Lamentations 2:1-22 His Anger
Jerusalem is laid waste because of His anger. Because of Israel’s sin, the hand of the Lord has weighed heavy. None escape His anger.
One theme that runs through our reading is that God did all this without mercy. God punished Israel and Judah according to their deeds, WITHOUT mercy. After SO long of searching the hearts of His people and finding no love withing them. Not only no love for Him but also no love for His laws or the people of His calling.
God did not wake up angry one day and take it out on His people. Instead, He called to them, sent messengers/prophets, pleaded, prodded, and encouraged them regarding their relationship with Him. He gave chance after Chance after CHANCE to His people. And when their sins were piled as high as the sun, He acted.
When God called Noah to build the ark, He was planning the punishment of ALL mankind. He wiped clean what had been made to build again. The same holds true for how He was dealing with in our reading today. It’s time to tear down and start again.
The tearing down was NOT done without a pain on the Father’s part. But there was NO WAY forward without first ‘cleaning’ the sin away first. As with the earth in the days of Noah, so it was with Israel and Judah. Letting the sin continue would breed even greater distance from God. A THOROUGH cleaning was required. Pity could not enter into the equation if there was any hope of restoration.
I looked up the meaning of “pity” and this is what I found:
- the feeling of sorrow and compassion caused by the suffering and misfortunes of others
- a cause for regret or disappointment
- feel sorrow for the misfortunes of
I’m pretty certain that God felt sorrow and compassion for the pain His children HAD to endure. But, as their “Parent” to do ANYTHING less than deal with their rebellion would amount to hatred of the child. “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19). Just as our heart hurts when we see the struggle or pain our children go through when we discipline them, God’s heart hurt too. I do NOT believe He is callous. But if He were to undo the discipline being meted out before it does its work, Judah would be in a worse state than before He did anything.
Think of the child who receives no or partial discipline. The one that throws a fit when mom or dad says “no” and then they give in anyway. It might be ‘cute’ when they are two or three, but wait until they are 15 or 16. In the human world, most parents who employ this style of ‘discipline’ have given up by now and just ‘ride the wave’ of their child’s behavior. The undisciplined child’s behavior can be life threatening, illegal, or immoral; just as Judah’s was.
A loving parent sets AND enforces boundaries. As much as it hurts and for the child’s own survival, it MUST be done.
There have been times as a parent when I disciplined my child in anger. I was SO angry at their behavior that I was ‘seeing red’. I’ve told the story of my middle child on our worst day together. By the end of the day, I was definitely ‘seeing red’. That anger didn’t mean I didn’t love him anymore. It simply meant that I was exasperated with his repeated behaviors that he refused to correct no matter how I tried to bring him back into line. I was at the end of my limits. If he had cried out and asked for a drink of water or to have another chance after I put him in bed that day, I would have refused. His chances and gentleness opportunities were exhausted. And he would have learned NOTHING from the day if I had not held fast.
God couldn’t pull back after promising Judah discipline. THEY refused to listen to the warnings. THEY continued in their behavior, in spite of ALL God did to dissuade them. To do ANYTHING less than He had warned would have made God a liar. Then, NONE of His promises would be believed. None of His boundaries would have been firm. “That last time you said ‘No’ I almost believed you” says the child exiting the store brandishing the toy his mother said he couldn’t have.
I KNOW Judah hurt. I KNOW Jeremiah’s heart hurt seeing what had become of his nation. I ALSO KNOW that God’s heart hurt even more. He had great sorrow over what His children FORCED Him to do. “If only they would have listened…”
Father God, my heart hurts for You. I know the pain of disciplining a child. I also know the joy that comes with recognizing that they learned the lesson from the discipline. THAT is the joy You were working towards and it was NOT an easy road to get there. THANK YOU for sticking with it! Without Your faithful discipline, I would be lost. Both from a personal standpoint and from a spiritual one. Without discipline, Israel would NEVER have been ready to receive Jesus. I’ll take Your discipline ANY DAY over being abandoned by You!
