Lamentations 4
But now the anger of the LORD is satisfied Lamentations 4:11a NLT
O beautiful Jerusalem, your punishment will end; you will soon return from exile Lamentations 4:21a NLT
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied Isaiah 53:11a NLT
Previously, we have seen that the book of Lamentations teaches us that Yahweh is the ultimate cause of all things, that it is ok to yell at him, and that we can rest in his faithfulness. Here I want to look at one more lesson: there will come a day when his wrath is satisfied.
There are students of the Biblical prophets who, denying the possibility of prediction, insist that the “predictions” of Israel’s and Judah’s destruction only came after those destructions had happened. Likewise, the “predictions” of the return to the land were only written after the return had happened. Then they call upon us to believe the religious “truths” that these books present to us.
Why should we believe the theology of books which lie to us about their origins?! So here, are we to believe that Yahweh’s assurance to these sufferers was added to the book only many years after the suffering had ended? No! The Bible teaches us again and again that destruction is never intended to be Yahweh’s final word. His intended final word is the joy of redemption. He tells us that at the same time he tells us that if we persist in disobedience, there are going to be very unpleasant consequences. But his purpose in bringing those consequences upon us is not to leave us in that destroyed condition forever. Rather, he intends that the destruction will have a disciplining effect. So, there will be a day when his just wrath has achieved its purposes, and he will be satisfied.
Does this mean that we have suffered enough that we have earned the ending of Yahweh’s just anger? It does not. “The soul that sins must die” (Ezek 18:20) That is the end of the story. But, praise God, it is not the end of the story. God’s wrath is satisfied by his own grace through the death of Jesus. That is the Good News. Is God justifiably enraged over sin? Yes. Does sin carry with it terribly hurtful consequences, both now and forever? Yes. Does God intend to keep his wrath and make those consequences permanent? Never! Jesus is indeed the answerl!
Called To Be Transformed 