The Book Of Lamentations – Part 33 – The Most Horrible Conditions Caused Through Starvation - Chapter 4:8-11 Series

THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS – PART 33 – THE MOST HORRIBLE CONDITIONS CAUSED THROUGH STARVATION - CHAPTER 4:8-11

We continue working through Chapter 4 and right now have been looking at the terrible conditions of the starving people. Some turn away from this but we are speaking about the word of God so it is wrong to turn away. God has lessons for us in all of this.

This is not a pleasant posting for it reveals the suffering in human beings because of what sin has done. Please try to read this and think “behind” the material. Terrible times are coming on the earth that will reflect these issues but they don’t come until the Lord has removed His own believers in the Rapture.

PART [8]. HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN VERY FAR!

{{Lamentations 4:8 “Their appearance is BLACKER THAN SOOT. They are not recognised in the streets. Their skin is SHRIVELLED on their bones. It is WITHERED, and has become LIKE WOOD.”}}

Verse 8 is joined to verse 7 and in that previous verse the rich and opulent in their excellence were described in glowing terms, BUT now comes verse 8 (Let’s revise verse 7 - {{Lamentations 4:7 “HER CONSECRATED ONES were PURER than snow. They were WHITER than milk. They were more RUDDY in body than corals. Their POLISHING was like lapis lazuli.”}}

I guess we could borrow a bible verse – {{2 Samuel 1:19 “Your beauty, O Israel, is slain on your high places. HOW HAVE THE MIGHTY FALLEN.”}}

Outstanding one day, and desolate the next. That is what happened to these eminent people, the consecrated ones. They too were devastated and their position and status in Judah meant nothing when Babylon’s army fell on the nation. Now they are reduced to not one privilege more than the others in the suffering nation. They suffer and languish together in starvation and misery.

This verse is such a contrast to the previous one and that is the way Jeremiah wanted it to read. White in brilliance became black in appearance (darker than blackness). Healthy skin became dry, and shrivelled and unpleasant to the touch. The prophet uses the simile “like wood”, meaning the skin was so deprived by hunger that it looked dry and dead (KJV = stick). I understand (and have even seen photos) that in severe starvation the skin behaves the way the prophet describes. In fact it starts to turn black.

Those of us who living at the time remember the many photos we were seeing of the horrific conditions in Biafra especially of the children. That war had a graphic effect on the world as the photos went viral. Here is a report of that - [[“The Biafra War, also known as the Nigerian Civil War, took place from 1967 to 1970, following the secession of the southeastern region of Nigeria, which declared itself the Republic of Biafra. The conflict arose from ethnic tensions, political instability, and economic disparities, resulting in significant loss of life, with estimates of civilian deaths due to starvation and violence ranging from 500,000 to over 3 million.”]]. Nigeria and The Sudan are suffering again under Islamic atrocities; Islam always being a religion of hate and war and violence; Satan’s religion.

Starvation produces an altered appearance and people are not readily recognisable, especially when it is very severe as it was in Judah. No matter what your rank in life, judgement and tragedy will result in a levelling of everyone. God is no respecter of persons and all will face the fair and honest judgement of God. This is the way the KJV translates this verse but most translation do not follow this wording. {{“Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: THEIR SKIN CLEAVETH TO THEIR BONES; it is withered, it is become like a stick.”}}. Many commentators speak of the “skin on bone” effect of starvation. What Judah was suffering was horrific.

PART [9]. THE BETTER WAY TO DIE

{{Lamentations 4:9 “BETTER ARE THOSE slain with the sword than those slain with hunger, FOR THEY PINE AWAY, being stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.”}}

This verse is unpleasant for me and I suppose for many. No one in their right mind - not being under the influence of drugs, severe depression, occult influence to kill yourself – will want to end his or her life. These people in Jerusalem did not want to end their lives but Jeremiah looks over them and comes to this conclusion – it would have been better to have died rather swiftly, than for your life to linger for a much longer period in pain through starvation until you eventually die.

This word “pine away” is to flow, gush, issue, discharge, flowing out. It means here in Lamentations, your life essence is flowing out of you (melting away). I suppose it is verses like this that people avoid, and for that reason they don’t study Lamentations, but this book is part of scripture. This is the beauty of expositional preaching and teaching, consistently working through a book verse by verse, not just choosing pet subjects or inane subjects so that you avoid any possible objection from even 1% of the people, in a subject that may contain a problem.