{"id":26127,"date":"2020-11-06T13:41:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T13:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2021\/02\/23\/preaching-on-lamentations\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:43:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T16:43:13","slug":"preaching-on-lamentations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/preaching-on-lamentations\/","title":{"rendered":"Preaching on Lamentations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Historical Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like so much of the poetic material in the Old Testament, Lamentations is presented to the reader as the anguished prayers of an anonymous Israelite worshipper. The tradition most Christians are familiar with\u2014that of Jeremiah being the author\u2014started with the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, what we know as the Septuagint (finished sometime in the third century BC). That translation saw some changes to the then traditionally-accepted compilation, including moving Lamentations to a position directly after Jeremiah and adding in introductory line that connected Jeremiah to the text of Lamentations (a line that has been dropped in modern English translations). Theories over who authored Lamentations have abounded over the years, including one humorous theory from an 18th-century German scholar named Hermann von der Hardt postulated that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and the deposed King Jehoiachin (cf., 2 Kings 24-25) wrote the five prayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, nailing down who authored the Book of Lamentations is not necessary to nailing down a possible date of composition or even discerning the message of the book. Although there is the occasional speculative vote cast against a commonly-accepted date (Iain Provan being the most notable), the vast majority of scholars are in general agreement that Lamentations was composed within about seventy-five years of the destruction of Solomon\u2019s grand temple by the Babylonians, with a small number of that group arguing for a date close to Nehemiah\u2019s time of resettlement and reconstruction (ca. 515 BC). Support for this generally-accepted date comes from the text itself, which is full of raw emotion, the kind expressed with fresh memories of burning buildings and wailing mothers (i.e., 1:11, 2:11-12, 4:14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Literary Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the original Hebrew tradition, Lamentations was contained within the final part of the canon\u2014the Writings (the Ketubim<\/em>), not the Prophets (the Nebiim<\/em>). Specifically, it is part of the Megollith<\/em>, or \u201cFive Scrolls,\u201d which includes Ruth, Esther, the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. This portion of the Writings is commonly associated with certain festivals, such as Shavuot (Ruth) or Purim (Esther). Lamentations is associated with the Ninth of Av (late July-early August), the festival that remembers the two cataclysmic destructions of Jerusalem, first by the Babylonians in 586 BC and then by the Romans in AD 70. Most notable of the observances are a 25-hour fast and the abstaining from all bathing or washing, reminders of the awfulness of those destructive events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussions that focus on the genre and style represented in Lamentations in the modern era argued that each chapter should be seen as an individual piece of poetic or liturgical literature, each one independent from the others. Contemporary scholarship, that of the last 25-30 years, has sought to view the contents of the book as a whole, as a corporate or communal lament, which falls back in line with traditional Hebrew interpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously inspired by the lament psalms (what I refer to as the \u201csongs of sorrow\u201d), the author of Lamentations strives to encapsulate the pain and anguish of defeat in poetic stanzas. However the chaotic design of the book intentionally reveals the chaotic sense of guilt and grief being felt by the poet. For example, chapters one and two are each made of 22 well-articulated three-line verses. Chapter three, the center of the book, is made up of 66 verses (three sets of 22). Chapter four subverts expectations by being made up of 22 emotionally-subdued two-line verses. However, chapter five is made of 22 tersely-worded verses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chart: Preaching Through Lamentations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We know the weekly grind of sermon prep is hard, whether you are in the midst of series or planning a new series. Trying to find key verses you need to highlight in your sermon, finding the historical background to the book, discovering the flow\/structure of book, and even figuring out what is the theme of each section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why we created this chart! This chart is designed to\u00a0save you time<\/strong>\u00a0as you prepare to preach a new sermon series from the Book of Lamentations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will find a quick visual overview of the movement of the Book of Lamentations. It will help orient you and your hearers as you preach through the entire book or sections of the book. It provides, at a glance, one way to divide the book into pericopes. The chart includes key verses in the book, an overarching title for the book, the overall message of the book, and some historical background. It is color-coded to highlight certain defining aspects of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This chart could be used as a slide in your church service. It could serve as an introduction to a new series or a weekly check-in before you begin preaching. It could even be printed out and given to the members of your church, as a resource to help them grasp the message of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sermon Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Bringing and Meaning: What Lamentations Teaches About Faithfully Following God<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This series was developed for an older congregation that generally lacked a depth of biblical literacy that manifested itself in a surface understanding of God and Scripture. The congregation had not experienced much deep preaching during a previous tenure and had developed more of a \u201csound bite\u201d theology, especially regarding difficult subjects. Without realizing it, they had adopted a light version of the very civil religion that they assumed their sectarian views had insulated them from. The purpose, then, of the series was to expose the congregation to a contrasting view of God\u2014as articulated in Scripture\u2014in hopes that it would foster deeper conversations regarding many of their views of God, Scripture, and the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Series Big Idea: <\/strong>Faith in God requires a deeply-plumbed faith in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text: Lamentations 1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n