lamentations study notes = 120125

[prismaticbleed]

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lamentations%202&version=NABRE

This chapter continues to move between the voice of the poet and that of personified Zion. The persona of the poet, first portrayed in chap. 1 as a detached observer recounting both the desolation as well as the sins of the city, becomes in this chapter an advocate for Zion in her appeal to the Lord and never once mentions her sins.
[He becomes a TYPE OF CHRIST! And honestly, that's how WE should act towards our fellow man in their distress, even if it is apparently caused by grave sin. Vengeance and judgment are both GOD'S jurisdiction, NOT OURS. Our job, in Christ, is mercy and compassion. We MUST pray & intercede for others to God, for FORGIVENESS, not for further punishment! And we must NEVER be critical faultfinders. We must NEVER "look for," or even look AT, the "sins" in others, dwelling & focusing on those failures instead of on their virtues. That's like going to an apple tree and only looking for rotten fruit, for no good purpose at all, ignoring all the GOOD fruit all around. We need to have the eyes of Jesus– eyes that are NOT blind to sin, and that NEVER overlook or ignore such soul disease when it appears– BUT those eyes only look at it as a doctor, even a surgeon, with a compassionately purposed end to restore the victim to health. That's VERY different from meeting someone and automatically "looking for the rotten spots", even WITH an intention to "help." You're not God. Don't be so proud. Your OWN sins are MUCH worse than theirs, so HUMBLE YOURSELF. Don't be so arrogant that you go searching for specks of sawdust in people's eyes, as if you were the remedy they've been waiting for. You're not. God is. And you should pray for a meek and contrite crushed heart for yourself instead of for whatever you think is "wrong" with the other person. I'm slightly off topic but its still true. You cannot be a true advocate for fellow sinners before God if you aren't first keenly and painfully and repentantly aware of your own equal sorry state before Him. Your intercession is NOT based on any alleged "merit", but on sheer heartfelt compassion. When you see suffering, your heart should NEVER wonder, "well what did they do to deserve it?" Or worse, "let them suffer, because I'm sure they DO deserve it. Pain will do them good." NO. That's DEVILISH talk. YOUR JOB IS TO BE MERCIFUL. It doesn't matter if they are the most "deserving" person for punishment on earth! It doesn't matter if the whole world knows their sins and sneers at them for it, just like Jerusalem in this book! No. As Christians, we are to HAVE MERCY ANYWAY, and LOVE ANYWAY, and BRING THEM TO GOD ANYWAY, for Him to PARDON & HEAL THEM as ONLY HE CAN... and in the process, we are never to mention her sins. Remember whose "job" that actually is. Do you want to be an accuser? No. So don't. Instead, be an ADVOCATE.]
["A discerning man, when he eats grapes, takes only the ripe ones and leaves the sour. Thus also the discerning mind carefully marks the virtues which he sees in any person. A mindless man seeks out the vices and failings ... Even if you see someone sin with your own eyes, do not judge; for often even your eyes are deceived." (St. John of the Ladder)]

2:11 "My eyes are spent with tears, my stomach churns": the poet appropriates the emotional language used by Zion in 1:16 and 1:20 to express a progressively stronger commitment to her cause.
[Notably, her expressions of physical & emotional anguish also include the phrases "How far from me is anyone to comfort, anyone to restore my life... Look, O Lord, at the anguish I suffer!" The poet, in his present empathetic echo of her OWN pain, even identifying with it and actively SHARING it, is effectively answering her prayers. Again, he is a type of Christ, and PROOF that God is NOT too far away to comfort & restore, and He IS looking, and not only that, but He is WITH her IN her pain, as long it as it must last, even if she cannot feel Him. And yet here is the poet, sent as a tangible manifestation of God's Own care for her, even AS He justly & needfully chastises her. He shares her language as EVIDENCE that God HAS HEARD her as well as seen, but not merely "as an external observer" as before– truly, yet paradoxically, God is never so detached from us, even in His utter transcendence. Again, this is perfected in Christ, God made Man. But God sends His Spirit into us, too, to look & hear & feel & speak on behalf of others. The more deeply we love them, the more deeply we will "be one with them" in not only their cause, but moreso even in their literal experience of it. We cannot care as Christ does if we keep our distance from the dirt & darkness of those in need. We MUST let their wounds open up in us, too. We must share their tears, their fears, their hunger and thirst, their poverty and pain, without exception or rejection. We must "empty ourselves" and "take the firm of a servant" as our Lord did, and still yearns to do THROUGH US. Humility is Godly, a pure and beautiful virtue, a salve for use in soothing suffering souls. That is our goal. This appropriation of grief-wracked language, to "take it to oneself," is not a theft but a sign of mutual possession, affirming that "we belong to each other." By sharing her very own words, he indicates an intimate concern & closeness– that he sees her as a person and not a mere observable object– as well as a desire to help shoulder her burden, not as an observer but as a companion, as a friend, near enough to feel every ache of her heart as his own. His echo says, "You are not alone in your misery. I see you, and I choose to enter into your suffering with you, to comfort you with compassion, and IN that compassion, to bring your cause before the LORD to have mercy on you."]

After describing the systematic dismantling of the city, the poet turns to [describing] the plight of the inhabitants. It is the description of children dying in the streets that finally brings about the poet’s emotional breakdown, even as it did for Zion in 1:16.
[This just hits so hard. The mere thought of children suffering rips my heart in half, too. But what's terrible is that it is happening right now, every day, in our society, and so many people do not care. Worse, as I alluded to yesterday, there are even people in this world who do not like children and do not care for them, and to such hardened hearts, this harrowing account of starving babies wouldn't even faze them. THAT is terrifying. Where is the tenderness? Where is the reverence for life, especially for the most helpless and vulnerable? Where is the passion of charity, to run to their aid? How cold have we become as a people? Lord have mercy on us and quickly, give us new hearts like Your Son's– servant hearts, sacrificial hearts, as magnanimous as they are breakable.]

2:13 "To what can I compare you…?" = the author calls attention to the poetic task: to find language that speaks adequately of the atrocities and incomparable suffering experienced by Zion, and thus to attempt to offer comfort.
[The "poetic task" being that of holy comfort & charity is a concept (truth?) that hits very close, as someone with an inescapably poetic heart. Is this what God is charging ME to do with that "talent"? I must pray about this & ponder it deeply.]

2:19 The poet urges Zion to appeal to the Lord once more on behalf of her dying children.
[This is SO IMPORTANT. Even when we feel hopeless of our own deliverance from what we know is a just punishment, even when we are in despair over the weight & depth of our own sins and the equally grave consequences thereof, and such thoughts crush our hearts in anguish to the point where we no longer have any strength, or even any desire, TO appeal to God... this verse implores us with vehemence, "then plead with Him to deliver you from these curses for the sake of those who suffer WITH you!!" Because yes, even in our chastisement, we are NEVER "isolated" from others. Even when we feel we are being "beaten up by God" and for a good reason, our pain is never exclusively our own. By the mere fact that we are human, that we all exist within converging contexts of family & community & nation & culture & influence & business & legacy, etc., we are always connected to other humans in every aspect of our existence, and everything we do/ think/ feel/ say/ suffer has a ripple effect, as well as a resonance, and it DOES touch & affect & move & even change others. So, the immediate point is this: Jerusalem’s sins have inevitably borne their rotten fruit at last, bringing just punishment upon her as a whole nation, since they collectively swore the oath to God as a people. However, a particular detail of the covenant curses was that individual suffering often required corporate loss– famine, disease, war, etc.– so that no Israelite was unaffected, just as no human is exempt from original sin, and therefore no one could claim moral superiority, innocence, or immunity. The problem? Infants with no power to choose sin suffered the exact same consequences as adults who had freely & willingly persisted in sin. So this appeal is to any remaining vestige of pity and humanity in their stubbornly selfish hearts, hopefully crushed to contrition BY seeing the babies meeting such tragic ends, to beg God for mercy and pity FOR THEIR SAKE. If you cannot or will not pray for yourself, if you are even wallowing in self-hatred and don't want to be helped, can you at LEAST beg God to reduce the time of punishment that your sins caused even if only because the punishment itself is great or broad enough to be affecting helpless children? "Have pity, God, not for my sake, but for theirs!" ...I actually pray similarly to this, when I beg God to heal or save or deliver me from very just, very terrifying, very deadly consequences for my very stupid sins, because if I died my mother would be devastated. "God, don't kill me tonight, because my mom shouldn't have to bury her child." Et cetera. Have mercy on me solely for her sake. But then PLEASE, God, HELP me to then keep living in a way that won't hurt her either!!! Have pity on Jerusalem so that no more babies die of famine, but then please, help us live as better parents to them, by being better children of Yours.]

The image of Zion’s children effectively condenses the metaphorical sense of all residents of the city (young and old alike) into the more poignant picture of actual children at the point of death. It was precisely this image, no doubt well known to survivors of besieged cities, that led to the emotional breakdown of both Zion and the poet. The hope is that the Lord will be similarly affected by such a poignant image and respond with mercy.
[...that is actually a gamechanging thought. I've noticed that we humans don't give God enough credit for His character. This cynical, materialistic, atheistic, neopagan, gnostic, satanic culture (because yes, it's ALL of that) has very much corrupted our understanding of God, and divinity/ holiness in general. Too frequently I hear people describing God, and His angels & saints, in very cold & distant & aloof terms. God is portrayed as an emotionally absent father, or even an abusive one, always giving orders and lashing out in rage, fickle & arrogant & even sadistic; saints are portrayed as being "holy" through disdain & contempt of both the world and their own bodies, famous for violent penances and unsmiling, unlaughing faces; angels are portrayed as eldritch horrors incapable of empathy or pity, zealous for God's justice to the point of not comprehending mercy, cutting down sinners like vermin. NONE OF THAT IS TRUE. And yet it is so common. That sort of perspective makes THIS line of commentary ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING. "What, you mean to suggest that God, the Almighty, can feel pity like people do??" Isn't He above that? Isn't divinity supposed to be unflinching and stoic, unmoved by our whining, dealing out righteous justice "without pity?" What about "I will not spare"? Scripture itself declares that God "will not relent"! It doesn't matter how awful the judgments actually are; we deserve them for our wretchedness and depravity; we have no right to ask for any reprieve anyway." Etc. To which I respond = you're cherrypicking, and you're only picking the unripe ones. Do you think all fruit is so bitter and sour, just because your focus is skewed? What about "I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins" ? What about "I will turn their mourning into joy, and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow"? What about "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds"? What about "When I bring Israel home again from captivity and restore their fortunes, Jerusalem will be rebuilt on its ruins"? What about "Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die? No, I would rather see them repent and live"? What about "The LORD was moved to pity by their groaning under those who oppressed them and afflicted them"? What about "From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion, You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies"? What about "The LORD God sent prophets who warned the people over and over about their sins, pleading with them to repent time and again, because He had compassion on His people and His Temple, and He wanted to spare them"? What about, "Through all that they suffered, he suffered too; In all their distress He was distressed, And the angel of His presence saved them, In His love and in His compassion He redeemed them; And He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old." AND WHAT ABOUT, "“Is not Israel still my son, my darling child, in whom I delight? I often have to punish him, but I still love him. Even though I must often rebuke him, I still remember him with fondness. Even though I threaten him, I must still remember him! My heart stirs for him, I must show him compassion! Whenever I mention his name, I think of him with love. That is why my heart yearns for him, why I long for him and want him to be near me. So I am deeply moved with pity for him and will surely have mercy and compassion on him. I do greatly love him. I, the LORD, affirm it!"
THERE IS ABUNDANT, INDISPUTABLE, BEAUTIFUL EVIDENCE THROUGHOUT ALL OF SCRIPTURE THAT GOD IS MERCIFUL AND KIND AND FORGIVING AND GOOD AND LOVING.
So why in the world do we foolish people think that God–the Creator of all hearts, the One Whose very NAME is primarily "gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness," the Covenant God Who bound Himself forever to us poor wretched creatures out of sheer love and unstoppable desire for our salvation– cannot feel the soft and tender emotions that we do? Where do you think they COME from??? If WE'RE horrified by the sight of suffering that is a direct consequence of sin, even if the sin itself didn't horrify us– do you really think that the God Who IS horrified by the sin that CAUSED this horror wouldn't be even MORE deeply disturbed by its awful end?? Because HE IS. God HATES sin, not just "by principle," but because of WHAT SIN DOES TO US. Do you think the devil cares? NO. He WANTS you to suffer. He REJECTS mercy. He would PREFER that as many people as possible collapse under the weight of their own wrongdoing. "It's your own fault!" "Don't expect ME to help you; you brought this upon yourself!" Doesn't THAT sound like what you were projecting on GOD earlier? You're deifying the wrong attitude. Yes, God DOES say in judgment oracles that He "will not show compassion". This is true in that context. His justice must do its proper, righteous, purgative, sanctifying work first– but THEN God ALWAYS offers the promise of restoration to the repentant faithful. God destroys in order to rebuild better, and He prefers to NOT have to destroy to begin with! So GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT. The covenant curses ONLY EXIST as the necessary consequences of REJECTING THE BLESSINGS, which are what God INTENDS to give! He DOESN'T want children dying in the streets! So yes, absolutely implore His compassion– because if YOU can feel it, it HAD to flow from HIS Heart FIRST.]

2:20 Extreme famine in a besieged city sometimes led to cannibalism; this becomes [in Scripture] a stereotypical way of expressing the nearly unthinkable horrors of war.
[There are cited at least SEVEN DIFFERENT VERSES that refer to such horror ACTUALLY OCCURRING, and all in the apparent context of covenant curse. There's something particularly terrifying about THIS being the "ultimate horror of war," with the idea of spiritual warfare, something we all experience daily, with no reprieve until death. This worst of all curses, the result of an inescapable siege, must therefore still have a parallel on that level.]

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CROSSREFERENCES FOR CONTEXT =

https://biblehub.com/leviticus/26-29.htm
https://biblehub.com/q/lamentations_2_20__literal_or_metaphorical.htm

This is NOT a moment of God “commanding” such an act; rather, it portrays the terrifying depths of judgment that fell upon people who had repeatedly shunned God’s warnings.
The coexistence of such judgments with God’s love and justice emerges from the biblical principle that God is righteous, cannot endorse wickedness, and honors His covenant stipulations. Even in judgment, the door to mercy was continually offered through repentance.
Lamentations, for all its sorrow, ultimately underscores humanity’s need for divine salvation– a need fulfilled and made permanent in Christ. In these sobering passages, we see the high stakes of forsaking God’s covenant and simultaneously the compassionate promise that God remains faithful to redeem those who return to Him.
[Things like cannibalism CANNOT coexist with repentance and redemption!!! Such things can ONLY occur OUTSIDE of faithfulness to the Covenant– for those acts ARE sins, the unnatural yet inevitable extremes of continued transgressions, which always multiply & worsen like a cancer. To persist in sin means you WILL eventually get to such a demonic point. God CANNOT "stop it" IF YOU INSIST ON PUSHING HIM AWAY. The curse is its own curse, really. To sin is to die, sooner or later. God warns of this fate, wanting to prevent it, but WE are the ones that CAUSE it to happen, by refusing to obey Him instead of ourselves. But where does our very life come from? Where does all wisdom and goodness come from? Without God we are utterly destitute; cannibalism is therefore the disturbingly literal translation of our stupid attempts to "live off our own strength," to be "sufficient unto ourselves"... but in the end, we all just end up starving and trapped, devouring each other rather than giving of ourselves and still, always, so terribly hungry.]


“Flesh” underscores physical reality. This is not symbolic language but an actual, bodily horror...
The covenant curses PROGRESS from crop failure, to pestilence, to invasion [and then inevitably to starvation]. When every outward support collapses [and God is rejected still], even the most basic human bond is consumed.
[God IS Love, and His LAWS are Loving, upholding justice yet showing mercy, proving true & fully righteous. In rejecting such a Law, Israel had no hope of even societal aid; anarchy was "every man for himself." Obedience would have safeguarded even the poorest child among them by Providential care; disobedience now doomed that very babe to become someone else's desperately selfish meal.]

The flesh originally given by God to nourish life becomes the final object of hunger. Sin flips creation’s order on its head.
[It ALSO means the MOTHERS whose OWN bodies WERE MEANT to "feed their CHILDREN" in a holy, loving, life-giving way, were the very ones feeding on their own children's bodies to try to stay alive themselves... but sin only brings death, even as it kills love. There is no nourishment here, even if there is eating. Such unholy hunger cannot ever sustain survival, for it perverts the entire nature and purpose of food. It would be better to starve than to sin in such an abominable way, and die regardless.]

The warning exposes how far a heart hardened against God can fall: the people who once ate the Passover lamb in hope may end up eating their own children in despair.
[THAT IS A GUTPUNCH OF A PARALLEL]

“Your own” personalizes the judgment; this is not strangers but family. God often stresses ownership to highlight accountability: “Your own way has brought these things upon you”. Likewise, the suffering here is self-inflicted through covenant breach.
[THAT IS SOMEHOW THE MOST TERRIFYING POINT YET. It means that such a hellish horror is, potentially, always a lurking possibility, because of our own sinful nature and wicked ways. Believe me... I know. My past has been full of hell, and yes, it was my own fault. The fact that I cannot run away from this curse scares me to death. It will NEVER allow exemptions or excuses. If I break the covenant... this WILL happen, in one way or another, by the very nature OF the breach. THAT is why sin is the most frightening thing ever: it is inherently separate from and opposed to God– rebellious & proud, violent & selfish, lustful & greedy, altogether unloving and merciless. Sin WILL ALWAYS result in death, for both oneself and others... because to sin is to be an enemy of God.]


Yet even this darkest line of curse points beyond itself. God spared not His “own Son” [from bearing the awful consequences of sin's curse, in our place, and as one with us?]. At Calvary, He provided the only Flesh that sinners may “eat” with Life-giving effect.
[In the exact same place] where judgment exposes our depravity, grace supplies a better meal— the Body of Christ given for us.
...The verse spotlights the depths of human depravity when God’s protective hand is withdrawn, confirms the trustworthiness of Scripture through its later fulfillment, and ultimately drives us to the cross— where another Parent GAVE His beloved Son so that repentant rebels might never face such horrors, but instead share in the love-feast of everlasting Life.
Lamentations itself contains a glimmer of hope: “Because of the LORD’s loving devotion we are not consumed”.
[MY HEAD IS SPINNING AND MY HEART IS WEEPING WITH FEARFUL AWE AND JOYFUL GRATITUDE. GOD REALLY DOES REDEEM EVERYTHING]

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https://biblehub.com/q/what_does_the_bible_say_on_cannibalism.htm


Throughout the Bible, any reference to cannibalism functions as a measure of extreme distress and spiritual bankruptcy. These accounts highlight how far people can fall when separating themselves from God’s life-giving provision. By contrast, GOD'S DESIGN for humanity is to PRESERVE life, HONOR each person’s dignity, and CARE for one another’s needs (e.g., Deuteronomy 15:7-11, regarding caring for the poor; Matthew 25:35-40 on hospitality and compassion).
Furthermore, Jesus’ teaching in passages like John 6:53-56, where He speaks of believers “eating His flesh,” has no cannibalistic connotation. Instead, His words are understood [in an almost maternal manner, for He gives His Own Life freely for our nourishment without actually dying Himself– even as He ALSO perfectly fulfills the sacrificial types in being killed as an offering for our sins– a Passover offering, MEANT to be eaten, and yet the Lamb is still "standing," even "as though slain." The point is: it's not mortal life were consuming, nor are we "taking it," nor are we "slaughtering" Jesus. No. He GIVES Himself FREELY and even "BLOODLESSLY" in the Eucharist. We "eat Him" LITERALLY AND TRULY, but as Bread made Flesh, elegantly avoiding all bestial associations. We do not "cannibalize" Him out of desperate and blind hunger. Rather, He comes to us almost as a mother, to our most helpless and absolute hunger, yet without violence or malice. This feeding is entirely pure, entirely good, entirely loving, and by it we consume Life Himself– TRUE Life, that satisfies our deepest longings and fulfills our every need. This is a LITERAL NOURISHMENT that LITERALLY rebuilds us into eternal creatures THROUGH Him IN us, making us LITERALLY info His Body. John 6 is so much more than merely] referring to total dependence on His sacrificial work and the spiritual nourishment found in Him [although those are indeed key aspects of His mission; they simply are not the whole picture, for we are body AND soul composite creatures, and Christ came to redeem and save and glorify BOTH].

Moral and Spiritual Lessons
1. Human Dignity: People are made in God’s image, a status that forbids violence against one another for sustenance.
[I think that's exactly why cannibalism horrifies me so much. It's because it means you're seeing the other person solely as meat. You're completely disregarding their soul, and its inherent union WITH their body.
And the very thought of a dead child is utterly devastating... the actual sight of one is gutting. It's a thing that should not happen ever. Children are so pure & good & right & harmless. They're so soft & vulnerable & trusting & dependent; they LITERALLY NEED LOVE TO SURVIVE. And for someone to just... kill and eat a child??? That's the most evil thing just can imagine. It's spitting in the very Face of God.]