Biblical Theology XXI: Lamentations

The Book of Lamentations, or in Hebrew ʾêkâ “How?” is a composition made up of five laments concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile. It is likely written by a person who is left in the land, and somewhat documents just how severe the judgment of God was upon the nation. The first three are acrostic using the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet to begin each verse. The fourth is an acrostic where each letter of the alphabet begins every three verses, and the final fifth lament does not begin each verse with a Hebrew letter, but still contains 22 verses. A lament is a mourning over death, in this case, the death of the city. The ordered patterning the governs the five laments may subtly indicate that there is a divine order in the midst of chaos, and an order in the way one should respond to God’s judgment. The Hebrew name “How?” likely has a double meaning. In one sense, it asks “How all of this devastation could have happened?” In another sense, it answers the question, “How should people respond to the judgment of God?”

Theology: In the first lament, Jerusalem is viewed as a widow who was deprived of her husband and children. The lament conveys the idea that the judgment for Judah’s sins that was predicted by the prophets was not a bluff made by God, but was actually a genuine warning of a devastating judgment that has now taken place. It is also meant to convey to the nations that if God has carried out the judgment about which He warned His people, He will certainly also carry out what He has said concerning the nations concerning their judgment.

The second lament presents Jerusalem as a daughter who has been abandoned to her enemies because of her many sins against God. The people in ruin are told to cry out before God day and night and not cease to seek His mercy in the midst of the devastation.

The third lament is from the perspective of a person who is experiencing the judgment of God. It describes an absolute shunning by God of the individual that leads to absolute chaos on every side, so that the person is in despair. “He has walled me in so that I cannot get out; he has weighted me down with heavy prison chains. Also, when I cry out desperately for help,  he has shut out my prayer. He has blocked every road I take with a wall of hewn stones; he has made every path impassable” (7–9).

God is presented as pursuing the person as a predator who relentlessly cuts off every avenue of relief from destruction. Because God is the enemy of the person under judgment, there is no hope of a higher power relieving one of the onslaught. The result of God’s judgment is absolute despair and hopelessness.

What causes a glimmer of hope to appear is when the mourner remembers YHWH’s ḥesed, and that even though God is not obligated to answer the prayers of those under judgment, He may still do so if one cries out to Him in repentance. Hope is, therefore, found only in the character of God and His love for His people. Hence, only God can bring relief from His own judgment, and hope is born for those who seek Him. 

The fourth lament follows the same pattern of thought as laments 1 and 2. 

Finally, the fifth lament is a prayer to God that, perhaps, means to be an example of what a repentant prayer should look like. It ends with asking God to restore them, unless He has decided that they have gone to the point of no return and can no longer be forgiven.

Ethics: God has no obligation to forgive anyone under judgment. If He chooses to hear their prayers of repentance it is because of His merciful nature toward those who seek Him; but there is a point where feeling sorry, or saying sorry via words or sacrifices, has replaced true repentance that is characterized by Isaiah as ceasing to do evil and learning to do good. This lack of repentance brings people into judgment and there is no obligation on the part of God to grant true repentance to someone under His judgment. This means that God cannot be manipulated and controlled by someone who merely wants to go on sinning but be forgiven each time by saying his or her "sorrowful plea" to God. Lamentations argues that maybe He will forgive and maybe He won't, so one should not presume that his perpetual sinning does not make a difference.

In the hope that God will grant repentance and restoration based upon His own merciful character toward those who truly seek Him, Lamentations gives instructions for how one should repent: (1) Acknowledge that judgment has rightly been handed out by God for the sins of the individual and the community. (2) Acknowledge that God has no obligation to hear one’s prayers and forgive. (3) Cry out to God without ceasing. Let him bury his face in the dust. Sit alone while being disciplined. (4) Accept the discipline from God that may come from other people (reproach from others for one’s sins). (5) Be patient for the Lord’s deliverance in the hope that He will forgive based on His ḥesed. If one is instead bitter toward God for being punished for his sins, he can expect that the Lord will not forgiven him.