Behold the Man

“I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.”

Lamentation 3:1

Lamentations is a poem whose stanzas match the Hebrew alphabet in 4 of 5 chapters. This book contains the tears put into words that attended Jeremiah’s prophecies. Jeremiah was known for his tears. “For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle ; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.” (Jeremiah 9:10)

Jeremiah’s sincerity, his sensibility, and his solitude¹ made some identify Jesus Christ as Jeremiah. “Some say that thou art… Jeremias.” (Matthew 16:14) The Lamentations of Jeremiah certainly came from a passionate heart similar to the Lord Jesus’. These, then, are less the sorrows of man, more: the sorrows of God.

Chapters 1,2 and 4 have stanzas (verses) that are tercets- three distinct lines or phrases conveniently signaled with varied and distinct punctuations. The stanzas match the Hebrew alphabet in chapters 1-2, and 4-5.

The last chapter, 5, contains only a single phrase per verse; the short, cut off ending to the book reads like a winded runner collapsing at the end of his race. Chapter 3 rises above the rest, having a full 66 verses.

“Present woes and future hopes”

Only three complete chapters in Scripture present a facet of the Bible narrative like this: 1 Kings 8, Lamentations 3, and Matthew 27. Sixty-six books of the Bible relate to the pattern of 66 verses laid in Lamentations 3.

This is not a study in numbers. Numerology is a supportive method of study, but not a foundation for doctrine. Numerology is inferior to the words. Its disciplines are not more revealing than the simple phrases. But without a doubt, the numbers are Divinely guided, though they were not originally spoken, nor originally penned. One could say they were, “given.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

In my previous journaling, I found the verse numbering of 1 Kings 8 coincides to the books of the Bible. Leviticus is the 25th book, so here is 1 Kings 8:25,

“Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.” [emphasis added]

Do you see Leviticus 3:1? Could this chapter biograph that man? I am not trying to read something in here… the chapter literally STARTS with what Solomon is praying for.

To show you how the Book is supernaturally laid out, lets preview Matthew 27, and the verse for Lamentations, verse 25 again,

“Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.” [emphasis added]

Now, if you haven’t read Lamentations 3 yet, let me warn you: there is plenty of violence done to this man, whoever He is. I do not believe this chapter is a poetic summary of Jeremiah’s woes. The prophetic likenesses, the pattern, and the change of attitude in this one chapter will make your heart skip a beat. He is called “a man” in vv. 26-27, 35-36, “the man” in v. 1, and he strangely comments on “a living man” in v. 39. This is quite the Man.

E. W. Bullinger saw in this chapter:

"The prophet is representative of the nation, and speaks in the name of the whole. He is also typical and prophetical of Another, Who, in after years, took on Himself and bore the nation's sin."

Here now, is my enumeration of the 66 verses with the canon of Scripture. This, along with 1 Kings 8 and Matthew 27, helps me recall the grand design of History– God’s plan– in a House (Kings), a Cross (Matthew), and here: in Tears.

The Lamentation of History

Lamentations 3	Likeness	Reference	Explanation
1. “I AM the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.”	The first Adam	Genesis 5:5	Adam saw death before he experienced it
2. “He [God] hath led me”	Israel was led out of Egypt	Exodus 13:21
3. “Against me is he turned”	The Law excites the sin nature	Leviticus 27:29	Galatians 3:19
4. “My flesh… hath he made old”	Even Moses grew impatient with faithlessness	Numbers 14:11
5. “Builded against me… compassed me with gall and travail.”	Furious judgment awaits for those who forget	Deuteronomy 32:23	This is the end foretold of the unregenerate, self-willed, sinful man, despite Providence.
6. “Dark places… as… dead of old.”	War is declared to condemn turning back	Joshua 23:13	‘Good as dead’
7. “Hedged me about… made my chain heavy”	Samson bound in brass fetters	Judges 16:21	The judges contend with the nation’s death spin
8. “He shutteth out my prayer”	Bitterness at the exaction of sin’s wages	Ruth 1:14, 20	Naomi was called Mara
9. “Enclosed my ways with hewn stone… my paths crooked.”	Choosing a king was as evil as living in anarchy	1Samuel 12:20-25	Samuel tells them “Ye have done all this wickedness… But if ye shall still do wickedly…”
10. “A bear lying in wait… a lion in secret places.”	David slays bear, lion, and men with their ferocity	1Samuel 17:36, 2Samuel 17:8	Absalom, the bear. Joab, the lion.
11. “Pulled me in pieces…turned aside my ways.”	Symbols rent in two precede the life, and the nation torn apart	1Kings 11:29-33, 13:1-34	Rent garment, rent altar, yet the prophet was killed by a lion because he ‘turned aside.’
12. “Bent his bow”	Wrath made him the target	2Kings 13:19	The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance
13. “Arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins”	The ending of man’s rule	1Chronicles 10:3	Saul’s death began with the archers
14. “I was a derision… and their song”	Music at the temple opening	2Chronicles 5:13, 35:25	Jeremiah sings to mourn the king who kept the last Passover
15. “Filled me with bitterness”	The ruin of the temple showed the ruin of the people	Ezra 9:3-6	Ezra’s shame over immorality
16. “Covered me with ashes”	Gates and hearts consumed	Nehemiah 2:3, 9:1	Sackcloth and ashes
17. “Removed from peace… forgat prosperity”	Conditions in captivity	Esther 2:6
18. “My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD.”	Source of his misery	Job 1:11, 21, 2:5	Sorrow of strength
19. “Remembering… affliction…and the gall”	Effects of the curse of God	Psalm 22:24, 69:21	Hurting heart
20. “Soul… is humbled in me”	“Bow thine ear”	Proverb 5:1	Subjection of soul
21. “Recall to my mind… have hope.“	“Remember NOW”	Ecclesiastes 12:1	Marvel of mind
22. “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed”	“Love is as… coals of fire”	Song of Solomon 8:6-7	Jealousy of God saves or devours
23. “New every morning: great is thy faithfulness”	The character of God is unchanged	Isaiah 25:1	The old is made new
24. “The LORD is my portion… hope in him”	The promises of God are unchangeable	Jeremiah 32:37	Jeremiah buys a field. God says he will own it someday.
25. “The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him”	What was not true for the Son of Man is true for every other son of man.	Lamentations 5:21	The people are turned by the Lord’s drawing
26. “A man should both hope and quietly wait”	Christ reviled not again (Mark 15:4)	Ezekiel 3:26-27	The prophet was dumb until God spoke through him
27. “Bear the yoke in his youth”	Christ was an example even in childhood	Daniel 1:12	Daniel became an example because of the yoke of bondage (Jeremiah 27:8)
28. “He sitteth alone and keepeth silence”	Christ retreats until He is sought	Hosea 5:15	Christ recluded to the mountains to pray, in a storm to sleep, even from Mary and Joseph
29. “Mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope”	Jesus came fasting and praying for others.	Joel 1:5, 3:16	No wine can give hope like Jesus can. (John 6)
30. “He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him:”	Direct prophecy of the crucifixion (Matt. 5:39, 26:67)	Amos 4:6-13	The Lord’s kindness is repayed with spite
31. “For the LORD will not cast off forever“	The Son of Man relied on the Word of God	Obadiah 3, 10	The extremes of pride and punishment: “cut off for ever”
32. “He cause grief, yet …compassion”	The Son of Man was like Jonah in his suffering and substitution	Jonah 2:3, 8
33. “Doth not afflict willingly”	Suffering has a purpose in His plan	Micah 4:6-7	The halted and cast off were so because of wrath. Jesus came and healed many of them (John 9)
34. “To crush under his feet all the prisoners…”	Continuation of 32	Nahum 2:1	A plea for the Gentile city of Nineveh in the spirit of Jonah
35. “To turn aside the right of a man…”	The Law was slacked when the Son of Man was killed	Habakkuk 1:4	The “wicked doth compass about the righteous”
36. “To subvert a man in his cause… approveth not”	The Son of Man came to save lives, not destroy them	Zephaniah 3:2	All that God dealt upon man was to bring him back, except for what He did to Christ– that was all punishment.
37. “Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass?”	Question 1: Which is true? Man’s versus God’s word.	Haggai 1:2	The final 3 books of the O.T. are represented as the only questions in the chapter.
38. “Out of the …most High proceedeth not evil and good?”	Question 2: What is the source? Good and evil	Zechariah 1:5-6	God is evil to the evil. 1st “evil” as in harmful; 2nd “evil” is immoral.
39. “Wherefore doth a living man complain… for the punishment of his sins?	Question 3: Sin must be punished. If you’re still alive, quit complaining.	Malachi 1:2, 6, 6, 13, 2:14,17, 3:7,8,13	The people Malachi preaches to object to the charges, but cannot refute them.
40. “Let us search… and turn again”	The first answer to 39 verses of condemnation. Wrath ended in the Son of Man	Matthew 3:3	Resolve “Let us” Reminisce “search” Regulate “and try our ways” Repent “and turn again to the LORD.”
41. “Lift up our heart with our hands…”	The heart must receive Him	Mark 4:15, 6:52
42. “We have transgressed… thou hast not pardoned.”	Knowledge of salvation thru a reminder	Luke 1:77	“To give knowledge… by the remission of their sins”
43. “Anger… persecuted… slain… not pitied.”	Israel endures this as a nation for their own sins. Jesus endured this for ours.	John 7:23, 8:59, 19	Hatred, chasing, scourging, crucifying.
44. “Covered… with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.”	Jesus’ prayer was denied so the Acts of the Apostles are guided by answers to prayer.	Acts 1:14	Denials insist faith: -No to Asia, Acts 15 -No to Jerusalem, Acts 21 -No to national restoration, Acts 7, 28
45. “The offscouring and refuse… of the people.”	The first canonical book to non-Jewish believers	Romans 11:11	A description of the apostles: 1 Corinthians 4:13
46. “All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.”	Corinth on the exam table.	1 Corinthians 9:3	Paul gave evidence of regeneration in the vilest example of a church.
47. “Fear and a snare… desolation and destruction”	Faith thru ill-fortune	2 Corinthians 11:23-33	Paul’s resolve was not dependent on favorable conditions. It was based on hope of Heaven’s reaping.
48. “Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water…”	Tears of remorse and rejoicing	Galatians 4:27	Destruction and deliverance both cause tears. The flesh is destroyed so that the promise could remain.
49. “Trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without any intermission.”	The stance of the militant church: a continual call to Christ.	Ephesians 6:18-20	“Praying always” No intermission in intercession
50. “Till the LORD look down, and behold from heaven.”	The day of Christ.	Philippians 1:10	The goal of ministering the gospel.
51. “Mine eye affecteth mine heart”	The seat of affection- the throne of Christ.	Colossians 3:2
52. “Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause.”	The enemies of Christ	1 Thessalonians 2:14-16	His own people
53. “…cut off my life in the dungeon… cast a stone”	The sufferings of Christ	2 Thessalonians 2:2, 1:6	Persecution will be repayed, wrath follows wrongdoing.
54. “Waters flowed over mine head… I am cut off.”	The calling of Christ	1 Timothy 4:16, 6:9	If you have the wrong motive, you’ll soon get in ‘over your head’.
55. “I called upon thy name… out of the low dungeon.”	The fellowship of Christ	2 Timothy 4:16-17	The Lord stood with Paul in his final imprisonment
56. “My voice.. my breathing.. my cry”	The pleadings of Christ	Titus 1:11, 3:8	“Affirm constantly”; as regular as respiration.
57. “Thou drewest near in the day that I called… Fear not”	The reconciling of Christ	Philemon 1:17	Onesimus was brought nigh by Paul.
58. “Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul”	The principles of Christ	Hebrews 5:12, 6:19	The words of God are the anchor of the soul.
59. “Judge thou my cause”	The righteousness of Christ	James 5:9	“The judge standeth before the door”
60. “Thou hast seen… all their imaginations against me.”	The watchfulness of Christ	1 Peter 4:3-5
61. “Thou has heard… their imaginations against me”	The warning of Christ	2 Peter 2:14, 3:1-3	Against scoffers, heretics, and their tactics
62. “The lips of those that rose up against me, and their device”	The test of the spirit of Christ. Their device is the spirit of antichrist.	1 John 3:1-3	How to spot a true believer in Christ and those who are not.
63. “Behold their sitting down…”	The test of a relationship to Christ	2 John 1:4	A true believer is found “walking in truth”
64. “Render them… according to the work of their hands.”	The test of charity in Christ.	3 John 1:10-11	True believers will be “fellowhelpers to the truth”
65. “Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.”	The destiny of one without Christ	Jude 1:12-13	This is the destiny of ‘a man’ who in all of his suffering thru life does not submit to the Lord.
66. “Persecute and destroy them in anger from under the heavens of the LORD.”	Final destruction of of the soul who rejects the Son of Man	Revelation 16:1	For him, it is hell on earth, and then the lake of fire forever after.

---

1. Notes from a sermon by Brian Donovan, preached at Faith Baptist Church, Ft. Smith, AR, circa 2014 ↩︎
2. The Companion Bible, p. 1101, commentary on Lamentations 3:1, Kregel Publications, 1990 ↩︎