The Light Of God's Word
Lamentations 4:1 says, “How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.”
After Jerusalem fell, the people had a period of mourning because they “are gone into captivity before the enemy” (Lam 1:5). Jeremiah, the writer of this book, reflects upon their grief and suffering. It seems that their punishment was even “greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom” (v. 6). There are times that we grieve because we experience the loss of a loved one, an emotional pain, destruction of properties, or by being afflicted with some form of injury (Ps 34:19).
Sometimes, we walk down the wrong path in life towards a dead end! Then we look back (Ecc 7:10), and ask ourselves what we have done to arrive in such a destitute spot? This is similar to how God’s people cried out to Him because of their desperation. The gold that has “become dim” is compared to Jerusalem that once held its honor and glory (1 Ki 11:36), but has now turned into shame! The sacred “stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.” Even pure gold can be changed when it is corrupted (Hab 1:4)!
You can change the meaning of a sentence by modifying a word. For example, when God commanded Adam not to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, He said, “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen 2:17). However, when Eve was tempted by the serpent, she modified God’s word by adding, “neither shall ye touch it” and she also softened God’s word by saying “lest ye die” (Gen 3:3). We must never downplay or soft-pedal the pure word of God (Prov 30:5). It is “quick, and powerful” (Heb 4:12); and it is like a fire and a hammer “that breaketh the rock in pieces” (Jer 23:29). Gold can become dim because of our words and actions. But it can be illuminated (Ps 119:105), by the light of God’s word! God bless you!
-Pastor Melito Barrera
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