WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU PERSISTENTLY DISOBEY GOD.
"What Happens if You Persistently Disobey God"
is based on the book of Lamentations written
about 580 B.C. or about 35 life times ago.
Quotations are from the N.I.V. Bible and
comments and chapter numbers are in brackets.
God's special city Jerusalem, once full of
people is deserted, once a queen now a slave.
She weeps, there is no lover to comfort, friends
have betrayed her and become enemies. She
experiences:
Affliction.
Harsh labour.
Exile among the nations.
No resting place.
Bitter anguish.
Foes mastering her.
No-one to help or comfort her.
Enemies laughing at her - seeking
her treasures.
Being despised by those who used to
honour her.
Her people groaning with hunger and
searching for bread.
Betrayal by allies.
Destruction of priests and elders.
"The Lord has brought her grief because of her
many sins." She sinned greatly and became
unclean. "She did not consider her future and
became unclean. Her fall was astounding....is
any suffering like my suffering....that the Lord
has brought on me in the day of His fierce
anger. - He sent fire....down into my bones. -
Spread a net for my feet. - Made me desolate,
faint all the day long." He wove my sins into a
yoke. "They have come upon my neck and the Lord
has sapped my strength. He has handed me over to
those I cannot withstand." God has rejected my
warriors and summoned an invincible army to
crush my young men and trample Jerusalem. So I
weep and am not comforted. "The Lord is
righteous, yet I rebelled against His command. -
See, O Lord, I am in torment within....in my
heart I am disturbed, for I have been most
rebellious. - Outside the sword bereaves, there
is only death. - My enemies....rejoice at what
you have done. - Deal with them as you have
dealt with me because of all my sins. My groans
are many and my heart is faint."
(Chapter 1)
The Lord has covered Jerusalem "with the cloud
of His anger. - Hurled down the splendour of
Israel. - Without pity the Lord has swallowed
up, (and) in His wrath torn down the
strongholds. - Brought....kingdom and princes
down .... in dishonour. In fierce anger He has
cut off Israel's strength. - Withdrawn His right
hand at the approach of the enemy. - Burned....
like a flaming fire that consumes everything
around it. Like an enemy .... strung His bow
... slain all ...those pleasing to the eye ....
poured out His wrath .... swallowed up ....
palaces and destroyed strongholds. - Multiplied
mourning and lamentation. - Laid waste His
dwelling." - Made Jerusalem "forget .... feasts
and her sabbaths .... rejected His altar and
abandoned His sanctuary. - Handed over to the
enemy .... her palaces. - He was determined to
tear down the wall" around Jerusalem with its
gates and bars. "King and .... princes are
exiled .... the law is no more and her prophets
no longer find visions from the Lord. - Elders
.... sit .... in silence ....dust on their
heads" in sackcloth. Young women bow their heads
to the ground.
So Jerusalem is in torment within, my heart is
poured out on the ground because my people are
destroyed .... (starving) children and infants'
.... lives ebb away in their mothers' arms.
Jerusalem, "your wound is as deep as the sea.
Who can heal you? The visions of your prophets
were false and worthless. THEY DID NOT EXPOSE
YOUR SIN OR WARD OFF YOUR CAPTIVITY." Their
oracles were "false and misleading." Passers by
scoff "Is this the city that was called the
perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole
earth?" Enemies say "We have swallowed her ....
this is the day we have waited for .... the Lord
has .... fulfilled His word. - Overthrown you
without pity."
The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. -
Pour out your hearts like water in the presence
of the Lord. LIFT UP YOUR HANDS TO HIM FOR THE
LIVES OF YOUR CHILDREN, who faint from hunger.
"O Lord, consider. - Should women eat their
offspring? .... priest and prophet be killed in
the sanctuary of the Lord?" Young and old lie
slain in the dust of the streets, slain in the
day of your anger. "So you summoned against me
terrors on every side. In the day of the Lord's
anger no one escaped, those I cared for and
reared, my enemy has destroyed."
(Chapter 2)
Israel "has seen affliction by the rod of His
wrath. - He has .... made me walk in darkness
rather than light. - Made my skin and flesh grow
old .... broken my bones .... besieged me ....
with bitterness and hardship .... made me dwell
in darkness like those long dead. - Walled me in
.... (and) weighed me down. - When I .... cry
for help, He shuts out my prayer. - Barred my
way with blocks of stone .... made my paths
crooked. - Like a lion in hiding He has dragged
me from the path .... mangled me and left me
without help. - Made me the target for His
arrows. - (and) Pierced my heart." I am a
laughing stock, people mock me all day long. "He
has filled me with bitter herbs and sated me
with gall. - Broken my teeth with gravel ....
trampled me in the dust. - (and) Deprived me of
peace. I have forgotten what prosperity is. - My
splendour is gone and all that I had hoped from
the Lord."
"I remember the bitterness and the gall. - My
soul is downcast. Yet this I call to mind and
therefore I have hope:"
"BECAUSE OF THE LORD'S GREAT LOVE WE ARE NOT
CONSUMED, FOR HIS COMPASSIONS NEVER FAIL. THEY
ARE NEW EVERY MORNING, GREAT IS YOUR
FAITHFULNESS." I SAY TO MYSELF "THE LORD IS MY
PORTION, THEREFORE I WILL WAIT FOR HIM." "THE
LORD IS GOOD TO THOSE WHOSE HOPE IS IN HIM, TO
THE ONE WHO SEEKS HIM; IT IS GOOD TO WAIT
QUIETLY FOR THE SALVATION OF THE LORD."
"It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he
is young. (to) - Sit alone in silence, for the
Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face
in the dust, there may yet be hope. Let him
offer his cheek to the one who would strike
him."
"FOR MEN ARE NOT CAST OFF BY THE LORD FOREVER.
THOUGH HE BRINGS GRIEF, HE WILL SHOW COMPASSION,
SO GREAT IS HIS UNFAILING LOVE. FOR HE DOES NOT
WILLINGLY BRING AFFLICTION OR GRIEF TO THE
CHILDREN OF MEN."
"To crush prisoners .... deny a man his rights
.... deprive a man of justice - would not the
Lord see such things?"
WHO CAN SPEAK AND HAVE IT HAPPEN IF THE LORD HAD
NOT DECREED IT. IS IT NOT FROM THE MOUTH OF THE
MOST HIGH THAT BOTH CALAMITIES AND GOOD THINGS
COME? WHY SHOULD ANY LIVING MAN COMPLAIN WHEN
PUNISHED FOR HIS SINS?
LET US EXAMINE OUR WAYS AND TEST THEM, AND LET
US RETURN TO THE LORD. LET US LIFT UP OUR HEARTS
AND HANDS TO GOD IN HEAVEN AND SAY "WE HAVE
SINNED AND REBELLED AND YOU HAVE NOT FORGIVEN."
"With anger .... you have slain without pity. -
Covered yourself with a cloud so no prayer can
get through. - Made us scum and refuse. - We
have suffered terror and pitfalls, ruin and
destruction. - My eyes will flow unceasingly
.... until the Lord looks down from heaven and
sees. - My enemies without cause hunted me like
a bird. They tried to end my life in a pit and
threw stones at me; the waters closed over my
head, and I thought I was about to be cut off.
"I CALLED ON YOUR NAME, O LORD, FROM THE DEPTHS
OF THE PIT. YOU HEARD MY PLEA. - YOU CAME NEAR
.... AND YOU SAID DO NOT FEAR.
O LORD YOU TOOK UP MY CASE, YOU REDEEMED MY
LIFE."
"You have seen .... the wrong done to me. -
Their plots against me. - Heard their insults.
Pay them back what they deserve O Lord."
(Chapter 3)
"The gold has lost its lustre." - Even jackals
nurse their young but my people have become
heartless. - Children beg for bread, but no one
gives it to them. - Those nurtured in purple now
lie on ash heaps. - The punishment of my people
is greater than that of Sodom. - (our) Princes
were whiter than snow. - But now blacker than
soot. - Their skin shrivelled .... dry as a
stick. Those killed by the sword better off than
those who die of famine. - Compassionate women
have cooked their own children, who became their
food. - The Lord has given full vent to His
wrath." No one believed Jerusalem could be
conquered. "BUT IT HAPPENED BECAUSE OF THE SINS
OF HER PROPHETS AND THE INIQUITIES OF HER
PRIESTS who shed .... the blood of the
righteous. Now they grope through the streets
like men who are blind. - When they flee and
wander about, people among the nations say 'They
can stay here no longer. The Lord Himself has
scattered them.'"
"Our pursuers .... chased us over the mountains
and lay in wait for us in the desert."
Jerusalem "your punishment will end; He will not
prolong your exile" and foreign nations who now
gloat over Jerusalem's fate will also have their
sin punished and wickedness exposed.
(Chapter 4)
"O Lord .... look and see our disgrace. Our
inheritance .... turned over to aliens, our
homes to foreigners. We (are) orphans and
fatherless. - Weary and find no rest. Our
fathers sinned and are no more,and we bear their
punishment. Slaves rule over us, and there is
none to free us. - Our skin .... is feverish
from hunger. Women have been ravished. - Princes
.... hung up by their hands; elders shown no
respect. - Joy is gone from our hearts ....
dancing has turned to mourning .... the crown
has fallen from our head."
"WOE TO US FOR WE HAVE SINNED. BECAUSE OF THIS
OUR HEARTS GROW FAINT .... OUR EYES GROW DIM.
YOU, O LORD, REIGN FOREVER, YOUR THRONE ENDURES
FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. Why do you always
forget us? Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that
we may return, renew our days as of old unless
you have utterly rejected us and are angry with
us beyond measure."
HERE ARE SOME MAIN POINTS FROM LAMENTATIONS:
1. Because God loves you He gives you rules to
follow.
2. If you don't keep them He will give you
several warnings to obey or suffer the
consequences.
3. If you don't heed these warnings, His
punishment will be severe so you won't
forget it.
4. It should cause you to be sorry you have
sinned against Him (all sin is against God)
and give you a genuine desire to ask His
forgiveness and not sin in the same way
again.
5. It should also cause you to appreciate the
Lord's great love and unfailing compassion
for you. (Seen most clearly as you stand at
the foot of the Roman Empire's execution
cross where Jesus died for your sins).
So remember, the Lord is good to those whose
hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him. It
is good to wait quietly for the salvation of
the Lord.
6. As Jesus absorbed the punishment you deserve
for your sins on the cross He was, for the
first and only time,totally cut off from His
heavenly Father. In "free fall" down the
black hole of hell He cried, with all the
emotion contained within the Book of
Lamentations, "Why O my God, why have you
forsaken me?"
Think about that when you are tempted to
sin.
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