THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS – PART 28 – PERSECUTION OF THE RIGHTEOUS WITH SCHEMES AND ACTIONS; WICKEDNESS HATES GOOD - CHAPTER 3:61-62
PART [56]. GOD AGAIN HAS HEARD
{{Lamentations 3:61 “You have heard their reproach, O LORD, ALL THEIR SCHEMES AGAINST ME.”}}
There is parallelism here with the previous verse. The only difference in English, the word “vengeance” is replaced by “reproach”. What is the difference between these words in the Hebrew?
The word “reproach” is insults, scorn, taunts, even mockery. What did they do to the Lord? They mocked Him even on the cross; they hurled insults at Him, especially the Pharisees; He wore the insults of a satanic crowd. {{Matthew 27:41-44 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, WERE MOCKING HIM and saying, “He saved others - He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel - let Him now come down from the cross and we shall believe in Him. He trusts in God - let Him deliver Him now if He takes pleasure in Him for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The robbers also who had been crucified with Him were CASTING THE SAME INSULT AT HIM.”}}
The word “vengeance” is plain straight vengeance, which is a mixture of hatred and taking wicked actions to injure, hurt or kill the other person. The AV/KJV translates as malice.
Who is the “me” ending verse 61? As I have mentioned several times in this chapter, we do wonder if it is Jeremiah speaking of himself, or Jeremiah speaking on behalf of the suffering people as well. We did see on many occasions that the text could allow both applications, though the primary one is probably connected with the prophet himself in these closing verses of the chapter.
If we adopt the latter one for Verse 61, then this is Jeremiah’s appeal to the LORD to take note of what the people are doing to him. He had already suffered much at their hands and at those of the king. It will always be the same conditions for a faithful servant of God. The enemy makes sure the righteous do not get the support of the world in that the world heeds, but will be the recipient of their scorn, mockery and insults. The true soldier must be prepared for battle and God’s people follow this directive – {{Ephesians 6:11-12 “Put on the full armour of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”}}
In verse 60 Jeremiah could say, “YOU HAVE SEEN all their vengeance, all their schemes against me.” YES, God had seen it; God always sees it, but here in verse 61 we have the word “heard”. God has heard it. He always hears that which affects His own children, and misses nothing. In Jeremiah’s case God both saw and heard. Of course that might be simplistic, but God knows everything even before it happens because He knows the end from the beginning. We can’t explain all that as it is too infinite for us for our tiny minds.
The next question we might ask is, “Who is giving Jeremiah all this grief? Is it the Babylonians, or the ones who used to be the officials, or the survivors at Jerusalem, the ones this chapter has featured?” In verse 61 Jeremiah adds at the end of the verse “all their schemes against me.” Who was scheming against Jeremiah? We know the officials and the rulers did that before the devastating defeat of the nation, but this is written after the overthrow, so who are they? Jeremiah seems to flip back and forth sometimes but I am sure it was not the Babylonians causing him personal trouble because of these verses – {{Jeremiah 39:11-14 “Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon GAVE ORDERS ABOUT JEREMIAH through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, “TAKE HIM AND LOOK AFTER HIM, and do nothing harmful to him; but rather deal with him just as he tells you.” So Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard sent word, along with Nebushazban the Rab-saris, and Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, and all the leading officers of the king of Babylon; they even sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the guardhouse and entrusted him to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him home. So he stayed among the people.}}
To be frank I do not know. I won’t make anything up I can’t prove. I did do a search for an answer and no credible commentator says a thing. All are silent.
Let us place this verse at our feet. Place yourself in Jeremiah’s position and present these words to God as He did. What outcome would we be expecting? How do we want God to intervene? Very likely, God will not intervene but give you grace in trial and strength to endure persecution and suffering.
In our marshmallow, western world, people are as pansies, sooks, and pampered by socialist governments. However consider just for a moment, someone in China talking to God like Jeremiah did. Try Nigeria or the Sudan or the Congo or certain other Islamic nations. In these nations and more beside, people are losing their lives all the time and they do not see the deliverance of God, but these courageous warriors for the Lord stand firm in adversity and their blood testifies of the Lord’s complete faithfulness to them.
We need to take note, those of us of us who live in the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Europe and other places. We have become milksops and if persecution suddenly hit us as it most certainly will if the Lord tarries, then I feel many will fall away and disappear because their “faith” is based on experience and worldliness. Is this what is needed to sift out the true believers? Is this what is needed to sort out the horrible doctrines that are in the professing church?
LET THESE FOLLOWING VERSES BE YOUR GODLY MOTTO ALWAYS – {{Romans 14:7-8 “Not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself, for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord. THEREFORE WHETHER WE LIVE OR DIE, WE ARE THE LORD’S,”}}
May the Lord help us weak and half committed ones thrashing around in the shallows of christianity! May the Lord inspire us onwards to absolute commitment and faithfulness.
{{You have heard their reproach, O LORD, all their schemes against ME}}
That was Jeremiah’s experience over and over but is there some parallel to the Lord? There certainly is a parallel and it is in this Messianic Psalm. A Messianic Psalm is a prophetic one about the Lord Jesus, and Psalms 22 and 69 are the two strongest ones. Look at these verses – {{Psalm 69:19-20 “YOU KNOW MY REPROACH AND MY SHAME AND MY DISHONOUR. All my adversaries are before You. REPROACH HAS BROKEN MY HEART, and I am so sick, and I looked for sympathy, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.”}}. Jeremiah and the Lord shared some parallels there, and it is possible we shall too if persecution increases which I am sure it is going to.
PART [57]. SLANDEROUS HATE FROM SATANIC MOUTHS
{{Lamentations 3:62 “The lips of my assailants and their whispering ARE AGAINST ME ALL DAY LONG.”}}
IN verse 60 it is the vile actions God saw. In verse 61 it is the vile words God heard. In verse 62 it is the vile words and plots God knew about.
I must confess I am at a loss still to know who are saying these vile words against Jeremiah. I made some comments on this in verse 61 and mentioned the silence of the commentators there. Strangely I can find not one commentator of repute who mentions in verse 62, who is responsible for this horrible comments. I still think it is the persecution the prophet suffered before Jerusalem’s overthrow.
Lips of his assailants are mentioned. Lips produce words and it is these words that are hellish. “Schultens says the word derives from the Arabic word which signifies to mock and scoff, or pursue anyone with ironical and satirical expressions; and so may intend here contemptible and reproachful language.”
Jeremiah certainly had assailants before the Babylonian invasion as he urged repentance from a people so wicked they wanted to kill the messenger. They persecuted him and spoke vilely against the prophet. As mentioned I am uncertain about these assailants but the book begins with this verse - {{Lamentations 1:1 “How LONELY sits the city that was full of people. She has become like a widow who was once great among the nations. She who was a princess among the provinces has become a forced labourer.”}} proving that the book was written after the downfall of Jerusalem. Perhaps we have to conclude cautiously that the assailants of verse 62 were found among the suffering survivors. If not, it is a recall of pre-invasion times.
It is all that common to do away with the messenger because people hate the message. Why did the wicked people in Isaiah’s time saw him in half? It is the depths of Satan even to conceive of such a thing. God testifies against the nation – {{Acts 7:52 “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.”}}. If you hate the message, then shut up the messenger by any means available.
Human nature will never change. It will always do that, for it is irrevocably set on wickedness. It hates exposure because it loves its sin. Why did they crucify the Lord? Well we could write books on why the cross had to be, but one aspect I will mention. The righteousness of Jesus confronted every man and woman exposing their sin. It showed them up! They hated it and rushed headlong to do away with Jesus in an attempt to placate their own sordid souls.
That is why evil persecutes the good; wicked people hate the righteous ones. From the time of Cain and Abel that has always been the case. In our modern world we have wickedness legislating against the good. It happens now in the Parliaments. It will become worse which is why we must firstly make sure our salvation and faith is resting solidly in Jesus Christ. Secondly we must fertilise our lives. That is, we must make them grow up into Christ Jesus quickly. May your lives as Christians develop very quickly. Grow up into Him, because time is short. Vileness is accelerating rapidly. Just recall the difference with 20 and 30 years ago, and some of us can go back a lot further than that.
When I was a teen, it would have been inconceivable to think it was possible that legislation would be in place to condemn Christians for not accepting homosexuality; that there would be a wholesale murder in place with abortion, and that Christians would be condemned and fined, even jailed, even for being near an abortion (murder) clinic.
“The lips of my assailants” = the lips of my opponents, this word meaning those who rise, arise, stand, rise up, stand up. You can see them standing tall delivering hateful vindictiveness against God’s own anointed. {{2 Timothy 3:12-13 “Indeed, ALL WHO DESIRE TO LIVE GODLY IN CHRIST JESUS WILL BE PERSECUTED. Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”}}. That is what we are promised; not some bed of roses or riches with all debts paid off. Do not be deluded by the prosperity doctrine. The whole lock, stock and barrel of that is demonic; false doctrines of demons. If you count for Jesus you WILL be persecuted, even killed. Take note of the persecuted Christians in the world today.
TAKE NOTE FOR THIS WILL SOON BE THE STATE IN MORE AND MORE NATIONS AS IT IS IN AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST TODAY – {{Hebrews 11:35-38 “Women received back their dead by resurrection and OTHERS WERE TORTURED, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection, and others experienced MOCKINGS AND SCOURGINGS, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were STONED, THEY WERE SAWN IN TWO, they were tempted, they were PUT TO DEATH with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”}}.
Hell has opened its mouth to receive the haters of godliness and the vindictive torturers of the saints of God. They deserve it. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Those who have harmed the people of God will come under the vengeance of God. {{Revelation 16:6 “for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. THEY DESERVE IT.”}}
The wicked murmur against the Lord’s anointed. They mock and curse and so much more. Don’t be surprised if and when it comes against you because they did it to the Lord – {{Psalm 69:12 “Those who sit in the gate talk about me and I am the song of the drunkards”}} {{Psalm 22:13 “They open wide their mouth at me, as a ravening and a roaring lion.”}}
Lamentations 3:62 ends with “all day long”. To have bouts of abuse is awful, but to have it day in and day out is disgusting. That is what this choice prophet had to put up with, a continual murmuring and mocking. What a man of remarkable character. I know it is fanciful, but sometimes I think of which character from the bible I’d love to be with in heaven. My conclusion is always Jeremiah and king Josiah.
