Lamentations 4
“The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, with no hand to help her!” (Lamentations 4:6, NKJV)
Jeremiah had watched through tear-filled eyes the destruction of his people. He saw the horrifying effects of the 18-month siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. It was the slow and agonizing death of a nation. Children and adults were starving, people were dying of disease. When the Babylonians breached the wall, many died by the sword. All of this was happening because of the sins of the people. Prophets had prophesied lies, and priests had shed innocent blood. Now their princes, who had been handsome and ruddy in appearance, were black as soot, their skin clinging to their bones. Because of the severe famine their most compassionate women cooked their own children!
Jeremiah compared this devastation to the destruction of Sodom. Which was worse? Would you rather be destroyed in an instant or slowly waste away? I think most of us would rather avoid destruction altogether if at all possible.
The terrible truth is that everyone deserves judgment and punishment. The world is slow to acknowledge this. They cleave desperately to their own self-righteousness as if it were their very lives. But because we have all sinned against the commandments of God and against our own conscience, we all deserve death. Christianity is the only religion that deals adequately with the problem of evil, justice and forgiveness. A just and holy God cannot ignore evil nor allow it to go unpunished. If He chooses to pardon sin, then He must have a just reason for doing so. Only His own Son becoming a man and substituting His own righteous life for all mankind could satisfy God’s justice and provide forgiveness for sinners. Therefore, there is no other way to God and to everlasting life than through Jesus Christ.
We have been in the age of grace for two thousand years. But the Day of the LORD is coming when God will rain down fiery judgment upon the world, as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah. But before then many people are slowly wasting away. They are suffering the consequences of their own sins in this life. In one sense they are already experiencing the wrath of God as they separate from God and from others.
The difference between Sodom and Jerusalem and our generation is that there was no one to help Sodom and Jerusalem, but we have the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ to help us. Will we take hold of it, do what He says, and let Him save us from destruction?