The Book of Lamentations is divided into five chapters. Each chapter represents a separate poem. In the original Hebrew, the verses in each of the first four poems are acrostic, each verse starting with a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is quite remarkable. Lamentations 5 is not an acrostic poem, though it does contain 22 verses, the same number as the distinct letters of the Hebrew alphabet. One writer says, “the use of the alphabet symbolizes that the completeness—‘the A to Z’—of grief is being expressed.” We explore the major themes of the five poems. We discuss the poet. Lamentations presents many key theological realities from an important era in Israel’s history. We discuss ten of these. We then explore a couple of questions from the book.
Scriptures referenced include Lamentations 5:19-22; Lamentations 2:1, 6; Psalm 132:7; Deuteronomy 28; and Lamentations 2:20.
In today’s episode we compare the “Weeping Prophet” with the “Man of Sorrows.” Marked by sorrow, Jeremiah's prophetic cries of judgment for Judah's sin...
The spiritual is a combination of African musical traditions and European Christian hymns. They are meditations on the triumph of the metaphysical over the...
In Isaiah 12:4-5, we read, “And on that day you will say, "Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. Make known His...
