As the lament of Jeremiah
continues, he told of the horrible plight and condition that was in
Jerusalem after their destruction. They had served other gods, and
now they were paying the price for doing so. In chapter one and verse
eleven, Jeremiah continues to tell of the plight which Jerusalem's
people faced because they forsook the one and only true Almighty God.
We read:
All her people sigh,
they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for meat to
relieve the soul: see, O LORD, and consider; for I am become vile.
The
verse begins, “All her
people sigh, they seek bread;” There
was sighing or groaning among the people because of the lack of
bread. Where there was once daily provision and luxury, there was now
absence of food. The physical pains from hunger were manifesting
themselves among those who were left in the city, and there was
little provision to satisfy them.
The verse goes on to say, “they have given their pleasant things
for meat to relieve the soul:” The provisions that once seemed
valuable, their “pleasant” or desirable things, were used
to purchase even the smallest morsel of “meat” or “meal”
which would “relieve” or “turn back” their “souls”
or “minds and emotions” to the way things used to be.
Finally the verse says, “see, O LORD, and consider; for I am
become vile.” Now with a sullen plea those in Jerusalem cry out
in desperation for the “LORD” or “Jehovah” or “Yahweh”
to “consider” which means “look upon, see, or regard”
them. Those within Jerusalem who once rejected the Lord God now
desired that He “consider” that they had become “vile”
which means “worthless, insignificant, quaking and trembling”.
Regret is one of the most difficult of human conditions. Many of us
would like to turn back the clock and do something a different way
like these who were in Jerusalem. However, turning back time for us
is impossible, and we only have now and our futures to manage.
Perhaps as we consider these words of Jeremiah and the condition of
those who were in Jerusalem during this difficult time we will
resolve to keep the Lord God Almighty in the forefronts of our
thoughts and ways so that we will not have to know the “vile”
conditions which they faced. May the Lord Jesus help us all insure
that He is the priority of our lives, and may our future and the
provisions of it lie within His Almighty hands.
Next
time we will see Jerusalem reacting to her neighbors, 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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