Lamentations 2:7

7 The Lord deserted his altar. He left his temple. He handed the walls of Jerusalem's palaces over to its enemies. They shouted loudly in the house of the Lord. You would have thought it was the day of an appointed feast.

Lamentations 2:7 Meaning and Commentary

Lamentations 2:7

The Lord hath cast off his altar
Whether of incense, or of burnt offerings; the sacrifices of which used to be acceptable to him; but now the altar being cast down and demolished, there were no more offerings; nor did he show any desire of them, but the reverse: he hath abhorred his sanctuary;
the temple; by suffering it to be profaned, pulled down, and burnt, it looked as if he had an abhorrence of it, and the service in it; as he had, as it was performed without faith in Christ, love to him, or any view to his glory; see ( Isaiah 1:13 Isaiah 1:14 ) ; he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces;
both the walls of the sanctuary, and the walls of the houses of the kin, and princes; especially thee former are meant, both by what goes before and follows: they have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a
solemn feast;
that is the enemy, the Chaldeans, made a noise in the temple, blaspheming God, that had dwelt in it; insulting over the people of God, that had worshipped there; rejoicing in their victories over them; singing their "paeans" to their gods, and other profane songs; indulging themselves in revelling and rioting; making as great a noise with their shouts and songs as the priests, Levites, and people of Israel did, when they sung the songs of Zion on a festival day. The Targum is,

``as the voice of the people of the house of Israel, that prayed in the midst of it in the day of the passover.''

Lamentations 2:7 In-Context

5 The Lord was like an enemy. He swallowed up Israel. He swallowed up all of its palaces. He destroyed its forts. He filled the people of Judah with sorrow and sadness.

6 The LORD's temple was like a garden. But he completely destroyed it. He destroyed the place where he used to meet with his people. He made Zion's people forget their appointed feasts and Sabbath days. When he was very angry, he turned his back on king and priest alike.

7 The Lord deserted his altar. He left his temple. He handed the walls of Jerusalem's palaces over to its enemies. They shouted loudly in the house of the Lord. You would have thought it was the day of an appointed feast.

8 The LORD decided to tear down the walls around the city of Zion. He measured out what he wanted to destroy. Then he destroyed it with his powerful hand. He made even its towers and walls sing songs of sadness. All of them fell down.

9 Its gates sank down into the ground. He broke their metal bars and destroyed them. Its king and princes were taken away to other nations. There is no law anymore. Jerusalem's prophets no longer receive visions from the Lord.