Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion; he will not prolong your exile. But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom, and expose your wickedness. – Lamentations 4:22

Today's Scripture Reading (August 7, 2023): Lamentations 4

The story of Job is an interesting one. We, the readers of the story, are told in the preface of the story what is hidden from the other characters in the tale. Job is a righteous man, and God is pleased with his servant. In fact, God holds Job up as the ideal to which we can reach as humans. We know this bit of truth, but no one else in the story does. And so, Job's wife encourages Job to "Curse God and die" (Job 2:9). The comment is essentially, "Why do you maintain your righteousness? Obviously, God is not pleased with you. If he were, these things wouldn't be happening." It was a lie, but the readers are the only ones who know that. We get a "God's level" view of the story. Something that we often wish we had for our own lives, especially during times of stress.

The first of the friends to speak to Job is Eliphaz the Temanite.

Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
    Where were the upright ever destroyed?
As I have observed, those who plow evil
    and those who sow trouble reap it.
At the breath of God they perish;
    at the blast of his anger they are no more (Lamentations 4:7-9).

Again, the message of Eliphaz is clear. Job, you may be able to profess your innocence, but right now, you are reaping what you have sewn. We all know that is the way that the world works.

We sometimes miss the importance of the fact that Eliphaz is a Temanite. The men of Teman were known for their wisdom. If you wanted wisdom, you wanted to hear what the wise men of Teman would say. And part of the story of Job is that God's wisdom is different from ours. It is not that Eliphaz is not filled with worldly wisdom. One of the Book of Job's messages is that worldly wisdom often fails.

Another thing is that Teman was an Edomite village. And Jeremiah reminds his audience that even the wisdom of Edom is not absolute. Edom had ridiculed Israel when Babylon attacked them, but Edom would be attacked next. While Israel would return from her time of punishment, Edom would be destroyed entirely. Edom's wisdom would vanish from the earth because they could not recognize God's wisdom when confronted with it.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 5

I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long. – Lamentations 3:14

Today's Scripture Reading (August 6, 2023): Lamentations 3

In the mid-1970s, Larry Norman released his album, "In Another Land." And one of the tracks on the album was the song "Shot Down." Norman writes,

I've been shot down, talked about
Some people scandalize my name
But here I am, talkin' 'bout Jesus just the same

I've been knocked down, kicked around
But like a moth drawn to the flame
Here I am, talkin' 'bout Jesus just the same

Norman said that in the mid-70s, the Christian Church finally accepted him, or maybe a better description would be that Christians finally took a chance on him. So, Larry Norman released an album written for the Church; he says none of the other albums had been intended for the Church's consumption. But this one was. I know what he means. A friend of mine tells the story about his pastor playing a Larry Norman song in Church. My friend knew the song and said that two versions were available; the album version contained a word unsuitable for church consumption, and my friend prayed that the pastor was playing the more suitable version. Unfortunately, he wasn't. And my friend said he just sank into his seat and tried hard not to look at the people's reaction. He probably also wondered if his pastor had bothered to listen to the song before he played it.

We all know what it is like to be shot down, talked about, kicked around, and had our name scandalized. Norman passed away due to heart issues in 2008, but if I could talk to him about "Shot Down," he would likely admit that it was Christians who did most of the shooting. Not that Norman didn't give them the ammunition to do the shooting. He did! That ammunition included poor word choices and unfortunate decision-making. But it always amazes me how ready we are to shoot.

I get it. I have been shot down as well. And again, I know I give my critics the ammunition. I admit I am a little too Pollyanna (insert naïve) for my critics. I preach "love" a little too much and to some inappropriate people. And I guess I am okay with it. One friend once commented that I was the pastor his non-Christian friends loved, but his Christian friends hated. At least someone loves me.

It sometimes amazes me that Jeremiah was a prophet with whom the Church of his day always disagreed. As he writes that he has become a laughing stock and is mocked, I think this is a personal realization from the weeping prophet. When Jeremiah said that hard times were coming, the people mocked him. When he told people they would be exiled, they laughed at him. And Jeremiah turned out to be correct.

And now, as the Temple lay in ruins, Jeremiah is preaching a message of hope. It is a message that says that God had called them to be the remnant that would begin to rebuild the nation and that they were to stay in the land. But the people wanted to leave for a voluntary exile in Egypt. It seemed that whatever Jeremiah said God wanted of the nation, Israel would disagree. And Jeremiah's name continued to be scandalized.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 4

In fierce anger he has cut off every horn of Israel. He has withdrawn his right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it. – Lamentations 2:3

Today's Scripture Reading (August 5, 2023): Lamentations 2

In the 1930s, the French put a lot of money and effort into building a series of fortifications on the country's Eastern border. These fortifications were called the Maginot Line, named after Andre Maginot (1877-1932), the French Minister of War in the early 1930s. The Maginot Line was considered a deterrent to a German invasion of France, as had happened in the First World War. It was believed that the Maginot Line was impenetrable. But there were problems with the construction. First, Belgium felt that the Maginot Line made them a sacrifice to a German invasion. Instead of going through France, the German army would simply take Belgium and neighboring Luxembourg, despite the neutrality of that nation, and then move south into France. The second construction problem with the Maginot Line was that the experts believed that, in places, the terrain provided enough of a deterrent without the increased fortification. And so, the Maginot Line was never completed to the degree that the architects of the fortification had hoped.

And then, World War II happened. And Germany did two things. First, they entered Belgium and violated the neutrality of Luxembourg, just as some experts had feared. But the second thing Germany did was find a way to go through what was thought to be an impenetrable feature of the terrain; specifically, they moved through the Ardennes Forest, a dense forest terrain filled with hills and valleys that connected Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. And yet, that is precisely where Germany decided to attack, bypassing the Maginot line altogether. Since World War II, the Maginot Line has come to symbolize expensive efforts that provided a false sense of security.

Looking at the destroyed city, Jeremiah writes that God, in his anger, has cut off every horn of Israel. Horn, in this context, indicates power or a source of security. And it was all gone. Even the Temple, which was considered an impenetrable defense of the nation, a spiritual Maginot Line, had been leveled and couldn't even be identified. It was all gone. God had withdrawn his right hand, so nothing was left to stop the Babylonian Army from taking the city. God had allowed it all to be destroyed. He had burned like a fire and consumed everything. And even though Jeremiah knew that God had plans to prosper the nation, it must have been almost impossible to believe that Israel could return from a defeat that had been this complete and devastating.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 3                                                  

How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. – Lamentations 1:1

 Today's Scripture Reading (August 4, 2023): Lamentations 1

The Book of Lamentations is a group of five poems written in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem. The author is never named in the book, but by tradition, the author is Jeremiah. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew text that originates from somewhere in the Second Century B.C.E., includes a preface to the book's text. The preface reads, "And it came to pass after Israel had been carried away captive, and Jerusalem was become desolate, that Jeremiah sat weeping: and he lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem; and he said."

You can almost see Jeremiah sitting on one of the hills surrounding the city, looking at the devastation of the city and writing these words. It must have been a terrible experience for the Prophet. He would have been used to the hustle and bustle of the city. He would have spent time watching the priests working in the Temple, the soldiers in various places around the city, and the merchants selling their wares. He would have watched the people as they lived and worked in the city.   And it wasn't that the city was simply empty; the city had been destroyed. The walls of the city no longer stood. The Temple was gone, along with the houses and businesses of the ordinary people. All that was left was rubble where once a world-class city had stood.

I don't know where you live, but imagine how you might feel if the city or town you live in or even near you basically ceased to exist. What if all that was left of the city was a pile of rubble? At such a moment, you might find yourself weeping, thinking not just about the city itself but the people that were now gone, all the missing friends and family. That was precisely the emotion that Jeremiah was experiencing. Most of the missing people were dead, some had been carried off into Babylon, and a few were hiding in various places around the countryside.

As deep as Jeremiah's grief was at this moment, the Prophet had heard the instructions of God and intended to stay in the area of the destroyed city. He wanted to be part of the remnant that would rebuild the city, both physically and spiritually. But that also wouldn't happen. After writing these five laments, Jeremiah was kidnapped by his own people and forced to go into exile in Egypt. And he would never see his beloved Jerusalem again.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 2

This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. – Jeremiah 51:59

 Today's Scripture Reading (August 3, 2023): Jeremiah 51

As someone who enjoys geopolitical intrigue, watching the events in Russia is always an interesting task. I must admit that I can say it is interesting because I am not part of the intrigue. I don't have to worry about some Secret Service officer coming to my home in the middle of the night and taking me away to some secret place where no one can find me. As bad as we think things are, we don't have to worry about government detractors and critics disappearing in the middle of the night. Chris Christie will still be around tomorrow regardless of what he says about President Biden or King Trump. And sometimes we forget that that isn't the way it is in other places in the world.

For instance, GOP Congressional Leader Kevin McCarthy seems to consistently be putting his foot in his mouth when talking about Donald Trump. After some of these instances, he has made a pilgrimage to Maro Lago to pay tribute to Republican Leader. But it is just a political pilgrimage. There is no worry that one of these times, he might show up to talk with President Trump and simply disappear, never to be seen again. And we get that. But in Russia, such things are not as obvious. And sometimes, people do disappear, either for a time or permanently.

Jeremiah writes this message during the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign. That means that this message was not written in the year that Babylon invaded and destroyed Jerusalem. It was written in 593 B.C.E., seven years before the destruction of the Judean capital. It was the year that Zedekiah participated in an ill-considered rebellion against Babylon. After the rebellion, Zedekiah traveled to Babylon to try to mend his relationship with Nebuchadnezzar.

At that time, Jeremiah sent a copy of this prophecy with a Jewish official named Seriah, the son of Neriah. Seriah had a vital connection with Jeremiah. He was the brother of Jeremiah's secretary, Baruch. And as such, he may have held some sympathies regarding Jeremiah, enough of a connection that Jeremiah could request him to take the copy to the Babylonian overlords and exiles in Babylon. Did the copy ever reach its intended audience? And what was the purpose of Jeremiah sending this message? Was it simply an encouragement to the exiles, or was it possible that Jeremiah wanted to send a warning to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians? We don't know the answer to those questions, but if the writing was intended to be a warning, it didn't seem to affect the Babylonian masters.   

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Lamentations 1

They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. – Jeremiah 50:5

Today's Scripture Reading (August 2, 2023): Jeremiah 50

As I was reading some of the writings by Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon says that he rejoices in the old Scotch writings on covenant. And then he refers to the cottager's grace, a meal prayer prayed over the daily porridge. Spurgeon doesn't try to repeat the prayer in the old Doric, a Scottish dialect in which the prayer was initially prayed, but he gives us an English translation. "Lord, I thank thee for the porridge, I thank thee for an appetite for the porridge, but I thank thee most of all that I have a covenant right to the porridge" (Charles Spurgeon). Spurgeon then challenges his readers; "Only think of that, a covenant right to the porridge."

I must admit that as I read Spurgeon's words, I accepted the challenge. But I am not sure I got even close to what "a covenant right to the porridge" might mean. The closest I can get is that if we follow God, he has promised to care for us. Part of God's promise to us says that if we follow him, God will feed us, even if it is just the daily porridge. And that is where I think we sometimes get a little messed up. I remember an oil advertisement I watched on TV as a child. The ad took a piece of bread and butter, asserting that the local economy could supply the bread and butter of life. But the oil industry adds the jam, or maybe the meat that lives between the buttered slices of bread. Maybe the old Scottish grace reminds us that God will take care of our needs, although I think there will still be times when we can't afford the jam. Maybe it is in those moments that we thank God for our covenant right to the porridge or the buttered bread. Too often, we demand more from God than he has promised. Not that we will never have it, but much should remain a once-in-a-while treat in our lives and not a daily necessity.

Jeremiah speaks of the exiles returning home and starts by saying they will ask their way to Zion. I am unsure how the original readers might have interpreted that, but reading the words reminds me that many of the exiles who would return had never been there before. They would be the children and the grandchildren, maybe even the great-grandchildren of the people Nebuchadnezzar and his army had exiled.

But even more importantly, the remnant that would return would be making a significant sacrifice. The returning exiles would have to give up the nice things they would have had in the Persian Empire. And they would depend on the covenant of God for their needs as they returned home. They would trust in God and be obedient in returning to Judah, but at the same time, they would need to rest in the covenant, not that God would give them the desires of their hearts, but that they had a covenant right to their porridge.   

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 51

Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is the one who repays you according to what you have done to us. – Psalm 137:8

Today's Scripture Reading (August 1, 2023): Psalm 137

Psalm 137 is, at times, hauntingly beautiful and yet filled with desperation and loss. It is a psalm that protests against the song or the Psalm. Maybe, Psalm 137 is a new music genre poured out like salve on hurting and desperate people. It is a protest by people who are too sad to dance to all those around them who want them to make merry. And the Psalm, in its final breath, becomes a problematic cry for revenge instead of love.

Peter Rollins is an Irish Philosopher who believes that every good band needs a breakup song. Every good band needs a song that deals with the pain and confusion that we know that life brings. Rollins even suggests that every good Worship Team needs to know at least one breakup song that makes sense of their music. It started me wondering what the breakup song of the musicians that I enjoy playing with might be. It is a little ironic that the writings of a songwriter proclaiming that there can be no song in Babylon really became the breakup song of the exiles in Babylon; it became a song sung in the night when the darkness closes in, and there is no room for hope. For Israel, Psalm 137 was the required breakup song.

But in Psalm 137, the darkness finally defeats the song. With the last breath of his song, the pain won out over compassion, and the author curses his enemies. Often this is the natural order. But in problematic passages like these, it is often good to remember that Jesus bore his own scars of the night on his body yet found a way to bless even his enemies.

Many years ago, I was asked to write a song for a convention that was taking place in Central Alberta, Canada. And I was given the theme of the conference, which was hope, and the key bible verse for the weekend, Jeremiah 29:11. Now, Psalm 137, "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion" (Psalm 137:1), and the writings of Jeremiah are really cousins. Both were written at about the same time and speak about the same thing, the exile of Israel and a time when darkness reigned for the children of God. But I think Jeremiah 29:11 belongs with a group of the most abused scriptures because we like to remove the verse from its context. This is what Jeremiah 29:11 says. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). But this was not a short time prophecy. Too often, I think that we believe that this verse is speaking of a short-term hope, maybe a hope for next month, next year, or the year after that. But the words of Jeremiah were being spoken to a generation of Israelites who were in darkness now and would die amid that same darkness. There was a plan, Israel would be restored, and the Messiah would come, but they would not see any of that happen. 

None of that was essential. What was important was that God promised he would still be there even in the darkness. And his song would shine out in the night. I know that God can do miracles in the darkness. But maybe one of the biggest miracles is that he sustains us during the long, dark night.

I don't know what you are going through, but I know that God can change your reality. Jeremiah was right. God's plan is that he will give us hope and a future. But for Israel, as they met by the rivers of Babylon, that meant that he would actively sustain them and place his song inside them throughout the long night ahead. Babylon was doomed for destruction, but it wouldn't be Israel or God that would send them there. Babylon would do that to herself.

The song I wrote for that conference all those years ago was entitled "You Have Destined Good" and had a prayer for the chorus.

            So, let your holy wind blow across my path

            Let your fire from heaven fall on me

            I know that trials will come, but you will lift me up

            Because you have destined good for me (You Have Destined Good, Garry Mullen, 2002).

God is still the one who gives us a song in the night. Some experts think that maybe Jeremiah wrote Psalm 137, but I lean toward Ezekiel. And I think Ezekiel gives us a clue to the authorship of Psalm 137 in his prophetic book.

The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me. I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abib near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days—deeply distressed" (Ezekiel 3:14-15).

Maybe we can add to Ezekiel's comments – and it was in the night that God gave me a song.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 50