JESUS CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS - GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS (2026)
JESUS CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS
August 2004; Sun., August 9, 2020; Tuesday Morning Bible Study, Jan. 27, 2026
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
I last preached Lamentations August 9, 2020, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 26, 2020. By May 31,2020, protests and riots were occurring in over 100 US cities.
Since 2004, I have had two dreams in which the LORD spoke to me to preach Lamentations.
August 2004: The Lord spoke to me in a dream about the Book of Lamentation. Dream: I was hanging up my garments (jackets) of pure silk woven with wrought gold. The jackets where knee length and covered a skirt of the same color. The colors of the jackets were red, green, gold, blue/violet, white and one was the color of fire burning. In the dream I was hanging up the white one alongside the other jackets hanging neatly in a row. The Lord spoke to me,” Lamentation.” I understood he meant the Book of Lamentations.
In 2004, we were engaged in two wars, Afghanistan, and Iraq. I was preaching from the prophets the Lord’s judgment on the nations.
In August 2020, I had a dream in which was written out for me to “preach judgment.” In the dream, I was unprepared and nothing I have ever preached in the past prepared me to preach the message.
I turned to Jeremiah because he was a prophet of judgment. He wrote the Book of Jeremiah and it is my persuasion he also wrote the Book of Lamentations. Since I had preached the Book of Jeremiah, I concluded it must be that I was to preach out of Lamentations.
When I was studying Lamentations (Aug. 2020), 2:8 was quickened to me. We had the “Blue Line” under attack. There is a “Black Line” which has nothing to do with race. It is a Marxist organization which is an enemy to us as we watched them burn and destroy cities. There is the “Red Line,” and “a line in the sand.”
The LORD also has a line.
Lam. 2:8: He has stretched out a line. He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying. Therefore, he has caused the rampart and wall to lament. They languish together.
Antifa, a Marxist, far-left network was behind the George Floyd riots in Minneapolis in 2020. Antifa became best known after Trump took office for the first time, staging violent riots in Washington D.C. on his inauguration day in 2017 and across the country during the George Floyd riots of 2020. President Trump has, since coming into office the second time, designated Antifa to be a terrorist organization.
This is the same measuring line in Jesus’ hand that measured the Temple in the Book of Ezekiel and the same measuring line that the angel told John to measure the Temple in the Book of Revelation.
In Revelation 11:1, John was given a reed: Rev. 11:1-2: There was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the Angel stood saying, rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court, which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they tread under foot 42-months.
The temple and daughter of Zion in Lamentations is a type of the people of God of the Church. In Revelation 11, the outer court is the assault by pagan imperialism as some Christians yield to the temptation to compromise with idolatry and the world/systems; and so, deny Christ and His Holy Spirit. But the true dwelling-place of God is immune from earthly invasion; the true church’s life is “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).
Lam. 2:1, (the daughter of Zion), the beauty of Israel, was cast down from heaven to earth. The Lord did not remember His footstool in the day of His anger.
The splendor of Israel had been hurled down. The phrase from heaven to earth is used to imply the most extreme fall imaginable. Israel’s splendor comprised all those gifts lavished upon her by God which set her apart from other nations and signified divine election. The elect has frequently to learn that election is often a costly blessing, for God exercise a special scrutiny over His elect.
Just as the LORD dealt with the beauty of Israel, his chosen nation, he will most assuredly deal with the other nations according to His Word. In 2020, the nations were covered in the COVID plague.
In 2026, I believe it is the providence of the LORD which has brought us to Lamentation. Is it happenstance that we are in the Book of Lamentations when we are again experiencing riots and insurrection in Minneapolis, a city in judgment and whose government leaders are also being judged for their corruption?
The F.B.I. has named a Systematic Organization behind the riots of 2026 in Minnesota, financed by George Soros. The investigation is underway and we will find out more unless the insurrection is able to shut down I.C.E. which we must pray does not happen.
Lamentation in literary form is written as five poems in 3+2 metre with variations of 2+3 and 3+3. Some dispute that Jeremiah wrote Lamentations, but until I learn otherwise, it seems to me that he did. It is agreed it was written around 587 B.C. after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem.
Few of the Old Testament prophets lived to see their prophecies fulfilled. Jeremiah saw the cruel realities of the judgment he prophesied take place before his own eyes.
His own future exile was to be Egypt, and Judah’s was Babylon. He understood the seal of God in judgment and chronicled the human plight which was a result of disobeying the will and way of the LORD.
In 2020, we could easily apply Lamentations to our cities as we watched them burn, children and young people killed in the streets.
Lam 1:8-10: Jerusalem has sinned gravely. Therefore, she has become vile. All who honored her despised her because they have seen her nakedness. Yes, she sighs and turns away. Her uncleanness is in her skirts. She did not consider her destiny. Therefore, her collapse was awesome…The adversary (Satan) has spread his hand over all her pleasant things…
Jerusalem, the capitol of God’s people had actually become the personification of vileness. Her collapse was part of her sealed destiny. Vileness precludes punishment’s seal. There comes a time when vileness is not just present in a city or nation, it is summed up in the character of the city or nation. Las Vegas is “sin city,” etc.
Jeremiah was an integral part of the people and their judgment. Lam. 1:12-13: Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Behold and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which has been brought on me, which the LORD has inflicted in the day of his fierce anger. From above He has sent fire into my bones, and it overpowered them. He has spread a net for my feet, and turned me back…
He is not watching a television screen in detached aloofness. He is seeing and experiencing the promised judgement of the LORD come to pass in living, kodak color.
He cries out to God for Him to judge their enemy, Babylon. Lam. 1:22: Let all their wickedness come before You and do to them as You have done to me.
At this juncture, Jeremiah entered into the seal of heaven to bind on earth the destiny of Babylon. His phrase, “Let all their wickedness come before You,” was identical to, “Whatsoever you bind on earth, will be bound in heaven” (Mt. 16:19). “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).
Just as the destiny of Babylon was here sealed by the prophet Jeremiah. The destiny of spiritual Babylon/the world system/the beast was sealed by Jeremiah and has been sealed in the Book of Revelation under the New Covenant. Which authority has been given to the Church.
Just as the Prophet Jeremiah was decreeing the judgment of Jerusalem’s enemies; “do to them as you have done to me,” we must come into agreement with the Word of God in the New Covenant and decree the judgment of “Mystery Babylon.”
Rev. 17: 6-8: On her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
The Meaning of the Woman and the Beast. But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. ‘The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.’”
Christian our name is written in the Book of Life.
In Jeremiah’s day, the sacred wall of the daughter of Zion had been besieged for two years. The city and Temple were burned.
As a result of this onslaught, society became unglued. Officialdom fell (kings, princes), and religious leaders had no prophetic revelation from the Lord.
Lam. 2:9: Her gates are sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken her bars: her king and her princes are among the Gentiles: the law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the LORD.
Lam. 2:17: The LORD has done what HE purposed. He has fulfilled His word which He commanded in days of old.
Jeremiah 4: 28-29: Because I have spoken, I have purposed and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it. The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowman. They will all go into thickets and climb up on the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken. And not a man shall dwell in it.
Jeremiah’s words agreed with God’s. His counsel was simple:
Lam 2:19: Lift your hands toward God and seek mercy for your children.
In 2020, the United States of America’s schools were closed and had become a political football, the children were not secure and safe with a normal childhood. Teachers’ unions didn’t want to teach. Children were being shot in our streets. Sex trafficking exploiting children. Toddlers were forced to wear masks which impeded their communication development.
Jerusalem’s children were carried away but would return 70 years later. The frightened children returned as the weeping elders. They had viewed the glory of the Temple seventy years before.
Jeremiah whose name meant YHWH establishes, appoints, sends) realized that not only was he sealed in his ministry, but was sealed into the prophesy.
Lamentations 3:7: He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out.
No man or woman of God are separate from his/her message.
W. Osborne said it well, “hope sandwiched between despair gleams all the brighter?”
In chapter 3: 1-19, Jeremiah pours out his pain before the Lord and the pain of his nation. The Voice of the Prophet speaks in the name of the whole. There are 32 sufferings of Jeremiah in this section.
Despite ghastly circumstances, Jeremiah’s testimony rings out and became the wondrous praise of the song, “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”
“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee,
Thou changes not, Thy compassions they fail not,
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above;
Join with all nature in manifold witness,
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.” (Thomas Chisholm 7/29/1866- 2/29/1960)
Lamentations 3:20-26, My soul has them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind; therefore, I have HOPE. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul: therefore, I will hope in Him. The Lord is good to them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
3:24: The Lord is my portion, says my soul.
Let me never be weary in well doing, or measure kingdom labor in what I see. Let me never lose my passion for God, his Kingdom and eternity. Let me stay before Him, walk with Him, learn His Ways, and trust in Him. The Lord is good to those who wait on Him. When we wait for him by Faith, then we must seek Him in prayer. While we wait, we are to be quiet and silent, not quarrelling with God or with one another. Not my will but thine be done.
3:27: It is good for a man that he bears the yoke in his youth.
Afflictions build muscle, character, and strength in us. Though we do not look for them, yet as we walk through the troubles of this life, we will be stronger for it. This is why we must not murmur or complain. Not should we criticize and condemn our neighbor when they are suffering afflictions. As we pass through affliction, we are made humble. Otherwise, when we wear our glorious garments wrought with gold, we will become proud and unruly. We are to be humble and patient under our affliction. The flesh screams, “unfair, unfair.” Let this pass from me. Now.”
Jeremiah knew history was sealed by God not man.
Lam. 3:37: Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass when the Lord has not commanded it?
Man cannot destroy or re-write history. It is sealed in God’s time seal. All history is spiritual history.
3:39: Why should any living man complain?
“Peace, all our angry passions, then,
Let each rebellious sigh
Be silent at His sovereign will,
And every murmur die!” (John Ross McDuff)
Jeremiah’s enemies were not all outside the camp. Many of those feigning religion reviled him and vented their anger against him. When he cried from the “pit” where they incarcerated him, God answered, 3:57-58: You drew near on the day I called on You, and said, “Do not fear!” O LORD, you have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life.
Jeremiah touched the redemption power of the Cross.
His prayer for his enemies was not intercession. His prayer was for them to be given a “veiled heart,” and that the curse of God be upon them (3:65).
Lam. 4:1-2: How is the gold become dim! how is the finest gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!
“The precious sons of Zion” were falling on every hand. The punishment is greater than the punishment for the sin of Sodom (4:6). The Lord has fulfilled his fury. He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion; and it has devoured its foundations. The kings of the earth, and all inhabitants of the world, would not have believed…because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests (4:11-13).
The judgment is laid squarely on the shoulders of the prophets and priests. None of this would have happened had they been obedient to God and steadfast before the people.
God’s fury did have limits. He poured out no more nor less than His determined plan. It was meted in proportion to the iniquity He encountered. What is the destiny of any modern nation based on such a formula?
Jeremiah’s concluding statement both states the reality of the present and the promise of the future.
Lam 4:18: Our days were over, for our end had come.
Lam. 4:22: The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion. He will no longer send you into captivity. Edom (modern day Jordan) He will uncover your sins. The land of Uz in verse 21 refers to modern day Syria.
The Book of Lamentations is the punishment of a just father to disobedient children.
When raising children, as parents we must follow through. If we tell them a certain punishment will happen if they do not obey, we have to follow through with that punishment, or they will not respect our words. I believe the Words of God. I believe His promises. The Book of Lamentations is God speaking during his children’s whipping. “This is why I do this and have purposed it so you can truly be My children.”
“There is no shadow of turning in God.” What he did to bring judgment to the nations of the earth is sealed in history. Satan has no authority to break the seals. The judgments which are now on the earth have also been sealed into our history. The promises for the overcomers, and the glorious, victorious overcoming church are also sealed. The true dwelling-place of God is immune from earthly invasion; the true church’s life is “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).
Lam 4:22 - The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no longer carry thee away into captivity:
The streams of mercy are acknowledged. The church is like Moses’s bush burning, but not consumed. It is persecuted of men, but not forsaken of God. Though it is cast down, it is not destroyed. Corrected but not consumed, refined in the furnace as silver, but not consumed as dross. The streams followed up to the fountain: it is of the Lord’s mercies. God is an inexhaustible fountain of mercy, THE FATHER OF MERCIES. Had we been dealt with according to our sins, we should have been consumed long ago; but we have been dealt with according to God’s mercies.
Lam 5:19: You, O LORD remain forever. Your throne from generation to generation.
God is and forever will be the all-sufficient happiness of his people`.
5:21: Turn us unto you, O LORD, we shall be turned. Renew our days as of old.
When we are refined as silver, we will be meek toward those who are instruments of our trouble. No longer will we hate, accuse, or retaliate. It is our Pride that is wounded and wants the upper hand. Our Lord Jesus gave us His example, “He gave his back to the smiters.” (Isa. 50:6). He who can bear contempt and reproach, and not render railing for railing and bitterness for bitterness shall find that it is good to bear the yoke, that is shall turn to his spiritual advantage.
God will graciously return to his people with comforts according to the time that he has afflicted them. When we are cast down, we are not cast off; The father correcting the son is not disinheriting him.
When God returns to deal graciously with us, it will not be according to our merits, but according to his mercies.
“If God by his grace renew our hearts, he will by his favor renew our days.”
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church. 1-115 West Hidden Lakes Lane, Richmond, TX
Scripture from K.J.V. and N.K.J.V. – I entered into the labors of Dr. C. R. Oliver, “Sealed Unto His Coming.” Great is Thy Faithfulness by Thomas Chisholm. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those who I entered into their labors.