King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Sunday, August 25, 2024
Chapters: Lamentations Chapters 1-2
Message: Finding Comfort Through Judgments
Hello My Friend,
I have been having a hard time staying focused and hearing what God has to say to me the past few days as there are so many things going on. I keep telling myself that God is giving me what I deserve because of all the things I am not doing that I should be doing or that I am doing that I should not. I definitely feel like Paul when he said, [Romans 7:18-19 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.]
The truth is, every saved, born again Christian who is faithful in their walk with Christ comes to understand that even at their best they struggle with sin. God, did not send His Son so that we might justify sin, He sent Him to justify our soul. Remember what Samuel said, [1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.] Now, with that said, not everything that we go through is the result of our own struggles with sin, after all, as long as we are truly repentant then God sees our efforts and will help us endure every struggle, [1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.]
The Book of Lamentations contains five chapters, the timeline is approximately 588 BC. It was written by Jeremiah to the Jews who were captive in Babylon, the purpose of the book was to get the Jews to repent and restore their relationship with God. What we are to learn from the book is that God is faithful in both judgment and mercy, [Lamentations 3:23-24 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.]
Jeremiah, was no different than us faithful Christians today, he was not perfect nor sinless, but he did live his life the best he could through his faith in God. If he had his way, he would have been content to be among the captives who were sent to Babylon, but while all that was taking place he was in jail. Then when he finally did get released and decided to stay in Judah he was captured and taken into Egypt by a group of rebels. As things start to settle down, Jeremiah, has this great grief come over him. He laments or feels great sorrow over both the evil that he sees and his fellow people who do not seem to care.
[Lamentations 1:1-4 How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! 2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies. 3 Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits. 4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.]
[Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction,] Jerusalem, became captives and slaves to Babylon due to the greatness of their sin and had no rest from their suffering. Why? When sin is prominent in the Church everyone suffers. The people were afflicted by the extremities of famine, sickness, sorrow, and distress, and had no one to trust or turn to for relief because they refused to repent and return to God. Chastening from God is never pleasant, but believe it or not, it is beneficial as it puts us under His care, and relieves us from our burdens, [Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.]
The only way to find rest through the burdens that come from sin is to acknowledge and confess the sin, and seek God’s cure. It is truly in our best interest to endure the chastening with Him for it is the just judgment of the Lord that has filled the earth with sorrows, lamentations, sickness, and death for not only their sin, but forsaking Him all together and bringing it into the very house of God. Since God is a jealous God and will have no other gods before Him there is no way that He will allow His people to worship false gods in the very place He calls His home. Jeremiah, goes on to grieve over the state of Jerusalem.
[Lamentations 1:8-9,11-12 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward. 9 Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself. 11 All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I am become vile. 12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.]
[behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,] As a nation, do we feel grief and pain for what is going on in Israel today? Are we praying for them? As for the Church, are we condoning or ignoring the sin within them? Are we Are we concerned for lost souls? God, has His faithful in the midst of these God forsaken towns for one reason only, and that is to guide those restless souls to the only one who can give relief to them, [Romans 2:9-12 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of persons with God. 12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;]
While no one has never been given what they truly deserve as it is written in the Law, God, still sees sin the same way, He despises it and we are all accountable for unrepentant sin. Therefore, while those who are saved are not subject to death and hell to their soul, they will face trials and affliction until they repent. The greatness of Jerusalem’s misery was so unusual that even the world seeing it were bound to conclude that there was a special hand and work of God in it. The city is pictured as a person whose happiness is destroyed and health is broken because they lost their comforter.
[Lamentations 1:14-16 The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, and come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, from whom I am not able to rise up. 15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress. 16 For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed.]
[because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me:] Those who are saved and born again actually have the greatest blessing ever here on earth, the Comforter living inside of them. Jesus said this when He promised to send the Comforter in His place, [John 14:15-18 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.]
In case there was any doubt, the Comforter and Jesus are one in the same, just as God is, and while truly understanding the Trinity of God is something that only faith can withstand there is one reason as to why God formed Himself into three persons. God, being the Creator of all mankind knew that there was only one cure from death and hell from sin and that was a sinless human sacrifice, [Hebrews 9:11-12 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.]
Since we are all sinners by birth, the only way for a human to come into this world without sin was for God to come here Himself in human form, which is why Jesus was not conceived through normal conception, but rather through God’s Spirit. Had there been any other way, God, would have said it and done it even before He came up with the Law. Before Christ’s passion, God, permitted the use of unblemished goats and sheep as a temporary fix, but the priests were only human and if they were not faithful to God neither would the people. And anyone who wanted redemption was hindered from doing so because they had no one to perform the duty. This also angered God and through Jeremiah laments over this.
[Lamentations 1:19-21 I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls. 20 Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death. 21 They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.]
[while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.] The faithful priests and elders of the city were dying, probably from the famine or disease that plagued the land or old age and the people had no knowledge of God whatsoever and therefore no relief for their souls either. Because they had no guidance, they were searching for relief from false gods and their flesh only to realize that nothing could fill that void in their soul. I do not have to tell you how incomplete you feel when you do not have God’s Spirit in your soul as you search for every means possible to fill that void. Jesus, truly is the one who completes us or makes us whole, [Luke 8:48-50 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace. 49 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master. 50 But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.]
[Whole; All; Complete; Not defective or imperfect; as a whole orange; the egg is whole; the vessel is whole.] Think about what it means to be whole through our faith in Christ, we are complete, perfect as in we are perfect in Christ. That does not mean that our flesh does not feel pain and sorrow from sin, even from our past, but it does mean that our soul is whole and preserved forever, [Romans 3:22-24 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:]
Those who are trusting in Christ, are also accepting of Him fully and cleaving to Him as not only their Saviour, but God and King. Jews and Gentiles alike are welcomed of God through their faith in Christ, and His righteousness is available to all who call upon Him as their Saviour. Sadly, many saved and born again Christians are abusing their salvation to justify sin and using the Church as the very vessel to allow it. Of course, God is going to be angry and rightfully ought to be, but that does not mean that we do not grieve for them. While Jeremiah does understand the judgment, he did not understand why God made a covenant with Israel if He was not going to keep it Himself, and if He even remembers them at all.
[Lamentations 2:1-3 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger! 2 The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought them down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. 3 He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.]
[remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!] Jeremiah, was referring to David’s conversation with God when he wanted to build the temple, [1 Chronicles 28:2-3,5-7 Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: 3 But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood. 5 And of all my sons, (for the LORD hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. 6 And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day.]
Think about it, no matter how faithful we are, or how strong our faith in God, times like we are having right now, we start to wonder if God will ever withdraw His anger. How much all of this must grieve Him to see so many lost souls wandering around in the dark, seeking comfort from everything, but Him. On top of that, His very own people are walking around in the dark as though they never knew Him. It is no wonder why He is closing so many churches, He is as though He is their enemy.
[Lamentations 2:5-7 The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. 6 And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest. 7 The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.]
[The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel,] Anyone who is not saved is an enemy to God, [Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.] Those who are saved and openly living in sin and are unrepentant, especially bringing it in the Church, will be as though they are His enemies because they are defiling the Church. And God will destroy it before He lets it spread any further, which is what He did with the temple. It ought to grieve us that so many churches are falling by the wayside and none are willing to step up and fight for it.
[Lamentations 2:9-11 Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD. 10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence: they have cast up dust upon their heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth: the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground. 11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.]
[The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence:] These are the very leaders of the Jewish Church, they have no counsel to give, chiefly because they are dumbfounded with grief. Such is the effect when the Lord carries out His sentence of judgment upon nations and upon individuals who refuse to repent. It does no good to pray to God if there is no repentance because will not hear them, [James 4:2-4 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.]
When we first receive Christ as our Saviour we have such a great zeal for God, even fearing Him. Somewhere down the line, life and all the trials that go with it, smothers our zeal, and our fear as well. While we may not be living a sinful life, we may not be living the life He wants us to live either. The result, constant affliction and grief without any relief, and no view of God in sight. Well, no matter how faithful we are to God, we are going to suffer, it is okay to ask God questions, to get angry, and to grieve, He understands and knows what we are going through. Now, Jeremiah, through his own affliction, felt such grief that he pleads with Israel to return to God, but also has some questions for God.
[Lamentations 2:16-17 All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it. 17 The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.]
[certainly this is the day that we looked for;] Satan, always thinks that he has the last laugh when he sees Christ’s people falling, but that is until he discovers that His people bounce back. God, may chasten His people, but He does not give up on them. In fact, I am proof as well as my husband that you can dangle there on the edge of sin, but Christ will never let go, and He will make us all the better for enduring the pain that we suffered through our chastening, [2 Corinthians 7:11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.]
Why do the righteous suffer? Why do some live in such poverty, get picked on for talking about Jesus, get sick and never recover, get victimized, or see loved ones die without Christ? There is a lot of suffering that we go through in our faith, things we cannot possibly understand, let alone comprehend.
[Lamentations 2:18,21-22 Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease. 21 The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied. 22 Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD’S anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.]
[let not the apple of thine eye cease.] Every faithful Christian is sighing right now at the state of our nation, and it is not just America, every nation is suffering, and will continue to suffer unless the Church itself repents. That is the only way, God will start blessing our nations again, but we cannot let our sorrow dim our eyes to Christ because He will always work everything together for good for His people, [Romans 8:27-28 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Lamentations 1:16 For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed. Lamentations 2:13 What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?]
Today’s Prayer: God, I do not know anyone who loves to feel pain and sorrow, and it simply does nothing for our morale either, but whatever You allow us to go through You have a reason for it. Even You are grieving at the state of Your people. Lord, we need You, great things always come to those who endure their sorrows with You as they draw closer to You and learn to trust You. Give us your power, wisdom, grace, and strength to increase our faith, zeal, and teach us to fear You at all times. Let us see You do great things in our lives through our faith and faithfulness to You. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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