Lamentations 4:11

Lam 4:11 The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.

Ver. 11. The Lord hath accomplished his fury.] Which he had long deferred, but now hath paid it home. Cave ne ira delata fiat duplicata.

He hath poured out his fierce anger.] As it were by whole buckets or pailfuls. God’s anger may be let out in minnows as there may be much poison in little drops. But woe be those on whom it is poured!

He hath kindled a fire in Zion.] His wrath is like fire, that furious element, which at first burneth a little upon a few boards; but when it prevaileth, it bursteth forth into a terrible flame.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

HOMILETICS

EXEGETICAL NOTES.—

(כ) Lam_4:11 is a conclusion from the immediately preceding verses, as Lam_4:6 is from those preceding it. Jehovah has accomplished, i.e., has put forth a full measure of, His fury; has poured out the fierceness of His anger, and one method of its action is He has kindled a fire in Zion, and has devoured her foundations. The scenes of horror which have been depicted show the meeting-place of Zion’s guilt and its Divine punisher. God’s fierce wrath is the blast which consumes flagrant iniquities. The entire demolition of the former principles dominating the Israelites is thus symbolised, and so signifies that room is made for the new spirit which shall possess the restored captivity when they lay again the foundations of the House of the Lord.

A change of features is to be presented now by sketching, not so much the disasters on classes of the people, as the causes by which they were produced, and the baffled hopes ensuing.

(ל) Lam_4:12. The kings of the earth—men who might be considered experts—believed not, neither all the inhabitants of the world—men who were moved by appearances and common hearsay—that an adversary … should enter into the gates of Jerusalem. This belief cannot be merely “a deep subjective conviction.” Whether or not the city was previously taken is a matter of no importance. What is stated is a general opinion. The unverified belief would be grounded on the knowledge of the strong situation and careful fortifications of Jerusalem, which, with the means of siege then at command, might be considered almost impossible of capture. It was invested a year and a half before capture by the greatest warrior of the age. Besides this, there may well have been, since the remarkable repulse of Sennacherib, a wide-spread supposition, as when the tribes emerged from the desert, that the God of Israel was very mighty in the defence of His worshippers, and would not let His sacred city be subjugated.

THE DESTRUCTION OF ZION

(Lam_4:11-12)

I. Was thorough and complete. “The Lord kindled a fire in Zion, and it devoured the foundations thereof” (Lam_4:11). The holy city, the pride of the Jews and the envy of their enemies, was utterly overthrown. Not only were its walls, towers, palaces, and Temple demolished, but its very foundations were dug up and scattered: one stone was not left upon another. It was degraded and spurned by the resolute destroyers as a heap of useless rubbish. It was impossible for the rage of man to make a more complete ruin. In the intention of the irate Chaldeans it was destroyed for ever. And yet the Divine Guardian of the holy city allowed all this!

II. Was undeniable evidence of the reality of the Divine anger. “The Lord hath accomplished His fury: He hath poured out His fierce anger” (Lam_4:11). There was more of the righteous anger of Jehovah against the obstinate sin of His people in the destruction of Jerusalem, than there were skill and ferocity in the Chaldean army. The enemy would have been powerless to pierce the city bulwarks if the people had remained true to Jehovah, and sheltered themselves in humble trust beneath His all-powerful defence. But the wrath of God was provoked beyond the limit of further endurance, and the Chaldeans were used as the instruments of His vengeance. Surely the eyes of the suffering people were at last opened to see in the utter destruction of their beloved city that Jehovah was indeed angry with them.

III. Was a result deemed incredible by the nations. “The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem” (Lam_4:12). Jerusalem was so strongly fortified, not only by massive walls and bulwarks, but by the strength and heroism of its inhabitants, that it was deemed impregnable to all warlike forces of that day. Moreover, it was regarded as the dwelling-place of the Great King, who had hitherto baffled all attempts to capture it. The recent defeat of Sennacherib, one of the greatest warriors of the age, was fresh in the memory of the people. The belief gained general currency that the city could not be taken. It was invested for a year and a half by the Chaldean forces, furnished with the most powerful engines of assault, before it was actually captured. Its fall was the amazement of the world. What was believed impossible had come to pass. Others saw, what the Jews were slow to acknowledge, that their God had deserted them and given them up to the destroyer.

LESSONS.—

1. The holiest place may be polluted by sin,

2. Persistent sin provokes Divine vengeance.

3. Divine wrath is not poured out till every opportunity is given for repentance.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

Lam_4:11. The Divine anger.

1. Will accomplish all it threatens.

2. Is terrible in its active manifestation.

3. May well be dreaded by the impenitent.

Lam_4:12. A world’s wonder.

1. That a divinely guarded city should fall.

2. That it should fall by the hands of the godless.

3. That some great sin must have been committed to make such a catastrophe possible.

ILLUSTRATIONS.—Terrible destruction. One of the officers at Fredericksburg says:—“Howard, who was with me, says I exclaimed, ‘Oh, great God, see how our men, our poor fellows, are falling!’ I remember that the whole plain was covered with men prostrate and falling. I had never before seen fighting like that—nothing approaching it in terrible uproar and destruction. As they charged, the artillery fire would break up their formation, and they would get mixed; then they would close up, go forward, receive the withering infantry fire, and those who were able would run to their houses and do all they could; then the next brigade coming up in succession would do their duty, and melt. It was like the snow coming down and melting on warm ground.”

Concentration of power destroys. In the eighteenth century an immense burning-glass was constructed in France, in which all the heat falling on a great lens was then concentrated on a smaller one, till at the focus such was the heat that iron, gold, and other metals ran like melted butter. Another one, made in England by Parker, fused the most refractory substances, and diamonds were by it reduced to vapour.

The Divine sovereignty. “God is free because no causes external to Himself have power over Him; and as good men are most free when most a law to themselves, so it is no infringement on God’s freedom to say that He must have acted as He acted; but rather He is absolutely free because absolutely a law Himself to Himself.”—Froude.

The curse of sin. It is the Trojan horse; it hath sword and famine and pestilence in the belly of it. Sin is a coal that not only blacks, but burns. Sin creates all our troubles; it puts gravel in our bread, wormwood in our cup. Sin rots the name, consumes the estates, buries relations. Sin shoots the flying roll of God’s curses into a family and kingdom (Zec_5:4). It is reported of Phocas, having built a wall of mighty strength about his city, there was a voice heard, “Sin is in the city, and that will throw down the wall.”

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

fire . . . devoured . . . foundations-- (Deu 32:22; Jer 21:14). A most rare event. Fire usually consumes only the surface; but this reached even to the foundation, cutting off all hope of restoration.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He at length concludes that nothing was wanting to complete the extreme vengeance of God; for had the Jews been chastised in an ordinary way, they would have still extenuated their sins, as we know that they were not easily led to repentance. Hence the Prophet, to shew that their offenses had not been slight, but that they had been extremely wicked before God, says that the whole of God’s wrath had been executed: Jehovah has completed his wrath The expression is indeed harsh to Latin ears; but the meaning is, that he had executed his extreme judgment.

He afterwards adds, He has poured forth the indignation of his wrath. God is indeed content with moderate punishment, provided men be awakened from their torpor; but when he pours forth his wrath, there is no hope of repentance. It is then a sign of final despair when God’s vengeance overflows like a deluge. But when Jeremiah thus speaks, he does not contend with God, but rather reminds the Jews of what they deserved, as it was stated yesterday. There is, then, no doubt but that he argues, from the grievousness of their punishment, that there was no reason for the Jews to flatter themselves any longer, since God had dealt so severely with them.

He then, in other words, points out the same thing, that God had kindled a fire which devoured or consumed the very foundations. Fire is wont rather to take hold on the roofs of houses, or, when it creeps farther, it does not proceed beyond the surface. It is a very rare thing for it to penetrate into the foundations. Let us at the same time know that the Prophet speaks metaphorically of the destruction of the city, for it was such as left nothing remaining. For when some ruins remain, there is some intimation of a future restoration at least the minds of beholders are inclined to hope that what has fallen is to be restored; but when the buildings are not only pulled down, but also demolished from their foundations, then the destruction seems to be without any hope of restoration. And this is what the Prophet means when he says, that the fire had consumed, not only what was above ground, but the very foundations of Jerusalem. It follows, —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(11) And hath kindled a fire . . .—The phrase is partly literal (2Ch_36:19), partly figurative, for the complete destruction of Jerusalem by the wrath of Jehovah.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. hath kindled a fire] metaphorical, as in Lam_1:13, Lam_2:3.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lord hath accomplished his fury,.... Which rose up in his mind, and which he purposed in himself to bring upon the sinful people of the Jews:

he hath poured out his fierce anger; the vials of his wrath in great abundance, even all he meant to pour out upon them:

and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof: not in the strong hold of Zion only, but in the whole city of Jerusalem, which was set on fire by the Chaldeans, as instruments, according to the will of God; and which not only consumed the houses of it, but even the foundations of them; so that it looked as if there was no hope of its ever being rebuilt. Aben Ezra interprets this fire of the famine.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

An unusual fire, which burns up not only the roof and superstructure, but the foundations, leaving no bottom for hopes of being restored. See Deu 32:22.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Hath devoured the foundations — As the foundations of the city were not literally destroyed at that time. Dr. Hornblower suggests that this is a prophecy of the more complete demolition of the city in later times, when not “one stone should be left upon another.” But there is no need of pressing this language. It implies total overthrow, but no importance attaches to the specification of “foundations” as that the threat must be literally fulfilled.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hath accomplished means here, not "hath finished," but "hath poured out in full measure," as in the song of Moses Jehovah declares that he will "spend his arrows upon them". (the Hebrew verb is the same as Deu_32:23) To show the completeness of Zion"s ruin it is compared to a fire which hath devoured the (very) foundations thereof.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Yahweh showed all his wrath; he poured out his fierce anger

Yahweh was very angry, and he did everything he wanted to do to show that he was angry. (See: Parallelism)

he poured out his fierce anger

God's punishing his people is spoken of as if his anger were a burning hot liquid that he poured out on them. AT: "because of his fierce anger, he punished his people" or "in fierce anger he responded to his people" (See: Metaphor)

He kindled a fire in Zion

This represents God causing Israel's enemies to start a fire in Jerusalem. AT: "He caused a fire to start in Zion" (See: Metonymy)

that consumed her foundations

Here "her foundations" represents the whole city, even the part of the city that would be ruined last. AT: "that burned down the city, even its foundations" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

Yahweh

rage

anger

fire

Zion

devour

found

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

The Lord has spent His fury which burned in Him for many years; He now spent it when He avenged Himself upon them.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.