Chapter 3 1  I  am  the man  who  has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. Jeremiah Even though the Jews tormented him, his family tormented him, the kings wronged him, he was beaten, he was humiliated, he was imprisoned, in the end he says "affliction came upon me with the rod of God's wrath." He doesn't blame the affliction on anyone, doesn't get upset... I am seeing what God permitted to happen to me for my sake - for my good, for my growth, for my adjustment. Christ " Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted . But He  was  wounded for our transgressions, He was  bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace  was  upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5) It is an affliction of love - an affliction of the gladness of salvation Me To accept something from God's hand, there is surrender involved - surrendering my heart that wants to hate, into the hand of the Lord with the knowledge that this is all part of His plan for me 2 He has led me and made  me  walk In  darkness and not  in light. Jeremiah Jeremiah had a dark life prophesying to Judah... Mud, prison, tears, broken stones Christ Christ - the Light of the World - entered into the darkness of Hades to plunder it of the righteous Me 3  Surely He has turned His hand against me Time and time again throughout the day. Jeremiah Usually when someone goes through something difficult, they are waiting for it to pass... but with Jeremiah, time and time again throughout the day, problem after problem; hardship after hardship; affliction after affliction; pain after pain. Christ This statement of course applies to the Lord Christ - the entire week of Holy Week and especially the last 24 hours are just suffering, pain, the Cross, etc. until the last breath. It would seem to the outsider looking in that Christ was forsaken by God 4  He has aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones. This is symbolic because Jeremiah's bones were not broken neither was his flesh or skin peeled  This is what Christ felt on the cross and this is what Jeremiah felt 5 He has besieged me And surrounded  me  with bitterness and woe. Christ He accepted bitterness 6 He has set me in dark places Like the dead of long ago. Jeremiah Hades was known that before the Cross, anyone who died would go there - Paradise was not open yet; it is a dark place And the righteous were there doing what? Waiting for the Lord to come and save them; having the Promise of forgiveness and the promise of eternal life, they were waiting in hope. Jeremiah because of the overwhelming sadness, he feels as if he is in Hades - because he is still on earth but he is just waiting on the Promise of life; waiting in hope for the Lord. Christ His body in the tomb now - like the dead His soul is in Hades now - like the dead - except His soul is in Hades to conquer death; to free the righteous from it and take them to Paradise 7  He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy. Jeremiah Christ He is in a tomb! With a large stone sealing the door of the tomb!  The chain is the binding to Hades - the devil assumes that the Lord is bound like the rest of mankind, but he could not perceive that the Lord was going there of His own will to liberate us 8 Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer. Jeremiah Christ On the Cross, when He cried out in prayer to the Father, He was scoffed by the crucifiers... they said "He is calling to Elijah... let Him save Him now" Me We feel this sometimes... here is a prophet - a man of God - who feels this! 9 He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked. Christ Again, the evil one assumes that now the path to salvation is thwarted! All the paths are without escape 10  He  has been  to me a bear lying in wait, Like  a lion in ambush. Christ Me As if God has become an enemy to me 11 He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces; He has made me desolate. 12  He has bent His bow And set me up as a target for the arrow. 13  He has caused the arrows of His quiver To pierce my loins. 14  I have become the ridicule of all my people— Their taunting song all the day. 15  He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood. 16  He has also broken my teeth with gravel, And covered me with ashes. 17  You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity. 18  And I said, “My strength and my hope Have perished from the  Lord .” 19  Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall. 20  My soul still remembers And sinks within me. 21  This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. 22  Through  the  Lord ’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23  They are  new every morning; Great  is  Your faithfulness. 24  “The  Lord   is  my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” 25  The  Lord   is  good to those who wait for Him, To the soul  who  seeks Him. 26  It is  good that  one  should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the  Lord . 27  It is  good for a man to bear The yoke in his youth. 28  Let him sit alone and keep silent, Because  God  has laid  it  on him; 29  Let him put his mouth in the dust— There may yet be hope. 30  Let him give  his  cheek to the one who strikes him, And  be full of reproach. 31  For the Lord will not cast off forever. 32  Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies. 33  For He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of men. 34  To crush under one’s feet All the prisoners of the earth, 35  To turn aside the justice  due  a man Before the face of the Most High, 36  Or subvert a man in his cause— The Lord does not approve. 37  Who  is  he  who  speaks and it comes to pass, When  the Lord has not commanded  it? 38  Is it  not from the mouth of the Most High That woe and well-being proceed? 39  Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins? 40  Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the  Lord ; 41  Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven. 42  We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned. 43  You have covered  Yourself  with anger And pursued us; You have slain  and  not pitied. 44  You have covered Yourself with a cloud, That prayer should not pass through. 45  You have made us an offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples. 46  All our enemies Have opened their mouths against us. 47  Fear and a snare have come upon us, Desolation and destruction. 48  My eyes overflow with rivers of water For the destruction of the daughter of my people. 49  My eyes flow and do not cease, Without interruption, 50  Till the  Lord  from heaven Looks down and sees. 51  My eyes bring suffering to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city. 52  My enemies without cause Hunted me down like a bird. 53  They silenced my life in the pit And threw stones at me. 54  The waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!” 55  I called on Your name, O  Lord , From the lowest pit. 56  You have heard my voice: “Do not hide Your ear From my sighing, from my cry for help.” 57  You drew near on the day I called on You, And said, “Do not fear!” 58  O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life. 59  O  Lord , You have seen  how  I am wronged; Judge my case. 60  You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me. 61  You have heard their reproach, O  Lord , All their schemes against me, 62  The lips of my enemies And their whispering against me all the day. 63  Look at their sitting down and their rising up; I  am  their taunting song. 64  Repay them, O  Lord , According to the work of their hands. 65  Give them a veiled heart; Your curse  be  upon them! 66  In Your anger, Pursue and destroy them From under the heavens of the  Lord .