I will never forget the day I asked the church to spend the next 30 days fasting and studying the book of Lamentations. I knew this was out of divine leading but little did I know to which extent the Lord was going to use it to expose our spiritual desolation. Right at the beginning of the series, started another series of events, divinely orchestrated and catapulted to show us how much the state of the church was so devastating. How come! I thought I was doing everything I could to build it.

As I share the highlights of this book, I pray that one person; a small group or even a church will pick up the material and experience the painful change that this book is meant to produce in us.

The beloved city in ruins

Jeremiah is the prophet who for decades warned his people about the coming judgment, pleading with them to repent but in vain. Finally what he prophesied came to pass in 586 B.C, when Chaldeans came to destroy Jerusalem and the temple after a series of successful invasions in 605 B.C and 597 B.C. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586, Jeremiah looked with deep sorrow at the damage of the ruin. He cries and composes 5 laments. He had previously composed another funeral song at the tragic death of the "revivalist" king Josiah in 2 Chron 35:25

A beautiful funeral song: what an oxymoron!

Lamentations is not a new literary genre within the Bible. David composed something similar on the death of Saul and Jonathan 2 Samuel 1:17 although this book is the finest in style called elegy. Although we still find mourning rites in paganism resembling biblical elegies in certain aspects like the gesture of tearing one's garment, covering one's head with ashes. Biblical elegies are unique in the sense that they are penitential. In this book we find five elegies written in a very poetic and magnificent way.

They are composed of 22 stanzas each; it is the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each stanza begins with a different letter placed according to its alphabetical rank. The third lament is however unusual. It contains 66 verses instead of 22. By this more careful arrangement, one can’t fail to see this as the culminating point of the book. This structure served as a memory support for those who wanted to engrave this poem in the heart. But it also underlines a unique and deep feeling that dominates the soul of the poet. In our case, chapter 3 has a unique structure and is the climax of the book. In it we see that though the soul of the prophet is tormented , the feeling of hope was more dominant.

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning;  great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” (3.21-24)

Lamentations and the GOSPEL: A Christocentric Look

Jeremiah was persecuted more than any other prophet. He is considered by Christian tradition as the prophet of the Passion of Christ. In the Catholic Church the lamentations are read during the week preceding Passover to reflect more intensely on the drama of Calvary.

Jeremiah was grieved by both the lack of repentance of his people and the sure coming judgment . He lived with them without sharing into their rebellion. Yet when the wrath of God came upon them, he endured the consequences of God’s punishment with them. In this he is the type of Christ. Though sinless God bruised him for us. He wept over Jerusalem because of their unbelief. He was grieved by every single sin each one of us has committed. More than that, the wrath of God was averted because of his substitutionary death. in Him, we were spared.

The oldest and greatest exile dates from the Garden of Eden. Because of the disobedience of our first parents they were cast out of the presence of God. God continued his plan of redemption by bringing the chosen people back to the vicinity of Eden and making them a holy and missionary nation. However, they too disobeyed. They were driven away from the place that symbolized the presence of God, Jerusalem and the temple. Jesus came to proclaim the end of spiritual exile. It offers the opportunity to return to the presence of God and enjoy fellowship with God. And He offers us the hope of spending eternity in New Jerusalem.

For this to happen, He himself went through some sort of exile, when he left heaven and the Trinitarian glory. He shouted a cry of "separation" at the cross "my God my God, why have you abandoned me". He went through all this so that we can have a free and full access in the presence of God forever.

Can I still experience some spiritual exile as a christian?

The hope of restoration

“Restore us to yourself, Lord, that we may return; renew our days as of old” ( 5:21)

As we have already said, The Lamentations not only contain the lyrical complaint about the state of Jerusalem and the infidelity of the people to God, but it is also composed of prayers of hope. Towards the end of the book, Jeremiah implores spiritual restoration, basing himself on the faithfulness of God and his infinite goodness. The book closes with an emphasis on the sovereign role of God to bring us back to himself and our essential role to cry and beg for restoration. Let his prayer be ours too.