booming center for all religious activity. The title above is taken from Lamentations 1:1: “How lonely sits the city That was full of people! She has become like a widow Who was once great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces Has become a forced laborer!” You don’t have to be a seasoned author to know that’s probably not to best way you’d want to start a book. The message of Lamentations is written an expressed as a dirge that Jeremiah recounts on behalf of his own people. How exactly did this once thriving nation and glorious city go from a booming economic and religious center to a place of complete desolation and disaster? I will answer this below.
Before Jerusalem became the site of Solomon’ grand temple, it was a Jebusite stronghold. In David’s day after the death of Saul, the Jebusites would not let David enter the city. David with God’s help captured the great city from the Jebusites and it was donned Zion or the city of David. Jerusalem thus became David’s stronghold during his great reign and his son Solomon would build a temple there, the likes no one had seen before. God’s presence was manifested in this temple as a sign of His intimate relationship with the people. During various Jewish feasts including the Passover, thousands upon thousands of men, women and children would travel from near and far to worship God and celebrate the feasts in Jerusalem. This now prominent city also became a socio-economic focal point that gave thousands of people their daily bread. There is no shortage of scriptures that speak of the greatness of this city including the verse listed above from Lamentations. It was a city full of people, religion and business but during the 6thcentury BC all of that would change.
If one didn’t know any better, you would not be inclined to think the city mentioned in Lamentations 1:1 and the rest of the book is Jerusalem. And maybe that’s the point. The course of this city has taken such a drastic change that it is no longer recognizable. Its decline and deterioration were exponential, and it was all due to SIN.A city that was captured by David and rose to magnificent heights, a city that stood out among the nations, a city where God once dwelt has become lonely, desolate, and destroyed. It is amazing how quickly sin can take its toll on a people and even on a nation. Jerusalem was not the only great city to face such a fate in the Old Testament. Other great cities that experienced such calamities included Samaria, Nineveh, Tyre, Sidon, Edom etc. The cause was the same in all of these places as it was in Jerusalem. The more we accept and fan the flame of our sin, the wider and more rapid the destruction will be. Jeremiah’s lament over his people and the city of David reminds us of the perils and lasting consequences of sin. Sin will always end in a devastating manner if not taken care of. If we allow sin to live on in our lives it will destroy us and everyone around us. It will leave us lonely like the great city with an intense feeling of remorse and pain. Sin will take us from the highest points and bring us low to the dust of the ground leaving us desolate and wanting. Conversely, God can take us from the miserable pits of sin and set us on high in heaven with His Son if we obey Him and love Him. In God there is nothing but blessings and life, while in sin there is nothing but pain and death. Sin may feel good in the moment, but it will cause you more hurt in the end. Let us learn from the mistakes of the great city and let us serve God fervently.
