The Holy Stones Lie Scattered
4:1 How the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
at the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in fine gold,
how they are regarded as earthen pots,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer the breast;
they nurse their young,
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the nursing infant sticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
the children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.
5 Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
those who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.
6 For the chastisement of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment,
and no hands were wrung for her.
7 Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
the beauty of their form was like sapphire.
8 Now their face is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.
9 Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
by lack of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of compassionate women
have boiled their own children;
they became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 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.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 This was for the sins of her prophets
and the iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.
14 They wandered, blind, through the streets;
they were so defiled with blood
that no one was able to touch
their garments.
15 “Away! Unclean!” people cried at them.
“Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
people said among the nations,
“They shall stay with us no longer.”
16 The Lord himself has scattered them;
he will regard them no more;
no honor was shown to the priests,
no favor to the elders.
17 Our eyes failed, ever watching
vainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for a nation which could not save.
18 They dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
our end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the Lord‘s anointed,
was captured in their pits,
of whom we said, “Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in the land of Uz;
but to you also the cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
22 The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;
but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins. (ESV)
wow… another intense chapter…
11 The LORD has given full vent to his wrath; he has poured out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations.
just meditating on that verse really causes you to think about God’s power… just a kindling of Gods wrath has the power to consume foundations… thinking about the tribulation when God’s full wrath will be revealed simply leaves you awestruck after reading about mothers killing their own kids, famine, and other gnarly stuff in this chapter… and it only being foretaste of what is yet to come…
WOW is right! Look how powerful our God is. His wrath is not something to be taken lightly. What a motivation for us to live holy lives and to spread the Gospel and for those of you who are teetering on the edge of the world and the church take a lesson from Lamentations.
12 The kings of the earth did not believe, nor did any of the world’s people, that enemies and foes could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
God held to His promise of blessing them when Isreal did his commands and they didnt hold His commands.
11 The LORD has given full vent to his wrath; he has poured out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations.
13 But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteous.
The Israelites had become a people who no longer followed God, and so in turn He no longer blessed them. But God is also a God of love and of mercy; He did not wipe them out without warning. He sent the prophets, many of whom warned about the coming doom if Israel did not repent. But when the Israelites decided to ignore – and even kill – these prophets, God had enough and gave full vent to His wrath, as verse 11 says. In the same way, we don’t usually fall into sin without knowing that what we are doing is wrong. But if we don’t have a fear of God’s judgement, we often refuse to repent and turn from that sin – and the consequences can be grave.
6 The punishment of my people is greater than that of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment without a hand turned to help her.
Wow, Jerusalem’s punishment was worse then Sodom!! That is so intense! Jerusalem’s punishment was dragged out instead of it being destroyed ‘in a moment,’ like Sodom was. At the destruction of Sodom, God rained sulfer and fire down on them and Jerusalem’s punishment was worse! God is so powerful and absolutely hates sin. He is perfect and holy and can’t stand it! He punished His own people worse than Sodom because of how grave their sin was.
17 Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us.
18 Men stalked us at every step, so we could not walk in our streets. Our end was near, our days were numbered, for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert.
Not only did Judah commit grievous sins against the LORD, but they turned to Egypt for an alliance and protection against Babylon. Jeremiah and Ezekiel had warned against trusting Egypt for help, but Judah didn’t listen to them. They put their trust in another country for help, instead of trusting in ther LORD.
Mike, great comment on sin!
15 “Go away! You are unclean!” men cry to them. “Away! Away! Don’t touch us!” When they flee and wander about, people among the nations say, “They can stay here no longer.”
16 The LORD himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. The priests are shown no honor, the elders no favor.
Even the so called “Holy” priests God punished. Because of their sin of killing the prophets and the righteous God punished them by taking away their so called cleansliness and their posistion as people that Judah trusted. God also scatered and dissowned His chosen servants and took away all their respect and honor that the people had for them. All of this shows that God gives the leaders of the church tons of responsiblity and respect, so when they do mess up and go against His will He not only punishes them, but the people they were leading also. So next time we are in are leadership posistion lets remeber that our sin will most deffenitely affect those we are leading, and that God will punish us, and sadly them, severly for it.
22 O Daughter of Zion, your punishment will end; he will not prolong your exile. But, O Daughter of Edom, he will punish your sin and expose your wickedness.
God’s perfect justice sometimes surprises us. We wonder why the all powerful God of the universe who’s nature is love and compassion can bring such devastation, even today. If you look at the truth you will find out that these people deserved this punishment. Just as Mike said, God sent several prophets to warn them of their fate if they did not return to Him. I can’t help wondering why the Indians were pushed out of their home, or the Aztecs and Incas were devastated out of existence. I think it may have had something to do with their ungodliness. If there is something important we can get out of this, it is to fear God and obey his commands.
10 With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed.
This verse really stuck out to me. It shows how horible it was for the Israelites after God pored out his wrath on them…parents were eating their kids. We should be hating sin as much as the Lord does, and as shown that is a very lot!
I know David! That verse struck me as well. Imagine the horrible conditions for the Israelites after God struck out with his wrath! This should be a great motivation and example to hate sin with everything we have, and turn toward the Lord to live blameless lives!
17 Moreover, our eyes failed, looking in vain for help; from our towers we watched for a nation that could not save us.
This verse really stood out to me. As Haley already mentioned, Judah was so sinful in how it turned to an earthly power for its help when pursued by its enemies. I feel like this is a truth that can apply to our lives today.
When times are tough, where do we turn? Do we trust what the world says brings security such as wealth or plans or do we trust in the Lord. I pray that we do not repeat Judah’s sin of trusting in the world instead of trusting in the creator of the world!
Oh and another new blog : )
Wow like everyone is say this is pretty intense!!
From reading this i have no doubt that when i sin i will be punished…Knowing that makes me want to totally steer clear from sin. We need to watch what we do and stay obedient to our Lord!!
16 The LORD himself has scattered them; he no longer watches over them. The priests are shown no honor, the elders no favor.
Mike already mentioned this verse but the first part stuck out at me so much! “he no longer watches over them.” WOW that is intense. I would hate to not have the Lord on my side. especially after how powerful as He is; He is one enemy i couldnt stand to be against. the punishment is greater than the fire that struck down Sodom and Gommarah, that is pretty crazy as said before. we should always try and please the Lord.
22 O Daughter of Zion, your punishment will end; he will not prolong your exile. But, O Daughter of Edom, he will punish your sin and expose your wickedness.
This whole chapter reminded me that no matter what trial we may go through or no matter what obstacle we may face, God will always be there for us fighting our battles whether we fight against Him, or with Him. God will punish you for any wrong you do but if an enemy does wrong against you, then He will be judged for that on the day of judgement. God will always be on your side but if your going against His wishes it’s going to be a bumpy ride for you! Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. Know that your trials will end someday. :)
I liked what Spencer said. We are all sinners. We have been warned. We do deserve punishment and we should fear God and see the warnings
20 The LORD’s anointed, our very life breath, was caught in their traps. We thought that under his shadow we would live among the nations.
21 Rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. But to you also the cup will be passed; you will be drunk and stripped naked.
God poured His vengeance on His own chosen people, then what chance do we have of denying Him and not being punished? We can look at examples like this and say wow that’s intense, but we could also take heed and make sure that our lives are pleasing to God and beg everyone else to be reconciled with Him. Its hard to believe people can choose pleasure now over salvation. But really they probably don’t think they’ll get punished, and we need to be willing to give everything we have to convince them otherwise.
11 The LORD has given full vent to his wrath; he has poured out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed her foundations.
WoW. itmakes you think what the end times are gonna be like
Its really intense to think of, really, how powerful God can be…well, how powerful God is.we find ourselves continuously saying “God is so powerful” “God is so wonderful” then we immediatley turn around and sin, and forget what happened to all of the sinful people in the past(to the israelites etc), and how blessed we are to have such a gracious God as to let His son die on a cross for us.Just thinking of that makes me want to get down on my knees and completely ask God for forgivness right after i sin, then completely turn away from that sin and praise God for the opportunity to be forgiven.We 100% completely and totally deserve hell.that really gets to me when i think about it…we need to fear God and i agree with david, in that, we need to hate sin as much as God does, and live blameless lives.and as daniel said, it does make you think about what the end times will be like, which is why we need to get out and spread Gods word because as it says in hebrews, the final days are approaching……the end:)
…wait im actually not done!
1 How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at the head of every street.
2 How the precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert.
4 Because of thirst the infant’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth; the children beg for bread, but no one gives it to them.
5 Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets. Those nurtured in purple now lie on ash heaps.
OK!
verse numero uno: the gems symbolize Gods chosen people and how they change and it shows contrast.
verse numero cinco: purple symbolizes royalty( go to genesis 49:20) it talks about how the ashers farmland will become plentiful.
the other three verses are like one and five.to me they show how sin overcomes and changes people and it makes me think back to adam and eve.one sin changed the rest of man kind.imagine how one sin we have done or will do can change and effect the rest of our lives….that makes me want to live a pure and blameless life.
ok, now im done:)
WOW THAT WAS LONG!^^^^^
Wow wow wow! This whole chapter is so powerful. It lets us know that every single person out there is a sinner. It also really shows us how much God hates sin. Like some of you said, this should motivate us to really try and be more godly. We should glorify God through our lives, not the world. I need to completely rid the sin from my life as best I can.
6 The punishment of my people is greater than that of Sodom
This verse is so scary because God’s rath is going to be so hard on us because we say we are christians so we need to live like God and if we don’t and say we do we are going to have a horrible punishment. So we should be trying to be more godly everyday.