BBB Bible Series: Lamentations Quiz

Answer: "She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave."

"How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!
How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave" (Lamentations 1:1, NIV)

Lamentations describes Jerusalem as many people today would describe a ghost town. Her once busy streets are emptied. No one comes to the appointed feasts and festivals that used to bring travelers from around the world. The city is no longer rich and glamorous, but stripped of its wealth and beauty.

Answer: Their many sins

"Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. The Lord has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe." Lamentations 1:5 (NIV)

Judah and Jerusalem were once respected among the nations because of the tales of their God and His victories. However when they sinned, the nations laughed when God destroyed them. God treated His own people like He had treated the nations that blasphemed Him and served idols. Judah and Jerusalem's people were captured by their enemies and taken to the foreign lands they had once battled and had victory over. They were assimilated into different cultures and were strangers.

Answer: True

Lamentations reminds God's people, "The Lord has done what He planned; He has fulfilled his word, which He decreed long ago. He has overthrown you without pity, He has let the enemy gloat over you, He has exalted the horn of your foes." (Lamentations 2:17, NIV)

God sent prophets such as Jeremiah and Isaiah to the kings and the people of Judah. The prophets had repeatedly told the people of Jerusalem to repent. Jeremiah was one of the prophets who had warned Jerusalem while they lived in prosperity and also lived to see God's prophecy of destruction fulfilled.

Answer: Their prophets

"The visions of your prophets were false and worthless;
they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity.
The prophecies they gave you were false and misleading." Lamentations 2:14 (NIV)

False prophets had spread false visions and dreams that gave the people hope. They had said only what the people wanted to hear. They excused the people's sin and told them that they would be rulers over their enemies, when God had told them they would perish if they did not repent. When God had decided to destroy the nation, He tried to encourage the few that would to surrender to their enemies rather than be killed. However the people did not listen.

Answer: Business and trade were going on as usual in the temple.

"My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within;
my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed,
because children and infants faint in the streets of the city." (Lamentations 2:11, NIV)

Among the horrors the writer witnessed, the famine was so bad mothers were eating their own children. People were slaughtered in the temple, which had once been a place of refuge for those who needed protection.

"Look, Lord, and consider: Whom have you ever treated like this?
Should women eat their offspring, the children they have cared for?
Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?" (Lamentations 2:20, NIV)

Answer: God had great love and His compassions were new every morning.

The writer of Lamentations remembered God's mercies and wrote, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV)

The writer knew that God had the ability to show mercy and He still loved His people in spite of the mistakes they had made. His love kept Him from destroying them completely.

Lamentations 3:31-33 (NIV) also said, "For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone"

Answer: The Lord told him not to be afraid and redeemed his life.

The writer of Lamentations shared how God saw from heaven and redeemed his life when he cried out to Him.

"I called on your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit.
You heard my plea: 'Do not close your ears to my cry for relief.' You came near when I called you, and you said, 'Do not fear.' You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life." (Lamentations 3:55-58, NIV)

The writer told the people how it is good to wait for the salvation of the Lord.

Answer: Edom

"Your punishment will end, Daughter Zion; he will not prolong your exile.
But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom, and expose your wickedness." (Lamentations 4:22, NIV)

Edom was the nation of descendants of Esau. They had laughed at Jacob's destruction, and the writer of Lamentations reminded them that God would also destroy them.

Answer: His throne endures from generation to generation.

"You, Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation." (Lamentations 5:19, NIV)

Lamentations reminded God's people that God would endure forever. This was a promise of hope for God's people because when they returned from captivity, God would still be there for them and would still love them.

Answer: the letters of the Hebrew alphabet

Chapters 1, 2, and 4 of Lamentations are special acrostics that each have 22 individual verses corresponding with the letters of Hebrew alphabet. The verses are in order with the Hebrew alphabet order. Chapter 3 is made up of 66 verses but each section still corresponds with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 5 is not an acrostic but has 22 verses like the acrostic chapters.