WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.030 --> 00:00:02.880 Henry: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience. 00:00:02.990 --> 00:00:04.120 Day two hundred and 90. 00:00:04.560 --> 00:00:06.570 Immersed in Lamentations. 00:00:08.790 --> 00:00:16.560 In 587 bc the city of Jerusalem was attacked and overrun by the Babylonians. 00:00:17.430 --> 00:00:23.040 The great temple of Solomon was utterly destroyed, and most of the population 00:00:23.040 --> 00:00:25.410 was either killed or taken captive. 00:00:26.145 --> 00:00:29.415 A few poor stragglers were left behind in the rubble. 00:00:29.985 --> 00:00:34.785 It was an event that shook the people of God to their core because their 00:00:34.785 --> 00:00:37.095 suffering and loss was immense. 00:00:37.785 --> 00:00:42.135 But the disaster also raised larger questions about God's 00:00:42.135 --> 00:00:46.635 relationship to his people and the future of their story together. 00:00:47.415 --> 00:00:53.505 If God's people are now scattered and God's chosen place of worship demolished. 00:00:54.195 --> 00:00:57.045 How can his work in the world go forward? 00:00:58.125 --> 00:01:02.745 The Book of Lamentations speaks to the experience of God's people while 00:01:02.745 --> 00:01:05.085 still in the midst of deep suffering. 00:01:05.745 --> 00:01:11.175 In contrast to many laments in Psalms that conclude with Words of Hope or 00:01:11.175 --> 00:01:16.275 Thanksgiving, it's five poems are set in what's left of the city of 00:01:16.275 --> 00:01:18.945 Jerusalem after its destruction. 00:01:19.770 --> 00:01:24.060 Tradition identifies the prophet Jeremiah as the author of these poems. 00:01:24.570 --> 00:01:29.520 Though the book itself does not identify who wrote them, God's enemies have 00:01:29.520 --> 00:01:35.370 triumphed over God's people who are now suffering atrocities and deprivations 00:01:35.375 --> 00:01:37.260 that can barely be described. 00:01:37.890 --> 00:01:41.940 All of this raises serious questions about God himself. 00:01:42.630 --> 00:01:48.750 Where is the God known in Psalms as our refuge and strength always 00:01:48.750 --> 00:01:51.000 ready to help in times of trouble? 00:01:52.260 --> 00:01:56.070 The subject matter is so difficult to handle that the palms and 00:01:56.070 --> 00:02:00.150 lamentations are among the most tightly arranged in the Bible. 00:02:01.050 --> 00:02:06.450 It's as if only an orderly structure can hold the sorrow, doubt, and 00:02:06.450 --> 00:02:10.830 despair together long enough to be offered to God as a desperate prayer. 00:02:11.775 --> 00:02:16.245 Most of these poems are acrostics, meaning that their stanzas 00:02:16.245 --> 00:02:20.535 begin with the 22 consecutive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. 00:02:21.375 --> 00:02:26.415 The stanzas have three lines each, and in the third poem, each individual 00:02:26.415 --> 00:02:31.305 line begins with the same letter as the pattern tightens to the extreme. 00:02:32.205 --> 00:02:34.785 But after that, the pattern doesn't hold together. 00:02:35.955 --> 00:02:41.295 The fourth poem has two line stanzas with the acrostic sequence followed 00:02:41.295 --> 00:02:43.875 only in the first line of each stanza. 00:02:44.805 --> 00:02:50.985 And the final poem consists of 22 single lines from which the acrostic pattern 00:02:50.985 --> 00:02:57.375 disappears completely as if the power of the poet to speak order into the situation 00:02:57.465 --> 00:03:03.345 fades in the face of its enormity, and the only remaining response is silence. 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:10.230 But deep in the heart of Lamentations, the seed of something new is planted. 00:03:10.710 --> 00:03:13.680 Something that speaks of hope and renewal. 00:03:14.160 --> 00:03:16.290 Even in the face of utter loss. 00:03:17.160 --> 00:03:21.240 The five songs are all laments, that unrelentingly recount 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:22.800 the details of the disaster. 00:03:23.730 --> 00:03:28.140 But right in the center of the central song, we find words of hope. 00:03:28.845 --> 00:03:34.785 And as yet unseen, faithfulness, and an as yet unknown compassion. 00:03:35.715 --> 00:03:37.935 No one is abandoned forever. 00:03:38.025 --> 00:03:42.975 It says, for God will show his mercy and unfailing love. 00:03:44.235 --> 00:03:50.595 We need these hard words of pain and unimaginable suffering in our Bible, words 00:03:50.595 --> 00:03:53.595 that we choke on and can barely speak. 00:03:54.135 --> 00:03:56.385 Words that drift off into silence. 00:03:57.300 --> 00:04:01.590 This confirms that the scriptures confront the most difficult realities 00:04:01.590 --> 00:04:07.860 we know, but we are also offered words of a deeper hope, an enduring 00:04:07.860 --> 00:04:12.690 faith by which we ultimately throw ourselves completely on God himself. 00:04:13.875 --> 00:04:18.645 In this broken world, we have not yet seen these words come to their 00:04:18.645 --> 00:04:23.115 complete fruition, but we are looking for the coming of something 00:04:23.115 --> 00:04:25.875 new, something as yet unknown. 00:04:27.075 --> 00:04:29.625 The restoration of all things. 00:04:35.425 --> 00:04:37.005 The Book of Lamentations, 00:04:39.465 --> 00:04:42.735 Jerusalem wants so full of people. 00:04:43.335 --> 00:04:44.445 Is now deserted. 00:04:45.465 --> 00:04:49.815 She who was once great among the nations now sits alone like a widow. 00:04:50.655 --> 00:04:53.955 Once the queen of all the earth, she is now a slave. 00:04:55.125 --> 00:04:59.025 She sobs through the night, tears dream down her cheeks. 00:04:59.565 --> 00:05:02.745 Among all her lovers, there is no one left to comfort her. 00:05:03.375 --> 00:05:06.705 All her friends have betrayed her and become her enemies. 00:05:07.605 --> 00:05:11.715 Judah has been led away into captivity, oppressed with cruel slavery. 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:15.930 She lives among foreign nations and has no place of rest. 00:05:16.440 --> 00:05:20.160 Her enemies have chased her down and she has nowhere to turn. 00:05:20.910 --> 00:05:24.630 The roads to Jerusalem are in mourning for crowds no longer 00:05:24.635 --> 00:05:26.280 come to celebrate the festivals. 00:05:26.820 --> 00:05:28.440 The city gates are silent. 00:05:28.620 --> 00:05:30.150 Her priests groan. 00:05:30.510 --> 00:05:32.250 Her young women are crying. 00:05:32.850 --> 00:05:34.440 How bitter is her fate? 00:05:35.340 --> 00:05:39.480 Her oppressors have become her masters and her enemies prosper. 00:05:40.050 --> 00:05:43.230 For the Lord has punished Jerusalem for her many sins. 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:47.130 Her children have been captured and taken away to distant lands. 00:05:47.880 --> 00:05:51.870 All the majesty of beautiful Jerusalem has been stripped away. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:56.040 Her princes are like starving deers searching for pasture. 00:05:56.430 --> 00:05:58.980 They're too weak to run from the pursuing enemy. 00:05:59.850 --> 00:06:04.830 In the midst of her sadness and wandering, Jerusalem remembers her ancient splendor, 00:06:05.580 --> 00:06:07.890 but now she has fallen to her enemy. 00:06:08.430 --> 00:06:09.840 There is no one to help her. 00:06:10.410 --> 00:06:14.130 Her enemy struck her down and laughed as she fell. 00:06:14.970 --> 00:06:19.740 Jerusalem has sinned greatly, so she has been tossed away like a filthy rag. 00:06:20.460 --> 00:06:24.660 All who once honored her, now despise her for they have seen 00:06:24.665 --> 00:06:26.940 her stripped naked and humiliated. 00:06:27.780 --> 00:06:30.870 All she can do is groan and hide her face. 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:36.330 She defiled herself with immorality and gave no thought to her future. 00:06:36.990 --> 00:06:40.020 Now she lies in the gutter with no one to lift her out. 00:06:40.740 --> 00:06:42.570 Lord, see my misery. 00:06:42.630 --> 00:06:43.410 She cries. 00:06:43.800 --> 00:06:45.240 The enemy has triumphed. 00:06:45.870 --> 00:06:47.640 The enemy has plundered her completely. 00:06:47.970 --> 00:06:50.040 Taking every precious thing she owns. 00:06:50.640 --> 00:06:53.610 She has seen foreigners violate her sacred temple. 00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:57.630 The place the Lord had forbidden them to enter her. 00:06:57.630 --> 00:06:59.790 People grown as they search for bread. 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:03.060 They have sold their treasures for food to stay alive. 00:07:03.960 --> 00:07:11.040 Oh Lord, look, she mourns and see how I am Despised does it mean nothing to you? 00:07:11.220 --> 00:07:16.050 All you who pass by, look around and see if there is any suffering like 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:20.250 mine, which the Lord brought on me when he erupted in fierce anger. 00:07:20.670 --> 00:07:23.730 He has sent fire from heaven that burns in my bones. 00:07:24.150 --> 00:07:27.390 He has placed a trap in my path and turned me back. 00:07:27.660 --> 00:07:31.950 He has left me devastated, wracked with sickness all day long. 00:07:32.400 --> 00:07:36.840 He wove my sins into ropes to hitch me to a yoke of captivity. 00:07:37.410 --> 00:07:41.100 The Lord sapped my strength and turned me over to my enemies. 00:07:41.490 --> 00:07:43.110 I am helpless in their hands. 00:07:43.860 --> 00:07:48.090 The Lord has treated my mighty men with contempt at his command. 00:07:48.270 --> 00:07:51.000 A great army has come to crush my young warriors. 00:07:51.510 --> 00:07:55.590 The Lord has trampled his beloved city, like grapes are trampled in 00:07:55.590 --> 00:07:58.470 a wine press for all these things. 00:07:58.470 --> 00:08:01.830 I weep, tears flow down my cheeks. 00:08:02.490 --> 00:08:04.140 No one is here to comfort me. 00:08:04.740 --> 00:08:07.140 Any who might encourage me are far away. 00:08:07.590 --> 00:08:09.300 My children have no future. 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:11.250 For the enemy has conquered us. 00:08:12.420 --> 00:08:17.490 Jerusalem reaches out for help, but no one comforts her regarding his people. 00:08:17.495 --> 00:08:21.720 Israel, the Lord has said, let their neighbors be their enemies. 00:08:22.140 --> 00:08:24.420 Let them be thrown away like a filthy rag. 00:08:25.380 --> 00:08:26.460 The Lord is right. 00:08:26.670 --> 00:08:29.820 Jerusalem says, for I rebelled against him. 00:08:30.570 --> 00:08:32.130 Listen, people everywhere. 00:08:32.370 --> 00:08:36.840 Look upon my anguish and despair for my sons and daughters have been 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:38.820 taken captive to distant lands. 00:08:39.420 --> 00:08:42.750 I begged my allies for help, but they betrayed me. 00:08:43.380 --> 00:08:47.760 My priests and leaders starved to death in the city, even as they 00:08:47.760 --> 00:08:49.780 searched for food to save their lives. 00:08:51.040 --> 00:08:52.620 Lord, see my anguish. 00:08:53.220 --> 00:08:58.020 My heart is broken and my soul despairs for I have rebelled against you. 00:08:58.815 --> 00:09:03.855 In the streets, the sword kills, and at home there is only death. 00:09:04.815 --> 00:09:08.475 Others heard my groans, but no one turned to comfort me. 00:09:09.075 --> 00:09:13.185 When my enemies heard about my troubles, they were happy to see what you had done. 00:09:14.295 --> 00:09:16.395 Oh, bring the day you promised. 00:09:16.635 --> 00:09:19.215 When they will suffer as I have suffered. 00:09:20.025 --> 00:09:21.765 Look at all their evil deeds. 00:09:21.765 --> 00:09:25.725 Lord, punish them as you have punished me for all my sins. 00:09:26.475 --> 00:09:27.795 My groans are many. 00:09:28.380 --> 00:09:29.790 And I am sick at heart. 00:09:31.470 --> 00:09:35.850 The Lord in his anger has cast a dark shadow over beautiful Jerusalem. 00:09:36.450 --> 00:09:40.260 The fairest of Israel's cities lies in the dust thrown down 00:09:40.265 --> 00:09:41.430 from the heights of heaven. 00:09:42.270 --> 00:09:47.310 In his day of great anger, the Lord has shown no mercy even to his temple. 00:09:47.970 --> 00:09:51.780 Without mercy, the Lord has destroyed every home in Israel. 00:09:52.530 --> 00:09:56.730 In his anger, he has broken down the fortress walls of beautiful Jerusalem. 00:09:57.180 --> 00:10:01.470 He has brought them to the ground, dishonoring the kingdom, and its rulers. 00:10:02.220 --> 00:10:05.700 All the strength of Israel vanishes beneath his fierce anger. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.960 The Lord has withdrawn his protection as the enemy attacks. 00:10:10.560 --> 00:10:14.160 He consumes the whole land of Israel like a raging fire. 00:10:14.760 --> 00:10:18.660 He bends his bow against his people as though he were their enemy. 00:10:19.020 --> 00:10:22.680 His strength is used against them to kill their finest youth. 00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:26.940 His fury is poured out like fire on beautiful Jerusalem. 00:10:27.900 --> 00:10:31.350 Yes, the Lord has vanquished Israel like an enemy. 00:10:31.770 --> 00:10:35.640 He has destroyed her palaces and demolished her fortresses. 00:10:35.970 --> 00:10:40.380 He has brought unending sorrow and tears upon beautiful Jerusalem. 00:10:41.160 --> 00:10:45.090 He has broken down his temple as though it were merely a garden shelter. 00:10:45.570 --> 00:10:50.100 The Lord has blotted out all memory of the Holy festivals and Sabbath days. 00:10:50.595 --> 00:10:54.255 Kings and priests fall together before his fierce anger. 00:10:55.425 --> 00:10:57.435 The Lord has rejected his own altar. 00:10:57.975 --> 00:11:00.135 He despises his own sanctuary. 00:11:00.705 --> 00:11:03.765 He has given Jerusalem's palaces to her enemies. 00:11:04.365 --> 00:11:08.355 They shout in the Lord's temple as though it were a day of celebration. 00:11:09.405 --> 00:11:13.245 The Lord was determined to destroy the walls of beautiful Jerusalem. 00:11:13.635 --> 00:11:18.165 He made careful plans for their destruction, then did what he had planned. 00:11:18.930 --> 00:11:22.890 Therefore, the ramparts and walls have fallen down before him. 00:11:23.610 --> 00:11:26.010 Jerusalem's gates have sunk into the ground. 00:11:26.310 --> 00:11:28.620 He has smashed their locks and bars. 00:11:28.980 --> 00:11:32.430 Her kings and princes have been exiled to distant lands. 00:11:32.880 --> 00:11:35.160 Her law has ceased to exist. 00:11:35.850 --> 00:11:38.730 Her prophets receive no more visions from the Lord. 00:11:39.750 --> 00:11:43.260 The leaders of beautiful Jerusalem sit on the ground in silence. 00:11:43.650 --> 00:11:47.130 They're clothed in burlap, and throw dust on their heads. 00:11:47.970 --> 00:11:51.450 The young women of Jerusalem hang their heads in shame. 00:11:52.410 --> 00:11:55.080 I have cried until the tears no longer come. 00:11:55.770 --> 00:11:56.970 My heart is broken. 00:11:57.750 --> 00:12:02.700 My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:09.150 Little children and tiny babies are fainting and dying in the streets. 00:12:10.170 --> 00:12:11.760 They cry out to their mothers. 00:12:12.060 --> 00:12:13.500 We need food and drink. 00:12:14.760 --> 00:12:18.480 Their lives eeb away in the streets like the life of a warrior. 00:12:18.570 --> 00:12:19.620 Wounded in battle. 00:12:20.280 --> 00:12:24.150 They gasp for life as they collapse in their mother's arms. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:26.580 What can I say about you? 00:12:27.210 --> 00:12:29.190 Who has ever seen such sorrow? 00:12:29.940 --> 00:12:31.440 Oh, daughter of Jerusalem. 00:12:31.590 --> 00:12:32.010 To what? 00:12:32.010 --> 00:12:33.480 Can I compare your anguish? 00:12:34.230 --> 00:12:36.060 Oh, Virgin Daughter of Zion. 00:12:36.210 --> 00:12:42.600 How can I comfort you for your wound is as deep as the sea who can heal you. 00:12:43.575 --> 00:12:47.685 Your prophets have said so many foolish things, false to the core. 00:12:48.495 --> 00:12:51.915 They did not save you from exile by pointing out your sins. 00:12:52.515 --> 00:12:56.385 Instead, they painted false pictures filling you with false 00:12:56.385 --> 00:13:00.015 hope all who pass by J at you. 00:13:00.285 --> 00:13:05.115 They scoff and insult beautiful Jerusalem saying, is this the city 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:09.615 called most beautiful in all the world and joy of all the earth? 00:13:10.575 --> 00:13:12.045 All your enemies mock you. 00:13:12.660 --> 00:13:17.310 They scoff and snarl and say, we have destroyed her at last. 00:13:17.460 --> 00:13:23.670 We have long waited for this day and it is finally here, but it is the Lord who did. 00:13:23.670 --> 00:13:29.430 Just as he planned, he has fulfilled the promises of disaster he made long ago. 00:13:30.090 --> 00:13:32.670 He has destroyed Jerusalem without mercy. 00:13:33.090 --> 00:13:37.830 He has caused her enemies to gloat over her and has given them power over her. 00:13:38.730 --> 00:13:40.530 Cry aloud before the Lord. 00:13:40.935 --> 00:13:43.125 Oh, walls of beautiful Jerusalem. 00:13:43.755 --> 00:13:45.795 Let your tears flow like a river. 00:13:45.915 --> 00:13:46.815 Day and night. 00:13:47.445 --> 00:13:49.155 Give yourselves no rest. 00:13:49.665 --> 00:13:51.585 Give your eyes no relief. 00:13:52.485 --> 00:13:54.765 Rise during the night and cry out. 00:13:55.185 --> 00:13:57.555 Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. 00:13:57.945 --> 00:13:59.925 Lift up your hands to him in prayer. 00:14:00.105 --> 00:14:01.515 Pleading for your children. 00:14:01.815 --> 00:14:04.425 For in every street, they are faint with hunger. 00:14:05.445 --> 00:14:07.305 Oh Lord, think about this. 00:14:07.845 --> 00:14:09.915 Should you treat your own people this way? 00:14:10.425 --> 00:14:15.465 Should mothers eat their own children, those they once bounced on their knees. 00:14:15.915 --> 00:14:19.545 Should priests and prophets be killed within the Lord's temple? 00:14:20.625 --> 00:14:25.065 See them lying in the streets, young and old boys and girls 00:14:25.425 --> 00:14:27.225 killed by the swords of the enemy. 00:14:27.945 --> 00:14:29.865 You have killed them in your anger. 00:14:30.135 --> 00:14:32.175 Slaughtering them without mercy. 00:14:32.685 --> 00:14:35.955 You have invited terrors from all around as though you were 00:14:35.955 --> 00:14:37.725 calling them to a day of feasting. 00:14:38.205 --> 00:14:42.255 In the day of the Lord's anger, no one has escaped or survived. 00:14:42.675 --> 00:14:46.605 The enemy has killed all the children whom I carried and raised. 00:14:48.405 --> 00:14:51.285 This concludes today's Immer reading experience. 00:14:51.405 --> 00:14:52.485 Thank you for joining us.