“How has the gold become dim?”

How bad can it get?

My friend Matthew Henry and I read the Bible and he shares his commentary most mornings. 

How you might ask, how can I have a friend who lived and wrote in 17^th century England?  It’s complicated and possibly a story for another time.

For some reason we have been reading lately in Lamentations.  It’s not a joyous place to be. Today we have come to Chapter 4.

The prophet Jeremiah has gone  to great length to describe Jerusalem and its destruction by the Babylonians in the later years of the 6^th century BCE. You don’t have to take Jeremiah’s word for this (I was a skeptic as well), secular history will confirm it.

As you read Jeremiah’s inspired narrative you can visualize the destruction. You can almost smell the smoke and as you peer through the clouds of smoke and  dust, almost see the bodies strewn about.  It was an awful, brutal thing. 

But why you might ask?  Was not Jerusalem, the City of David, and  God’s Holy city?  Were not its citizens God’s Holy people?

In Chapter 4, the city lays in ruins around us.  The inspired writer in verse one asks almost the same question you and I do.  

He asks, “How has the gold become dim?”

Jerusalem was in fact the golden city, but as the writer observes, he sees not gold but horrible, barbaric destruction.

But Why?

Its really pretty simple.  It was in fact God’s city,  a very prosperous city, a mighty and powerful city, and yes even a golden city.  The people were in fact, God’s people.  He cared enough for them that He had given them rules and laws to live by and as a result they greatly prospered.

The rules and laws were followed…for a while but they eventually became burdensome to some.  A few and eventually most, decided to live another way.  They had convinced themselves God didn’t really care, and maybe He didn’t even exist.  But He does care, and does exist.  Their lawless living eventually caught up with them and Jeremiah has been tearfully describing the results.

The comparison between our “shining city,” as President Reagan rightly called us so many years ago, and Jerusalem is a bit scary.

Are we headed down Jerusalem’s path?

The inspired writer asked. “How has the gold become dim?”

And then he goes on to answer that question.

Let’s take a peek at how bad it was.  Read from Lamentations Chapter 4 verse 1.

1 How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. 2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 3 Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. 4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. 5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. 7 Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was of sapphire: 8 Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. 9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field. 10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. 11 The Lord hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. 12 The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.”

Still the question, why did this happen?  And add yet another one, could it happen to us?

Matthew helps us here.  This he says, is why Jerusalem was destroyed.  We should be paying attention.

In a message from his series on Daniel, Senior Minister Paul Clarke at St. Andrews Free Church of Scotland recently pointed out part of the problem in verses eerily enough from this same chronological era.  The scene is Belshazzar’s party and the infamous handwriting on the wall.  Part of  Daniel’s interpretation were these words, “…though thou knewest all this.” – Daniel 5:22.  Looking at the events around him Belshazzar should have known.

Since he did not, or did not care, his days were numbered and coming swiftly to an end.  In fact his life was required of him that very night.

If Belshazzar should have known, should we know?

Here’s what Matthew writes so that we can know.  Some reasons for the destruction of the golden, wealthy and powerful city

“It is for the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests.”

“Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the measure faster than the sins of the priests and the prophets.”

“The particular sin charged upon them is persecution, the false prophets and current priests joined their power and interest to shed the blood of the just…”

“They not only shed the blood of their innocent children whom they sacrificed to Moloch but the blood of the righteous men that were among them,  whom they sacrificed to the more cruel idol of enmity to the truth…”

“You have killed and condemned the just.  And the priests and the prophets were the ringleaders in persecution…”

 “The city that was formerly as gold, as the most fine gold, so rich and splendid, the perfection of beauty and the joy of the whole earth, has become dim, and is changed, has lost its lustre, lost its value, is not what it was; it has become dross. Alas! what an alteration is here!”

And the list goes on.

The leaders of their day were the priests and the prophets who should have been looking out for the common good.   They chose instead to look out for themselves and line their own pockets. 

Does this sound familiar?

Do we have similar leaders today? 

Will we be wise like Jeremiah, learning from what we see before us, or like Belshazzar, throw yet another party.

Your choice….