Summary: Desolation causes wild animals to thrive and that is what has happened. That is examined. The people are acknowledging they are under God’s control and God is placed on His throne, which is where He should have been all the time in the people’s hearts, but they were in rebellion.

THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS – PART 46 – WILD CREATURES TAKE OVER. THE PEOPLE PUT THEIR GOD IN THE CORRECT PERSPECTIVE - Lamentations 5:18-19

We are in the final verses and there are about three messages to go. The study of Lamentations has been very rewarding as we have delved into each verse. I hope it has been enriching.

In this message we are thinking about the desolation that lies through Jerusalem described as it often does, as Mount Zion. Then we consider God’s rule and God’s throne.

[18]. EVEN THE LAND RESONATES TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PEOPLE

{{Lamentations 5:18 “because of Mount Zion which lies desolate. Foxes prowl in it.”}}

For the sake of context we must add the previous verse - {{Lamentations 5:17 “Because of THIS our heart is faint. Because of THESE THINGS our eyes are dim;”}}

Sin destroys. Everything is affected. Verse 18 connects with verse 17 and should be considered together. When Adam sinned the earth was cursed and separation, guilt, sorrow and judgement entered. The sin of Judah brought destruction and to take a word from our verse – desolation. Desolation refers to a state of emptiness or destruction, often associated with devastation of a place or deep feelings of sadness and loneliness. It can describe both physical landscapes that are barren and emotional states of despair.

Mt Zion, the world’s holiest area was destroyed. The Temple was ruined; the wall was ruined, the palace was ruined and the people were ruined. Jeremiah lived through all that. Before the over throw, the Babylonians knew that the prophet was urging the leadership of the nation to surrender to Babylon for he foresaw the destruction to come. The people and the leaders refused. {{Jeremiah 38:2-3 Thus says the LORD, “He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but HE WHO GOES OUT TO THE CHALDEANS WILL LIVE AND HAVE HIS OWN LIFE AS BOOTY AND STAY ALIVE.” Thus says the LORD, “This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.”}}

The Babylonians did this for Jeremiah (God organised it!) – {{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.”}}

Well, the fact is that Zion lay in desolation. BUT the City of the LORD God will never be a ruinous heap forever. One day Jerusalem will become the chief city of the earth for it is the city of the great King and Jesus Messiah will reign from there for 1000 years. Jeremiah saw it as a ruinous heap but only temporarily. His prophecy contains just so many references to Israel’s restoration and these are on Sermon Central in my series “RESTORATION OF ISRAEL in Jeremiah”.

However for that present time until Ezra and Zerubbabel and a little later on, Nehemiah returned to rebuild, Jerusalem was a ruin and Jeremiah said, “Foxes prowl in it.” There are several prophetic scriptures detailing the judgement of God upon various nations before and after that time. In all of them WILD BEASTS are mentioned as moving in and taking over. I will select a few of them.

[a]. THE OVERTHROW OF BABYLON – {{Isaiah 13:21-22 but DESERT CREATURES will lie down there and their houses will be full of OWLS; OSTRICHES also will live there and SHAGGY GOATS will frolic there. HYENAS will howl in their fortified towers and JACKALS in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come and her days will not be prolonged.”}}

[b]. THE OVERTHROW OF BABYLON – {{Isaiah 34:11 “But PELICAN and HEDGEHOG shall possess it and OWL and RAVEN shall dwell in it. He shall stretch over it the line of desolation and the plumb line of emptiness.”}}

{{Isaiah 34:13-15 “THORNS shall come up in its fortified towers, NETTLES and THISTLES in its fortified cities. It shall also be a haunt of JACKALS and an abode of OSTRICHES. The DESERT CREATURES shall meet with the WOLVES, the HAIRY GOAT also shall cry to its kind. Yes, the NIGHT MONSTER shall settle there and shall find herself a resting place. The TREE SNAKE shall make its nest and lay eggs there and it will hatch and gather them under its protection. Yes, the HAWKS shall be gathered there, every one with its kind.”}}

[c]. THE OVERTHROW OF JERUSALEM – {{Jeremiah 9:11 “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of JACKALS; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”}}

[d]. THE OVERTHROW OF HAZOR – {{Jeremiah 49:33 “And Hazor will become a haunt of JACKALS, a desolation forever. No one will live there, nor will a son of man reside in it.”}}

[e]. THE OVERTHROW OF BABYLON – {{Jeremiah 50:39 “Therefore the DESERT CREATURES will live there along with the JACKALS. The OSTRICHES also will live in it, and it will never again be inhabited or dwelt in from generation to generation.”}}

Well, all that came about because the mouth of the Lord spoke it. Did you notice how jackals were in every passage? That makes the jackal the number one identifier of God’s judgment for ruins! It also happens that I don’t like the jackal at all but that is neither here nor there. Ostriches don’t fare well either. The translators of the AV/KJV had barely little idea of the creatures of the Middle East mentioned in the passages above, so they translated as “doleful creatures, satyrs, dragons, cormorant, bittern, and vultures.”

BUT IN GOD’S RESTORATION A WONDERFUL THING HAPPENS

This earth was cursed after Adam sinned and the creatures of earth also came under the curse. That is why all nature is waiting for its own restoration into the glory it had when originally created. Romans 8:19-22. This will all happen when Jesus reigns in the Millennium, when the whole earth is at peace. Isaiah 11.

Therefore these horrible creatures like the jackal and ostrich that speak of ruin and judgement will one day achieve their own restoration. It is found in this passage – {{Isaiah 43:19-21 “Behold, I WILL DO SOMETHING NEW. Now it will spring forth. Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD WILL GLORIFY ME, THE JACKALS AND THE OSTRICHES, because I have given waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to My chosen people. The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise”}}. The jackals and ostriches get special mention.

Don’t we have a wonderful God who makes all things new?

[19]. THE LAST PIECE OF THE JIGSAW – GOD’S PERSPECTIVE ON THINGS

{{Lamentations 5:19 “You, O LORD, rule forever. Your throne is from generation to generation.“}}

We have taken a journey through the lives and suffering of the people until the previous verse where the people could at last acknowledge their sin. Ownership of sin is the first vital truth in restoration. For these displaced Jews, verse 19 is the last piece for them in their troubles, in the jigsaw of their existence. They now had God’s perspective!

This follows on from the previous verse acknowledging their sinfulness. That move is called “PERSPECTIVE”. There is man’s perspective and God’s perspective. They are diametrically opposed. Once man obtains God’s perspective through salvation, when the person has a new God nature, then God’s perspective becomes his own treasured gift.

For these Jews, the focus went off them to the Lord. That is so important. It is extremely difficult to do. When we are in pain or in very dire straits, or are the victims of persecution, or the harsh realities of living have hit us in the face, then all too often we have an insular look. All our focus is on ourselves. We start to become withdrawn, for the outside world is too big to manage.

That is where depression can take over. We look inwards to our troubles for in a bizarre way, we can feel a little better for we have sympathy with ourselves. At lest someone cares – ME.

This is one of these situations where there will be no progress until that egocentric attitude is broken. People have refused to budge in their awful situations because they have formed a comfort web about themselves. Some are then too afraid to look at change. In the outside humanistic world, along come humanists called psychologists and psychiatrists with techniques and drugs to try to cure the problem.

WHAT IS THE CURE FOR MOVING OUT OF OUR TERRIBLE CONDITION/ASPECT?

In Psalm 73 Asaph took his eyes off the LORD and his perspective became fixed on the world’s problems. He saw how wickedness - and the wicked - were prospering among those who rejected God and it appeared to him they had no problems at all. Asaph even reached this stage – {{Psalm 73:13 “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence.”}} {{Psalm 73:16 “When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight.”}}

The great change came when the proper perspective came to the fore – {{Psalm 73:17-19 “UNTIL I came into the sanctuary of God. Then I perceived their end. Surely You set them in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!”}}

For Asaph being in the sanctuary of God made the difference. The perspective of God rained down from above. For these displaced and devastated Jews and their immense sufferings, the difference came when they realised they were gross sinners and that brought all their troubles upon them. For us today when our eyes are off the Lord, our correct perspective can only be found in repentance AND IN THE BIBLE.

Once we come to understand God’s position on all these things, then healing can take place. These psychologists need to place God in the centre of their lives and in those of their patients. God is the only true means of healing when we have a relationship with Him. There is no placebo, no shortcut, no man’s inventions – all must come down to “You, O LORD, rule forever” as the opening of verse 18. Psalm 73:18.

This was their healing. Let us take time in this next passage of scripture – {{Isaiah 55:7-9 LET THE WICKED FORSAKE HIS WAY and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD, “for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”}}

(a). The first step in surrendering to God’s perspective will be verse 7. For a man to forsake his way, it will mean he owns the fact that he is a sinner and must turn away in repentance and confession to God.

(b). The reason he can do this is that we deal with a compassionate God, not a false god of hate like Allah.

(c). God will pardon but He does it abundantly. Once a man has the perspective correct, then God steps in with forgiveness and restoration. These Jews so badly needed forgiveness and restoration in their minds. Their physical conditions may not have improved, but spiritually, they are restored and that brings joy in difficulties; streams of water in the desert.

(d). Verse 8 is so important in all we have been saying. There is man’s ideas and God’s ideas; man’s thoughts and God’s thoughts; man’s ways and God’s ways. There is man’s wrong perspective and God’s correct perspective. They can only be aligned when there is repentance and turning to God.

(e). This verse 9 stresses the huge gap between the way of humanism and the way of righteousness. Our thoughts are not God’s thoughts so it is us who must change.

Returning to our Lamentations verse (19) – “You, O LORD, rule forever. Your throne is from generation to generation” – This can be honestly said because the people are right with God. I will explain that a few believe this is Jeremiah’s personal position and he speaks for himself and not the people. Well, I don’t know if that can be proven but I truly believe the people have come to their senses; and in their acknowledgement of sin, they turned to their LORD and now we have the result of that – seeing God in the correct light!

There are two aspects but they are as one. The first is that God is sovereign, that is, He rules throughout His universe and has the ultimate control. That being the case, He has the rule in people’s lives and affairs. Yes, we acknowledge that but will we submit to that? That is the crunch point. People today, if they express some honesty, admit certain things about God but those are kept at arm’s length. They will not embrace those in a personal relationship.

The second point is regarding God’s throne, and I think that is another way of saying, His control and influence is maintained through the generations. “From generation to generation,” is Jeremiah claiming God is immutable, that is unchanging in purpose and love for His own blessed children.

King David took solace in the truth of an unchanging God – {{Psalm 33:11 “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation.”}}

David was king but he acknowledged a greater King who had infinite rule – {{Psalm 145:13 “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.”}}

Because God is unchanging we place our faith in His declared promises to us. He can not, and never will retract them – {{Malachi 3:6 “For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.”}}

I will give just one more among many, and this time, one from the book we are studying – {{Lamentations 3:22 “The LORD’S loving kindnesses indeed never cease for His compassions never fail.”}}

God’s throne is the place of authority and exaltation. Isaiah knew that – {{Isaiah 6:1 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”}} That vision changed his life. When we see the Lord in His exalted position it places us down where we should be. Too many are on their own thrones. Judah sinned grievously and God dealt with them harshly but with compassion for he always does. “In wrath remember mercy.” (Habakkuk 3:2)

I would suggest the throne of God is a very complex matter matching the majesty of God. We imagine a simple throne but I wonder about that. A serious consideration of the first chapter of Ezekiel reveals a very complex throne.

It took catastrophe and mayhem for Judah to realise these truths. Sometimes that is the only way God can break down the erected barriers of man’s defiance. Why does puny man oppose God? Simply because he is a sinner.

Very soon destruction is coming into the world once Jesus removes His Church in the Rapture, for the Church is not destined for the wrath of God (1 Thessalonians 1:10). The Tribulation will see catastrophe because that is what sin causes. We can only hope that in that time of unprecedented disaster in the world, a sizable number of people will turn to God at the preaching of the 144 000 Jewish preachers. We know though that most won’t but will continue to curse God –

Revelation 9:20-21 “The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, DID NOT REPENT OF THE WORKS OF THEIR HANDS, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk, and they did not repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their immorality, nor of their thefts.”}}