Lamentations: Prayer for the Nation

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SYLLABUS
STUDIES IN THE BOOK OF Jeremiah

LAMENTATIONS 5
Lesson #49
PRAYER FOR THE NATION

• Memory Verse: Pro 29:2
• We have arrived at the end of Jeremiah’s writings.
  • He concludes with his feelings about his nation in the form of a prayer.
    • Through the book of Jeremiah the author has frequently identified himself with his nation as he saw the deep problems reap the consequences of destruction upon Israel.
    • Through the book of Lamentations, the prophet demonstrates what should be our attitude as we consider the devastation of the past but look to the future.
  • As you think about your own nation, you will notice that your feelings have sentimental value. We see these feelings as well as some truths about our own lives in Jeremiah’s words.
• Read Lam 5:1-16
  • “Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.” (1)
    • What does the word reproach mean?
      • Reproach means = a censure mixed with contempt; a severe charge of a fault; to assign blame or contempt;
      • Reproach also means = to be in a state of shame or disgrace. For Israel their reproach was complete.
    • What was Israel’s reproach? (Notice the 7 points. The number 7 is God’s complete number.)
      • =1 They were robbed of the Promised Land that God gave them.
      • =2= They were “fatherless” without a close relationship with their heavenly father. (3)
      • =3= They did not have the basic provisions of life that God promised them. (4)
      • =4= They were proudly independent but now they were slaves. (5)
      • =5= They were respected as a nation under Kings David and Solomon, but now they had no nation. (8)
      • =6= The joy of the nation was turned to mourning. (15)
      • =7= The glory of their public administration of justice ended when they no longer had a nation to govern. (16)
  • Remember what is past in order to consider what is in the present!
    • Jeremiah tells God to remember their situation in verse 1. However, it is man not God that must remember, because God never forgets while man often forgets.
    • Sometimes people bring shipwreck to their lives and never consider the pathway of the past that led them to this point in their lives. The Israelites were like that.
      • Jeremiah recognizes the sins of their ancestors. (6)
      • However, his generation did not correct the way of their ancestors but continued in it.
    • Our lives are the result of a series of decisions we have made in the past.
      • Why is it important to remember the past?
        • If we do not remember the past history, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes of the past.
        • We have seen in the book of Jeremiah the many prophecies that will be fulfilled a second time for the nation of Israel.

Remember that the first fulfillment of prophecies in Jeremiah was the fall of Israel to the idolatrous Babylonian Empire.

Remember that the second fulfillment of prophecies in Jeremiah will be the fall of Israel to the Antichrist’s idolatry that will become Mystery Babylon, the world false religion, in the tribulation period. (Rev 17-18)

• • • • Israel will repeat the past because the nation did not acknowledge their sin and change direction.
        • Notice that in verse 7 are the sins of their ancestors but in verse 16 Jeremiah mentions the sin of his generation.

The sins of their ancestors of which they are were now reaping the consequences.

Their own sins that they learned from their ancestors and compounded upon those of the past with their own transgressions.

• • • • • Notice in verse 17 Jeremiah says that because of their sin, this calamity of destruction has fallen on them. In other words, the fall of Israel was a consequence of their sin of idolatry that was present when the Israelites first left Egypt and worshipped the golden calf in the wilderness.
      • Why is it important to confess sin periodically?
        • If we, as believers in Jesus Christ, do not examine our lives in the past to determine the decisions that we have made that brought us severe problems, we will never take steps to learn and correct our lifestyle so that it produces a different result.
        • If we continue to repeat the same patterns of a sinful lifestyle that are the result of bad decisions, we are just like the Israelites in the book of Judges.
        • With each cycle in the book of Judges, the lifestyle of the Israelites got worse and worse on a downward spiral.

These same patterns are repeated in Israel’s history continuously. Why?

Because they would not examine their past to acknowledge their sin, and they did not teach their history of their relationship to God to their children.

• • • • • Sin without repentance hinders prayer. (1Pet 3:12)
  • A BIBLICAL TRUTH:
    • The fool continues the same lifestyle pattern over and over and expects a different result each time.
    • Read 2Pet 2:20-21
• Read Lam 5:17-22
  • The people remember the beauty of Solomon’s temple of gold and sorrow at its loss. (18)
  • After the confession of sin, it is important to confess our faith.
    • Where do we see a confession of faith in this passage of Lamentations?
    • In verses 19 and 21.
      • In verse 19 we see the declaration that God is all powerful and eternal. It is not important what nations come and go because God is always there and continues in control for eternity. (19)
      • In verse 21is the faith that God has the power to turn them around and restore them as His people.
        •  ^“Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord” (21)
        • The phrase “turn thou us unto thee” is the same thing as the meaning of repentance = to turn and go in the opposite direction.
        • Read Psa 80:3, 7, 19
  • Final Note:
    • Israel has never repented of their sins, so God is still waiting to restore them fully as His blessed people. Yes, they have a nation again, but they do not acknowledge God as they should.
    • Israel will not pass this final test until the second coming of Jesus Christ. At that time, they will receive God’s gift of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and God will restore their former glory in the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ. He will be their God and they will be His people.
    • Read Zec 12:10-11
    • Read Zec 13:1-2, 6-9

The End

May God keep you faithful to Him until He returns.