The Book of Jeremiah and Lamentations

Jeremiah

When the LORD descended upon Mount Sinai, he spoke all the words of the Ten Commandments with his own voice. (Exodus 19:18; 20:1-19) He also spoke through his prophets. In the New Testament we read: "No prophecy was ever made by the act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." (2 Peter 1:21) NASB

Jeremiah proclaims that he is speaking the word of the LORD. More than one-hundred-fifty times in his prophecy, he says, "The word of the LORD came." Also, he uses other phrases such as: "But the LORD said to me," and "thus says the LORD." Jeremiah states 483 times that he is speaking the words of the LORD. God has spoken! He must be heard, respected, and obeyed.

Lamentations

Jewish and Christian writers agree that Jeremiah wrote this book soon after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Old Testament) calls the book, "Lamentations of Jeremiah." Jeremiah was an eye-witness of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. The siege lasted one and a half years.

Lamentations is a funeral song of grief describing the suffering and sorrow at the passing of the glorious city of Jerusalem to rubble. Each chapter is a poem.