In reading the Lamentations of Jeremiah, I couldn’t help but think of the comparisons with our nation today. Of course, there are many differences. Judah was supposed to be a theocracy under the rule of God. That was never the intent for America. God had chosen the Hebrew people to specifically be His children, favored and blessed, a light to the nations. Only because we honored and revered God at our founding, and then through the efforts of many dispelled the darkness of nations, did the Lord prosper us. Judah, like the Northern Kingdom of Israel before her, fell far from Yahweh upon being wooed by pagan gods and then shamelessly sought them out. America has fallen from grace as we’ve thrust God from every sphere of our society. God’s Chosen People, despite having been warned repeatedly about the dangers and consequences of spurning the Lord, did so anyway, to their great regret. Regardless of the fact that we have God’s Word in abundance, we have neglected its warnings with the result that we also are going down to destruction to the consternation of many.
The Lord gave Israel the Law and the Prophets. He devoted an entire chapter of His Word in Deuteronomy 28 describing how marvelously blessed Israel would be if she followed all His ways. In that same chapter, Yahweh also cataloged how immensely cursed Israel would be for ignoring His ways and turning her back on Him. As Jeremiah penned his grief about the terrors experienced by the people of Jerusalem upon her destruction at the hands of the Babylonians, his descriptions echoed many of the curses outlined in Deuteronomy.
Here are a few of the disastrous outcomes in Deuteronomy 28 that God promised His people for not obeying Him:
- Curses, confusion, frustration (v20)
- Pestilence that sticks to them (v21)
- Wasting disease and fever (v22)
- No rain, resulting in hardened, unproductive soil (v23)
- Defeat by enemies (v25)
- Boils like those in Egypt among the plagues (v27)
- Madness, blindness, confusion of mind (v28)
- No one to help them (v31)
- Other nations consuming their produce (v33)
- A foreign ruler set over them (v36)
- Serve other, useless gods (v36)
- Unproductive labor (v38)
- Great debt (v44)
- Sons and daughters raised by others (v45)
- Cannibalism (v53)
- Sickness and affliction beyond what Scripture records (v61)
- The Lord’s delight in bringing them ruin (v63)
- Slavery and captivity (v68)
Given what God’s people knew about Him, and how He had responded in the past to their many transgressions, you would think they’d have tried a little harder to obey and serve Him in order to avoid this lengthy list of scourges the Lord decreed. But, you’d think this incorrectly.
And so, for her iniquities this time around, God brought many of these afflictions. Here are several noted from Lamentations 1 and 2:
- Exile (1:3)
- Foes have become the head (1:5)
- Majesty departed (1:6)
- No one to help (1:7)
- Became filthy in her sins (1:8)
- No comforter (1:9)
- The people groan under the weight of oppression (1:11)
- Young men in the city crushed (1:15)
- Captivity (1:18)
- Dishonor upon the kingdom (2:2)
- God withdrew His hand of protection (2:3)
- God became her enemy (2:5)
- The temple became a waste (2:6)
- False visions by her prophets (2:14)
- Derision by others (2:15)
- Cannibalism (2:20)
- No escape from God’s wrath (2:22)
All these things and more came upon Jerusalem. Why? The reason is captured in a phrase. Lamentations 2:9 says:
… the law is no more…
It’s as simple as that. The people disregarded the Law of the Lord and became exceedingly disobedient to Him. This rebellion in the hearts of so many brought down upon their heads the wrath and punishment of God.
Are we in America so different today? I don’t think so. Here are several afflictions that we currently suffer:
- Drought
- Reduced crop output
- Major supply chain problems
- Serious shortages of every kind
- Coming famine
- Exceedingly great debt
- Excessive weather events
- Engineered plague among all the populace
- An evil medical “solution”
- Extreme and excessive health conditions that are growing worse
- Young people experiencing life-threatening health issues
- Wicked rulers
- Confused priorities
- Direction from a foreign nation (China)
- Open borders bringing in unknown numbers and types of peoples
- Madness within the medical establishment
- Sons and daughters taught in public schools by others with an evil agenda
- God’s Word a rarity in the public sphere
- No other nation to help us
- An epidemic of depravity through sexual immorality
- Removal of God’s hand of blessing
- People groaning under the weight of oppression
I’m sure I’ve missed some, but you get the point. The nation that turns away from God will experience distress and severe consequences. We are at that point, and according to Scripture, none of this will improve. The amazing thing of it is that we are simply in the birth pain phase. Our nation hasn’t even gotten to the place of labor yet. That will come as the true church of Christ is Raptured and the world falls into the Tribulation.
Given all that’s going on now, all the grief that these many afflictions are already causing, I’m grateful the Lord has promised to deliver us who love and serve Him through the incredible gift of His Son. For those who are truly Christians, but believe we’ll go through the Tribulation, what hope do they have? Is there joy in this prospect?
This is why I cling to the Bible’s clear teaching that Jesus will return in the clouds to rescue us before the worst of this comes to pass. My encouragement is in the soon fulfillment of His glorious appearing.