BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS AND JEREMIAH - SADNESS OF A NATION REJECTED FOR UNFAITHFULNESS - REBELLIOUS NATION! ??

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BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS AND JEREMIAH - SADNESS OF A NATION REJECTED FOR UNFAITHFULNESS - REBELLIOUS NATION!

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(Lamentations 1:18-20) . . .Jehovah is righteous, for it is against his mouth that I have rebelled. Listen, now, all YOU peoples, and see my pain. My own virgins and my own young men have gone into captivity. ק[Qohph] 19 I have called to those intensely loving me. They themselves have tricked me. In the city my own priests and my own old men have expired, While they had to look for something to eat for themselves that they might refresh their soul. ר[Rehsh] 20 See, O Jehovah, for I am in sore straits. My very intestines are in a ferment. My heart has been overturned in the midst of me, for I have been absolutely rebellious. Outside the sword caused bereavement of children. Within the house it is the same as death."

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The “able-bodied man,” representing the nation, speaks of his affliction, yet expresses hope (3:1-66)He describes his present desperate situationNevertheless, he is confident that Jehovah will hear his people’s prayers and show mercyTerrible effects of the siege of Jerusalem (4:1-22)Death by the sword was better than death from the famine; women even ate their own childrenFleeing survivors were relentlessly pursued in mountainous and wilderness regionsJehovah is petitioned to note the people’s suffering and to restore them to favor (5:1-22)His people’s hereditary possession has been given to strangersThey have been shamed and debasedThey pray for Jehovah to bring them back to himself even though he rejected them with indignation

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INTERESTING NOTE ON WHY THEY ARE LIKE AN OSTRICH

(Lamentations 4:3) . . .Even jackals themselves have presented the udder. They have suckled their cubs. The daughter of my people becomes cruel, like ostriches in the wilderness.‘Treats Sons Roughly.’ The statement that the ostrich “does treat her sons roughly, as if not hers” (Job 39:16) and reference to ostriches as being “cruel” with respect to their offspring (La 4:3) 

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It is also true that these powerful birds, both male and female, quickly abandon the nest and their young when sensing danger, and even though they may use diversionary tactics to draw enemies away from the nest, this is still ‘rough’ treatment for the unprotected young. 

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Only the protective coloration given by the Creator is what may save the undefended and abandoned chicks, causing the enemy beasts to overlook them and chase after the fleeing parents. The ostrich may properly be termed “cruel,” then, as compared with many other birds and particularly in contrast with the stork, whose affectionate attention and constant concern for its young are proverbial.

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