The Book Of Lamentations – Part 39 – Orphans And Widows Adrift – Extortion For Basics - Chapter 5:3-5 Series

THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS – PART 39 – ORPHANS AND WIDOWS ADRIFT – EXTORTION FOR BASICS - CHAPTER 5:3-5

[3]. SET ADRIFT WITHOUT FAMILY STABILITY

{{Lamentations 5:3 “We have become ORPHANS without a father. Our mothers are like WIDOWS.”}}

This whole chapter is a great lament, more so than previously in the book. Some might consider it a chapter of complaints. One after another is adversity. Just to be alive is difficult, as we have been seeing many times in Chapter 4.

Huge disruptions have shattered the Judean society with family units gone. I am trying to “think into” the situation like this and can not appreciate what it means to have the kind of trouble these people are having. It is one of these situations, “You can’t appreciatively know unless you are there.”

It is very possible that the prophet is not being specific about orphans and widows but expressing the social disruption that is so bad, it has caused fracturing in all family units and people are set adrift, stunned, isolated, hungry, and dying. Some of the refugee conditions are like that today. In the Babylonian onslaught mothers lost sons, fathers have died and husbands have been killed.

The two words Jeremiah chose are special words to God. Orphans and widows are especially mentioned in both Old and New Testaments for special care. These two classes the Lord has His eye upon.

In this verse God is shown as stepping in for justice for these disadvantaged people who had no means of support. Remember that in the days of the Old Testament there was no social security as we know it, but the Lord implemented the way to care for orphans and widows. {{Deuteronomy 10:18 “He executes justice for THE ORPHAN AND THE WIDOW, and shows His love for the stranger by giving him food and clothing.”}}. Included also is the stranger, and care was demanded by God also for the stranger (or the alien as some translations have) who was in the land.

In this verse following we have set out before the people, the demands of the Law of Moses that God gave directly. This was paramount with no equivocation, so it was stressed by God that this be sanctioned. It is the lowest of individuals that will take advantage of the weaker person, and widows and orphans were in this class, sometimes becoming the prey for extortionists. Some would prey on them and God strictly forbade that happening. {{Exodus 22:22 “You shall not afflict ANY WIDOW OR ORPHAN.”}}

Jeremiah spoke a few times in his prophesy about widows and orphans, for before the fall of Judah, they were oppressed. On one occasion Jeremiah was told by God to go to the king’s house and speak with him words of warning because of the state of the nation, and that the nation had to repent for what it was doing. It was oppressing the disadvantaged. However the wicked king did not listen and they went into judgment. {{Jeremiah 22:3 Thus says the LORD, “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also DO NOT MISTREAT OR DO VIOLENCE TO THE STRANGER, THE ORPHAN, OR THE WIDOW, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.”}}

One other means God implemented for the care of the widow, orphan and stranger was a provision in the fields at the time of harvest. {{Deuteronomy 24:19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for THE ALIEN, FOR THE ORPHAN, AND FOR THE WIDOW, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.”}}. Remember the time in Ruth when she was gleaning in Boaz’s field? God provided for that.

The New Testament is just as careful about the widows and orphans – {{James 1:27 “This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to VISIT ORPHANS AND WIDOWS IN THEIR DISTRESS, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”}}

The following quote is taken from “BibleHub Historical and Cultural Illustrations,” and shows this care in operation among early Christians:-

[[“Throughout early Christian history, believers established charitable institutions to care for orphans even when surrounding cultures often saw them as burdens. Roman historian Tacitus and early church historians confirm instances of Christians practicing radical hospitality - taking in children left abandoned on doorsteps, raising them as their own. These historical cases illustrate how the church has been at the forefront of social assistance, guided by biblical commands.

Additionally, archaeological discoveries of first-century Christian burial inscriptions show words like “cared for by brethren,” indicating orphaned children were integrated into the communal life. Such material and textual evidences corroborate Scripture’s instructions with real historical practice.”]]