Day 330: Lamentations 1-2 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study with Commentary by Tia Arango — Transcript

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1. 0:00Hey Bible nerds, this is Dr. Manny
2. 0:02Orango. Welcome to the Bible department
3. 0:04podcast powered by Arma. We are walking
4. 0:08through the entire Bible in a year. You
5. 0:10can go to the description or the bible
6. 0:13department.com to download a reading
7. 0:15plan and join the journey.
8. 0:25Surprise, Bible nerds. It's Tia Rango
9. 0:28here. Yeah,
10. 0:30I am so excited because I get to teach
11. 0:33you guys on the book of Lamentations.
12. 0:36Today is day 330 and we are going to go
13. 0:40through Lamentations 1 and two. First of
14. 0:43all, I know you're probably wondering
15. 0:46why in the world of all the books of the
16. 0:48Bible, Lamentations. Well, I have to be
17. 0:51honest with you. I am Lamentations
18. 0:54personified. I am a Lamentations girly.
19. 0:57Like when it comes to suffering and
20. 1:00being honest with God and questioning
21. 1:04and having questions that draw me
22. 1:05closer, I am your girl. Okay? I I mean,
23. 1:09Lamentations is just a favorite of mine.
24. 1:11So, I begged to be able to teach on this
25. 1:14and so here I am. I know you're so
26. 1:16happy. I'm way less wordy than Dr. Manny
27. 1:20Orango, so this episode probably will
28. 1:22not be as long, but I don't think you'll
29. 1:24be mad about that. Anyway, let's jump
30. 1:27in. Actually, wait. Before we jump in,
31. 1:30if you have not read Lamentations 1
32. 1:32through through two, it'll take you
33. 1:34literally 10 minutes. Stop, go read, and
34. 1:38then come back. I'll be waiting here for
35. 1:40you, but you have to read before we jump
36. 1:41in. Okay. Okay. Let's go. We'll start
37. 1:45today with the context clues of
38. 1:47Lamentations. I think something that's
39. 1:49so incredible about the book of
40. 1:50Lamentations is this. It's a book of
41. 1:52poetry. I I'm a singer. I play guitar.
42. 1:56So I I connect so deeply with the fact
43. 1:58that this is poetry and it's written so
44. 2:01beautifully. It's five poems and it's
45. 2:03all it's kind of like a funeral song
46. 2:06because more background information.
47. 2:09This was written at the fall of
48. 2:11Jerusalem. It was in 586 BC and uh the
49. 2:15Babylonians
50. 2:17sieged Jerusalem very sad and they wrote
51. 2:22poems and grieved about the fact that
52. 2:25their nation had been taken over by
53. 2:28their enemies. There had been years
54. 2:30decades there had been decades of
55. 2:33prophecies. The prophet Jeremiah was a
56. 2:35part of Jerusalem and he had spent
57. 2:37decades like 30 to 40 years warning
58. 2:40them, pleading with them, please stay
59. 2:43faithful to Yahweh. Please obey his laws
60. 2:47because if you don't, then Babylon is
61. 2:50going to destroy us. He told them that
62. 2:52for decades and they didn't listen. They
63. 2:56didn't pay attention to the warnings.
64. 2:58And then what happened? Exactly what was
65. 3:00prophesied. And this book is a response
66. 3:05to the fall of Jerusalem. A few months
67. 3:07ago, Dr. Manny covered Jeremiah and
68. 3:10Second Kings, more towards the end of
69. 3:12Second Kings. He actually talks a lot
70. 3:14about this whole story of Babylon
71. 3:17destroying Jerusalem. So, if you want a
72. 3:19refresher on that and then come back,
73. 3:21absolutely recommend going to watch
74. 3:23those episodes again and then coming
75. 3:25back cuz then you'll feel really, really
76. 3:27prepared to just hear this poem of
77. 3:29sadness, this funeral song for what
78. 3:32happened to them. Okay, we're going to
79. 3:34jump into our nerdy nuggets. So, the
80. 3:37general pattern that we're going to note
81. 3:38in this book is this. Chapters one and
82. 3:41two are lament and sorrow. I mean, right
83. 3:44when you jump into chapter one, right
84. 3:46off the bat, how lonely sits the city.
85. 3:48It was full of people and now it's like
86. 3:50a widow. Like this is just sorrow,
87. 3:53devastation at the fact that Jerusalem
88. 3:55has been overthrown. And then in chapter
89. 3:58three, we see repentance and hope. And
90. 4:00then in chapter four and five, it goes
91. 4:02back to lament and sorrow. Um, and this
92. 4:05is actually called a kayazm. I know that
93. 4:07Dr. Manny has talked about it quite a
94. 4:09bit in other uh episodes, so you're
95. 4:12probably a bit familiar. But the big
96. 4:13thing that we want to remember about
97. 4:15kayazms is that everything points to the
98. 4:19center to the middle. So the reason that
99. 4:23one and two are lament and four and five
100. 4:24are lament and chapter three is hope and
101. 4:28repentance is because the the actual
102. 4:31climax of the book is chapter 3 is this
103. 4:34repentance and this hope that they have
104. 4:37even though they're actively witnessing
105. 4:40the fall of their nation. Incredible.
106. 4:43Like I love I love the outline of how
107. 4:46that works and it's I feel like it's
108. 4:48just so reminiscent of the human
109. 4:50experience or even my experience like
110. 4:52even in the middle of pain and in the
111. 4:55middle of suffering just in the center
112. 4:57there's just like a little glimmer of
113. 4:59hope and that's Jesus honestly in my
114. 5:02walk it's been when I am just completely
115. 5:06submerged in pain and just like drowning
116. 5:09in my sorrow that glimmer of hope that
117. 5:11always just feels like it is in the
118. 5:13center of my chest is my hope in Jesus.
119. 5:16And I feel like this just beautifully
120. 5:17reflects that. All right, let's keep
121. 5:19moving. One thing I want to highlight
122. 5:22about chapter 1 is this consistent
123. 5:25acknowledgment of transgressions.
124. 5:27These people are not unaware of the fact
125. 5:32that the reason that Babylon was able to
126. 5:36overthrow Jerusalem is because of their
127. 5:38transgressions against Yahweh. It was
128. 5:40their unfaithfulness against Yahweh. I
129. 5:42mean, they had 30 or 40 years of
130. 5:44Jeremiah warning them over and over
131. 5:47again. So, it was fresh on their minds
132. 5:48that this is happening because we didn't
133. 5:50listen. This is happening because we
134. 5:52weren't faithful to our covenant with
135. 5:54Yahweh. This is happening because of our
136. 5:57rebellion. They're so aware. And I just
137. 5:59think it's so mature that the book of
138. 6:02pain begins with an understanding that
139. 6:05we had a part to play in this. That is
140. 6:07so mature and such a beautiful way for
141. 6:10God to just teach us how to lament. I
142. 6:13feel like a lot of times when we're
143. 6:15grieving and when we're in scenarios
144. 6:18that are just heavy for us, all we do is
145. 6:20focus on the fact that we're suffering.
146. 6:23All we do is focus on the specific
147. 6:25scenario that's happening to us that's
148. 6:27really hard. But this is teaching us to
149. 6:31own our role in the scenario. What have
150. 6:34I done? What could I have done better?
151. 6:37It's so mature. It's so helpful. And
152. 6:41obviously, not everyone, not every
153. 6:44circumstance is something that we've
154. 6:46done. There are scenarios where
155. 6:47something is done to us and there's
156. 6:49nothing that we've done or could have
157. 6:50done to prevent it. But I'm specifically
158. 6:53speaking on scenarios where we know
159. 6:55there was a course of action that I took
160. 6:58that is the reason that my life is the
161. 7:00way it is right now. there's something
162. 7:02that I didn't do and this is the reason
163. 7:04why life doesn't look the way I want it
164. 7:07to look right now. And owning that and
165. 7:09being aware of it, having a full
166. 7:11awareness actually allows us to like not
167. 7:13do the same thing again. And I love that
168. 7:15Lamentations begins with that. Family,
169. 7:19the wait is over. My brand new book,
170. 7:22Crushing Chaos, is out now and available
171. 7:26everywhere books are sold. Literally
172. 7:29today, I walked into a Barnes & Noble
173. 7:32and I signed a bunch of copies at a
174. 7:34physical location. So, you can grab this
175. 7:37book at a physical Barnes & Noble or you
176. 7:39can go to a Books a Million or Amazon or
177. 7:42anywhere books are sold and grab a copy.
178. 7:45If you enjoy reading the Bible from an
179. 7:49ancient perspective, if you understand
180. 7:51that the beauty of scripture is actually
181. 7:53[clears throat] knowing it in context,
182. 7:55then you'll love this book. And if
183. 7:58there's any chaos in your personal life,
184. 8:00[music] I think that reading the Bible
185. 8:02from an ancient perspective can actually
186. 8:04help to crush the chaos in your life. I
187. 8:07think this book is going TO BE A NEW
188. 8:08YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. I really do. I
189. 8:10think we wrote a good one. I think you
190. 8:12should get a copy today. All right, back
191. 8:15to the episode. And then chapter two, I
192. 8:18would love for us to notice that um a
193. 8:21lot of it is talking about ruins over
194. 8:24and over. you you hear this word ruins.
195. 8:27Um, in fact, Jerusalem was so deep in
196. 8:29their rebellion against God that he had
197. 8:33to withdraw his hand. Like the reason
198. 8:36that the city is in ruins is because God
199. 8:38withdrew his hand. And again, there's an
200. 8:42awareness that he removed his hand
201. 8:45because we were not faithful to the
202. 8:47relationship, to the covenant. And also,
203. 8:50I love that it it focuses on a removal
204. 8:52of his hand because it's not saying the
205. 8:55hand of God did this. It's saying that
206. 8:57the removal of his right hand, the
207. 8:59removal of his favor, the removal of his
208. 9:02protection is the reason this is
209. 9:04happening to us. And that it's something
210. 9:07that Dr. Manny talks about a lot is the
211. 9:09passive versus the active wrath of God.
212. 9:11And this would be an example of the
213. 9:13passive wrath of God. very reminiscent
214. 9:15of the book of Genesis, the flood. The
215. 9:18fact that the removal of his presence,
216. 9:20the removal of his sustaining power
217. 9:23immediately results in chaos and sin.
218. 9:25And this is another example of that,
219. 9:27that God removed himself because that's
220. 9:30what they wanted. They proved that over
221. 9:33and over again that they didn't want the
222. 9:34hand of God on them. They didn't want
223. 9:36the covenant. And so, he respected that
224. 9:38decision and removed his hand. and what
225. 9:41happened, what he told Jeremiah to tell
226. 9:43them what happened did happen. And
227. 9:45they're very aware of that. It's also
228. 9:47important to note that the ruins that
229. 9:49chapter 2 talks about is not only for
230. 9:53the current generation, but the ruins is
231. 9:56generational. I mean, it is so sad. When
232. 9:59you look at chapter 2, it's it's saying
233. 10:02the elders were mourning, that the
234. 10:04children are starving, that mothers had
235. 10:07to result in eating their children, and
236. 10:10that current leaders were sick with
237. 10:12sorrow. I mean, three generations, we
238. 10:14have elders, we have children, and we
239. 10:16have current leaders that are suffering,
240. 10:19suffering because of the inability to be
241. 10:22faithful to Yahweh. Of one generation's
242. 10:24inability to be faithful to Yahweh. So
243. 10:27just an understanding that like our
244. 10:29inability or our decision to not be
245. 10:32faithful to the covenant that we have
246. 10:34with Jesus does not only impact us, it
247. 10:37can impact the people before us and the
248. 10:39people coming after us. And oh my
249. 10:41goodness, how heavy, how devastating.
250. 10:44And that takes me to my timeless truth.
251. 10:46The timeless truth is this, that God
252. 10:49takes our decisions to walk away from
253. 10:51him seriously. He takes it very
254. 10:54seriously. even if it results in our own
255. 10:57destruction. Because he honors our free
256. 11:00will, even at the cost of us, because if
257. 11:03it's what we want, he gives it to us.
258. 11:06And I have a story actually about it. Of
259. 11:08course, I'm a mom. We have a son. He's
260. 11:10four years old. And we moved into a new
261. 11:12house about a year ago, and it has a
262. 11:14staircase, and he has at the top of the
263. 11:17staircase, there's a landing, and we put
264. 11:18his play area there. and he plays there
265. 11:21often, but a lot of the time I find
266. 11:23myself telling him, "Hey, don't play
267. 11:25near the stairs. You have all this
268. 11:27space. Just don't go near the stairs
269. 11:29because it's not safe. You could fall."
270. 11:32And he wouldn't really listen to me. And
271. 11:34I kept giving him warnings. And of
272. 11:37course, one day he's playing near the
273. 11:39stairs and he comes tumbling down the
274. 11:41stairs, hits the floor on the bottom,
275. 11:43and starts screaming. My first response
276. 11:46is running up to my baby. I pick him up.
277. 11:49I comfort him. I'm telling him, I'm so
278. 11:51sorry this happened to you. I'm just I
279. 11:54just want him checking. Make sure he
280. 11:55didn't like hit his head or break
281. 11:58anything. And then Dr. Manny walks up to
282. 12:01him, too. We're both home. He walks up
283. 12:04to him and he goes, "Now, do you
284. 12:06understand why this just happened to
285. 12:08you? Do you know that your mother kept
286. 12:10telling you, we kept telling you, don't
287. 12:12play at the stairs, and you didn't
288. 12:14listen? Your disobedience is why this is
289. 12:18happening to you. And of course, this is
290. 12:20I mean, Dr. Manny is saying this to him
291. 12:22while he's still crying and while I'm
292. 12:24holding him. But what a beautiful
293. 12:26picture of God, the fullness of God,
294. 12:28that God does both with us. That he
295. 12:31comforts us in our disobedience, but
296. 12:33also he wants to highlight the fact that
297. 12:36do you understand why you are where you
298. 12:39are and what your disobedience costs
299. 12:41you? And after Theo fell, we didn't
300. 12:44install a gate. We let him still play up
301. 12:47there and still gave him the
302. 12:49instructions, hey, don't play near the
303. 12:50stairs. Because really, if we put a gate
304. 12:53up there, we completely remove his free
305. 12:55will. If we put a gate up there, we
306. 12:58completely remove his ability to just be
307. 13:01obedient. The gate is actually his ears.
308. 13:05The gate at the top of the stairs is
309. 13:07actually him trusting me when I say
310. 13:10don't play at the top of the stairs. And
311. 13:12the same thing is with God. The same
312. 13:15thing goes for us with God. He's not
313. 13:18going to just put a bunch of boundaries
314. 13:20around you to make sure you don't do
315. 13:21what he's telling you not to do. He's
316. 13:23going to tell you what's safe and what's
317. 13:25unsafe. And your ears have to be your
318. 13:28gate. Your ears and your eyes and your
319. 13:30wisdom, your mind, your soul has to have
320. 13:33to be your protectors. Are you going to
321. 13:35trust that what God is saying to you is
322. 13:38right? Are you going to be obedient so
323. 13:40that you don't end up hurt? So that you
324. 13:43don't end up in ruins, so that you don't
325. 13:46end up overtaken by the enemy. And funny
326. 13:48enough, a siege is when an army attacks
327. 13:52a city's gates. How perfect. An army
328. 13:56attacks gates first because it's
329. 13:57actually the most vulnerable spot in a
330. 14:00wall that's protecting a city. So what
331. 14:02do we do? We have to protect our gates
332. 14:05and we have to stay under the protective
333. 14:07hand of God. We must be obedient. And
334. 14:11what a beautiful warning and lesson is
335. 14:14Lamentations 1 and 2 giving us on taking
336. 14:19accountability for our actions or our
337. 14:21disobedience, but also showing us how
338. 14:24beautiful the protective hand of God is
339. 14:26over our life. when we are in line with
340. 14:29his will, when we walk in his covenant
341. 14:31with us, and when we trust him with our
342. 14:34lives. The book of Lamentations is
343. 14:36loaded. I mean, we're only in chapters 1
344. 14:38and two. We haven't even gotten to the
345. 14:40climax, which is chapter 3. Like, so
346. 14:43many life lessons, so many lessons on
347. 14:45how to suffer and how to be wise and how
348. 14:47to walk with God even in our suffering.
349. 14:52Tomorrow is day 331. We're going to do
350. 14:55Lamentations 3 through 5. If you're on a
351. 14:57streak, we are so proud of you. Oh my
352. 15:00goodness, 330 days reading the Bible.
353. 15:04You are incredible. If you're not on a
354. 15:06streak, that's okay. Jump in wherever
355. 15:09you can and just make a promise that
356. 15:11you're going to read the Bible for the
357. 15:13year. We love you guys so much and I
358. 15:16can't wait to see you tomorrow. Bye.
359. 15:19>> Thanks so much for joining us on the
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