No Comfort for Zion Lamentations 1:17

Jeremiah looked upon the devastation that occurred within the city of Jerusalem and it made him weep. There was no comforter to relieve his soul, and the children of the city were desolate because the enemies had prevailed over them. In chapter one and verse seventeen, Jeremiah tells us the effect all these things had upon Zion where we read:

Zion spreads forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her: the LORD has commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.

The verse begins, “Zion spreads forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her:” “Zion” means “parched place” or “sunny place” and is another name for Jerusalem. Jeremiah personified the city of Zion as he watched them spread out their hands like a child for his mother, and yet, there was no one to give her comfort. Comfort was available before she rebelled, but now that she forsook God, the comforter forsook her as well.

The verse continues, “the LORD has commanded concerning Jacob, that his adversaries should be round about him:” It was the “LORD”, Jehovah, Yahweh, who was responsible for the “adversaries” to surround Zion. He “commanded” or “gave charge, gave orders, laid charge” that it should be so. Though they were once mightily protected by the hand of God, they were not only unprotected, but commissioned against by Jehovah Himself.

Finally the verse says, “Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them.” Jeremiah employed a very graphic and picturesque illustration to demonstrate what Jerusalem was like. A “mentruous” woman was “impure, filthy, and set apart “ because of her condition. She was ceremonially unclean and was to be separated from others during this time. In the book of Leviticus chapter fifteen verses nineteen through twenty-four we are given more insight to this practice. Jerusalem is compared to “a mentruous woman” because she is alone, without comforters, and her enemies surround her.

When we suffer, we also may feel very alone. We may spread out our hands toward heaven and wonder if God really has forsaken us. Because of Jerusalem's forsaking of God, they experienced Him being of no comfort to them. Though they plead, still He did not answer. As we ponder this terrible condition of Jerusalem, it becomes a striking example for us. Jesus told his disciples, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”, and the key is found in their description – they were “disciples”. In other words, we will never know the lack of comfort from God as long as we continue as His disciples. May the Lord evermore give us the grace to keep in our relationship with Him and never know what it means to be left alone.

Next time we will see Jeremiah's appraisal of the Lord in this situation, 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