The LORD has exhausted His wrath; He has poured out His fierce anger; He has kindled a fire in Zion, and it has consumed her foundations. The LORD has exhausted His wrath;This phrase indicates the completion of God's judgment upon Jerusalem. The term "exhausted" suggests that God's wrath has reached its full measure, reflecting the severity of the people's sins. In the context of the Babylonian siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, this wrath was a response to persistent idolatry and covenant unfaithfulness. Theologically, it underscores the holiness and justice of God, who cannot tolerate sin indefinitely. This concept is echoed in other scriptures, such as Isaiah 51:17, where God's wrath is described as a cup that must be drunk to the dregs. He has poured out His fierce anger;
The imagery of pouring out suggests a deliberate and complete action, akin to emptying a vessel. This phrase emphasizes the intensity and totality of God's anger against the sins of Judah. The fierce anger of God is a recurring theme in the Old Testament, often associated with divine retribution (e.g., Jeremiah 7:20). It serves as a warning of the consequences of disobedience and a call to repentance. The pouring out of anger can also be seen as a precursor to the ultimate outpouring of grace through Jesus Christ, who bore God's wrath on behalf of humanity. He has kindled a fire in Zion,
Zion, representing Jerusalem, is depicted as being set ablaze by God's judgment. Fire is a common biblical symbol for purification and destruction (e.g., Malachi 3:2-3). Historically, this refers to the literal burning of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Theologically, it signifies the purifying judgment of God, intended to cleanse and restore. This imagery is also prophetic, pointing to future judgments and the ultimate purification through Christ, who is described as a refiner's fire. and it has consumed her foundations.
The consumption of foundations indicates a total and devastating destruction, not just of the physical city but of its societal and spiritual structures. Foundations symbolize stability and security, and their destruction signifies the complete upheaval of the nation. This reflects the consequences of abandoning the covenant with God. In a broader biblical context, it serves as a reminder of the need for a firm foundation in God, as emphasized in the New Testament (e.g., Matthew 7:24-27). The destruction of Jerusalem's foundations foreshadows the establishment of a new, unshakeable foundation in Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of the Church. Persons / Places / Events 1. The LORDThe sovereign God of Israel, who is depicted as executing judgment upon His people due to their disobedience and sin. 2. ZionA term often used to refer to Jerusalem, the city of God, which holds significant spiritual and historical importance for the Israelites. 3. The Fury and Anger of the LORDRepresents God's righteous indignation against sin and rebellion, leading to the destruction described in this passage. 4. The FireSymbolizes the judgment and destruction that God brings upon Jerusalem, consuming its very foundations. 5. The Foundations of ZionRepresents the core and stability of Jerusalem, indicating the depth of destruction that has occurred. Teaching Points Understanding God's Righteous AngerGod's anger is not arbitrary but is a response to persistent sin and rebellion. It serves as a reminder of His holiness and justice. The Consequences of SinThe destruction of Zion's foundations illustrates the severe consequences of turning away from God. It calls believers to examine their own lives for areas of disobedience. The Importance of RepentanceThis passage underscores the need for genuine repentance to avert God's judgment. It encourages believers to seek God's mercy and forgiveness. God's Sovereignty in JudgmentRecognizing that God is in control even in times of judgment can bring comfort and a call to trust in His ultimate plan and purpose. Hope Amidst DestructionWhile the verse speaks of destruction, it also points to the hope of restoration that comes through repentance and turning back to God. Bible Study Questions 1. How does understanding the context of God's anger in Lamentations 4:11 help us comprehend His character? 2. In what ways can the destruction of Zion's foundations serve as a warning for us today? 3. How do other scriptures that speak of God's wrath and judgment enhance our understanding of this passage? 4. What steps can we take to ensure that we are living in obedience to God and not inviting His judgment? 5. How can we find hope and assurance in God's sovereignty, even when facing the consequences of sin? Connections to Other Scriptures Deuteronomy 32:22This verse speaks of God's anger being kindled like a fire, consuming the earth and its produce, which parallels the imagery of divine wrath in Lamentations 4:11. Jeremiah 7:20Describes God's wrath being poured out on man and beast, similar to the outpouring of anger in Lamentations. Ezekiel 22:31Discusses God pouring out His indignation and consuming the people with the fire of His wrath, echoing the themes of judgment in Lamentations. People Jeremiah, NazaritesPlaces Edom, Jerusalem, Sodom, Uz, ZionTopics Accomplished, Anger, Bases, Burning, Causing, Completed, Consumed, Destruction, Devoured, Devoureth, Effect, Fierce, Fierceness, Fire, Foundations, Full, Fury, Hot, Kindled, Kindleth, Loose, Passion, Poured, Thereof, Vent, Wrath, ZionDictionary of Bible Themes Lamentations 4:11 5317 foundation Lamentations 4:11-13 7150 righteous, the Library A Message from God for Thee
Our two messages we will try to deliver in their order; we shall then want your attention and patience for a minute while we answer the question--Why the difference? and then we will press upon each character the force of the message, that each may be led to believe what is addressed to him. I. Our FIRST MESSAGE IS ONE OF COMFORT. "The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity." 1. We find, at the outset, a joyous fact. Read it …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 8: 18631875-1877. Mrs. Way's Sewing --Class for Jewesses --Bible Flower Mission --George Clarice --Incidents in Home Work --The Lord's Day --Diary at Sea -- Letters of Cheer
Mrs. Way's sewing--class for Jewesses--Bible Flower Mission--George Clarice--Incidents in home work--The Lord's Day--Diary at sea-- Letters of cheer from Canada. The Home of Industry has been already likened to the Pool of Bethesda with its fine porches. Many sights there have been peculiar to itself, and in no instance has this in past years been more remarkable, than in the meeting for Jewesses, which has been carried on ever since the year 1870. From fifty to seventy daughters of Israel are gathered …
Clara M. S. Lowe—God's Answers The Children of the Poor.
THE CHILDREN OF THE POOR. The young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.--LAMENTATIONS iv., 4. The writer of these words bewailed a state of War and Captivity--a state of things in which the great relations of human life are broken up and desecrated. But it is strange to find that the most flourishing forms of civilization involve conditions very similar to this. For, if any man will push beyond the circle of his daily associations, and enter the regions of the abject poor, he will …
E. H. Chapin—Humanity in the City It Will be Attempted to Give a Complete List of his Writings In
chronological order; those included in this volume will be marked with an asterisk and enumerated in this place without remark. The figures prefixed indicate the probable date. (1) 318: *Two books contra Gentes,' viz. c. Gent. and De Incarn. (2) 321-2: *Depositio Arii (on its authorship, see Introd.) (3) 328-373: *Festal Letters. (4) 328-335? *Ecthesis or Expositio Fidei. (5) Id.? *In Illud Omnia, etc. (6) 339: *Encyclica ad Episcopos ecclesiæ catholicæ. (7) 343: *Sardican Letters (46, …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius Sermons of St. Bernard on the Passing of Malachy
Sermon I (November 2, 1148.)[1005] 1. A certain abundant blessing, dearly beloved, has been sent by the counsel of heaven to you this day; and if it were not faithfully divided, you would suffer loss, and I, to whom of a surety this office seems to have been committed, would incur danger. I fear therefore your loss, I fear my own damnation,[1006] if perchance it be said, The young children ask bread, and no man offereth it unto them.[1007] For I know how necessary for you is the consolation which …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh The Great Shepherd
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. I t is not easy for those, whose habits of life are insensibly formed by the customs of modern times, to conceive any adequate idea of the pastoral life, as obtained in the eastern countries, before that simplicity of manners, which characterized the early ages, was corrupted, by the artificial and false refinements of luxury. Wealth, in those …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1 The Holy Spirit and the Incarnation of the Word. ...
The Holy Spirit and the Incarnation of the Word. We have seen how Justin declared that it was not permissible to regard "the Spirit" and "the Power" that came upon the Virgin as any other than the Word of God Himself. And we also noted in passing that Theophilus of Antioch spoke of the Word as being "Spirit of God" and "Power of the Highest," the second of which designations comes from Luke i. 35. We have now to ask whether the language of Irenæus corresponds with this interpretation and makes …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching That the Ruler Relax not his Care for the Things that are Within in his Occupation among the Things that are Without, nor Neglect to Provide
The ruler should not relax his care for the things that are within in his occupation among the things that are without, nor neglect to provide for the things that are without in his solicitude for the things that are within; lest either, given up to the things that are without, he fall away from his inmost concerns, or, occupied only with the things that are within bestow not on his neighbours outside himself what he owes them. For it is often the case that some, as if forgetting that they have …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great What Messiah did the Jews Expect?
1. The most important point here is to keep in mind the organic unity of the Old Testament. Its predictions are not isolated, but features of one grand prophetic picture; its ritual and institutions parts of one great system; its history, not loosely connected events, but an organic development tending towards a definite end. Viewed in its innermost substance, the history of the Old Testament is not different from its typical institutions, nor yet these two from its predictions. The idea, underlying …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Upbringing of Jewish Children
The tenderness of the bond which united Jewish parents to their children appears even in the multiplicity and pictorialness of the expressions by which the various stages of child-life are designated in the Hebrew. Besides such general words as "ben" and "bath"--"son" and "daughter"--we find no fewer than nine different terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life. The first of these simply designates the babe as the newly--"born"--the "jeled," or, in the feminine, "jaldah"--as in Exodus 2:3, 6, 8. …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Lamentations
The book familiarly known as the Lamentations consists of four elegies[1] (i., ii., iii., iv.) and a prayer (v.). The general theme of the elegies is the sorrow and desolation created by the destruction of Jerusalem[2] in 586 B.C.: the last poem (v.) is a prayer for deliverance from the long continued distress. The elegies are all alphabetic, and like most alphabetic poems (cf. Ps. cxix.) are marked by little continuity of thought. The first poem is a lament over Jerusalem, bereft, by the siege, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Lamentations 4:11 NIVLamentations 4:11 NLTLamentations 4:11 ESVLamentations 4:11 NASBLamentations 4:11 KJV
Lamentations 4:11 Commentaries
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