As Jeremiah concluded his
words concerning the desolated nation of Judah and the city of
Jerusalem, he directed them toward the Lord whom he declared remains
forever and from generation to generation. In chapter five and verse
twenty of Lamentations, Jeremiah asks why God has forgotten and
forsaken them where he wrote:
Wherefore do you forget
us for ever, and forsake us so long time?
The
verse begins, “Wherefore do you forget us for ever,...” The
word “wherefore” employed by Jeremiah is like our word
“therefore” and generally is used when a writer is making a
conclusion. In other words, whenever we see a “wherefore”
in the Bible, we should look at the verse just before it to see what
the “wherefore” is “there for”. In this case, Jeremiah
has stated that the Lord remains forever, and he questioned that
since that is the case, “wherefore” or “why” “do
you forget us”. We can almost envision Jeremiah's perplexity as
he tries to make sense of the fact that God always has been, always
will be, and currently exists, and since this is so, how is it
possible that He could “forget” them? Let us note that
this is Jeremiah's assessment and not actually the true stance of the
Lord. Nonetheless, Jeremiah feels they have been forgotten.
The
verse goes on to say, “... and forsake us
so long time?” In addition to
being “forgotten”, Jeremiah adds “and forsake”
which means “to leave, loose, to depart from, leave behind,
let alone, neglect, apostatize, let go or free”. Jeremiah felt that
God had abandoned them and left them alone without Him at their side.
Let us note too that Jeremiah put a time on God's forsaking, “so
long time” which implies that there was once a time when God
was with them and they knew it, but Jeremiah's words let us know they
felt desolate, disowned and isolated in their present conditions.
Regardless of how close to the Lord the people of the nation of Judah
and the city of Jerusalem felt at one time, they felt forgotten and
forsaken after their destruction.
Have we ever wondered if the
Lord has “forgotten” and “forsaken” us? Perhaps we feel that
way presently, and although we remember a time when the presence of
the Lord was so real in our lives it was as though we could reach out
and touch Him, He seems so distant now. Sometimes life has played its
tune in our lives, and situations, people, conditions and troubles
have altered our closeness to the Lord, and we feel abandoned,
desolate, isolated and alone. In times such as these we should draw
our attention toward the holy scriptures and remember Jesus' words in
the gospel of Matthew in chapter twenty-eight and verse twenty where
we read:
Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
And we should remember the
Hebrew writer's words in the book of Hebrews in chapter thirteen and
verse five:
Let your
conversation be without covetousness; and be
content with such things as you have: for he has said, I will never
leave you, nor forsake you.
May we
always remember that God always knows us and will never forget or
forsake us as we continue in our relationship with Him.
Next
time we see how Jeremiah desires for the Lord to turn to them, 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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