Through the Bible - Lamentations

God, we do thank You that You have given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Everything that we need to live this life in a godly manner, You have given to us in Your Word. Lord, You have also instructed us in how to go through trials and sorrowful times, as we see in this book. We pray that You would speak to us, that You would disciple us and train us, Lord. We would follow hard after You in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

The book of Lamentations follows in the English Bible, our Bibles, right after the book of Jeremiah, because it was very likely written by Jeremiah. In fact, in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, there is a preface to the book of Lamentations. It says, "And it came to pass after Israel was led into captivity, and Jerusalem was laid waste, that Jeremiah sat weeping and lamented this lamentation over Jerusalem." Then it goes into this book, this five-chapter lamentation.

When you read through this book, you may have noticed that it has a very poetic fashion to it. It was written in a way that a lot of Hebrew poetry was, and it was composed in an acrostic form. Each of the five chapters is a poem, really, a lamentation, a sorrowful poem for what Jeremiah the prophet saw as his own people, his own countrymen, there in the nation of Judah, the southern tribes of Israel, being led away into captivity. After he sees the city destroyed and the temple torn down, he goes and sits on a mountainside, believed to be to the north of the city. In fact, Jewish tradition holds that when he wrote these things, he sat at the north end, outside the city walls of Jerusalem, and there is even a place you could go to today.

It's been covered up by a bus terminal, but there's a place that they call the place of Jeremiah's Lamentations. It is right at the foot of a mountain that we call Golgotha, which is fitting and interesting because it's the same hilltop where Jesus would be crucified after the return of the children of Israel into the land.

Jeremiah went and sat there, looking at the city. Who knows, maybe some of the city was still smoldering as he gazed upon the ruins of what had been destroyed. There were probably still even dead bodies surrounding or within the city, people who had died from famine or at the hands of the Babylonian Empire and King Nebuchadnezzar. But Jeremiah was still alive, and he witnessed this whole event unfold, just as he had foretold.

It could have been averted, really, if you think about it. He prophesied to the people, urging them to turn from their sin. God had spoken to His people in 2 Chronicles chapter 7, saying, "If my people will turn from their sin and if they'll seek me in prayer, then I'll heal their land." However, their land wouldn't be healed because they wouldn't turn to God. Jeremiah watched as the people were led away into captivity, and it all happened exactly as he had warned them it would. They didn't listen to him; they didn't want to hear what he had to say.

Now, he sits on this hillside and cries out. It's interesting as well, as you go through this passage, because there are several times in the book of Lamentations that you can see similar words that come from Jesus in the Gospels.

Look at chapter 1, verse 12: "Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by? Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord has afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger."

Then, as we go on over into chapter 2, verse 15: "All that pass by clap their hands at thee. They hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, 'Is this the city that men shall call the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?'"

You can think of the similar words that Jesus received as He hung upon the cross, with people walking by, shaking their heads and saying, "He saved others, but he himself he cannot save."

Finally, in chapter 3, verse 14, and verse 19, Jeremiah reflects on his affliction.

And my misery, the wormwood and the gall. These sorrowful cries of the prophet reflect the anguish he feels as he looks at the city that would be destroyed. They echo the similar cries of the Messiah as He hangs on the cross at the very same mountain, gazing at the city. Jesus probably had the same exact view of the city as they would reject Him years later.

This book covers the depths of sorrow and the thoroughness of God's judgment. As Jeremiah contemplates the total destruction of a city that had departed from God, it becomes clear that it was precisely because of their sin that this happened. In chapter 1, verse 5, we read, "Her adversaries are the chief of her enemies. Her enemies prosper, for the Lord hath afflicted her. Why? For the multitude of her transgressions; her children are gone into captivity before the enemy."

Then, in verse 8, it states, "Jerusalem has grievously sinned. Therefore, she has removed all that honored her and despised her, because they have seen her nakedness. Yea, she sighs and turns backward." In verse 9, we find, "Her filthiness is in her skirts. She remembers not her last end. Therefore, she came down wonderfully. She had no comforter. O Lord, behold my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself."

Again, in verse 14, it says, "The yoke of my transgression is bound by his hand, and they are wreathed and come upon my neck. He hath made my strength to fall. The Lord hath delivered me into their hands from whom I am not able to rise up."

In verse 18, we see, "The Lord is righteous, for I have rebelled against His commandment. Here, I pray you, all you people, and behold my sorrow. My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity."

Then, in verse 20, it continues, "Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress. My bowels are troubled. My heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled. Abroad, the sword bereaves; at home, there is death."

Finally, in verse 22, it pleads, "Let all their wickedness come before Thee and do unto them as Thou hast done unto me. For all my transgressions, for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint."

This recognition that all of this has come upon them—the destruction of Jerusalem—because of their own sin and transgression is a powerful reminder. This is exactly what God had told them through Moses in the book of Deuteronomy. If you read the last several chapters of Deuteronomy, you will find these warnings and truths laid out clearly.

You see the blessings and the curse that is given. Moses says, "I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day. I've set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose life that you might live." The way that they would experience life and abundance in the promised land was if they followed the Lord faithfully. He had given them everything that they could ever ask for, everything that they could ever want. He gave them cities that they did not build, crops that they didn't plant, and trees that they didn't plant. They were just to come into this promised land that He was going to give them abundantly, the land that flowed with milk and honey.

All they were to do, really, was to be a witness of God on the earth. Yet, as soon as they could, they departed from the Lord and did evil in His sight. As soon as Joshua was dead, we read at the end of the book of Joshua about this great leader who led them into the promised land. As soon as he was gone, we read in Judges chapter 2 that there arose a generation that did not know the Lord. They immediately began to do evil in the sight of the Lord, doing that which was right in their own eyes.

The Lord allowed them to be sold into the hands of their enemies. They would cry out to God when they were in trouble, and He would send them a deliverer, another judge who would lead them in righteousness. For a time, they would follow the Lord and experience the joy and the blessing of being God's people. But as soon as that judge was dead, they would depart from the Lord, turning their backs to Him and not their faces. They would again do evil in His sight, and so the Lord would allow them to be sold into the hands of their enemies once again.

Over and over again, this cycle took place until the worst portion of it came under King Manasseh. King Manasseh undid all that his father had done and built high places to all kinds of false gods throughout Jerusalem, even on the Temple Mount and within the Temple. Because of that, the Lord allowed these people to be sold into the hands of their enemies, the Babylonians. They were going to go into captivity.

When you read Jeremiah, I believe it's chapter 25, he tells us exactly how long their captivity was going to be. It was going to be for 70 years. The reason for that is that they were supposed to, under the law, allow the land to have a Sabbath year's rest. Every seventh year, they were to give the land the rest it needed. But they didn't obey. For 490 years, they didn't obey, burdening the land. The Lord said, "All right, I'm going to require an accounting from you. For 70 years, you're going to go into captivity to give the land the rest that it needs, the rest that it deserves."

It's amazing to me that God would command that we, His people, take time to rest. He knows us because He created us. Six days the Lord worked, and on the seventh day He rested. He has called you and me to experience that rest. What a wonderful and good God we have that He says, "I want you to rest." Yet, His people wouldn't do it. Why?

Every sixth year, the Lord would make provision in the land so that they would bring in a double crop, allowing them to support themselves in the seventh year. However, they thought, "Man, we're making a lot of money here. If we just work in that seventh year, think of how much more we could make." This is often how our minds think as well. We believe we would be so much more profitable if we just keep working and doing. The Lord says, "I want you to rest," but these people wouldn't rest. As a result, the Lord forced them into captivity so that the land would have its rest. We see the consequences of their sin as the city is completely destroyed.

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, watches this destruction and expresses the depths of his sorrow in chapter one of his lamentation. It's interesting because there are 22 verses in chapter one, corresponding to the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Each of these verses begins, not in the English Bible, but in the Hebrew, with the corresponding letter of the alphabet, going from the first letter all the way to the last letter, tav. The second chapter follows the same pattern, with 22 verses as he writes this poem of lamentation while looking upon the city.

Chapter one reflects the depths of sorrow, while chapter two illustrates the thoroughness of God's judgment. God was completely just in His judgment, but He was also thorough in the total annihilation of the people in the city. Notice that a theme in chapter two keeps coming up.

As I read through some of these verses, you may see this theme. Chapter two, verse one: "How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud of His anger and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel and remembered not His falsehood in the day of His anger?"

Verse two: "The Lord has swallowed up all the inhabitants of Jacob and has not pitied. He has thrown down in His wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah. He has brought them down to the ground and has polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof."

He has cut off, verse three, in His fierce anger...

All the horn of Israel has drawn back His right hand from before the enemy and burned against Jacob like a flame of fire that devours all around. He has bent His bow like an enemy. He has stood with His right hand as an adversary and slain all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion. He poured out His fury like fire.

Look down in verse six. He has violently taken away His tabernacle as if it were a garden, and He has destroyed His places of assembly. The Lord has caused the solemn feasts and the Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion and has despised the indignation of His anger, the king, and the priest.

Then, over at verse 21, the young and the old lie on the ground in the streets. My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger. You have killed and not pitied. You have called, as in a solemn day, my terrors round about, so that in the day of the Lord's anger, none escaped nor remained. Those that I have swaddled and brought up have my enemy consumed.

Over and over again, we see this attribute of God mentioned: His anger and His wrath. God's anger and His wrath. We have looked at this many times before, as Moses stood before the Lord in Exodus after the children of Israel had sinned and danced around the golden calf. You remember the story. In Exodus chapter 19, the children of Israel said, "God, all that You have said we will do and be obedient." Three times they swore to God, "We will do everything that You have told us to do." God made a covenant with them, and Moses sprinkled the blood upon them and upon the testimony.

The people declared they would do everything that God commanded. Moses brought that report back up before the Lord on Mount Sinai, saying, "Your people have said all that You tell them they will do and be obedient." Moses was gone for 40 days and 40 nights, and then God said, "Hey Moses, you’ve got to go back down to the camp because the people have already broken the law." He went down and found them dancing around the golden calf.

In Exodus chapter 32, God proclaims that He is going to destroy these people. I believe it was a test for Moses at that point in time, but he cried out to God and stood in the gap as an intercessor, and God relented from His anger. After that, Moses said, "God, I want to see You. You are such a glorious God; I want to see You." But God told him in Exodus chapter 34, "You can't see Me and live. You cannot see My glory."

In that way, I am going to pass by you and declare my name to you. In Exodus chapter 34, God does that. He shows him a little bit of His afterglow as He passes by, and the Lord declares to him in verse 6, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful." I love the fact that the very first thing God uses to identify His character is mercy. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.

Notice that He said there that He is long-suffering; in some of your translations, it says "slow to anger." Slow to anger. But notice what He says after He talks about all the good things. He says, "and by no means clearing the guilty." God is slow to anger; He has a long fuse. However, there is a time when His mercy and grace, and all that is so good about God—everything we love to praise Him for, and many of the songs we sing about Him—come to an end. God says, "Because I love you, I am going to have to judge you."

We see in Lamentations chapter 2 the anger of God, which is one of His attributes. Sometimes, we just can't comprehend a God who is angry. But really, we can only see the anger of the Lord in the light of His love. It is His love that shows us why He chastens people. Hebrews chapter 12 gives us the answer: God chastens those whom He loves. He disciplines us as His children.

During the time of Jeremiah and even before him, the people were rebellious. They had wholeheartedly departed from the Lord and would not receive His correction through the prophets. There came a point in time when God said, "I am going to strike you." He struck the northern ten tribes during the time of Isaiah. Then God said, "I am going to strike the southern tribes just in the same way that I struck the northern ten tribes." Why? Because you didn't learn anything from what I did to your sisters and brothers in the north.

The Lord said, "I am going to destroy you," and it started with annihilation from the Assyrian army. The Assyrians came in and destroyed everything in Judah but one city: Jerusalem. God powerfully and miraculously protected and saved His people during the time of Isaiah.

By an angel, God kills 185,000 of the army of the Assyrians. You would think that after such a display of power, the children of Israel and Judah would turn to God wholeheartedly and say, "You are an awesome and wonderful God." But they didn't do that. Instead, they departed again in their hearts from the Lord for the next 150 years until the time of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah would come and preach to the people, urging them to repent, but nobody would listen to him. Not a single person would heed his words. He cried out to them, saying that because of their lack of repentance, God was going to come upon them with His wrath and anger. Would the people listen? No, they wouldn't listen to anything he had to say. In fact, they had false prophets—many prophets that they heaped up for themselves because they tickled their ears. These prophets said, "Oh, don't listen to this Jeremiah guy. The Lord is going to protect you." But Jeremiah warned them not to listen to these false prophets.

As a result of not listening to Jeremiah, the people fell into judgment and came under God's wrath. You can see the thoroughness of God's judgment at the end of chapter 2 of Lamentations, where it says, "Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that the day of the Lord's anger none escaped nor remained. Those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed." Everyone was consumed and taken away.

Chapter 3 is also an acrostic poem, but it doesn't follow the acrostic in every verse; instead, it follows it every three verses. There are 66 verses in chapter 3, and it presents a contemplation of Jeremiah as he looks over the city and considers the devastation that has come. This chapter brings us one of the most beautiful passages in the entire book, and perhaps even in the Old Testament.

Starting in verse 22, Jeremiah says, "I recall to mind; therefore, I have hope." In verse 21, he expresses that he has hope even in the midst of destruction and devastation. Why? Because it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed; His compassions fail not. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.

Because His compassions fail not, they are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore, will I hope in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sits alone and keeps silence because he has borne it upon him. He puts his mouth in the dust; if so be there be hope. He gives his cheek to him that smites him; he is filled full of reproach.

I think you can see the correlation to Jesus in that verse. For the Lord will not cast off forever, but though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. It is not God's desire to punish in this way. God is not willing that any should perish, the Scripture tells us in the New Testament, but that all would come to repentance. The sad fact is that there are many who will not repent. For those who will not repent, there is the anger, the wrath, and the justice of God, and all of those are in righteousness. He is right when He brings judgment. He is right, for He does not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men, to crush under His feet all the prisoners of the earth, to turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High, to subvert a man in his cause; the Lord approves not.

Who is he that says and it comes to pass when the Lord commands not? Out of the mouth of the Most High proceeds not evil and good. Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of sins? Let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord in response to God's goodness and His mercies. We see here what should be our response: let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. Repentance.

You see, the book of Romans tells us the very same thing in Romans chapter 3. It is God's kindness that leads us to repentance. We see His mercy and His love and His kindness even in the midst of this, even through judgment. We see God's mercy and His kindness because look how long He waited to bring this sort of justice upon His people, to bring this wrath upon these people. He gave them so much time, and yet they would not turn.

Many times in the Old Testament, God is slow to anger, but there does come a time when God's anger is poured out. We see God's anger manifested upon Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 19. In Genesis chapter 18, you'll remember that God first revealed His plan to Abraham. Amos chapter 3 tells us, "Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets."

God comes and tells Abraham what He is going to do to Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham stands in the gap on behalf of a wicked city and asks, "Behold, what if there are 50 righteous people in that city?" Remember, Abraham's nephew Lot lived there. He questions God, "Will You destroy the city even if there are 50 righteous?" God replies, "No, I won't destroy it for 50."

Abraham continues, "Well, Lord, what if there are only 45?" He recognizes that the city is not very good. The Lord responds, "No, I won't do it for 45." Abraham stands in the gap once again, saying, "Lord, I am just dust, but what if there are only 30 righteous people there?" God answers, "I won't do it for 30."

There is something very interesting that Abraham says during this conversation. He asks, "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" This is a powerful question and statement that reveals something about our God. Our God is the judge of all the earth. Every single person who has ever lived or ever will live will stand before God for judgment. They will all come before Him for judgment.

Shall not that judge, the one who will condemn men to hell or allow men to go to heaven, be right in the way He judges people? He should be righteous, shouldn't He? Even Abraham, a fallen man like us, understood that the judge of all the earth should be righteous. He asks, "Lord, are You a righteous judge?"

Abraham continues, "What if there are only 20 righteous people there?" God replies, "I won't destroy the city for 20 righteous." Abraham thinks, "What if there are only 10 righteous?" He believes there must be at least 10, considering his nephew Lot, his wife, and at least his daughters. The Lord says, "I won't destroy it for 10 righteous." Yet, there was only one righteous man in that city.

What did God do? He destroyed the city but saved the righteous man. Why? "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" When we look at the judgment that came upon Jerusalem, we might think, "Well, there were women and children there, and there were innocents." However, there was no innocence there. There is none that seeks after God. All have fallen short of the glory of God. We have all departed from Him.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every man to his own way, from the littlest child, the newborn, up to the oldest adult. We are all fallen in sin. It's by God's grace that we're not consumed. His mercies are new every morning. The only way that a person will stand before God on the day of judgment is if they have repented and received Christ Jesus as Lord, and His blood has covered them. The wrath of God was poured out upon Jesus.

Think about that. In Romans, I believe it's in chapter 8, it says He spared not His only Son. He didn't even spare His own Son when sin was placed upon Him. And you think that you'll stand before God and say, "Well, I know you're a loving God, and surely you love me, so you're just going to forgive me." No. God is just when He pours out His judgment. The only way that man will stand before God is if he stands in Christ, the One who took our sin for us. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might receive the righteousness of God in Christ.

But if you're not in Christ and you want to stand before God, then you will receive the same punishment the city of Jerusalem received. As Jeremiah looks over the city and considers the devastation of the city that was completely destroyed, God's grace is seen in the light of it. When we see God's grace, our response should be to turn again to the Lord. We should repent and turn to Him. But the people wouldn't do that.

In chapter 4, you have another acrostic that goes back to the 22 verses again, each one following the Hebrew alphabet, as Jeremiah considers God's judgment more fully. In chapter 5, there are 22 verses, but it doesn't follow the same pattern as he cries out to the Lord and considers the utter humiliation of the judgment of God that came upon the people and upon the city of Jerusalem.

There are five things that stand out as you read through this book. When you look at chapter 1 and consider this great desolation that came upon the people, you must ask: why did it come upon them? Because of their own sin. But in the desolation, we see God's righteousness. We see God's righteousness.

God was just in bringing judgment upon them. In Chapter 2, when we look at the judgment of God because of His wrath and anger, we see God's faithfulness. God's faithfulness is evident in the fact that He said if they followed Him, they would be blessed, but if they did not follow Him, then they would be cursed. He was faithful; He did not go back on His word.

When we think about ourselves, I am not a parent yet, but those who have been parents can relate. I know my parents are here tonight, and nothing against them, but there were several times when they told me that a certain punishment would come if I did something, and then I did it, but the punishment didn't come. We realize that there are times in our lives when we don't fully make good on the punishments we say we will enforce. Yet here, there are people that God loved, whom He called to be His own, and they thought they could take advantage of God's grace and love. They believed that because God loves us and we are His people, He doesn't care what we do and won't bring His judgment upon us.

However, God said, "This is what I will do to you if you turn from Me: I will spew you out of the land. In the same way that I brought you into the land, I will be an enemy to you as I have been an enemy to your enemies." They thought, "No, God won't do that," but we see the faithfulness of God and His judgment in Chapter 2.

In Chapter 3, we see the personal pain of Jeremiah as he looks upon the city and weeps for the city that was destroyed, and for the people he knew and loved who were killed. In Chapter 3, we also see the compassionate heart of God; His compassions fail not, even in the midst of judgment and desolation.

In Chapter 4, it is interesting to consider the thorough judgment of God. He completely destroys and brings judgment upon the people. In verse 22, we find something very interesting: "The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished; the judgment, the punishment of your sin is accomplished, O daughter of Zion. He will no more carry thee away into captivity." After it is finished, God says, "I will no more carry you away into captivity."

But notice what He goes on to say: "He will visit your iniquity, O daughter of Edom; He will discover thy sins." Now, who is Edom? Edom were the descendants of Esau.

Which is a type of the flesh in the scripture. After this judgment, this desolation is complete, and God says, "I'm not going to send you into captivity any longer." He says, "I am going to bring destruction upon Edom, Esau, the flesh."

When you read through the judgments of God in the Old Testament, they always have a purifying purpose. The judgment of God is for purification; it's to remove Edom, to remove Esau, to get rid of the flesh. You see, sometimes we go through things and we think, "I am being judged of God." Well, if you are—and I doubt that you are—but if you are, it's for the purpose of God removing your flesh and purifying you.

James tells us, "Let no one say when he is tempted that he is tempted of God." It's not God that tempts any man, but God does allow the enemy to come against us at times, as we see with Job. There in the book of Job, we saw that it was for the purpose of the glory of God in our lives. The same thing applies: God is using whatever trial you face, whatever difficulty you go through, whatever destruction you encounter in your life. He will use it to purify you, to remove Edom, the flesh from you, and ultimately to glorify Himself.

In chapter 5, we also see the last thing: the enduring reign of God. In verse 19, it says, "Thou, O Lord, remainest forever; Thy throne is from generation to generation." You see, when we are going through trials, if we face difficulty and trial in this life, we need to remember this truth: God's throne endures forever. Though everything in this life burns and is consumed, God is still on the throne.

Psalm 46 tells us that as the earth shakes and the nations rage, there is this river that runs through the city of God. God is in the midst of her; He's on His throne. God is not moved. Though the earth be shaken and consumed, God is not moved. If we are God's people and if we are in Christ, that means we are not moved either. We have to make sure we're in Christ, though.

As I was reading through this book and praying about it over the last few weeks—while I was in Germany, I was asking the Lord, "I want you to speak to me and tell me what it is about this book that you want us to see." I mean, sure, we can go through it and we can go verse by verse.

Line upon line, we can think about all the different things, the word structures, the Hebrew poetry, and all that stuff. But at the end of the day, I just said, "Lord, I want you to speak and tell me what is the vision you want to speak to us through this book." I believe that He did answer my request.

I want you to look at chapter 2, verse 9. In chapter 2, verses 9 and 10, we read of the city of Jerusalem: her gates are sunk into the ground, and He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the Gentiles; the law is no more. Notice this at the end: her prophets also find no vision from the Lord. The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground and keep silence. They have cast dust upon their heads and have girded themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

As I was reading through that, there in verses 9 and 10, the prophets have found no vision from the Lord, and the elders keep silence. When we look upon the world and the church in general today, there seems to be no vision from most of the church and those in leadership in many churches across our nation and in the West. There's no vision, but nobody says anything. Sadly, the Scriptures say, "Where there is no vision, my people perish."

You look at the church today, and maybe some of you saw the report that came out from the Pew Forum last month. It talked about a major decline in evangelicalism and in churches all across the nation, and really in the West for the most part. Churches are on the decline. In fact, 80% of the churches in America today are stagnant and not growing. Over 3,000 churches a year are closing their doors in the United States right now.

Why is that? Well, I'll tell you why. It's because those who should have vision don't have any vision, and those who should challenge the leaders to have vision don't say anything. They keep their mouths shut. As a result, we see that the people sit upon the ground and keep silence. They cast dust upon their heads. The people don't know what to do; they're in derision.

It goes on in verses 11 and 12. Notice what they say there.

There is sorrow and destruction that have come upon the people and the children. They stumble in the streets and cry out, "Where is the bread and the wine? Where is the communion with the Lord?" It's gone. Why is it gone? Because those who should have vision do not have it, and those who should lead do not. As a result, there is a lack of communion; the bread and the wine are gone.

In verses 13 and 14, we read, "What thing shall I take to witness for thee? What thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equal to thee that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? For thy breach is great like the sea, and who can heal thee?" Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee. They have not discovered thine iniquity to turn away thy captivity but have seen for thee false burdens and causes for banishment. The breach was great; there is a significant hole in the wall, which means there is no protection for the people. They had no protection, but the prophets who were there prophesied falsely. They saw foolish and vain things, and instead of calling the people to repentance, as we see at the end of verse 14, they have not discovered thine iniquity. They haven't told the people, "Listen, you're in sin; you need to repent and turn to the Lord." Instead, they just kept telling the people to continue in their ways, that everything was okay. As a result, the people would be judged and destroyed.

In chapter 2, verse 19, we see this call arise: "Cry out in the night, in the beginnings of the watches; pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift up your hands toward Him for the life of thy young children that faint for hunger in the top of every street." The call there, I believe, to the church, to you and me, is to arise and cry out to the Lord. Pour out your heart before the Lord on behalf of those who are in this world dying. They have nowhere to go; they don't know where to go.

Jesus, in Matthew chapter 9, says that when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. They were scattered and fainted. Look around the world today. Look around our own town here in Escondido and see the people that are scattered and faint. They are going after all kinds of vain things, seeking fulfillment in every different thing they can find. They have dug wells for themselves that can hold no water, and yet they are dying. What are we doing? What are we doing?

We sit idly by and watch hundreds of thousands of people go to hell every single day. What should we be doing? Well, verse 9 tells us to cry out in the night. In the beginning, we should pour out our hearts before the face of the Lord and lift up our hands towards Him. Why? Because the people are dying.

The call is given, as we've already looked at a little bit in chapter 3, verses 40 and 41. This is the call that should be given to the people: let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto our God in heaven. We need to search our ways and ask the Lord to search us and see if there be any wicked way in us, just as David did in Psalm 139. If there is, we confess it to Him, knowing that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

In chapter 4, verse 4, we read, "The tongue of the suckling child cleaves to the roof of his mouth for thirst; the young children ask for bread, and no man breaks it unto them." The people are without food. The young children throughout this world, these people who need to be led to the Lord and given the food of the Scriptures, have nothing. Their tongues cleave to the roof of their mouths; they're asking for something. Somebody give us something, but no one is there to answer.

Consider the young in this generation, in our day. They are seeking for food and drink; they are seeking for something. They are going to find something, but it's not something that will satisfy them. We have the words of eternal life, and we need to make sure that we're extending that to them. They are calling out for it; they want something; they are looking for something.

What's amazing is that I've really been thinking a lot lately about my generation. I don't even know what you call them; maybe they're Generation X, I have no idea. But in this age group, perhaps just say the age group that is departing, when you look and read the Pew Forum, the age group that's departed from the Lord is 18 to 30, specifically 18 to 29. When you consider that age group, they just don't want...

Anything to do with the church, and yet they are still seeking for something. They are looking for something to meet the need of the spiritual, so they are going after all kinds of wacky things and crazy ideas. They are really into pseudo-intellectualism. They think they are intelligent because they have some sort of weird philosophy that they compiled after taking Philosophy 101 at Palomar College. Now, all of a sudden, they think they are Nietzsche or something. I don't know, but they believe they are something special, and their whole life hangs on this cheesy philosophy they made up, which is really a well that can hold no water. They need the living water of Christ, but who is going to give it to them? How shall they hear if they have no preacher? How shall they preach if no one is sent?

I was really convicted by this the other day because I've been thinking a lot about our own community here in Escondido. We like to consider ourselves a missions church because we have sent missionaries out. However, in Acts chapter 1, it says, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses of me in Jerusalem." That means your hometown. We have been sending missionaries to other parts of the world, but what about the mission of Escondido? Every single one of us in this room tonight, and everybody in this church that will be here tomorrow, are the missionaries to Escondido. When was the last time we recognized that God has sent us to our city, to our town, to those who are in this place?

We send people into other cultures and train them to be cross-cultural missionaries, whether in Mexico or the Philippines. We want them to be culturally sensitive, yet do we recognize that there are a hundred different subcultures in our town? I'm not just talking about racial groups; I'm talking about groups of people that represent different subcultures in our town. There are cross-cultural missions right here in Escondido, and sometimes we are blinded to it. They are crying out that they need bread, but nobody will break bread with them. We feel so good when we send someone overseas to a cross-cultural mission, encouraging them to do whatever it takes to minister to those people. Yet, when we see the punk kid in town or the kid wearing tight girl pants walking around, we think, "I don't want anything to do with that person." But God has called you to that person to be a cross-cultural missionary.

One of the biggest things that God indicted His people for was that they did not take care of the strangers in their land. They did not minister with hospitality to those who came from the outside into their land.

Of another culture, another people group, you remember the story that Jesus told when the lawyer came to Him and asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus replied, "What's the law? How do you read it?" The lawyer answered, "I love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus said, "Go do this; you'll be fine." The lawyer then asked, "Well, who's my neighbor?"

To answer his question, Jesus told him a story. There was a man who was going down the street and was beaten by some robbers and left for dead. A priest walked by, crossed the street, and said, "I don't want anything to do with that guy." Then a Levite walked by and also chose not to help him, as he was on his way to Jerusalem to worship the Lord and didn't want to get his hands dirty.

Then came the most hated group of people, the Samaritans. We will look at this tomorrow in John chapter 8, where they used the name of these people as an insult. A Samaritan walked by and tended to the needs of the man. Jesus asked, "Who was the neighborly one? Who acted as a neighbor?" It wasn't the religious figures; it's a sad and scary thing to consider.

In chapter 4, verse 9, it reads, "They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field." This group of people in our world today is pining away; they are dying and fainting because they have no sustenance. They are stricken for lack of sustenance; they have nothing to carry them on.

In chapter 4, verse 17, it says, "As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help; and watching, we have watched for a nation that could not save us." They are looking for help in vain. It's interesting when we read that they watched for a nation that could not save. It's amazing to listen to the political rantings going on in our nation right now, especially as we prepare for this presidential election.

We have these three candidates who keep going on and on, and everything they talk about revolves around how they will help with taxes and the usual political matters. They speak as if they are the saviors of these people, claiming, "We're going to make everything okay for you; we're going to take care of you." But you know what?

In a year and a half, we will find out that their words are all in vain. They are not going to be able to bring the salve to cure all of our wounds. They are watching for a nation that could save them. If you talk with the generation that is my generation, the 18 to 29, 18 to 30-year-old group of people, they really think that the government is going to answer their needs and that it is going to help them. They believe it will truly meet their needs. This is why I think so many of them are enamored with Barack Obama, because he talks as if he is their savior.

There will be many people who come until Christ returns, claiming, "I am your savior." Jesus talks about this in the New Testament, specifically in chapter 5, verse 5. Our necks are under persecution; we labor and have no rest. In verse 8, it states that servants have ruled over us, and there is none that delivers us out of their hand. Again, in verse 17, it says, "For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim." They strive and labor, but they have no rest. There is no one that can help them, no one that can deliver them, and no one that can ease their pain. Their hearts are faint, and their eyes are dim.

What is the answer in the midst of all this? In verse 19, we already considered, "But thou, Lord, remain forever; your throne is from generation to generation." There is only one answer, and it still remains that God is on the throne. He is seated there from generation to generation. The call needs to be given in verse 21: "Turn thou unto us, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days of old."

The call still remains. It is the same call that John the Baptist gave in Matthew chapter 3. It is the same call that Jesus gave in Matthew chapter 4 and Acts chapter 4: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." It is the same call that Peter gave on the day of Pentecost when he first preached to the Jews. Remember, God gave His message to the Jews first, and they asked, "What must we do?" He replied, "Repent."

Later, when Peter went to the Gentiles, he preached to Cornelius. It is interesting to note that Peter was the one who opened the gospel to both the Jews and the Gentiles.

He goes and speaks to the Gentiles at Cornelius's house, and they begin to believe in the Lord. The Holy Spirit fell upon them. In the very next chapter, when Peter brings the good news back to Jerusalem that the Gentiles had received the word, they all rejoiced. I want to say it's Acts chapter 10 or 11. They all rejoiced because repentance had been preached to the Gentiles.

There are all kinds of churches out there today giving some sort of message to this generation, saying, "Come to Jesus, and you're just going to be happy and joyful." This generation, however, does not want it. The Baby Boomer generation ate up this health and wealth message like nobody else. They wanted it, but this generation does not. Why don't they want it? Because it doesn't work. It doesn't work. The call has to be to repent. Why? Because they know they are sinners, whether they want to admit it or not. If they don't admit it, just give them the law; they'll see it.

They need repentance because repentance is the only thing that brings the blood of Jesus and the remission of sin. It involves turning away from what they have been pursuing for the Lord Jesus Christ. As I look at the Book of Lamentations, I realize that there are many things we could glean from it. The Lord spoke to me over the last three weeks, showing me that we see our nation in the same place as Judah and Jerusalem. God has been long-suffering and patient, slow to anger, but we have departed from Him, and He is going to judge this nation.

I believe we will see persecution in the United States. I don't know when it will come; it may not happen until I am gone. If I am gone, then probably all of you will be gone too, but it may not happen until then. However, it is going to happen. Until then, we have been called to be witnesses of Jesus in Jerusalem. If God so chooses, He may call you out of Escondido to go somewhere else to be a witness, but He has called you here now to be a witness. Be a witness here; get your hands dirty.

You may say, "I don't know how to be a witness." That's okay; we'll equip you because that's why the church is here. That's why the pastors and the elders are here—to equip you for that work so that we can see these people come to the knowledge of the truth.

Every single day, over 500,000 people go to hell. Sometimes we don't recognize and realize it; we don't think about it. Several months back, I think it might have been my mom, someone sent me a link in an email to this world clock thing. It showed you how it ticked away, displaying people being born and people dying. The birth rate is faster than the death rate, but it's mind-blowing how many people are born and how many people die every single day. It counts away faster than the seconds—people dying, people dying—and most of them are going to hell, not because they don't know about God, but because they will stand before God without an excuse.

Although they knew God, they did not want to retain God in their knowledge; they didn't want to follow God. God allowed them to choose that because He has given man free will. However, because of that, the justice of God will come. The Scriptures tell us, I believe in either Romans chapter 2 or Romans chapter 3, that the person who hardens their heart stores up for themselves wrath for the day of wrath. I don't fully know what that means, but it doesn't sound good at all.

We like the grace, the mercy, and the love of God, but there are a lot of people storing up wrath for the day of wrath. We have the word, the message of reconciliation, and if we don't give it out to the world, how miserable are we? It would be as if God gave you the cure for cancer tonight, and you said, "I don't really want to tell anybody about this great find; I think I want to hold on to this." That sort of person, if they had the cure for cancer and wouldn't give it out, would rightfully be persecuted or prosecuted, brought to justice for that.

May we heed the message of this book.

Jeremiah and everybody that we preach to doesn't listen. Amen. Let's stand and pray.

God, you have ordained that we would be the ministers and the messengers of your powerful word and gospel here on earth. It's so hard for us to completely understand that you have chosen to use the foolishness of preaching to bring your message to this world. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. You've given to all men a measure of faith. God, you have given to every single man, woman, and child on this earth enough faith within their heart to believe, but that faith is increased by the hearing of your word.

I pray that you would stretch us to share your word. We don't need to know all the answers; we just need to share your word, Lord. I pray that you would help us to be able to do that faithfully and boldly, that we would see people come to you.

We do see that we are living in the last days, but you promised that in the last days you would pour out your Spirit upon all flesh. Lord, we ask that you would once again cause a great revival in our day. Begin first here in this small room, and let it carry out into our community here in Escondido.

God, you've called us to be witnesses of you here in Escondido. We have been called by you to be ambassadors, which means those sent with a message. You've sent us with a message to this place. We are cross-cultural missionaries here in Escondido, and Lord, I ask that you'd help us to see and know that calling and fulfill it. Your righteous wrath is going to come, and we want to make sure that there are many people standing with us on that day when you return, praising and glorifying you.

Lord, help us to be bold in our witness of you, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.