17 Our eyes failed, ever watching
vainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for a nation which could not save.
18 They dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
our end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The breath of our nostrils, the Lord’s anointed,
was captured in their pits,
of whom we said, “Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”
21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in the land of Uz;
but to you also the cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
22 The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;
but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins. – Lamentations 4:17-22 ESV
During the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, the people of Judah had fully expected their allies, the Egyptians, to step up and rescue them. After the death of King Josiah, his son Jehoahaz had ascended to the throne, but his reign lasted a scant three months. He was imprisoned by Pharaoh and replaced on the throne by his younger brother, who agreed to pay the exorbitant tribute levied against them by the Egyptians.
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. He did evil in the sight of the Lord as his ancestors had done. Pharaoh Necho imprisoned him in Riblah in the land of Hamath and prevented him from ruling in Jerusalem. He imposed on the land a special tax of 100 talents of silver and a talent of gold. Pharaoh Necho made Josiah’s son Eliakim king in Josiah’s place, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. He took Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died. Jehoiakim paid Pharaoh the required amount of silver and gold, but to meet Pharaoh’s demands Jehoiakim had to tax the land. He collected an assessed amount from each man among the people of the land in order to pay Pharaoh Necho. – 2 Kings 23:31-35 NLT
But this costly alliance with the Egyptians never produced the rescue they longed for. Pharaoh Necho was content to leave the people of Judah high and dry, having gladly taken their tribute money but never providing them the protection due to a vassal state. The Babylonians were the new bad boy on the block and the Egyptians chose to stay out of the fray altogether.
The king of Egypt did not march out from his land again, for the king of Babylon conquered all the territory that the king of Egypt had formerly controlled between the Stream of Egypt and the Euphrates River. – 2 Kings 24:7 NLT
Even back during the days when the Assyrians were making their way through the land of Canaan capturing city after city, Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, warned Judah’s King Hezekiah not to put his trust in Egypt.
“This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident? Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me? On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is completely unreliable!” – 2 Kings 18:19-22 NLT
And King Sennacherib proved to be right about Egypt. His assessment of Pharaoh’s reliability had been spot-on. But this was something God had known for some time. He had warned His people not to put their faith in military might – their own or that of their allies.
Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead;
those who rely on war horses,
and trust in Egypt’s many chariots
and in their many, many horsemen.
But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel
and do not seek help from the Lord.
Yet he too is wise and he will bring disaster;
he does not retract his decree.
He will attack the wicked nation,
and the nation that helps those who commit sin.
The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;
their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.
The Lord will strike with his hand;
the one who helps will stumble
and the one being helped will fall.
Together they will perish. – Isaiah 31:1-3 NLT
God’s people were never to have placed their hope and trust in other nations. King David himself wrote:
Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand upright. – Psalm 20:6-8 ESV
God was to have been their champion. He had promised to be their defender and their help against any and all adversaries. But their serial unfaithfulness to Him had left Him with no other choice but to bring judgment upon them. They had somehow decided that God was not enough. So, they put their hope in human saviors. They turned to kings and their armies when they had the King of kings on their side.
And because they chose to place their hope and trust in something other than God Almighty, they suffered the consequences. They had wrongly assumed that their king, the Lord’s anointed, would save them.
Our king—the Lord’s anointed, the very life of our nation—
was caught in their snares.
We had thought that his shadow
would protect us against any nation on earth! – Lamentations 4:20 NLT
But a king who fails to honor God with his life will offer no hope in times of despair. A man who neglects the wisdom of God and turns His back on the ways of God will prove to be a lousy deliverer when times get tough.
But Jeremiah wraps up this dirge with a reminder to the daughters of Edom and the daughters of Zion.
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in the land of Uz;
but to you also the cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;
but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins. – Lamentations 4:21-22 ESV
These two daughters represent two different lands: The land of Judah and the land of Babylon. The daughters of Edom living in the land of Ur or Babylon have every reason to rejoice over their great victory. Their men have returned home victorious, with great spoil, tens of thousands of captives in two, and stories of their conquest of the nation of Judah.
But Jeremiah warns them to consider tapping the brake a bit. Their enthusiasm is going to be shortlived. Yes, they were the new bully on the block and their success was undeniable. But what they didn’t realize was that their victory had been the handiwork of God. And God has a habit of putting kings on thrones and removing them at His discretion. Their 15-minutes of fame was going to be over before they knew it and, as Jeremiah points out, they will be forced to “drink from the cup of the Lord’s anger” (Lamentations 4:21 NLT).
In contrast, Jerusalem would see an end to its exile. After 70 years in captivity, God would return a remnant of His people from the land of Babylon and allow them to rebuild and reoccupy the city of Jerusalem. The gates and walls would be restored. The temple would be refurbished. The sacrificial system would be reinstituted. And the faithful God of Judah would shower His rebellious people with His undeserved grace and mercy.
While the story looked like it had a very unhappy ending, there was more to come that the people of Judah could not see. The Babylonians looked victorious. They had been on the winning end of the equation. But God was not done. His plan was not yet complete. And the circumstances of life do not always provide an accurate assessment of reality. God was still on His throne. He was still the covenant-keeping God of Judah. He was faithful and He was far from done with His chosen people.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson