August 26 - Lamentations 4-5: Judah Returns Control to God

Today’s Reading: Lamentations 4-5

The Message

English Standard Version

If you have a paper schedule, we deviated a little by reading all of chapter 3 yesterday. Lamentations brings us to 29 books read! Only 10 more to go in the Old Testament!

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Jeremiah understands the source of their plight—disobedience.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Oh, oh, oh …
God's prized people are now cheap, broken pottery. Our mistakes have brought us misery. Better to die in battle than this slow, agonizing death by starvation. Prophets once exploiting Judah were ridden out of town. God ignores them.
Gloat, you godless nations, but you'll soon be like us! Our exile is behind us, yours is ahead.
Remember, God, what we've been through. We are orphans and slaves because of our parents' sins. Everyone dishonored, music gone, and wisdom missing we wish we had never left You! God, why have You left us? We're ready to return!

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

Israel has hit bottom.

(Repeat of yesterday's thought)
Israel's and Judah's rebellions became such a stench before God that He had to act. First Israel went into exile then Judah followed. Jeremiah was present for the second and had a front-row seat. Now he lives in the remains of a once-proud city. God's Chosen People are not immune to God's Wrath. As horrifying as it may seem, God's Anger does not come lightly nor stay forever.

Judah has learned her lesson about deceiving prophets.

Judah once tried to kill Jeremiah for speaking against the Temple. Finally they turned their anger toward the ones who put Judah in exile. They rejected their message, rode them out of town on a rail, and marked them as against God. Eventually the people who obey false prophets to their own destruction will reject the false prophets.

Judah repents of leaving God.

In the very beginning I defined sin as taking control over God. Repenting, then, is just the opposite—returning control back to God. When Judah saw the cause of their great pain and anguish, they relinquished control and returned to God. When you are caught in a hard place, return control to God.

Have you decided to return control to God?


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