I thought it was very interesting that through this devastation the people remained firm followers and believers in God. At first God was responsible for what happened and the people were angry with ‘him’, then the people began to accept responsibility for what happened attributing the devastation to their own sins, the people then take comfort that God will take care of them and praise his greatness, and then become impatient with God and wonder if God is still upset with them that he may not be helping them get back to where they were and rebuild their civilization.
Lamentations seems to take on different narrations in the 5 different sections. First narrator is upset with God for the impoverished state of the society. The narrator speaks from a first person point of view and talks about God doing these/letting these terrible things happen to the city. The narrator is very upset and spiteful with God.
The second narrator discusses how God destroyed the city, God’s wrath and gave no protection to the city from their enemies. The narrator speaks to God.
The third narrator talks about God’s wrath and the devastation of the city, questioning “—does the Lord not see it? Who can command and have it done, if the Lord has not ordained it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should any who draw breath complain about the punishment of their sins?”
This narrator is saying that the trouble they are experiencing on earth is due to God because God determines good and evil and that the reason they are experiencing their destroyed state is because they are being punished for their sins.
“Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands to God in heaven. We have transgressed and rebelled and you have not forgiven.” The people are trying to return to God’s favor and accept responsibility for what happened as their own fault because they sinned. They are moving in a direction that praises and exalts God. “You came bear when I called on you; you said, “Do not fear!” The narrator in this section also speaks to God.
The fourth narrator discusses the state of the ruined city and the people in it, “but my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.” This narrator writes as a warning to other cities with a mocking tone, “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter Edom, you that live in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.”
The fifth narrator speaks to God about poor conditions and a want/pea to restore themselves to God, with a little impatience “Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored; renew our days as of old—unless you have utterly rejected us, and are angry with us beyond measure.”
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I thought there were only two narrators: one who describes the suffering that people living in Jerusalem experienced, and another complaining to God about that suffering. The first one speaks more in the third person, while the latter speaker uses first person to talk directly to God. The real question I feel is why there would be different narrators. I think that the writer intended that a "face of god", like what Origen described (pg 83-85), spoke in the third person, while the city of Jerusalem represents the first person. This face of God may be angels, spirits, prophets, or God himself. It is never quite clear. These two narrators seem to speak in a call and response, but they are not actually talking to each other. Maybe the narrator wrote this way to represent both sides of the story.
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