People stalked us at every step,
so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near, our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
so we could not walk in our streets.
Our end was near, our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our
pursuers were swifter
than eagles in the sky;
they chased us over the mountains
and lay in wait for us in the desert.
than eagles in the sky;
they chased us over the mountains
and lay in wait for us in the desert.
20 The
Lord’s anointed, our very life
breath,
was caught in their traps.
We thought that under his shadow
we would live among the nations.
was caught in their traps.
We thought that under his shadow
we would live among the nations.
The people of God were being hunted down. They were easy to
pick out. They looked sort-of like everyone else, but there was enough of a
difference to make them distinct. Their behavior was predictable: they didn’t
turn to their God and pray for deliverance, they ran away, to the mountains,
and into the traps set for them in the desert.
Verses 18 and 19 of this short passage outline to consequences
of verse 20. The people are being caught and taken into exile for a very
specific reason. We thought that under
his shadow we would live among the nations. Here, the preposition, among, does not indicate that they were
separate from, yet in the midst of the nations, rather, they were a part of the
multitude that makes up the nations.
This wasn’t the kingdom of priests and holy nation that God promised them they
would become (Exodus 19:6). These weren’t lights in the darkness. They looked
like the nations, except for, some of their religious rituals. They did just
enough so they could check off the “God” box on their to-do lists. This wasn’t
a people so moved and motivated by the power and strength of God that they
lived their lives in such a way that made them completely different from the
heathen and sinners of the world, these people sinned like everyone else and
felt no guilt about it. No city on a hill. No lights in the darkness.
They got too cozy with the neighboring nations. They allowed
pagans to influence their lives and their concept of God and in the end, they
paid for it. In the end, they were just a hollow shell with nothing inside of
value—no pearls of Godly wisdom, no righteousness, no holiness. In verse 20, The Lord’s anointed, refers to the King,
Zedekiah. A quick look at 2 Kings 24:17-19 shows that Zedekiah was the Lords anointed in function and title
only. “He did evil in the eyes of the
Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done.” Jehoiakim, was Zedekiah’s brother. These
were sons of Josiah, the last good king of Judah. Calling these men “the Lord’s
anointed” mocks the people and the faith that they placed in a system, title,
and dynasty. These were David’s descendants, surely that was good enough to
ensure the Lord’s favor, right?
Furthermore, Zedekiah is called, “our very life breath.” This phrase also shows how depraved the
people were. They thought they owed their lives and livelihood to a king, when
Genesis 2:7 tells us differently: the
Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. God
gives us life, He gives us possessions, and He can take it all away. The people
thought, as the rest of the book of Lamentations tells, that they could depend
on something other than God to save them; in this case, their king and his
heritage. They thought they could forsake all the other requirements of God and
His Kingdom because The Lord’s anointed
sat on the throne.
To be honest, verse 20 hits a little too close to home because
I know I fall into these same traps. I know that I feel safe and secure because
of our house, cars, and possessions. Financial security lures me into not being
as open to God’s standards of generosity and sharing. Savings accounts or
retirement funds are not bad things in and of themselves, but when I let my
security, comfort, and happiness dwell in those things, I am not trusting God.
This is an election year and as entertaining as the various campaigns have
been, I find myself wondering, what if so-and-so is elected. What will he do?
Will he save us from ourselves, our debt, or our moral depravity? No, he or she
won’t, because only God can save. We cannot trust a presidential candidate to
deliver us from our enemies. Only God can do that if He so desires it.
On a more personal level, when I let the world in, and when
I let the culture of this world influence me, I find myself increasingly bitter
and discontent. The truth of God doesn’t speak as loudly when I come across
falsehoods if I have been entertaining worldly values. I find myself desiring
things so I can feel special, worthy, and good enough just as the world
suggests we should, instead of looking to my heavenly Father for my identity,
acceptance, and love. This must be why Paul so adamantly reminds the church of
Philippi to rejoice and focus on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely,
admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). When we loosen our
grasp on who God is and what He has done, we begin to lose ourselves. When we
make the goal of our lives to pursue God and His Kingdom, we find ourselves
again.
Sometimes I feel it is easy to think I have earned my
righteousness by attending church, the women’s Bible Study, doing a quiet time
faithfully, and quoting Scripture to my son. These things come together to
create a false God—one who doesn’t demand more of me than these things—and in
the shadow of that idol I begin to believe that I can live out my life
comfortably and without trouble. But if I have been covered by the blood of the
lamb, then there are other things I need to think of beyond myself. Do I care
for “the least of these” as Christ calls me to? Do I look after widows and
orphans? Am I willing to be inconvenienced in order to be a channel of God’s
grace? I confess, the answer is “No” more often than not. The people of Israel
and Judah chose to ignore the heart of the law—to love God and others as
themselves—in order to be more comfortable in their own circumstances. But in
that comfort their hearts were lured away from God by the fading beauty of the
nations.
We can’t depend on certain status symbols or outward signs
of our faith to save us. Our righteousness was bought with the blood of Jesus,
and we cannot earn it. We can only receive it. All the bumper stickers and
study bibles in the world can’t save us if we haven’t internalized God’s word
and made Him our source, our goal, and our strength. When we start to believe
that something else is our life breath,
we are in trouble. Lamentations testifies that God has no problem using our
circumstances to set straight. The church has been through some crazy stuff in
the past 2000 years, but God has been hammering her into the spiritual home and
support of His believers.[1]
We believe, we have His word, we have His Son, therefore, we will be held
morally and spiritually accountable for our thoughts, words, and actions.[2]
We cannot just pretend that Christ will readily forgive us with no consequences.
Christ WILL forgive us, but we must also endeavor to live into our calling as
children of the Most High God.
Every morning we have to wake up, and chose God’s way, and
believe that He is the one who saves, and secures us for eternity. We cannot
depend on anything else, not titles, not leaders, and not any person. Just God.
He is the one that strengthens us to do what holiness demands of us. He is the
one that instructs us how to live in His Kingdom and not among the nations. He is the source to our light in the darkness.
May we shine brightly because we faithful to Him and His ways.
[1]J Andrew Dearman, Jeremiah/Lamentations, The NIV Application Commentary, (Grand
Rapids, Zondervan, 2002), pg 469.
[2] Ibid., 471
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