As we continue through the
third chapter of Lamentations, we remember the poor conditions which
Jeremiah felt and we are reminded of what Jesus faced as He was
tormented and crucified for our sins. In verse fifteen Jeremiah
extends his description to include bitterness and drunken with
wormwood. We read:
He has filled me with
bitterness, he has made me drunken with wormwood.
The
verse begins, “He has filled me with bitterness,...” Jeremiah
said the Lord “filled” him or “satisfied, enriched,
sated or glutted with undesired” him with “bitterness”
which is “a bitter thing or like unto bitter herbs”. It is as
though God has given him a diet of nothing but bitter morsels, and
rather than a nourishing and sweet regimen, Jeremiah has been given
an acerbic one.
The
verse continues, “...he has made me drunken with wormwood.” In
addition to bitter food, Jeremiah employs another metaphor for his
beverage, “drunken” which means he was “satiated,
saturated, drunken with, intoxicated, drenched or filled” “with
wormwood” which was a herb that was known to be noxious and
poisonous. The circumstances in which Jeremiah found himself led him
to believe that God had not only filled his life with bitterness, but
also poisoned him in the process.
We can
easily tell by Jeremiah's descriptions that he felt that God was
against him. Perhaps there are times when we feel this way. It may
seem that our lives are filled with nothing but bitter events, and on
a daily basis someone has poisoned our way. We must keep in mind what
Jesus said while He was on the earth:
These things I have
spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world you
shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world. John 16:33
Jesus
knew there were going to be times when it seems like the whole world
is against us. He knew in advance that we would need the comfort of
His words when this happens, and regardless of the circumstances that
arise, He has overcome them. As we ponder Jeremiah's words, let us
continually be reminded that when bitter and poisonous times come,
Jesus said to “be of good cheer” because He has overcome
them all.
Next
time we will see what happened to Jeremiah's teeth and how he was
covered with ashes, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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