“How dark the gold has become, how the pure gold has changed! The sacred stones are poured out at the corner of every street. The precious sons of Zion, weighed against fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen jars, the work of a potter’s hands!” (vv.1-2)
Oscar Wilde once said, “To suffer for one’s own faults--ah!--there is the sting of life!”
Jerusalem was suffering for its’ many years of sinful indulgence, its steadfast refusal to surrender to Babylon (as God had urged through Jeremiah), persistent sin, even cruel to their own offspring. Their actions, along with a refusal to repent, had brought destruction upon themselves. How sinful Jerusalem had become!
Sodom, proverbial for wickedness, had been destroyed instantly (Lam 4:6), but Jerusalem’s punishment was long and harsh. Jerusalem’s sin was not worse, but because Judah had forsaken its covenant responsibilities, its level of accountability was higher. They had fallen from “Pure gold” to “jars of clay,” the work of mans hands.
May the LORD continue to refine us brothers and sisters, that we may remain gold in His eyes, and not be left to suffer from our own faults by refusing to repent.
The Truth: “But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)
Oscar Wilde once said, “To suffer for one’s own faults--ah!--there is the sting of life!”
Jerusalem was suffering for its’ many years of sinful indulgence, its steadfast refusal to surrender to Babylon (as God had urged through Jeremiah), persistent sin, even cruel to their own offspring. Their actions, along with a refusal to repent, had brought destruction upon themselves. How sinful Jerusalem had become!
Sodom, proverbial for wickedness, had been destroyed instantly (Lam 4:6), but Jerusalem’s punishment was long and harsh. Jerusalem’s sin was not worse, but because Judah had forsaken its covenant responsibilities, its level of accountability was higher. They had fallen from “Pure gold” to “jars of clay,” the work of mans hands.
May the LORD continue to refine us brothers and sisters, that we may remain gold in His eyes, and not be left to suffer from our own faults by refusing to repent.
The Truth: “But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)
