LAMENTATIONS, Chapter 4

Simple Gifts

The Book of Lamentations was most likely written by the prophet Jeremiah, though there is no internal mark of authorship. It is the heartfelt "alas!" (its original title in Hebrew) from the soul of one who has witnessed his beloved people and their homeland ravished by a foreign invader, in this case Babylon. Its form is Hebrew-alphabet acrostic poetry, and its themes are those common to the OT prophetic tradition.

For Jenny and I this book is notable for its parallels at a different level of experience with the book of Malachi, which we have studied so carefully this year. The setting, of course, is different, as Lamentations follows on the destruction of the Jerusalem (586 BC) and the Solomonic Temple, and the Babylonian exile. However different the setting, however the thematic patterns are everywhere evident. For example:

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)

"For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed." Malachi 3:6 (ESV)

There are many, many more pattern-repetitions throughout the Bible. We would encourage our listeners to become sensitive to these patterns, as God speaks very clearly through them to us.

As in so many other cases, this summary of the book of Lamentations is a helpful place to start in appreciating this great book:

https://youtu.be/p8GDFPdaQZQ?si=nJyo81hMQXyorNZL