Day Fifty-Nine -- Jeremiah mourns and Ezekiel warns

Lamentations 2:1 to Ezekiel 12:20

Jeremiah -- Both Jewish and Christian traditions assign the authorship of the Book of Lamentations to the prophet Jeremiah.  Shortly after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, Jeremiah is said to have gone into a nearby cavern and composed his laments.  He is a man grieving the loss of his people and his beloved holy city, and he pours out his emotions in verse:
 

          What can I say for you?

          With what can I compare you,

          Daughter of Jerusalem?

          To what can I liken you,

          that I may comfort you,

          Virgin Daughter Zion?

          Your wound is as deep as the sea.

          Who can heal you?                           (Lamentations 2:13)

Jeremiah is an eyewitness to the LORD's judgment, the very judgment that he had been commanded to speak.  "I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the LORD's wrath" (3:1).  Although great disaster has come upon the people as the result of their sins, Jeremiah knows deep down inside that this is not the final chapter in the covenant between God and his people: 

          Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,

             for his compassions never fail.

          They are new every morning;

             great is your faithfulness.

          I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;

             therefore I will wait for him."        (3:22-24)

Ezekiel -- After Lamentations we launch into about four days of reading the Book of Ezekiel.  Ezekiel was one of the priests who was carried off into exile along with King Jehoiachin before the final destruction of Jerusalem.  During the fifth year he was in Babylon, Ezekiel saw a vision of the LORD and received his calling as a prophet.  Although his imagery is more imaginative than Jeremiah's, his warnings are similar to Judah and Jerusalem concerning their coming downfall.  I will have more to say about Ezekiel in the coming days. . .