The Lamentations sermon series started this morning. For those people who weren't able to be with us (but who will be with us next week) it is really important to understand the setting of this Old Testament book...
In the book of Exodus – the second book of the Bible - God brings the people of Israel out of Egypt. God and the people of Israel then commit to each other: God promises that he’ll be faithful to them and they promise that they’ll be faithful to him. Then later, in the book of Joshua, God brings the people of Israel into the Promised Land. But the story then descends into disaster. In the book of Judges the people of Israel are unfaithful to God - again and again and again (and again and again). But God is faithful and in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel God gives them Kings – and King David is a good King. Then in the book of 1 Kings, David’s son, Solomon, takes the throne. And at the start Solomon is a wise King but in the end Solomon is a foolish King. He too is unfaithful to God and the story again descends into disaster. In the book of 2 Kings, King after King after King is unfaithful to God - and the people of Israel are unfaithful to him too -again and again and again (and again and again). All the time God is calling out to them - sending prophets to say: “Please, stop saying that!” “Please, stop doing that!” Until 2 Kings chapter 25, when God intervenes.
According to 2 Kings 25 a man called Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, marches against the city of Jerusalem with his whole army. They camp outside the city, they build siege works around it, and for two years Jerusalem is kept under siege. And in the year 587BC the wall is broken through. The King of Israel at the time, who did evil in the eyes of the LORD - just as his father had done, and just as his father had done -is captured by the Babylonians. The Babylonians set fire to the temple of the LORD, and to the royal palace, and to all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building is burned down. The city is reduced to rubble, and ruined. The city is devastated, demolished and destroyed. The Babylonians take their bronze, their silver, and their gold. The place is deserted. The Israelite people are either executed, exiled, or enslaved. According to 2 Kings 25, in the year 587BC, the city of Jerusalem is razed to the ground. But at the same time, in the same place, the book of Lamentations is written. It is really important to understand the setting of Lamentations in order to understand what it means for us today.
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