An encouraging thought from a poetic book meant to express grief…Read Lamentations 3:37 – 5:22
A rather brief notation today, with apologies. Today I am officiating at the wedding of James and Haley, and that hour is almost upon me. I know that if I don’t make my comments now I will likely not finish them today, putting me behind….a habit I am trying hard to avoid.
As I read the second half of Lament #3, and Lament’s 4 and 5 a though occurred to me. Isaiah prophesied 140 years before Jerusalem fell, and the people had warnings to change their ways even before that. In 5:7 it says “our ancestors sinned, but they died, and we are suffering the punishment that they deserve!” Which is partially true, since these warnings have been going out for about 150 years. (In fairness, the people of Jeremiah’s day had hearts just as hard as their ancestors) Here’s the point: God only punished them for a total of 70 years…but they sinned for many times that number. And when it was time to return home, many of them didn’t want to make the trip back to Israel. They had put down roots, taken foreign wives, and become comfortable where they were. I know that their punishment was brutal, but let’s be honest….for those who survived the trip, it eventually turned out to be tolerable.
God is so fair….actually, He is more than fair. To only punish for less than half the time that His people rejected Him outright? That’s more than fair.
Today I remember that even when we are being punished…..God is so good.
Faithfully,
PR