the buildings

February 22, 2017

The destruction of Judah (Lam 2:2-2:2)

Beth

“Yahweh has destroyed,

Without mercy,

All the dwellings

Of Jacob.

In his wrath,

He has broken down

The strongholds

Of daughter Judah.

He has brought down

To the ground,

In dishonor,

The kingdom

With its rulers.”

Yahweh had no mercy when he destroyed all the buildings in the land of Jacob. He was so angry that he broke down all the strong fortresses of his beloved daughter Judah. He has brought down and dishonored the kingdom of Judah and its rulers. Yahweh, not the Babylonian king, was considered the cause of the downfall of Judah. This verse starts with the Hebrew consonant letter Beth. Each verse after this will use the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet in this acrostic poem.

December 28, 2016

The Chaldeans are coming (Jer 33:4-33:5)

“Thus says Yahweh!

The God of Israel!

Concerning the houses

Of this city.

This concerns

The houses

Of the kings of Judah.

They were torn down

To make a defense

Against the siege mounds,

Before the sword.

The Chaldeans

Are coming in

To fight.

They are coming

To fill them

With the dead bodies

Of those whom

I shall strike down,

In my anger,

In my wrath.

I have hidden my face

From this city

Because of all their wickedness.”

Yahweh explains, via Jeremiah, why they had to tear down the buildings in the city, including the houses of the kings of Judah. The military needed to protect themselves from the siege ramps that the Chaldeans had put up against the city walls. These Chaldeans or Babylonians were coming to fight. They would find the dead bodies that Yahweh had struck down inside the city walls. Yahweh had killed these Israelites because of his anger and wrath. He had hidden his face from this city because of their wickedness.