The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity
2:1 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.
2 The Lord has swallowed up without mercy
all the habitations of Jacob;
in his wrath he has broken down
the strongholds of the daughter of Judah;
he has brought down to the ground in dishonor
the kingdom and its rulers.
3 He has cut down in fierce anger
all the might of Israel;
he has withdrawn from them his right hand
in the face of the enemy;
he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob,
consuming all around.
4 He has bent his bow like an enemy,
with his right hand set like a foe;
and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes
in the tent of the daughter of Zion;
he has poured out his fury like fire.
5 The Lord has become like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel;
he has swallowed up all its palaces;
he has laid in ruins its strongholds,
and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah
mourning and lamentation.
6 He has laid waste his booth like a garden,
laid in ruins his meeting place;
the Lord has made Zion forget
festival and Sabbath,
and in his fierce indignation has spurned king and priest.
7 The Lord has scorned his altar,
disowned his sanctuary;
he has delivered into the hand of the enemy
the walls of her palaces;
they raised a clamor in the house of the Lord
as on the day of festival.
8 The Lord determined to lay in ruins
the wall of the daughter of Zion;
he stretched out the measuring line;
he did not restrain his hand from destroying;
he caused rampart and wall to lament;
they languished together.
9 Her gates have sunk into the ground;
he has ruined and broken her bars;
her king and princes are among the nations;
the law is no more,
and her prophets find
no vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they have thrown dust on their heads
and put on sackcloth;
the young women of Jerusalem
have bowed their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes are spent with weeping;
my stomach churns;
my bile is poured out to the ground
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people,
because infants and babies faint
in the streets of the city.
12 They cry to their mothers,
“Where is bread and wine?”
as they faint like a wounded man
in the streets of the city,
as their life is poured out
on their mothers’ bosom.
13 What can I say for you, to what compare you,
O daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,
O virgin daughter of Zion?
For your ruin is vast as the sea;
who can heal you?
14 Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen for you oracles
that are false and misleading.
15 All who pass along the way
clap their hands at you;
they hiss and wag their heads
at the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,
the joy of all the earth?”
16 All your enemies
rail against you;
they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We have swallowed her!
Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; we see it!”
17 The Lord has done what he purposed;
he has carried out his word,
which he commanded long ago;
he has thrown down without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you
and exalted the might of your foes.
18 Their heart cried to the Lord.
O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let tears stream down like a torrent
day and night!
Give yourself no rest,
your eyes no respite!
19 “Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the night watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.”
20 Look, O Lord, and see!
With whom have you dealt thus?
Should women eat the fruit of their womb,
the children of their tender care?
Should priest and prophet be killed
in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 In the dust of the streets
lie the young and the old;
my young women and my young men
have fallen by the sword;
you have killed them in the day of your anger,
slaughtering without pity.
22 You summoned as if to a festival day
my terrors on every side,
and on the day of the anger of the Lord
no one escaped or survived;
those whom I held and raised
my enemy destroyed. (ESV)
Wow, words cannot express the power of this chapter. How powerful, awesome and mighty is our God and how extremely detestable are our sins before Him! Oh that the Lord would give us all a better understand and knowledge of Him so that we may live in great fear of God and his EPIC wrath, power and burning anger against sin! This mind set will be a mighty weapon in the war against sin in all of our lives!
Oh and a new short blog is up, so check it out :)
17 The LORD has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, he has let the enemy gloat over you, he has exalted the horn of your foes.
Like Matt said, this chapter is a very powerful description of God’s wrath against sin. God promised to bless Israel as long as they stayed faithful to Him, but they turned away and worshipped other gods and lived for their sin. Therefore, God allowed to happen what he told them he would do if they turned their backs on Him. God is a God of justice, and He cannot let sin go unpunished. And if we live a lifestyle of rejecting God like the Israelites, we will be subject to God’s wrath as well. This chapter should instill in us a fear of the LORD that will be an invaluable tool in staying on God’s path and fighting the sin in our lives.
17 The LORD has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago.
Like both Mike and Matt said this chapter is so intense…I think I could sit and meditate on this for days and still not be able to comprehend the detest God has towards sin and the wrath that He pours out on it. God is immutable! He is always faithful. He never changes His plans. He is just and righteous in his judgments. The nation of Israel had turned their backs to a Holy God and because of that they faced the consequences of their sin.
What an example we have here…we can learn so much from the sins of those before us. If we do not live a life that honors a holy God and we do not come to repentance and faith in Him we too will experience the wrath of God. But there is encouragement for those who have placed their trust in the Lord…we are no longer His enemy because God made His own Son His enemy!! Zephaniah 3 speaks so beautifully of this I encourage you to read and ponder the words in this powerful passage…
Zephaniah 3:11
“On that day you will not be put to shame
for all the wrongs you have done to me,
because I will remove from this city
those who rejoice in their pride.
Never again will you be haughty
on my holy hill.”
May we fear our God and if we are true disciples live a life that reflects that!!!!
***NEW BLOG***
July 23 – Scripture of the Day
Lamentations 2
21 “Young and old lie together in the dust of the streets; my young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered them without pity.
This verse reminds me of the book of Revelation. How the rath of the Lord will not spare those who have chosen a sinfull life. Woe to those who don’t know God and his prophecy in His word.
20 “Look, O LORD, and consider: Whom have you ever treated like this? Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?
The seige of Judah lasted 18 months, and during this time all the farms and vineyards were destroyed and food trade was cut off by the Babylonian army. Becasue of this, women resorted to eating there own children becasue the starvation was so prevalent. Let this be a powerful warning to us that God’s wrath is complete and he can not tollerate any sin. Like Vanessa said though, Jesus became the object of God’s wrath and therefore took the punishment for us; His glorious name deffenitely deserves to be praised for eternity! 2Corinthians 5:21 explains this amazing truth perfectly.
Wow, just wow. This Chapter is the kind of thing that lets you know that God isn’t all sunshine and rainbows but that he is vengeful. This is what people who say God is only a loving God need to hear. We need to know God’s wrath and fear
Him and only Him.
Like everyone else said… Wow! This chapter is amazingly powerful. I really like what Austin said. This chapter helps us know that God is not only loving, but so many other things too. The fear of God and His power is so important to every person. I really need to share this passage with my friends; one in particular.
Prayer Request: I’ve been witnessing to my friend Summer for quite a while now and she just doesn’t get it. Pray that God will soften her heart and give me the right words to say to her when I see her this week. Thanx!
Wow, God is so powerful! He hates sin. Like Vanessa said, I don’t think I could comprehend how much He detests it and the wrath He poures out on it! What an example is this chapter on the LORD’s power and hate for sin! This should definitely instill fear of the LORD and make us want to fight sin all the more!!
New Blog :)
17 The LORD has done what he planned; he has fulfilled his word, which he decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, he has let the enemy gloat over you, he has exalted the horn of your foes.
God predicted in past passages the destruction of Isreal. He had shown them many signs of the days that were coming and yet they had chosen to ignore them. His plan had finally been fufilled. The Isrealites didn’t listen to God and what He commanded them to do and they had fallen astray. They no longer were with God and Jerusalem is still being fought over just as God has planned it. The destruction in this chapter really shows us how much He hates sin and how much He loves righteousness. :)
And I’ll be praying for Summer! :)
14 The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The oracles they gave you were false and misleading.
Sin is detestable and God is greatly to be feared. Yet even when prophets sent by God warn Judah of the imminent destruction, Israel does not turn from its sin. Instead they deceived themselves into believing they would be all right. Deception can come from a lot of places, but it starts with ourselves. We need to beware putting off repenting of a certain sin or delaying good deeds, or filling our mind with all kinds of other things and think we can get back to God later, because even if we have been saved and will not go to Hell, we will be continuing to fester in sin and drift farther and farther from God. We need to pray that God gives us a sense of disgust for sin like He has and a healthy fear of Him that will motivate us to run from sin at first sight.
Thanx!
I completely agree with Haley Litz! It really is amazing how mighty and powerful God is, and to see how much he hates sin!
The Lord did what he had to do. He had to punish the people because they disowned His commands and didn’t turn to Him. And He had no pity what so ever.
21 “Young and old lie together in the dust of the streets; my young men and maidens have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of your anger; you have slaughtered them without pity.
What I see here in this chapter is that God absolutely hates sin and any Christian should know that. This is why I fear the Lord, because when I die and go get judged, God will be going through every little thing that I did that was sin and he will be judging me. That will be really scary to go through, so it is a good thing to be saved.
Wow! Vanessa and Haley you preach it girls!!! No fair, You girls totally took the words out of my mouth!! God hates sin sooooooo muchh!!! All the more reason for us to fight it!!
Mmmm Nicely put Austin! We need to fear the Lord and the Lord only!!!! Thats a great motivation for evangelism and living for the Lord 24/7!!!
i agree with everyone who is commenting on the wrath of God… its humbling knowing how small and insignificant we are compared to God’s power…
Wooah. God’s wrath is truley something to fear…we should keep this in mind when we have a choice between the world’s way or God’s way
This was super in/\ if you know what I mean. Like everyone has been saying God’s wrath against sin is well ya wrathful (if that is a word). This kinda got me thinking of somthing that was a little different…but I have been listening to a song by Jon Foreman a lot latly that is taken from isiah 1, called instead of a show, and it talks about God hating all of the Israilites fake festifals and basicly fake worship. This chapter got me thinking about how God hates sin and if we are living are lives in a fully sold out for him mannor than things like worship are just a show and I don’t want God’s wrath apon me and my sin.
1 How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of his anger ! He has hurled down the splendor of Israel from heaven to earth; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.
God is to be feared!!! God is a God of love….but he is also a mighty warrior!!! We cant ignore this image of Him, because God is to be feared!! most people veiw Him as a loving, friendly guy but they also tend to ignore the fact that he is also coming to judge!! We should prepare ourselves for the day of judgement!!!