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Crushed and Confused

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The Lord Was Like an Enemy

The Prophet Speaks:

1The Lord was angry!

So he disgraced Zion

though it was Israel's pride

and his own place of rest.

In his anger he threw Zion down

from heaven to earth.

2The Lord had no mercy!

He destroyed the homes

of Jacob's descendants.

In his anger he tore down

every walled city in Judah;

he toppled the nation

together with its leaders,

leaving them in shame.

3The Lord was so furiously angry

that he wiped out

the whole army of Israel

by not supporting them

when the enemy attacked.

He was like a raging fire

that swallowed up

the descendants of Jacob.

4He attacked like an enemy

with a bow and arrows,

killing our loved ones.

He has burned to the ground

the homes on Mount Zion.

5The Lord was like an enemy!

He left Israel in ruins

with its palaces

and fortresses destroyed,

and with everyone in Judah

moaning and weeping.

6He shattered his temple

like a hut in a garden;

he completely wiped out

his meeting place,

and did away with festivals

and Sabbaths

in the city of Zion.

In his fierce anger he rejected

our king and priests.

7The Lord abandoned his altar

and his temple;

he let Zion's enemies

capture her fortresses.

Noisy shouts were heard

from the temple,

as if it were a time

of celebration.

8The Lord had decided

to tear down the walls of Zion

stone by stone.

So he started destroying

and did not stop

until walls and fortresses

mourned and trembled.

9Zion's gates have fallen

facedown on the ground;

the bars that locked the gates

are smashed to pieces.

Her king and royal family

are prisoners

in foreign lands.

Her priests don't teach,

and her prophets don't have

a message from the Lord.

10Zion's leaders are silent.

They just sit on the ground,

tossing dirt on their heads

and wearing sackcloth.

Her young women can do nothing

but stare at the ground.

11My eyes are red from crying,

my stomach is in knots,

and I feel sick all over.

My people are being wiped out,

and children lie helpless

in the streets of the city.

12A child begs its mother

for food and drink,

then blacks out

like a wounded soldier

lying in the street.

The child slowly dies

in its mother's arms.

13Zion, how can I comfort you?

How great is your pain?

Lovely city of Jerusalem,

how can I heal your wounds,

gaping as wide as the sea?

14Your prophets deceived you

with false visions

and lying messages—

they should have warned you

to leave your sins

and be saved from disaster.

15Those who pass by

shake their heads and sneer

as they make fun and shout,

“What a lovely city you were,

the happiest on earth,

but look at you now!”

16Zion, your enemies curse you

and snarl like wild animals,

while shouting,

“This is the day

we've waited for!

At last, we've got you!”

17The Lord has done everything

that he had planned

and threatened long ago.

He destroyed you without mercy

and let your enemies boast

about their powerful forces.

18Zion, deep in your heart

you cried out to the Lord.

Now let your tears overflow

your walls day and night.

Don't ever lose hope

or let your tears stop.

19Get up and pray for help

all through the night.

Pour out your feelings

to the Lord,

as you would pour water

out of a jug.

Beg him to save your people,

who are starving to death

at every street crossing.

Jerusalem Speaks:

20Think about it, Lord!

Have you ever been this cruel

to anyone before?

Is it right for mothers

to eat their children,

or for priests and prophets

to be killed in your temple?

21My people, both young and old,

lie dead in the streets.

Because you were angry,

my young men and women

were brutally slaughtered.

22When you were angry, Lord,

you invited my enemies

like guests for a party.

No one survived that day;

enemies killed my children,

my own little ones.

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®) © 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
See this passage in other languages or Bible versions

Reflect

Listening to the outpouring of someone else’s grief as we do in these verses can be painful and disturbing. The expressions of pain and the horror of the situation grow in intensity, with mothers reduced to eating their own dead children (v 20). Nothing remains of the past; everything is black and hopeless. Those who have experienced the darkness of depression will identify with the feelings expressed here – the constant tears (v 18), the sense of rejection (v 7), the lack of understanding from others (v 18), the false hope offered (v 14).

On top of the personal pain and societal suffering (vv 10–12,20,21), there are the profound theological questions. All this is attributed to God. The enemies were instruments, but God is the ultimate cause. The day of the Lord (v 22), anticipated as a day of Israel’s vindication and the establishment of God’s rule, had turned out to be a day of God’s judgment on Israel. The idea had developed that nothing could destroy the Temple on Mount Zion, but the sanctuary has been abandoned (v 7), the worship stilled (v 6), the law disregarded (v 9) and the prophets without a message (v 14). How could the covenant God do this? How could he break faith with his people?

Questions such as these and the loss of contact with God add to the sense of isolation. Faith, once so vibrant, offers no sense of comfort. Whenever we put our trust in things other than God himself we run the risk of disappointment similar to theirs.

There is as yet no hint of an answer. That is the way it is. At our lowest points there seems no way forward. Conflicting emotions collide, and the best that we can do is to give vent to our feelings in the hope that God may hear us (vv 19,20).

Respond

Father, please forgive us when we trust in the wrong things and assume that all will be well. Help us and help our churches to be faithful to you alone. Amen.

First used in Encounter with God April-June 2015, written by John Grayston, copyright Scripture Union. Used with kind permission.

John Grayston

John Grayston

Until 2009 John was the Director of Theology for Scripture Union England and Wales. He is now retired but acts as Biblical and Theological Consultant for SU, and is engaged in writing and itinerant preaching and teaching. He has three adult children and five grandchildren and his hobbies are skiing, hill-walking, photography and gardening.

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confusion, grief, dépression, theological questions


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