Judah Captured, Afflicted and in Servitude Lamentations 1:3

As we study and learn from the words of Jeremiah about the dispersion of Jerusalem and Judah, we may be inclined to think of our own lives and wonder “what if this happened to me?” Since the once thriving city and nation was made as servants and tributaries, there is sadness throughout the land. In chapter one and verse three we see more of the characteristics of Judah's plight as we read:

Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwells among the heathen, she finds no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.

The verse begins, “Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude:” The idea within this verse is that Judah has “gone into captivity” which means “to be uncovered, disclosed, discovered or revealed”. It refers to Judah being exposed “because of affliction” or “poverty and misery”. Rather than being in a place of rule such as in the days of King David and his son Solomon, they were now in “great servitude” or “labor and work such as that of a slave”.

The verse goes on to say, “she dwells among the heathen, she finds no rest:” Where there was once great opportunities with those around her to be attuned to relational purposes and worship of God, Judah now lived with a godless nation, and the result was “she finds no rest” which means she finds no “resting place, state or condition of rest”.

Finally the verse says, “all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.” In addition to affliction, servitude, dwelling among heathens, and finding no rest, Jeremiah said “all her persecutors” or “her pursuers and those who followed and ran after her like a dog that is chased” “overtook” which means “reached, captured and obtained” her “between the straits” or while she was in “dire straits and distress”. The nation that once flourished and prospered before God Almighty was pursued and captured by a heathen nation.

What would it be like to be driven from our homes and made captive in a heathen nation? What would our attitudes be like if we were afflicted, made servants, and made to be in a place of unrest? As we consider the state of these people, let us be reminded that God Almighty had a plan that would have prevented them from experiencing these dire circumstances. If they had only listened to Jeremiah's words as he prophesied of these conditions maybe things would have been different. May we have ears to hear what God has to say to us through His Son Jesus as we think about the people of Judah in their dire straights.

Next time we will see how this captivity affected the people of Judah, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

 

Until tomorrow...there is more...

 

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