If I were the prophet Jeremiah, this is how I might start the book of Lamentations: “I told you so!” For over forty years, Jeremiah warned the nation of Judah that if they did not repent of their ways, God was going to send a nation from the north to destroy them. Nobody listened. King Zedekiah’s official prophet proclaimed the exile would only last two years and all would be restored. Jeremiah confronted him and predicted seventy years and complete destruction of Jerusalem. Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and in response, the Babylonians tore down and set fire to the entire city of Jerusalem, including the Temple. Imagine it’s 586 BC, and Jeremiah sits among the rubble that once was Jerusalem and grieves. He writes five poems of lament that were collected and put into one scroll. The Jews called it “How”, the first word in the Hebrew text: “How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!” Today’s episode takes us down Route 66 to Afton, OK, a city that now lies nearly desolate, and into the book of Lamentations, Jeremiah’s grieving over Jerusalem. The links to both today’s episode, and the longer video on Lamentations are below.
Here’s today’s video:
Here’s the link to the teaching on Lamentations:
PS – The attached painting is by Rembrandt of Jeremiah grieving.