She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on 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.
Verse one has told us about the great fall in Jerusalem's status - how she is now like a widow; how she is isolated. Verse two carries this theme of isolation and bereavement on, as well as adding some depth to her fall in status. She is pictured as weeping bitterly, again continuing the emphasis on the greatness of the tragedy. That is how disgraceful it is that God's city be conquered and destroyed by pagans. It also shows more of the reality of her fall from grace, as those who were once her allies ('lovers' and 'friends') have turned against her and left her alone. One the face of it this paints a simple picture of the sheer horror of the situation that Jerusalem is facing, and certainly it would have helped in creating empathy with a shocked and disillusioned people in exile. There is in this, though, the start of the real meat of this poem; that is, it begins to explain the reason for the situation Jerusalem has found herself in. It is not just saying how awful it is that she has been betrayed by those she trusted, deserted by those closest to her, but in fact it starts to turn to the shameful whoredom of Jerusalem in the run up to her fall.
To explore this further we need to think back over the right foreign policy that Israel was to have, compared to the reality of how she operated. Quite simply Israel was supposed to be a holy nation under God's unique kingship; this was a core element of the government of God's people. This separation was to create a unique and peculiar people - a people who stood out by their distinctive living pattern, characterised by obedience to God leading to a deep love of him, with every aspect of the national life reminding people of the great God who had brought them out of Egypt and settled them in the promised land. It was to be a land of worship and blessing; a nation that people would look at with jealousy, seeing the wonderful life that right relationship with God brings. As for Israel's foreign policy it was to be a distant policy, in a sense, not forging alliances with neighbouring nations, not adopting their customs or intermarrying. People were to join Israel, fitting into her God-given way of life; Israel was not to fit into the practices of outside nations. Israel was to rely totally on God's protection and guidance, not on the ruling methods and military protection of other nations. Israel rejected all this, choosing a human king and increasing alliances as they drifted from God. In fact Israel fell so low, as God allowed them, that they became a vassal. The period of time leading up to the fall of Jerusalem sees increasing attacks on Israel from her so-called friends, until eventually the Babylonians swooped in and crushed Jerusalem, dragging her people away to captivity.
The point is simple - Israel was not to have 'friends' or 'lovers' among the nations. She opened herself up and became corrupted by these pagan nations. The fact they turned against her and rejected her is hardly surprising, as history reminds us time and time again. Humanity is inherently disloyal and untrustworthy; especially compared to God. Jerusalem had prostituted herself out to the nations, her 'lovers' - she was, after all, only to have one lover, that is God himself. The book of Hosea makes this point fairly forcefully, as we see Hosea's marriage to the prostitute Gomer representing Israel's unfaithfulness to Yahweh. This point is ultimately made increasingly bluntly thoughout this poem, but the author is already looking to remind the people of their failings that led to their downfall.
Another interesting point to come out of this, quickly, is the relative power of gods. Take the days of the judges, for example, where God brought some incredible military victories. Those days must have seemed like ancient legends to the exiled Israelites. What they had done was exchanged their true God for false gods, adopting the pagan religious practices of the surrounding nations. God had turned his hand against Jerusalem and there was nothing that the gods Jerusalem had whored herself to could do. Such is life still. Where do we put our trust? To whom do we ally ourselves? What brings us our security in life? Nothing has really changed for those who put their trust in Yahweh - this remains the only sensible place to seek security. This almost certainly won't mean that those who oppose us are crushed (yet), but it does mean that the eternal battle for our soul is secured; our future is secured by the cross. If the church is the bride of Christ, then we must certainly avoid prostituting ourselves to the surrounding culture; avoid taking on the values and priorities of the world.
So, Jerusalem is left alone and bitterly weeping. Deserted by her 'lovers', betrayed by her 'friends'. How pathetic she is. Jerusalem is like a girl who has gone out seeking security, love, popularity, acceptance. Like a girl who has tried to find those things by chasing the things of the world that seem so desirable: by partying; by sleeping around; by ignoring her values to try and fit in. She has received nothing that isn't part and parcel of that life she chose. Do not try to imagine Jerusalem as some unfortunate victim, who has suffered at the hands of a neglectful God, two-faced friends, and unfaithful lovers. That is not what this is. She is like a girl who finds herself diseased, hated, used, alone - a girl who sold herself to the cool seeming kids, but ended up used up and lying in a pool of her vomit. She is a disgusting mess, not some unfortunate deserving pity. It is from here that we get the right understanding of what this kind of prostitution to the surrounding culture achieves. It is from here that we can form a right response. We will continue to see these themes played out over the remaining twenty verses, and ultimately we will see how the author seeks to help the people in exile respond rightly to this self-made catastrophe.
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