Lamentations 3:34-5:22
With a second day in Lamentations, are you beginning to get a sense of the devastation of Jerusalem? If you are having trouble imagining this ancient city, let me offer more contemporary settings. On this 78th anniversary of the dropping of the first Atomic Bomb, consider Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Or for something directly related to the Jews, picture Auschwitz and the Holocaust. With photographic records on hand, perhaps these horrors are more within our reach.
But let’s bring it all even closer to home. My college roommate suggests this scenario:
Imagine if the Chinese were to shut down our grid, incapacitate our military through software, and launch nukes that we could not answer or intercept. Our nation surrenders, our leaders are executed, all our belongings are forfeit … starvation, concentration camps, our loved ones disappear …
Let that sink in, not the Hollywood version, where Maverick shows up and prevents the whole disaster, but real and utter devastation of the U.S.A. How might we respond, both as a church community and as individuals? Would we shake our fists at God? Would we lose our faith, giving in to despair? How might we express our sorrows and grief? Would we repent, acknowledging our own sin? Would we turn to the Lord? In the midst of such devastation could we say that the steadfast love of the LORD never ceases or that His mercies never come to an end? Would we? Really?
Will anything less than such a scenario suffice to bring this nation to repentance? Will anything less suffice for you?