The Message of Lamentations

The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 BC is the likely setting for the book of Lamentations. This was the most traumatic event in the whole of Old Testament history, with its extreme human suffering, devastation of the ancient city, national humiliation, and the undermining of all that was thought to be theologically guaranteed like the Davidic monarchy, the city of Zion, and the temple of the God of Israel. It is out of that unspeakable pain that Lamentations speaks, in poetry of astonishing beauty and intricacy, though soaked in tears. If we neglect this book, says Chris Wright, we miss the challenge and reward of wrestling with the massive theological issues that permeate it. How can suffering be endured alongside faith in an all-loving, good God? Even if these events are recognized and accepted as God's judgment, has not the flood of brutality and evil gone beyond all bounds? If anarchy, death and destruction stalk the land, can the center of Israel's faith in the covenant God of faithfulness and mercy hold? In this Bible Speaks Today volume, Wright shows that as Christian readers we must not, and cannot, isolate Lamentations from the rest of the Bible; and equally, that we should not read the rest of the Bible without Lamentations. We must still let it speak for itself, as a book for today.

Author: Christopher J. H. Wright
Publisher: IVP Academic
Published: 06/03/2015
Pages: 170
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9780830824410

Review Citation(s):
CBA Retailers 07/01/2015 pg. 38
Christianity Today 07/01/2015 pg. 87

About the Author
Wright, Christopher J. H.: -

Christopher J. H. Wright (PhD, Cambridge) is the international director of the Langham Partnership International. His books include Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, The Mission of God, The Message of Ezekiel, The Message of Jeremiah and Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament.