Jeremiah is grieving in
prayer over the conditions of the city of Jerusalem. It must have
been overwhelming to see their inheritances, their houses, their
families and belongings taken and destroyed. To add to their
miseries, they worked as servants for those whom they once lorded
over, and even their daily sustenance was difficult to obtain. In
chapter five and verse nine of Lamentations, Jeremiah continues to
tell how the people obtained their daily bread where he wrote:
We got our bread with
the peril of our lives because of the sword of the
wilderness.
The
verse begins, “We got our bread with the peril of
our lives...” What would it be
like if every day we had to risk our lives just to get “our
bread”? Bread seems like such
a simple and available item of daily food, yet the people who were
left in the city of Jerusalem risked “with the peril of
our lives” or the “soul,
self, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire,
emotion, or passion" of their living just to obtain it.
The
verse continues, “...because of the sword of the wilderness.”
There was a reason their lives were at risk when they ventured
for simple “bread” - “the sword of the wilderness”.
Each time the people of Jerusalem would venture into “the
wilderness” to obtain their bread they were within the
possibility of being ambushed or attacked by their enemies. This
“sword” was one which was a danger to them every time they
simply attempted to gather bread.
We may
not be able to imagine what it is like to risk our lives just to get
some bread, but this scenario helps us to put the people of
Jerusalem's difficulties in perspective. Sometimes we think our lives
are troublesome as we venture out each day to make “our daily
bread”, but very few of us risk our lives doing so. As we
ponder this verse let us pray for the Lord to help us to be mindful
of the privileges and blessings we have under His mighty favor, and
for those who might be in great peril just to have something to eat,
let us remember to call upon the Lord on their behalf.
Next
time we see what happened to the people's skin, 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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