As Jeremiah continued his
lamentation, we should keep in mind that Hebrew poetry involves
repeating or contrasting ideas rather than rhyme and rhythm as
practiced in English. In chapter three and verse forty-three Jeremiah
repeats the idea of God being against the people of Jerusalem and
Judah where we read:
You have covered with
anger, and persecuted us: you have slain, you have not pitied.
The
verse begins, “You have covered with anger, and
persecuted us:” There are four
acts of God written within this verse of which we concern ourselves
at this point with the first two. First Jeremiah says God has
“covered with anger”
which means “to block, overshadow, screen, stop the approach, shut
off or weave together” the people with “nostril, nose or face”.
This thought sees God has have a wrinkled face of strong disapproval
towards the people. The second thought is that God has “persecuted”
them which means “to be behind, follow after, pursue, run after or
chase away”. We can almost picture God angrily pursuing the people
of Jerusalem and Judah like unto one who is ready to accost them and
eliminate them when He catches them.
The
verse goes on to say, “you have slain, you have not pitied.”
The next two acts of God against the people of Jerusalem and
Judah attributed by Jeremiah are “you have slain” and “you
have not pitied”. “Slain” means “to kill, slay,
murder, destroy, murderer, slayer, out of hand” and implies that
God Himself killed them. Although others were used as His instrument
of wrath, Jeremiah gives God the credit. He also includes God's
attitude toward the people “not pitied” which means God
did not “spare or have compassion” upon them. Whereas God is
usually known for His overwhelming compassion for His people, at this
point Jeremiah says He has not been pitiful toward them.
By this
verse we might think that God is kind of rough against His own
people, but we must keep in mind that over and over again God made
His appeal toward the people of Jerusalem and Judah to alter their
ways. They would not. They continued to rebel even when they had the
example of their northern sister Israel who were defeated by enemies
because they went against God's word. As we ponder these four acts of
God against Jerusalem and Judah, perhaps we have felt that God was
against us in these ways. We might want to examine ourselves and see
if rebellion is the reason. Have we given over our lives to Him
completely? Are their areas in which the Holy Spirit of God has
brought conviction and yet we continue to hold on to them? May the
Lord Jesus guide us by His Spirit to know if we need to relinquish
ourselves to Him in any area, and if we do not know Him, that is our
greatest need of all.
Next
time we will see the Lord's response to the people's prayers, 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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