{"id":4705,"date":"2024-11-04T07:39:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T12:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/learn\/?p=4705"},"modified":"2025-07-30T10:53:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T14:53:37","slug":"rembrandt-jeremiahs-lament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/learn\/voices\/rembrandt-jeremiahs-lament\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeremiah\u2019s Lament and the Words on Which We Rest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As far as Rembrandt paintings go, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem <\/em>isn\u2019t that remarkable. It\u2019s incredible, don\u2019t get me wrong, but it doesn\u2019t rise to the masterwork level of The Storm on the Sea of Galilee <\/em>or The Return of the Prodigal Son<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, Rembrandt\u2019s portrait of the grieving prophet is one I have been paying attention to for decades. It\u2019s in my personal collection. Every time I see it, it reminds me of the Lord\u2019s call on my life into pastoral ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Rembrandt's<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The Destruction of Jerusalem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the title suggests, this painting captures Jeremiah\u2019s grief as the holy city burns, Solomon\u2019s temple with it. The prophet had been calling the people of Judah to repent for more than forty years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one listened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeremiah had been beaten and imprisoned and had his books destroyed. Five different kings<\/a> came and went \u2014 the last of which was King Zedekiah, Judah\u2019s final king, who stood atop Rembrandt\u2019s temple steps, fists buried into his eye sockets, in agony after being blinded by King Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 25:7<\/a>). The doom Jeremiah foretold was happening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rembrandt presented him sitting in a cave with some of the relics from the temple at his feet, treasured items of precious metal now without their place of usefulness beside him, glowing in the light of the burning city.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His left arm leans on a book. The spine bears the word Bibel<\/em>, a detail probably added later. The book is likely intended to be a combination of the prophetic book bearing Jeremiah\u2019s name and the book of Lamentations<\/a>, his insistent, poetic, yet unheeded call to repent \u2014 a book in which the Lord tells his people,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have loved you with an everlasting love; <\/em> 
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. <\/em> 
I will build you up again, <\/em> 
and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.<\/em> 
\u2014 Jeremiah 31:3\u20134<\/a> (NIV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Invitation of Art<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Art leads us into our most tender thoughts. It invites us to hold with an open hand the things we\u2019re learning about our pain and trials. It tells us to look in a certain direction while so much happens outside of the frame. It invites us to consider our own limits and mortality. It has a way of freezing moments in time, holding them in a still frame as we seek to understand them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Art makes a statement we can return to when we struggle to find the words. Even in our places of deepest lament, hope is there, and art plays a role in stirring that longing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book on which Rembrandt\u2019s Jeremiah <\/em>leans resounds with hope:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember my affliction and my wanderings, <\/em> 
the wormwood and the gall! <\/em> 
My soul continually remembers it <\/em> 
and is bowed down within me. <\/em> 
But this I call to mind, <\/em> 
and therefore I have hope: <\/em> 
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; <\/em> 
his mercies never come to an end; <\/em> 
they are new every morning; <\/em> 
great is your faithfulness. <\/em> 
\u201cThe Lord is my portion,\u201d says my soul, <\/em> 
\u201ctherefore I will hope in him.\u201d<\/em> 
\u2014 Lamentations 3:19\u201324<\/a> (ESV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Poetry of Lamentations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hope abounds. But Jeremiah\u2019s lament is not filled with hope alone. It\u2019s also filled with art, with poetry. The book of Lamentations is one of the most lyrically complex masterworks, not only in the Old Testament, but in all ancient texts. The book is comprised of five intricately connected poems that lead the reader from a place of loss and shame to hope and renewal, both for individuals and for the entire community of God\u2019s people.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describing the complexity of Lamentations\u2019 poetic construction and meter, the ESV Study Bible<\/a> <\/em>notes that much of the \u201crhythm is based on lines of two unequal parts. The first part normally consists of three words and the second part usually includes two words. This pattern creates three accents, then two, thereby creating a falling, rising, and falling cadence. In this way, the poems seem to \u2018limp,\u2019 as if the reader is walking haltingly along behind a funeral procession.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book is also filled with acrostic poetry that not only is contained within each chapter but arcs over the entirety of the book. Hebrew acrostic poetry uses the Hebrew alphabet to organize poetic thought. Lamentations features four different types: <\/p>\n\n\n\n