Video Transcript: Lament 4 - A Shorter Sigh

Okay. We have gone through the book of Lamentations in terms of an overview and an  understanding of the times in which the laments were written that is with the fall and  destruction of Jerusalem. We've looked at Jeremiah's background because the laments are  always tied to Jeremiah. And it's very reasonable to assume even though the laments  themselves don't carry any authorial references, but it's very good to assume that Jeremiah is likely to have written these they, they reflect the themes from Jeremiah's prophecies. They're  written at the time that Jeremiah is there. They're seeing the world through the eyes that  Jeremiah also sees them. What we have seen so far is that the first four of the laments are all  acrostic poems, that is, each of the sections of those poems begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. That was developed nicely and elements one and two where you have  three couplets together. And the first of those begins with the initial letter of the Hebrew  alphabet and successive letters developed really well in the third one where each of the three  couplets themselves in each section begins with that letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Now  we're looking at a shorter song lament four lament four has only two couplets in each section  again, 22 sections for the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, but only two couplets each time  related to each successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The tone is a bit different to in  lament one we had the woman who appeared as the survivor of a terrible tragedy, where she  typifies and personifies Jerusalem. Lost because the Babylonians have destroyed the city and  the temple, and have carried away so many people and others have died. So it's the morning  of the woman personified Jerusalem a picture of, of this terrible situation going on, lament two is more the perspective of heaven where Yahweh says, Yeah, this is terrible. This is horrible.  And yeah, I've done it or I've allowed it to happen, but for good reason and connecting it to  the curses of the Covenant, the Sinai covenant, which created Israel, lament three was much  more intricate, both in its poetic form, but also in its theological understanding of things. It's a male who speaks but not from Heaven's point of view, rather, from Earth's point of view,  along the lines of the woman in lament one, but much more assertive in calling God to not let  this be the final chapter or the last thing written, or spoken or done in Israel's history. Now  we're going into lament number four. It begins, again, with this sense of pain in what has  happened in Israel's existence, in the destruction of Jerusalem, and personifies it, almost  standing outside of it and looking on. It's very similar to lament one in terms of its overall  perspectives. How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull. The sacred gems are  scattered at every street corner. Notice in this one, you have to see the references in the  verses similar to laments one and two, there, you would have three couplets in verse, here  you have just two couplets in a verse, and that shows the shorter length by 1/3. of lament  number four different also than lumen three, where each one of the couplets would resonate  with that letter of the Hebrew alphabet here, just the first letter of the first word in the first  couple of has that letter and then the first letter of the first word in the second group, the  fourth line, which would be verse two, a fifth line would be with the second letter, Bet in the  Hebrew language. So that's the structure behind we don't see that in the English language,  but our structures as they come to us, portrayed in our translations do echo our  understanding of these things in the Hebrew poetry. How the precious children of Zion once  worth their weight in gold are now considered as pots of clay the work of the potter's hands  destroyed. Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young children don't have any  mother so they go to the animals to nurse. Because of the thirst of the infants tongue sticks  to the roof of its mouth, you can see the variety of different comparisons made to what's  going on. Everything is chaos, everything is a mess. Those killed by the sword are better off  than those who die of famine wracked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the  field. The Lord has given the full vent to his wrath he is poured out his fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion and consumed her foundations, similar kinds of metaphors to those that have  happened before. I noticed some of the people there, verse 14, now that grow up in the  streets through the streets as if they were blind. They're so defiled with blood that no one  dares to touch their garments. This is like leprosy, go away you are unclean, that people cry  them away away, don't touch us. When they flee and wonder about people among the nations say they can stay here no longer. So not only are the Israelites without their own homeland,  and the people of Judah and Jerusalem without the city of their residence, but no one else 

wants them either. They are truly outcasts. They are truly alone and gone and forsaken and  displaced peoples. Notice how the, the lament ends. Rejoice and be glad daughter of Edom,  you who live in the land of Uz, but you also want to you also the couple of the past, you will  be drunk and stripped naked, so that others around say, Yay, they had it coming, and they're  

celebrating now. But the lament says, you too will find this happening to you. And quite soon,  the lament ends your punishment will end Daughter of Zion, he will not prolong your exile,  but he will punish your sin, daughter of Edom, and its exposure wickedness. Notice that this  lament shorter echoing many of the same themes as the first lament now takes on much  more of the character of hope and expectation that in fact, we have not reached the end of  the story and the credits are not beginning to roll. Instead, we are midway through the story,  and there's going to be a turnaround that takes place. The voice again is a human voice, a  voice of lament similar to the voice in the first lament, then it was the voice of the woman  herself who is experiencing this. Now it's the voice of those who look on and observe what's  taking place. This lament lament number four is much shorter than the first three by a third  actually, because it is 1/3. Less verses but just as powerful. Here again, the voice and  perspective is that of a human man who functions in much the same role as that of the  woman in the widow and lament one, and the man in love lament three. The difference here  is that the man is much more aware of the struggles again, they're part of a tragic event,  certainly, both in his life but also in God's life. And so God must remedy or restore the  situation, or bring reconciliation to it all. Again, the three key themes that Yahweh has acted  justly in costing Jerusalem and tearing it down. It sure it was the Babylonians who actually did the deed, but the judgments of God will also come on all the other nations, the Israelites and  people of Judah had it coming because they denied or defiled or undid the promises of the  covenant. They're getting their due, but other things are going to happen to the other nations as well. And God remains sovereign in this world. God will allow God's will finally take place.  And that becomes the overarching theme that echoes again in lament five and the desire for  that but especially in that central element in lament of three more on these things in my  book, Covenant Documents, Reading the Bible Again For the First Time.