Parents were eating their children!!!!! (Lam 2:20).
I don’t think we can have any idea how bad things can get. Especially when we read the starvation was so bad that parents were cooking up their children for dinner. How is that even possible? That’s the level of distress that was among the people.
The fall of Jerusalem was staggering. Death and starvation everywhere. And the suffering of the children. Chapter 2 highlights this suffering of them in particular.
- “infants faint in the streets of the city” (v. 11)
- “their lives fade away in the arms of their mothers” (v. 12)
- “your children who are fainting from hunger on the corner of every street” (v. 19)
- “Should women eat their own children, the infants they have nurtured?” (v. 20)
While this was happening the enemies of Israel were rejoicing. “This is the day we have waited for!
We have lived to see it” (v. 16).
And it’s so tragic. Because it didn’t have to be this way. The LORD sent them warning after warning but they would not listen. And in this is something very interesting. Read this:
“Your prophets saw visions for you that were empty and deceptive; they did not reveal your guilt and so restore your fortunes. They saw oracles for you that were empty and misleading” (v. 14).
That verse hit me.
The prophets prophesied lies. We get that. Why? They didn’t want people to have to face that what they were doing was sin!
True prophets tell the truth. And that oftentimes leads to a sense of sin. That awareness of sin that can lead to repentance and the restoration of “fortunes.” But we have to deal with the sin.
Today even preachers do not want to offend. They don’t want to call sin for what it is. Instead of saying sexual of many kindr is sin instead there is open sin the church the leadership is silent. You don’t have to be harsh with truth, but there is still a place for truth and warning people.
The problem is that without pointing out sin, where is the repentance? If there’s not repentance, then judgment is inevitable.
I don’t think Jerusalem knew how bad it could be. But they refused to repent. And when judgment was unleashed, it was horror upon horror.
We need to wake up. Take this message. Sin is sin. We need to call it as such.
