1 How lonely sits the city
that was full of people!
How like a widow has she become,
she who was great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
has become a slave. – Lamentations 1:1
The Unfaithful Bride
“How lonely sits the city.” So writes Jeremiah. What a sobering personification. Jerusalem, destined for such greatness. Jerusalem, desolate because of sinfulness. The city on a hill is now sitting in the dumps. She who was once full of people is now stripped by her enemies. Her people have been exiled to foreign lands. Laughter has given way to longing. Greatness has given way to groaning. Power has given way to persecution. The proud bride is now an abandoned widow. The princess has become a slave. Her once full streets are now desolate. Pride came before a fall. “How lonely sits the city.”
It wasn’t meant to be this way. God found Israel along the road. He cleaned her. He nurtured her. He showered her with His love. She spurned Him. As sad as the illustration sounds, Jerusalem is not a helpless widow. She drove her husband away. She wasn’t a faithful wife, but faithless. Time and again God would lavish His love on Israel, only to see Israel reject Him. When Moses was on Mount Sinai too long the people made a golden calf. When the desert (not dessert) menu wasn’t to their liking, they wanted to go back to the leeks and onions of Egypt. The people who cried for deliverance from slavery begged for liberation from the monotony of manna. Instead of submitting to the rule of God, they wanted to be ruled by a king. Instead of pointing the nations to their Salvation, Israel slept with them. The bride God intended to be pure was defiled. The apple of God’s eye was spoiled. “How like a widow she has become.”
Jerusalem not only boasted of the Temple of God, but it also throned mighty kings such as David and Solomon. During the reign of these kings, Jerusalem was on top of the world. King David subjected their enemies. Solomon reigned in wisdom and peace. During their reigns, Israel collected tributes from the nations they ruled over. The might of David and wisdom of Solomon were world renown. All that was gained under their rule was undone by foolishness and unfaithfulness. Her king was deported and the ruler became the ruled. “She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave.”
The Faithful Groom
“God is love.” So John writes in his first epistle. So we like to remind ourselves and one another. We like to talk about love. We desire and need to be loved. We like to quote the love chapter, First Corinthians chapter thirteen, “Love is patient. love is kind, etc.” We like to quote John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” We like to be the object of affection. We enjoy being lavished with love. That is why Jeremiah’s description of Jerusalem is so sobering. “How lonely sits the city.”
What God has done for Israel, He has done for you. When you were dead in your sins He cleansed you with the blood of Christ. He covered you with the robe of Christ’s righteousness. He filled you with the life of His Holy Spirit. He liberated you from slavery and made you an heir. He continually lavishes you with His love. Do you reciprocate His love or do you spurn Him?
The picture Jeremiah portrays of Jerusalem sitting alone touches our hearts. We envision an elderly widow perhaps sitting in the corner of a room lost in her thoughts. Thoughts of what used to be. Her husband embracing her when he walked through the door after a hard day’s work. Her children chasing each other around the yard and through the house. The neighbors stopping in and making memories by passing the time with her. The walls are still there. The memories are still there. The sights and sounds are still vivid. But the joy of life is gone. Reminiscing won’t bring them back. Once chance is all there is. Unless…
Another Chance
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9
As I stated above, Israel was not a helpless victim of time or circumstances, but rather was responsible for their predicament because of the choices they made. The sins of the people precipitated the loneliness of the city. The personification of Jerusalem is a rebuke to Israel, but the people would come back. The walls and the Temple would be rebuilt. More importantly, the life would come back. Voices and laughter would again fill the homes and the streets. Tears of sorrow would be replaced by tears of joy. Not because the bride deserved it, but because of the mercy of the faithful groom. One that will never break his word to His bride or Himself.
59 “For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath in breaking the covenant,60 yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. 61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you. 62 I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, 63 that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.” – Ezekiel 16:59-63
God is Faithful. God is love. He desires and deserves to have these attributes reciprocated not spurned. Israel’s rebuke is a good reminder for us. The lonely city grieved the heart of a Faithful “groom”. A groom who first loved us so we could love. One who atoned us so that we would.