Lamentations is a book of
very sad poems. Lamentations is in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Jeremiah wrote the Book of Lamentations
after soldiers from Babylon destroyed Jerusalem.
Jerusalem had been a beautiful city. The
temple (house of God) was in Jerusalem.
But the soldiers destroyed the buildings. They killed many people (Lamentations
2:21). They led the young men away to Babylon.
The soldiers even forced the young women to have sex with them (Lamentations
5:11-13).
Jeremiah saw these terrible
events. And he knew why these things happened. They happened because the people
in Jerusalem
had not obeyed God's law. The people prayed to evil gods. And the people were
very evil. God sent his servants to warn the people. But the people did not
change their behaviour. So, God punished them (2 Chronicles 36:14-17).
Jeremiah was very sad when
he wrote Lamentations. But he still had hope. Between his sad words, he wrote
about God's love. Jeremiah knew that God cares (Lamentations 3:22-33).
Jeremiah wanted the people
to trust God again (Lamentations 3:40-42). And Jeremiah knew that God would not
always punish his people (Lamentations 4:22). Jeremiah prayed that the people
could return to Jerusalem
(Lamentations 5:21).
