A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold is as pictures of silver.(Prov.25:11) It is so important to speak the right words to people at the right time to produce the right results. When you think of apples of gold in pictures of silver, then you are thinking of wealth and excellence. When we speak wisdom into the lives of others we are making them wealthy. Therefore we must seek God for He is the source of all wisdom and He will give us just the right words needed at the right time.
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#Their visage is blacker than a coal: they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones: it is withered, it is become like a stick. Lamentations 4:8
The Hebrew word for blacker is Chashak; meaning to be or grow dark. A primitive root, to be dark (as withholding light) transitively, to darken. cause darkness. Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. The Ethiopian is black and not by tanning but by DNA. The leopard cannot change his spots, or the Ethiopian his color. Therefore, neither can they do good, who are accustomed to doing evil. The message is to repent and turn to the Lord, for He will abundantly pardon and forgive all your sins. Do not forget Father's Day and show love to your Dad. Our Heavenly Father, whom we call Abba, Aramaic for Daddy, loves us with everlasting love. May the Lord bless all fathers and I pray that the children's hearts will return to their fathers and that they will seek the Lord while He may be found. For there is coming a day when the Lord will not be found.
#Her Nazarites were purer than snow, whiter than milk, more ruddy in body than rubies, and their polishing was of sapphire. Lamentations 4:7
The Hebrew word for Nazarite is Nazir; meaning one consecrated and devoted. separated for God. From Nazar; separate, i.e. Consecrated (as a Prince, a Nazirite) hence (figuratively from the latter) an unpruned vine. Deuteronomy 33:16 And for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. Jeremiah is talking about the Nazarite ones that were separated unto God and purer than snow, whiter than milk like Joseph was to his brethren who hated him and lied to him, threw him in a pit, and left him for dead. God said Genesis 50:20 You meant it for evil, but I meant it for good so that many people could be saved. So like Joseph, he went from the pit to potifer's house, then to prison, and then to the palace. Suffering always comes before glory to the child of God. So shine for Jesus, and do not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn. As Jesus said let him who is without sin cast the first stone. Since Jesus is the only perfect man to walk this earth, we must all strive to be like Him. As Paul said forgetting those things which are behind, I press for the upward call of God. We too like Paul have not arrived yet, so let us consider the Lord Jesus who for the joy that was before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Walk ye worthy of your calling, put off the works of darkness and walk in the light as He is in the light and the blood of Jesus will cleanse us of all sin.
#For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. Lamentations 4:6
The Hebrew word for punishment is Avon meaning fault. From Avah; meaning perversity, I.e. (moral) evil, or fault. Psalms 51:7 Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. This verse is in response to King David's sin with Bathsheba and he prayed for God to wash him with hyssop, which speaks of the blood of Jesus. As the hymn of the Church goes, "What can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus" Jeremiah is weeping at the daughter of my people, for her sin was greater than the Avah or evil of Sodom. God sent fire and brimstone as a judgment upon Sodom for their sin. This is an example of what will happen to all those who walk in their pathway again. O that God would have mercy on America as this is the celebration of pride month. I pray that a revival will break out and all Christians will break out of the closet and start living for Jesus. Truly His blood will wash away all our sins.
#They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought scarlet embrace dunghills. Lamentations 4:5
The Hebrew word for scarlet is Tola; meaning the crimson-grub, of the color, from its cloths dyed in addition to that. From Yalal; causing to howl, i.e. An oppressor, that wasted. Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. This is a metaphor for the blood of Jesus and how it blots out our sins and makes them as white as snow. This is what Jeremiah is reminding the people, that though they are in a crimson dunghill, they are forgiven of all their misdeeds, and covered by the blood of Jesus. God no longer remembers our sins and cast them as far as the East is from the West. He buries them in the ocean and there is no fishing allowed
#The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask for bread and no man breaketh it to him. Lamentations 4:4
The Hebrew word for roof is Chek; meaning palate, gums, roof of the mouth. From Chanak; to sense the taste inside the mouth. Job 12:11 Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat? Jeremiah is using these analogies to help us understand how the children are not being cared for properly by their mothers. Jesus tells us to suffer the children to come unto Him, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Let us dads provide for our children and help the moms out. Fathers must be the priest of their homes. Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way that he should go; when he is old, he will not depart from it. This is the scripture my wife and I used to train our children. Now they are old and have families and they are seeking the Lord. May the Lord bless more Fathers and mothers to train up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
#Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
The Hebrew word for ostriches is Jaen: forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labor is in vain without fear; because God deprived her of wisdom, neither hath He imparted to her understanding. Job 39:14 leaves her eggs in the earth, and warms them in the dust. This is the only smart thing about the ostriches of the wilderness. The daughter of Zion is compared to ostriches as cruel, forgetting where she buries her eggs and that the foot may crush them, unlike the sea monsters who draw out the breast to give a suck to their young ones. Isaiah 27:1 In that day, the LORD with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent and he shall slay the dragon in the sea. The Hebrew word for Leviathan is Livyathan; meaning serpent, a sea monster, or dragon. This could be a reference to a whale or a dinosaur. Nevertheless, they take care of their young ones, unlike the ostriches. Let us pray we will not become like the ostriches who forget their young ones. Jeremiah is using this anthropomorphism to tell us to repent, lest God will consider us like ostriches in the wilderness. Remember the Lord in the days of thy youth while thou will say I have pleasure in them. For God will bring all our works unto judgment. and every secret thing will be revealed.
#The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! Lamentations 4:2
The Hebrew word for the potter is Yatsar; to mold into a form, to determine. It is probably figuratively identical to Yatsar (through the squeezing into shape) to determine the purpose. Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. The Lord Jesus Christ is our potter and formed us in our mother's womb, to be sanctified, just as Jeremiah was ordained to be a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God, behold I cannot speak: for I am a child, But the Lord said unto me, Say not I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Praise God He must be glorified in our bodies in life and death. For He is the potter, and we are the clay. He is molding us into the image of the Lord Jesus. When God gets through with us we will look like Jesus, for we will see Him and call Him our Lord and Savior. So if you are a Mom and struggling with birth, know that the Lord God will carry you from the womb unto the grave. Fathers we must prepare to celebrate Father's Day, let us think about our Heavenly Father who sent His only begotten Son, to die upon the cross for our sins, and we too must be the priests of our families. Comparable to fine gold, and esteemed as earthen pitchers the work of the potter's hands. Let us mold our children in the fear and admonition of our Father in heaven.
#How has the gold become dim? How is the most fine gold changed? the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the tops of every street. Lamentations 4:1
The Hebrew word for sanctuary is Qodesh; meaning a sacred place. From Qadash; a sacred place or thing; rarely abstract, sanctified. consecrated dedicated, hallowed (thing) holiness; to be set apart 1 Samuel 21:6 So the priest gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there but shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken. This showbread speaks of the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ as the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the world's sins. Jeremiah is wondering why the gold is dim, and the stones of the sanctuary poured out in the tops of every street. It is because Israel and Judah have forsaken the Lord God whom they have been espoused to. We are the living stones and must be sanctified and holy, and when we fail to live holy lives, the gold is dim and must be tried in the fire to remove all the dross from it. Job said the Lord knows the way that I shall go, and when He is finished with me I shall be pure gold. This is what God is doing to His people. May the Lord have mercy on us, as we go forth to minister to Robert Hatton who is in hospice care, and encourage him in the Lord. For we know if this earthly building is destroyed, we have a building from God in heaven not made with hands, reserved for us. For the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout of the arc angel, at the last trump, the dead shall be raised first, then we who be alive and remain, shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye and caught up in the clouds to forever be with the Lord. We must comfort one another with these words.
#Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD. Lamentations 3:65
The Hebrew word for anger is Anaph; the turning of the nostril in wrath. Jehovah God is angry with the wicked every day and He will vindicate His children in His wrath upon our enemies. God will destroy them in anger from under the heavens. Yet He is waiting for them to repent cause God takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked. We must pray for the salvation of our enemies. Many people are suffering from mental illness and are not taking their medications. Then when they hear those voices in paranoia they succumb to them and commit evil. It is very important to keep taking your medication, even when you feel better, and do not stop taking them. We hope the Mica Miller law will be passed by Congress to protect those with mental illness from involuntary commitment. She perhaps may not have committed suicide had this been passed in 2020. Our prayers go out for her husband Pastor John Paul Miller that he can overcome the grief of losing his beloved wife. God hates divorce and if the Church leaders had been trained in seminary on how to deal with mental illness, then this whole tragedy could have been avoided.
#Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. Lamentations 3:65
The Hebrew word for sorrow is Meginnah; meaning a covering, blindness, or stubbornness. From Magan; a covering (in a bad sense) Magan means to shield, encompass with, and rescue, and hand safely over. Genesis 14:20 And blessed be the most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand, And he gave Him tithes of all. Abraham paid his tithes to the Lord after the Lord delivered all his enemies into his hands. This is what Jeremiah is praying for sorrow of heart and thy curse unto them. Jesus told us to pray for our enemies and to love those who would despitely use us. This is not easy, but God is glorified when we do it. Speak peace to your enemies for we are to be at peace with all men and to follow holiness, for without holiness no man will see the Lord. It is my prayer that you will as much as possible live in peace with those, even the members of our household.