Lamentations 2

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

The Lord’s Anger against His People

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. The wrath of God against sin results in national turmoil.

  2. The wrath of God against sin results in personal tragedy.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. For godly gain, expect some personal pain.

QUESTIONS

  1. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet (See Jeremiah 9:1 and Lamentations 2:11a.) Why was Jeremiah weeping?

  2. The first 10 verses of this chapter indicate that it was not Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian forces who were the cause of Jerusalem’s devastation and desolation. What/who was the cause?

  3. Describe 5 of elements of the national turmoil visited on Judah and the city of Jerusalem (vs 1-10).

  4. Describe 3 elements of the personal tragedy experienced in Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege of the city (vs 18-22).

ANSWERS

  1. Jeremiah was weeping because of the sin of God’s people and the resulting devastating conditions in Jerusalem and the nation of Judah. God in His judgment allowed the enemy Babylonian forces under Nebuchadnezzar to overrun Jerusalem, burn the Temple and take the people into captivity with great loss of life.

  2. The cause of the devastation and desolation of Jerusalem was the anger and wrath of God as He exercised His judgment. Note in verses 1-6 the descriptions of God’s anger, wrath, fury and indignation.

  3. The national turmoil experienced by Jerusalem included the loss of the glory of Israel, the great loss of life among God’s people, the humility of Judah’s national defense, the destruction of the Temple, and the breaking down of the city walls and gates.

  4. The horrible personal tragedies resulting from the siege of the Babylonian forces included children starving and dying in the streets and in their mother’s arms, starving women actually eating their own children in order to survive and people young and old, prophets and priests being slain by the sword.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. God severely disciplined His people in the 6th century BC as recorded in this chapter of Lamentations. Discuss the “godly gain” that God’s people experienced during the century that followed as a result of His discipline.

CHALLENGE

  1. Do you welcome and accept God’s love? Do you welcome and accept His discipline - even when it may be painful? Hebrews 12:5b-6 says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Allow “godly gain” to take place in your life as God lovingly disciplines you!

KEY VERSES

  • “How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud of His anger! He cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel, and did not remember His footstool in the day of His anger.” Lamentations 2:1



Lamentations, Old Testament, TalksDeb HarmsLamentations 2