There are times in our lives
when we discover that we have enemies. Jesus Himself said to “love
your enemies”, and the presumption within that statement would
be that we would have them. But suppose that God was your enemy. What
would that be like? The people of Jerusalem and Judah thought they
knew, and in Lamentations chapter two and verse five Jeremiah wrote
about it where he said:
The Lord was as an
enemy: he has swallowed up Israel, he haa swallowed up all her
palaces: he has destroyed his strong holds, and has increased in the
daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.
The
verse begins, “The Lord was as an enemy:”
Let us be sure to note that Jeremiah wrote the Lord was “as”
“an enemy” and not directly one. God Almighty was in a correcting
mode when He dealt with the people of Judah and Jerusalem and not
their enemy. The effects of His coming against them felt like He was
an enemy, but He was actually as a correcting Father. We must keep in
mind that the entire book of Jeremiah and other Old Testament
prophecy books were devoted to helping Judah and Jerusalem avoid the
troubles within which they found themselves.
The
verse goes on to say, “he has swallowed up Israel, he has
swallowed up all her palaces:” When
the judgment of God fell upon Jerusalem, the people felt that God
“swallowed up” or
“engulfed and ate up” Israel. The
devouring of the Lord was complete and without regard to prestigious
and fortified places such as “palaces”
which means “citadels or fortresses”. There was no one or place
that could stand against this Holy God and His wrath.
The
verse continues, “he has destroyed his strong holds, and
has increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.”
In addition to the palaces being
swallowed, God also “destroyed”
which means “ruined or made to decay” the “strong
holds” or “fortresses,
fortified cities, and cities with walls”. The effect of the Lord's
judgment was that “the daughter”
or those within these places “increased”
which means “became great or many, became much or became numerous”
in their weeping, crying and grieving. The greater the judgment
fell, the greater number of those who lamented because of the
devastation became.
Isolated
judgment of God may be felt by just one person or a few, but when the
wrath of God fell upon the nation of Judah, many were affected by it.
As we think about this verse perhaps our mind may remember when it
seemed as God was our enemy. Maybe our perception was that He was
“swallowing” us up and bringing judgment upon us because many
were affected by it. We must keep in mind that there are times when
we suffer just because we are living in this fallen world, however,
there may be times when we suffer because of our failure to heed the
warnings of God. The key is to know the difference between them and
to align ourselves with God no matter where we find ourselves. God
loves us, and He cares for us as well. If we need correcting, He is
there to supply, and if we need comfort in our times of trouble there
is no one who provides greater comfort than He.
Next
time we will see how even the tabernacle of the Lord was not off
limits to be destroyed, 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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