The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 253: Lamentations of Jeremiah (2025)
Episode Date: September 10, 2025As Fr. Mike begins the book of Lamentations, we read about Jeremiah’s sorrow as he witnesses the siege and suffering of Jerusalem. In the book of Jeremiah, we hear a word of comfort from the Lord to... Baruch. Today’s readings are Jeremiah 45-46, Lamentations 1, and Proverbs 17:21-28. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.
Transcript
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Hi, my name's Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a year podcast,
where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture.
The Bible in a year podcast is brought to you by Ascension.
Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation,
discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today.
It is day 253.
We're reading today from Jeremiah, chapter 45 and 46.
Chapter 45 is a little word of comfort to Brooke.
Remember Baruch is the scribe, the one who's writing down the words of Jeremiah, and he's been
discouraged.
He is disheartened.
And we also, this is a flashback in case you're wondering.
Remember, the book of Jeremiah is not incredibly chronological.
So this is going back to before even the complete destruction of Jerusalem and before he and
Baruch and Jeremiah were carted off to Egypt.
Also, chapter 46 begins this section of God's words of condemnation, God's words of judgment,
essentially, on the nation's surrounding.
Judah. So that goes from 46 to 51. So that's going to be what's happening today in the next
couple days, as well as Lamentations chapter one. So Lamentations chapter one, if you remember the
context, is when the Babylonians were besieging the city of Jerusalem, it was horrible. And
there was so much death and destruction and hunger. There was cannibalism. There was just horrible,
horrible, horrible. So this is the look of lamentations of Jeremiah as he walks around the city
in the middle of the siege
and it's just heartbreaking
for the next four days for us
because it was heartbreaking, life-breaking
for the Jewish people there in Jerusalem.
So we're reading Jeremiah 45 and 46
Lamentations 1 in Proverbs 17
versus 21 to 28.
Just some context.
As always, the Bible translation
that I'm using is the revised standard version
second Catholic edition.
I'm using the Great Adventure Bible
from Ascension.
If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan,
you can visit ascensionpress.com
slash Bible in a year.
And also you can subscribe to this podcast
to receive daily episodes and updates, and we are on day 253, reading Jeremiah chapter 45 and 46, Lamentations 1, Proverbs chapter 17, verses 21 through 28.
The book of Jeremiah, chapter 45, a word of comfort to Baruch.
The word that Jeremiah, the prophet, spoke to Baruch, the son of Naraya, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jeholyakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah.
Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch.
You said, woe is me, for the Lord has added sorrow to my pain.
I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.
Thus shall you say to him, thus says the Lord,
Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up.
That is, the whole land.
And do you seek great things for yourself?
seek them not for behold i am bringing evil upon all flesh says the lord but i will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go chapter forty six judgment against egypt
the word of the lord which came to jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations about egypt concerning the army of pharaoh nekhio king of egypt which was by the river euphrates at carcamesh and which nebuchadnezzar king of babylon defeated
in the fourth year of Jeholyakim, the son of Josiah, King of Judah.
Prepare buckler and shield, and advance for battle.
Harness the horses, Mount O Horsemen.
Take your stations with your helmets, polish your spears, put on your coats of mail.
Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed and have turned backward.
Their warriors are beaten down and have fled in haste.
They look not back, terror on every side, says the Lord.
The swift cannot flee away, nor the warrior escape.
in the north by the river euphrates they have stumbled and fallen who is this rising like the nile like rivers whose waters surge egypt rises like the nile like rivers whose waters surge he said i will rise i will cover the earth i will destroy cities and their inhabitants advance o horses and rage o chariots let the warriors go forth men of ethiopia and put who handle the shield men of ludd skilled in handling the bow that day is the day is the day
of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance to avenge himself on his foes. The sword shall devour
and be sated, and drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice
in the north country by the River Euphrates. Go up to Gilead and take Balm, O virgin daughter of
Egypt. In vain you have used many medicines, there is no healing for you. The nations have heard of
your shame, and the earth is full of your cry. For warrior has stumbled against warrior,
they have both fallen together.
The word which the Lord spoke to Jeremiah, the prophet,
about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
to strike the land of Egypt.
Declar in Egypt and proclaim in Megdal.
Proclaim in Memphis and Tapanes.
Say,
Stand ready and be prepared.
For the sword shall devour round about you.
Why has Apis fled?
Why did not your bull stand?
Because the Lord thrust him down.
Your multitude stumbled and fell,
and they said to one another,
Arise, and let us go back to our own people and to the land of our birth because of the
sword of the oppressor. Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, noisy one who lets the hour go by.
As I live, says the king, whose name is the lord of hosts. Like tabor among the mountains,
and like carmel by the sea shall one come. Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,
O inhabitants of Egypt, for Memphis shall become a waste, a ruin without inhabitant.
A beautiful heifer is Egypt. But it is a man.
The gadfly from the north has come upon her.
Even her hired soldiers in her midst are like fatted calves.
Yes, they have turned and fled together.
They did not stand.
For the day of their calamity has come upon them the time of their punishment.
She makes a sound like a serpent gliding away.
For her enemies march in force and come against her with axes, like those who fell trees.
They shall cut down her forest, says the Lord,
though it is impenetrable because they are more numerous than locusts.
They are without number.
the daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame.
She shall be delivered into the hand of a people from the north.
The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel said,
Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Ammon of Thebes and Pharaoh and Egypt and her gods and
her kings upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him.
I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, and his officers.
Afterward, Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, says the Lord.
but fear not o jacob my servant nor be dismayed o israel for behold i will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity
jacob shall return and have quiet and ease and none shall make him afraid fear not o jacob my servant says the lord for i am with you i will make a full end of all the nations to which i have driven you but of you i will not make a full end
I will chasten you in just measure
and I will by no means
leave you unpunished
The Lamentations of Jeremiah
Chapter 1
The deserted city
How lonely sits the city that was full of people
How like a widow has she become
She that was great among the nations
She that was a princess
Among the cities has become a vassal
She weeps bitterly in the night
Tears on her,
her cheeks. Among all her lovers, she has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt
treacherously with her. They have become her enemies. Judah has gone into exile because of
affliction and hard servitude. She dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place.
Her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion mourn.
For none come to the appointed feasts. All her gates are desolate. Her priests groan. Her priests groan.
Her maidens have been dragged away
And she herself suffers bitterly
Her foes have become the head
Her enemies prosper
Because the Lord has made her suffer
For the multitude of her transgressions
Her children have gone away
Captives before the foe
From the daughter of Zion
Has departed all her majesty
Her princes have become like deer
That find no pasture
They fled without strength
Before the pursuer
Jerusalem remembers
In the days of her affliction and bitterness
all the precious things that were hers from days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
and there was none to help her.
The foe gloated over her, mocking at her downfall.
Jerusalem sinned grievously.
Therefore, she became filthy.
All who honored her, despise her.
For they have seen her nakedness.
Yes, she herself groans and turns her face away.
Her uncleanness was in her skirts.
She took no thought of her doom.
therefore her fall is terrible she has no comforter o lord behold my affliction for the enemy has triumphed the enemy has stretched out his hands over all her precious things yes she has seen the nations invade her sanctuary those whom you forbade to enter your congregation all her people groan as they search for bread they trade their treasures for food to revive their strength look o lord and behold for i am despised
Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by, look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger.
From on high he sent fire.
Into my bones he made it descend.
He spread a net from my feet.
He turned me back.
He has left me stunned, faint all the day long.
My transgressions were bound into a yoke.
By his hand, they were fastened together.
They were set upon my neck.
he caused my strength to fail.
The Lord gave me into the hands of those
whom I cannot withstand.
The Lord flouted all my mighty men
in the midst of me.
He summoned an assembly against me
to crush my young men.
The Lord has trodden as in a wine-press
the virgin daughter of Judah.
For these things I weep.
My eyes flow with tears.
For a comforter is far from me.
One to revive my courage.
My children are desolate.
For the enemy has prevailed.
Zion stretches out her hands, but there is none to comfort her.
The Lord has commanded against Jacob that his neighbors should be his foes.
Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among men.
The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word.
But hear all you peoples, and behold my suffering, my maidens and my young men have gone into captivity.
I called to my lovers, but they deceived me.
My priests and elders perished in the city, while they sought food.
to revive their strength. Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress, my soul is in tumult, my heart is
wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious. In the street, the sword bereaves.
In the house, it is like death. Hear how I groan. There is none to comfort me. All my enemies have
heard of my trouble. They are glad that you have done it. Bring the day you have announced,
and let them be as I am.
Let all their evil doing come before you
and deal with them as you have dealt with me
because of all my transgressions.
For my groans are many,
and my heart is faint.
Proverbs 17, 21 through 28.
A stupid son is a grief to a father,
and the father of a fool has no joy.
A cheerful heart is a good medicine,
but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.
A wicked man accepts a bribe from the bosom to pervert the ways of justice.
A man of understanding sets his face toward wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
A foolish son is a grief to his father,
and bitterness to her who bore him.
To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,
to flog noble men is wrong.
He who restrains his words has to.
knowledge and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding even a fool who keeps silent is
considered wise when he closes his lips he is deemed intelligent father in heaven we give you
praise thank you so much for your word thank you for introducing us to the the the the
the experience of baruch who was this kind of silent partner with jeremiah who is
the scribe Jeremiah, thank you for introducing us to his suffering. Thank you for introducing us
to lamentations, this heartbreak of the people of Jerusalem, the heartbreak of Jeremiah as he
walked through the streets and saw us that great suffering. And thank you for the wisdom that you offer
us in Proverbs. Help us to not just hear the wisdom, but to live wisdom with our whole heart,
mind, soul, and strength. Help us to love you with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. In Jesus'
name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Continuing
our theme of looking at the proverbs. There are so many good things. Again, noting how we can honor
our parents. A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him. Our father and
mother are honored when we're wise and we strive to be wise. And that's a good thing. But also this last
proverb of chapter 17, even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise. When he closes his lips,
he is deemed intelligent. That kind of secular proverb, I think, that says, better to
say silent and be considered a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
That kind of a situation is this, although we recognize that we're so tempted oftentimes to
speak and say, here's my opinion on this, that, or the other thing, says the man who's
giving a daily podcast and offering his opinion on this, that, or the other thing.
So I recognize that it'd be a lot easier to not say anything.
In fact, when we get to James chapter three, the letter of James in the New Testament,
One of the things James is going to say is not many of you should aspire to be teachers because teachers will be liable to a greater judgment.
Anyone who takes upon themselves that role of, here I'm going to teach, is putting themselves in a dangerous spot because, yeah, there is a higher standard for those who are leading, which is good because we need to take all this seriously.
As we take the next step seriously, here's Baruch in chapter 45 of Jeremiah.
Remember, this is after the destruction of Jerusalem.
Actually, we've gone back. Remember that Jeremiah is not chronological. So in kind of our story, we have the destruction of Jerusalem. Jeremiah and Baruch are uprooted and they're basically kidnapped and brought to Egypt. But now we have a flashback to when Jeholyakim is still the king of Judah. And in the midst of this, Baruch is really troubled. Buruk is suffering a lot. And he even says, woe is me. Because we forget about this. We forget about the fact that here's Jeremiah who gets thrown into the cistern and sinks into the mire.
and gets arrested and gets all this kind of, you know, this horrible, horrible treatment.
And yet here's Baruch, who also is getting a lot of this horrible treatment.
And we don't get as much focus on him because of the fact that he's the scribe to Jeremiah, the prophet.
And so this is really interesting because then the word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah.
And he says this, and this is so good.
It says, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch.
And this is so good.
Why is it so good?
because Baruch has been writing down the words of the prophet Jeremiah for other people.
And here is the word of God coming through the prophet Jeremiah for him personally.
And this is, what a gift it is to be able to understand scripture.
Yes, in context, written for people in a certain place, in a certain time, but also for us.
Baruch has not only heard the words of call to repentance and embrace yourself for the coming destruction,
but also yeah Baruch not just them you this isn't just for others this is also for you and so we need to take it personally but here is the word of the lord that came to Jeremiah for Baruch
behold what I have built I'm breaking down what I planted I'm plucking up that is the whole land
and you seek great things for yourself seek them not for behold I'm bringing evil upon all flesh
this is what's coming even more destruction but I will give you your life as a prize of war
and all the places to which you may go just this word of consolation again it's not a word of
saying Baruch you know the time of suffering is over the brook the time of distress and the time of
trial for you, the time of pain is done. Don't worry about it. I'm on your side. He says, no,
that's still coming. That judgment still has to come. This world in which we live is still
fallen. But you, Baruch, I want to let you know. I'm going to continue to bless you. And that's
such a good word for us, because here we are living in the middle of this broken world and recognizing
that disaster will still come upon us. I mean, every one of us, not just, oh, some suffering.
No, disaster will still come upon us. The people we love the most will still die.
we will still die. They will get sick. We will get sick. And yet, in the midst of that disaster,
we have the Lord. And he says, I will still bless you. I'm still in your midst. I'm still present to you.
Now also, we've heard this book of the prophet Jeremiah where Jeremiah is speaking to the nation of
Israel multiple times saying, basically, you got to repent or King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.
God is going to use him to bring you to repentance. He's going to use him to bring you to your knees
because you have not listened to the Lord.
And that's basically all of Jeremiah, right?
And I'll hear from chapter 46 or chapter 51 is Jeremiah speaking to the nations and saying
that you too, like here starts with Egypt here in chapter 46, starts with Egypt and
says, okay, God is also going to use Nebuchadnezzar to bring judgment upon you,
O Egypt, because you have not given your heart to the Lord.
You have also been in rebellion against God, even if you're not in covenant, they're not
a covenant people, but at the same time, they've lived wickedly.
And so here is God who says, I'm going to use this Nebuchadnezzar to bring judgment, my judgment, upon you as well.
And so we just recognize that's going to happen for the next couple chapters.
We have the Philistines tomorrow and Moab as we keep moving forward.
We also have the beginning of the book of the lamentations of Jeremiah.
A couple things to keep in mind is as Jeremiah, this is Jeremiah, as he walks through, as I mentioned this at the beginning of this particular episode, Jeremiah is walking through the streets of Jerusalem and he sees this incredible suffering.
it's going to be greater and greater that he describes as he gets deeper and deeper into the book
of the lamentations. But in this, he also has these powerful words. He says this, is it nothing to
you? All who passed by, look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon
me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger. And that's so, all of her people,
this is verse 11. That was verse 12. This is verse 11. All her.
her people groan as they search for bread. They trade their treasures for food to revive their
strength. Look, O Lord, and behold, for I am despised. This is a time of great suffering. In fact,
this is the way that Jeremiah wrote this is a very unique way. It's where basically he follows
the Hebrew alphabet and every verse essentially starts with another letter of the alphabet, sorry,
in order, because of course every verse starts with a letter of the alphabet, but in order. So,
you know, Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Bet is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Actually, that's where we get the term alphabet, is from Aleph Bet, the first two letters of the Hebrew. That style of writing is called an alphabetic acrostic, or it's an acrostic, right? So why would Jeremiah confine himself to this acrostic way of writing this? Is it just for the challenge of starting every verse in order of the alphabet? I've heard someone explain it like this. They said that Jeremiah's suffering, his grief. Remember Jeremiah is.
is the weeping prophet. Jeremiah's grief over seeing the suffering of his people is in some ways
constrained by him constraining himself to this alphabetic acrostic, that if he just dumped out his
emotions onto the page and that was all it was that would be overwhelming and it would just be
this mess on the page. I mean, that's an example, right? If I were to do that, if I were to try to
capture the worst moment of my life or the worst season of my life or the lives of others,
it would just be this, you know, spew of words that would probably be, make no sense.
And right, you know, how do you, how do you capture that kind of grief and that kind of suffering?
And so the theory is that maybe one of the reasons why Jeremiah chose this alphabetic acrostic
is to give himself some constraints because or else he would just kind of bleed all over the page
with his grief and with his agony.
So what we have in this first chapter is this picture of a weeping widow overcome with miseries.
Jeremiah in the next couple chapters is going to obviously connect to those miseries with the sins of Judah, the sins of the people of God.
And as we move forward in this, we just recognize not only, just like Baruch, were these words written for a certain people at a certain time?
They're also written for us, especially in our grief and misery.
Remember, and when we began this, the words of Job as he was crying out to the Lord.
And how he could say, like, I just wish, you know, it was better if I never had been born.
And here is that image of the city, you know, of Jerusalem under siege who's saying,
look upon my suffering.
Is there any suffering like my suffering?
Is there any grief like my grief?
Is there any heartbreak?
Like the heartbreak that I'm going through.
It's going to get, the visuals are going to get very, very graphic of what the people of
Israel, people of God, we're living through during that siege.
And so we wonder, yeah, is that possible?
And we recognize, yes, it is possible.
There is a grief that you know.
there is suffering that you know and so these lamentations they don't merely express and capture and
express the suffering of the people during the siege they also are meant to speak to your suffering
they're meant to speak to the reality that you have pain and here is a way to speak of that pain
and to make it a prayer too often we let this is the last thing too often we let our our pain
simply become just pain, just let it be. But here is Jeremiah who shows us that we can
allow our pain to become a prayer when we don't just experience it, but we also then relate
it to the Lord. And that's so powerful for all of us because every one of us, our lives are
marked with pain, but our lives aren't always marked with prayer. So the more pain we have,
the more prayer we have to bring to the Lord. But that requires trust and that's not the easiest thing
in the world. So we need each other and each other. Keep lifting each other up on these hard days,
on these difficult days and these difficult seasons. We recognize that, okay, I'm in a difficult season
and it's going to end in destruction. Because if we realize, right, Jerusalem, under siege,
it's not just a difficult season that's going to end in victory. Right now, this is a difficult
season that's going to end in the destruction of the city. We know this is coming because we've read the
story a couple times now. And yet, here's God who says, but that's not going to be the end. That will not be
the end. And for your life as well, it will not be the end. So I am praying for you.
Please pray for me. Men is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.