Daily Bible Reading: Lamentations 1 and Romans 13

Lamentations is a poetic description of the desolation Jerusalem suffered in the wake of its destruction in 586 BC—attributed to Jeremiah. Each “chapter” of Lamentations consists of a 22-verse poem.

Lamentations 1- “How lonely lies Jerusalem, once so full of people! Once honored by the world, she is now like a widow; the noblest of cities has fallen into slavery” (1:1).

        

The “bride” of Yahweh cries and is without any allies or friends. Her people have been carried away and are “surrounded by enemies, with no way to escape” (1:3).  No one comes to the Temple any more. “The Lord has made her suffer for all her many sins” (1:5). It is amazing to me that Jeremiah had no issue ascribing all the things they suffered with God’s anger. He clearly sees ALL THINGS as coming from God: the beauty of the cosmos, the moral arc of all history and the terrible pain and suffering that come from “man’s” sin. God is the designer and creator of the universe. There is no other equal force to which the bad things can be ascribed.

“He took note of all my sins and tied them all together; He hung them around my neck, and I grew weak beneath the weight” (1:14).

        

“The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word“ (1:18)

        

“My enemies are glad that you brought disaster on me. Bring the day you promised; make my enemies suffer as I do. Condemn them for all their wickedness; Punish them as you punished me for my sins” (1:21-22). 

Romans 13 – Paul tells us that we as Christians are “subject to the governing authorities,” that they have in some sense been “instituted by God” (13:1). He is assuming, of course that they really are “not a terror to good conduct, but to bad” (13:3).

I think in light of some of the very evil governments we have seen, however, that we must use this measure first to see what they are a terror to first.  If we do what is good and find ourselves in trouble with state authorities, then we are dealing with a different situation – a government that cannot claim justification by God. But if the government is a “terror” to bad conduct and bad conduct alone, then Paul has no trouble seeing them as serving God (13:4).

“Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law” (13:8). George Fox loved this passage but reduced the message to six words: “Owe no man anything but love.” It was used by Friends as a reminder that we should never get ourselves into debt.

Paul reminds his readers that “salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near.  Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. . .” (13:11-12).