Lamentations 3:37-5

[wolfpurplemoon]

Yeah, why should any living person complain when punished for his sins, especially when those sins have been arbitrarily decided by a deity who loves to deliver over the top punishments.

Lamentations ends with a final lamenting prayer, the people are asking why God has forgotten them.

Comments

[zteccc.livejournal.com]

Chapter 3:37-66 The Prophet continues. "We shouldn't complain when we are being punished, Instead we should think about the way we are living and turn back to the Lord." People should admit their sins to God and God will forgive.

Chapter 4 - Another monologue from The Prophet. The people of Jerusalem suffer due to their sins. The suffering is great, but so were the sins. The Prophet doesn't defend the sins or claim that the punishment is unjust, simply horrible.

Chapter 5 is a prayer from the people of Jerusalem. They tell God that they understand their punishment and that they are waiting for God to restore their relationship with God once more.

You mention that you feel the punishments to be both arbitrary and over the top. I submit that you are ignoring a few facts. First, the punishments were clear from well before the people began violating the covenant. Second, God repeatedly gave warnings and gave opportunities for the people to return to the covenant. When the people did so, God repeatedly welcomed them back. The prophets were sent to give these warnings, and several of them did so, generation after generation. The people kept drifting further away from the covenant, willfully disregarding the warnings. Third, the consequences only came after the people willingly refused to return to the covenant.

If a person disregards the laws of society and isn't caught immediately, the person often continues to disregard the laws in greater and more outrageous fashion. The person might even receive several warnings. Eventually though, when the crimes become heinous enough, the person is sought after, arrested and punished by society. Often, the criminal will complain about the arbitrary nature of the punishment and the enforcement (after all, they should have been arrested the first time and weren't). Eventually, if the person is allowed enough time, the person may even commit a capital offense and people will protest and complain that it is unfair and arbitrary to punish the person as the law provides. To the contrary, the social contract and the written laws exist precisely so that nobody can make such a claim. Because the law is publicly available to read and learn, nobody can claim to be unaware that certain crimes will necessitate certain punishments. Eventually crimes must be punished or the law and society would be meaningless.

This is even more true with the covenant. The people of Israel and Judah were taught from an early age about their history and about the covenant. They knew their responsibilities, the benefits and the potential consequences involved, yet they consistently turned away from the covenant in more egregious ways. Eventually the consequences of their actions had to visit them or the covenant would have been meaningless.

-- Jeff

It's all about faith...

[shelka73.livejournal.com]

The Bible is about what God wants to do in each and everyone of our lives. From Genesis through the Book of Revelations, all He wants is for us to be with Him, and you are either with Him or against Him. With Him, you are protected, healed, forgiven, Loved, and Victorious! You are safe and covered by His mercy and grace. Your are free from the burden of sin...(Oh, but I am getting ahead of where you are in the Bible.-- I myself am finally reading it completely for the first time.)
To be with God, you have to be in line with His heart. You have to want to put Him first above all, and love you neighbor as you love yourself. This is what the Commandments set out to establish. God makes it very clear throughout the Bible that He never forgets His people. He makes it very clear that all they have to do is turn to Him, and repent (which means change) from their ways to His ways.
God is always there for His people. It is when they change direction and lose sight of Him, that they get in trouble. It is when they stop believing in God, and look toward themselves and the rest of the world around them, that they find misery and oppression. Yet God, is ever faithful, waiting to be asked back into their lives so that He may heal them and set them free. (This doesn't mean that He is without His angry moments. What parent wouldn't be?) Why does He do this? Because He loves them (and He loves us, too).
Get to know God, question His true motive and character, and the Bible will make more sense. Seek the answers within His Word. Look to David, in His Psalms and see the heart of God. It will come alive, but the key again is faith. For us believers, we have to take that leap of faith and believe that He IS, and that He loves us all. It is hard to begin to make sense of it all, until we can accept that He is real and true. Trust me, I know from experience the difference between knowing about Him, and really knowing Him.
Keep reading, keep questioning, and you will find out the Truth about Him. Then, with the Truth, you will be able to see why this Bible is such a big deal to so many people for so many centuries.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate your perspective.

[zen-says.livejournal.com]

ya,,,, see when happens when you lost sight of God,,,, he sold you to the babylonians for xxx years,,,,,

see what happens when you talk back against God, you get to wonder in the desert in 40 years if you are with moses....

remember what you do when you believe God,,,,

his blessings, mercy and forgiveness is always conditional,,,, stepped out of line, you face the wrath of God,,,,, Remember God is the same God as the Father/Son and Holy Ghost if you believe in trinity,,,,,,

alway be careful with God especially when He is having a wager with Satan, you could have been the next Job, your sons, daughters, animals and health is at stake if He is in gambling mood.....

don't believe me, read the bible again,,,,,

BELIEVE IN GOD? Please blieve in his eternal hell, and watch your step

[hypatiaslore.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded of something Gene Roddenberry said once,‎"We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes."

[wolfpurplemoon]

Ah, Roddenberry, he was a great and wise man!