As Jeremiah continued his
description of the city of Jerusalem and the conditions of the people
there, he used graphic metaphors to tell of their horror. In chapter
four and verse five of Lamentations, he portrays in vivid form the
downward spiral of their economic conditions where he wrote:
They that did feed
delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in
scarlet embrace dunghills.
The
verse begins, “They that did feed delicately are desolate in the
streets:” Jeremiah speaks to the conditions that the people of
Jerusalem used to enjoy, “They that did feed delicately”
or those who ate “dainties”. We might imagine them eating
the foods of royalty, and anything they desired was at their
exposure. Those same people became “desolate” which means
“to be appalled, astounded, to cause desolation or ruin; to stun or
stupefy” “in the streets”. No longer were the people
like those who are rich and enjoy dainties from a banqueting table,
but they are stunned and wandering aimlessly through the streets
without anything to ingest.
The verse goes on to say, “they
that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.” Jeremiah
repeats the idea by stating that the people of Jerusalem were
“brought up in scarlet”
which literally means “scarlet stuff, crimson, the dye made
from the dried body of the female of the worm "coccus ilicis".
The “coccus ilicis” was a little worm which when crushed would
exude a red dye that was a very rare and expensive agent for dying
material. Those who wore scarlet were thought to be wealthy, admired,
and exalted. These who were once “brought up in scarlet”
were now those who “embrace dunghills” or “cling to”
“ash heaps, refuse or heaps”.
As we
imagine the scene of the people of Jerusalem, perhaps we know those
who once prospered greatly and now seem to barely get by. Economic
conditions for the people of Jerusalem certainly changed, and the
effects of their turning against the Lord were truly felt. Perhaps as
we meditate upon these words we should examine ourselves to be sure
we are aligned with the Heavenly Father. Because the people of
Jerusalem rebelled against God and His ways, they experienced huge
differences in their daily living, and maybe their example will serve
us in knowing how not to be in our relationship with God.
Next
time we will see Jeremiah compare Jerusalem's punishment to Sodom's,
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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