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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.
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
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.