Blogging Bible Study: Digging in the Desert - Lamentations

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Lamentations is appropriately named; it is collection of songs mourning for Jerusalem after judgment falls. In the middle of chapter three, though, there is a promise of God's faithfulness that throws some hope on the despair, but we are here to look at verses that mention 'desert'...and there are three:

Even jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert.  (Lam. 4:3)

Our pursuers were swifter than eagles in the sky; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert.  (Lam. 4:19)

We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. (Lam. 5:9)

The first verse laments an aspect of the hard-heartedness of the people...one of the things that led to the judgment that fell upon them.  Jackals...savage predators with no mercy or compassion, still nurture their young. But ostriches lay their eggs in community nests and the community, including the males, take turns sitting on the nest (yes, I googled it to see, lol).  The mother takes no more interest in her own young than she takes in the rest of the group of hatchlings; all the family group works to protect the chicks from predators.  I looked but couldn't find whether or not the mama ostrich even really knows which of the chicks are hers....but what I did find seemed to indicate that it is the responsibility of the adults, collectively, to care for the babies, collectively.  There is no particular attachment between parents and offspring.  The babies are protected...but not particularly nurtured.

So why would a community that bands together to protect the young ones be seen as heartless?  Is it because the mama ostrich does not bond with nor particularly instruct her offspring?  Think about the repeated verses in the Bible about instructing one's children to follow God...repeating over and over to the youngsters the truths of the law.  This task was assigned primarily to parents, and it was a somber and heavy responsibility.  An ostrich does not take responsibility herself to educate her offspring.  Her heart is not involved in raising her chicks. Of course, the ostrich is not unique in that but she is an example of it.  Had God's people become lax in teaching their children the precepts of God?  Could it be that 'heartless' here refers to a generation that just didn't care to make sure their children knew the how and why of serving the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?  I'm sure there's probably other explanations for that analogy, but...after looking some stuff up, that's what makes sense to me

God called the people heartless because they did not nurture their own children in the relationship they should have with their God; they did not take personal responsibility for the faith of their offspring. 

I'm gonna refrain from drawing any analogies to stuff I have seen happen in the present day.  I'm sure you can connect those dots yourself.

The other two verses speak of danger in the desert...the enemy who is ready to ambush anyone who ventures out.   Even just getting food to survive was a risk.  But... the enemy was sent as a judgment from the God they refused to heed. That cup has to be drunk to the very end. 

I understand why there were...lamentations.