articlesforchristians

Author

• Jeremiah the weeping prophet

Date

• 587 B.C.

Theme

• The sorrow and suffering as a result of the consequences of sin.

Purpose

• A poetic expression of the sorrow and suffering that occurs as a result of disobedience and the promise of God’s salvation and deliverance.
• Lamentations 3:22-26(NKJV)
  22 Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail no
  23 They are new every morning Great is Your faithfulness.
  24 The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”
  25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.
  26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD.

Content

• 5 poems
• Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5 each contain 22 verses, each verse corresponds with the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet
• Jerusalem’s destruction Lamentations 1:1-22
  • Lamentations 1:1(NKJV) How lonely sits the city That was full of people! How like a widow is she, Who was great among the nations! The princess among the provinces Has become a slave!
• God’s anger and search for comfort Lamentations 2:1-22
  • Lamentations 2:1(NKJV) How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion With a cloud in His anger! He cast down from heaven to the earth The beauty of Israel, And did not remember His footstool In the day of His anger.
• Suffering and hope in God Lamentations 3:1-66
• Lamentations 3:19-23(NKJV) Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers And sinks within me. This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
• The old glory of Jerusalem Lamentations 4:1-22
• Lamentations 4:1(NKJV) How the gold has become dim! How changed the fine gold! The stones of the sanctuary are scattered at the head of every street.
• God’s mercy Lamentations 5:1-22
  • Lamentations 5:1(NKJV) Remember, O LORD, what has come upon us; Look, and behold our reproach!

Christ in the Book of Lamentations

• Lamentations 3:58(NKJV) O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life.
• Christ redeems us from the curse of the law