TODAY IN THE WORD
In a powerful scene in the movie Gone with the Wind,Scarlett O’Hara makes her way through wounded Confederate soldiers. As the camera draws back, the destruction of the once-beautiful Atlanta confronts the viewer. As far as the eye can see, wounded and dying soldiers lie surrounded by burnt buildings.

No doubt this only approximates what Jeremiah saw as he surveyed fallen Jerusalem. Prior to this catastrophe, Jerusalem bustled with commercial prosperity and religious activity. Its residents proudly basked in the glory of Solomon’s Temple--the dwelling place of Yahweh Himself.

A different scenario confronted Jeremiah. No wonder he pictured Jerusalem as a lonely widow (v. 1). Along with orphans, widows were the most vulnerable people in the ancient world and often endured loneliness and rejection.

Seeing the despoiled palace, Jeremiah lamented that Jerusalem, once “queen among the provinces has now become a slave” (v. 1). The queen’s lovers (false gods that violated the nation’s covenantal vows) had deserted her; her friends (political alliances that undermined the nation’s trust in Yahweh) had betrayed her--she wept bitterly with no comfort. Her princes were like deer unable to outrun their pursuers (v. 6; see Jer. 39:4).

Even her roads and gates mourned, longing for the joyous pilgrims that once thronged to her festivals (v. 4). While she sadly recalled her former splendor, her enemies laughed.

What a complete reversal from glory to ruin, from power to servitude, from luxury to barrenness! Why would the Lord bring about such grief (v. 5)? One thing compels our gracious Father to such wrath--prolonged, willful rebellion. Carefree Jerusalem with its shameless sin and gross idolatry ignored repeated warnings from God’s prophets. The severe judgment revealed the depths of Jerusalem’s sin.

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TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Robert Louis Stevenson once said, “Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences.” The world teaches just the opposite and urges us to “play today” --conveniently forgetting the “pay tomorrow” part.

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