As tears flowed down
Jeremiah's face he began to reflect upon the reasons for his weeping.
His heart was broken over the horrific conditions of Jerusalem and
her “daughters” or surrounding cities, and in verse
fifty-two of the third chapter of Lamentations he shares more of his
justification for crying. We read:
My enemies chased me
sore, like a bird, without cause.
The
verse begins, “Mine enemies chased me sore,...” The
phrase employed by Jeremiah in Hebrew is “'oyeb, tsuwd, tsuwd”
and we notice straight away the double use of the word “tsuwd”.
The first word “oyeb” means “enemy” and implies both personal
and national enemies. The second word “tsuwd” means “to hunt or
hunt eagarly”. Jeremiah desired that his readers know with emphasis
how the enemies of Jerusalem have pursued, so he duplicated his
words.
The
verse goes on to say, “...like a bird, without cause.”
Jeremiah likens himself and his nation to a “bird”,
and we should use our imaginations to picture what he means. Like a
bird that is paying attention to its own life when a child rushes
toward it to chase it, or as those who rush a flock of birds toward
an awaiting net, Jeremiah and his people have been hunted “freely,
for no reason, without cause, with no purpose, undeservedly, and in
vain”. No doubt the thoughts of being lowered to this state caused
tears to flow down Jeremiah's face.
Do we
feel like our enemies are chasing and hunting after us like birds
driven into an awaiting net? Maybe we can relate to the way Jeremiah
felt as he overlooked his circumstances, and as we ponder the
thoughts of Jeremiah perhaps it will help us to keep the words of
Isaiah in mind which are found in the fifty-fourth chapter and the
seventeenth verse of his book:
No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every
tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall
condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
May
all the enemies of our soul be reminded, The LORD is on our side.
Next
time we see more of how Jeremiah's enemies acted against him, 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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