We have already commented on the first two verses of Lam. 4, showing the acrostic pattern of alef and beth. Verse 3 is based on the third letter, gimel.

The Gimel (Camel) Revelation

Lam. 4:3 says,

³ [ג] Even jackals offer the breast, they nurse their young, but the daughter of My people has become cruel like ostriches in the wilderness.

Verse 3 begins with גַּם (gam), “even, also.” The gimel pictures a camel lifting up a rider or signaling movement as in a caravan.

The acrostic structure assigns the verse to the letter gimel, integrating one of the poem’s most disturbing images into an ordered alphabetic lament. This structure insists that even the breakdown of maternal compassion belongs within the covenantal logic of judgment rather than chaotic despair.

By contrasting animal instinct with human cruelty under the discipline of the alphabet, the poet shows that language and faith continue to function amid devastation, and that lament itself is a form of theological resistance against meaninglessness.

Jackals were said to be despicable, but even they had maternal instincts by nature. Yet Jerusalem’s government had failed to care for the people themselves. Their lawless practices had brought judgment upon the people.

Ancient writers (including biblical poets) noticed that ostriches sometimes leave the nest unattended. To an observer, this could look like neglect or indifference—especially when compared to mammals that nurse or birds that brood continuously.

The Dalet (Door) Revelation

Lam. 4:4 says,

⁴ The tongue of the infant cleaves to the roof of its mouth because of thirst; the little ones ask for bread, but no one breaks it for them.

The first two verses speak of the collapse of gold and the sons of Zion—the treasures of the city. Verse 3 shows the breakdown of maternal care. Verse 4 increases the horror to show the starvation of infants and children.

Lam. 4:4 is one of the most physically graphic verses in the book: infant dehydration, tongue stuck to the palate, and hunger without response or remedy. Starting the verse with “tongue” is rhetorically essential. Starting it with a dalet-word would weaken the shock. Even so, because the dalet is a Door or entryway, the verse suggests that the verse marks a threshold into something worse than starvation.

Lam. 4:4 is not a doorway out of suffering. It is a doorway into the deepest covenant curse, as the next few verses show. If dalet is a door, it opens downward. Hence, the absence of the dalet itself suggests an unspeakable horror yet to be mentioned (especially in verse 10).

Hence, the first Hebrew word does not begin with dalet but with the lamed. It is לָשׁוֹן (lāšôn) “tongue.” In doing this, the poet breaks the acrostic rule. The poem says, in effect: “Even the alphabet strains to speak this.” This is controlled breakdown, not poetic failure. The poet (Jeremiah) chose semantic force over acrostic precision.

So the prophet seems to peer through an open door of a house in Jerusalem and sees a heart-wrenching scene of starving children. He does not come through the door, and so the verse itself does not begin with the dalet.

The Hey (Window) Revelation

Lam. 4:5 says,

⁵ [ה] Those who ate delicacies are desolate in the streets; those reared in purple embrace ash pits.

Verse 5 gives us a window view of the city’s descent into horror. The focus shifts from infants to the former elite, who go from wealth to destitution, pride to abject humility, and refinement to degradation.

The first Hebrew word in verse 5 is הָאֹכְלִים (hā’ōḵlîm), “those who eat, or those who used to eat.” The verse opens by identifying people defined by luxury.

The acrostic letter hey marks a public unveiling. What prosperity had concealed, judgment now reveals. In Hebrew tradition, hey (ה) is often associated with breath, exhalation,sometimes revelation or exposure. In this case, the illusion of luxury is exhaled, refinement is stripped bare, and former splendor is exposed as fragile.

What was hidden behind scarlet garments is now visible in ash heaps. Lam. 4:5 answers an implicit question:

“Is this suffering limited to the powerless?”

The answer is no. The acrostic insists that although the innocent suffer, the privileged elite are also stripped. Hence, judgment is comprehensive.

The Vav (Nail, Peg) Revelation

Lam. 4:6 says,

⁶ [ו] For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands were turned toward her.

Vav is the Hebrew letter of connection, usually translated “and.” Its grammatical function is linkage and continuation. It often appears at the start of a new sentence.

That fits this verse precisely. The first Hebrew word (or phrase) in this verse is וַיִּגְדַּל (vayyigdal), “and it became greater.” Jerusalem’s prolonged judgment surpasses even Sodom’s sudden destruction. Lam. 4:6 does not introduce a new scene; it ties together what has come before, as if to say “in addition to” infants starving (verse 4) and elites reduced to ash heaps (verse 5), this too is evident.

Vav binds these horrors together and interprets them theologically. This prolonged suffering is not random—it is judgment exceeding even Sodom itself. This also suggests that the final judgment on Jerusalem, prophesied in Jer. 19:10, 11, will be comparable (but greater) than in the destruction of Sodom itself.

The Zayin (Weapon) Revelation

Lam. 4:7 says,

⁷ (ז) Her consecrated ones were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; they were more ruddy in body than corals, their polishing was like lapis lazuli.

Zion’s “consecrated ones” (understood as nobles, priests, or Nazirites) look pure before their hearts are exposed. Jeremiah uses irony here. He does not mean to say that these men were actually pure in the sight of God. Zayin marks the moment when what will be cut down is first fully displayed, as its sin is exposed.

The first word in verse 7 is זַכּוּ (zakkû), “were pure, clean.” The imagery is radiant—health, beauty, and consecration intertwined.

In Hebrew tradition, zayin is a weapon, often associated with conflict, cutting or striking. In other words, those once appearing radiant were struck down in a violent reversal.

We see the same situation in the New Testament prior to the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans. In Matt. 23:25-27 Jesus said,

²⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. ²⁷ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

On the outside (in the flesh) they were consecrated for divine service, but having failed to have a heart change, their consecration could not save them from judgment.

The temple itself was breathtaking in its beauty and majesty, but yet its very stones were dismantled and scattered. The Romans, seeking to retrieve the melted gold in the cracks between the rocks, fulfilled Jesus’ prophecy in Luke 21:6,

⁶ As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.

If a third temple is built in our time, it too will suffer the same fate as the first two temples—and for the same reason.

The Chet (Fence, Inner room, Heart) Revelation

Lam. 4:8 says,

⁸ [ח] Their appearance is blacker than soot, they are not recognized in the streets; their skin is shriveled on their bones, it is withered, it has become like wood.

This has to do with defilement and exposure. The chet in this case is our inner room, the heart, and divine judgment lays bare the hidden thoughts and intents of the heart. To the shocked public, they are no longer recognizable, for what they thought was holiness turned out to be superficial. Hence, verse 7 ironically pictures them as bright and pure, while verse 8 exposes their hearts as dark and unclean.

The first Hebrew word in Lam. 4:8 is חָשַׁךְ (ḥāšakh), “became dark, or was darkened.” The contrast is striking.

In covenant terms, defilement is the public sign of judgment. The defiled are not simply dirty—they are disqualified, excluded from former status as “consecrated ones.”

The Teth (Snake) Revelation

We move here from the chet (inner room) to the teth (snake) that surrounds and squeezes to death. Lam. 4:9 says,

⁹ [ט] Better are those slain with the sword than those slain with hunger; for they pine away, being stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.

Here we see the deepening theme of prolonged suffering versus sudden death. He makes the shocking claim that violent death by the sword is preferable to the slow death of starvation.

The first Hebrew word in Lam. 4:9 is טוֹבִים (ṭôvîm), “better.” The verse opens with a comparative judgment. It is better to die quickly by the sword than to die slowly by the snake of famine. This immediately frames the verse as a grim evaluation, not mere description.

The Hebrew letter teth is often associated with something enclosed or encircled, something twisted inward, or sometimes even a womb or coil. That symbolism fits the verse powerfully. Famine kills from within. The body consumes itself. Life folds inward and collapses. The sword strikes from outside; famine hollows the inside.

So in this case, the prophet uses the teth (snake) to picture famine surrounding people like a snake ready to devour its prey. The land’s very fruitlessness becomes a weapon that kills slowly but surely. This verse exposes famine as covenantal curse, not mere misfortune. So we read in the laws of tribulation in Lev. 26:25, 26,

²⁵ I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute vengeance for the covenant… ²⁶ When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread in rationed amounts, so that you will eat and not be satisfied.

In other words, because the people themselves did not bear fruit to God, the land responded with fruitlessness of its own. The famine of hearing the word expressed itself in physical famine. Physical famine was a type of spiritual famine prophesied later in Amos 8:11, 12,

¹¹ “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord. ¹² People will stagger from sea to sea and from the north even to the east; they will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.”

When divine revelation is sparce, it signals a famine of hearing the word. People are left confused and destitute, not knowing the real source of the famine. This kind of famine is caused by rejecting the words of God—particularly, the law itself. In this, the world at large is barely accountable, for they did not receive this revelation.

The Jews were the original custodians of the law, but they rejected much of it through the traditions of men (Matt. 15:7-9 KJV). The church too was given the word of God, especially in recent centuries after the introduction of the printing press in the mid-1500’s. However, they too cast aside the law in favor of church traditions.

For this reason, a genuine understanding of the law is quite unusual, and Amos’ prophecy has been fulfilled to this day. It has only been in certain seasons when the Spirit of God has been poured out in various “revivals,” each of which involved a unique revelation of the word. Each revival was like a breath of fresh air that gave the church an opportunity to reverse the curse and make it fruitful. Yet unfortunately, most of the church rejected these revelations of the word. Hence, to this day the snake of famine continues to squeeze the breath from Christians even in the midst of an abundance of Bibles.

Lam. 4:9 teaches that prolonged death by famine is more cruel than sudden death by violence. Yet God’s judgment—the famine of hearing the word and its fruitlessness—is even more devastating in the long-term.

The Yod (Hand) Revelation

Lam. 4:10 says,

¹⁰[י] The hands of [normally] compassionate women boiled their own children; they became food for them because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

The first Hebrew word in verse 10 is יְדֵי (yĕdê), “the hands of.” In the sequence of the downward spiral, the prophet shows how the law of tribulation works as well. We are reminded of the progression in Leviticus 26, where divine judgment is increased incrementally (“seven times more”) at each stage when the people fail to repent.

In the final stage of judgment, we read in Lev. 26:27-29,

²⁷ Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, ²⁸ then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins. ²⁹ Further, you will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.

This is repeated in Deut. 28:53,

⁵³ Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you.

Jeremiah says that this occurred when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians. It described the absolute limit of human breakdown. Josephus tells us that the same occurred when the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem. Josephus records an explicit case of cannibalism during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. (most notably the story of Mary of Bethezuba, a noblewoman) in The Jewish War 6.201–213, presenting it as the horrifying fulfillment of covenant curses.

Mary, he says, was driven to desperation by famine. Bandits repeatedly steal her food, and in utter desperation, she kills, roasts, and eats her own infant son. When the bandits smell food and threaten her, she offers them what remains of the child. Josephus presents this as the most shocking single incident of the siege. It even shocked the Romans.

In the early fourth century, Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, cited Josephus’ account in his book, Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, linking this divine judgment to Jerusalem’s rejection of Christ 40 years earlier and its persecution of Christ’s followers.

A century later, Augustine cited it as evidence that divine judgment reached its final covenant stage, fully ending the Old Covenant and establishing the New. We have yet to see how this might be fulfilled in the final destruction of Jerusalem in our time. It is too horrible to contemplate.

The Kaf (Open Palm) Revelation

Lam. 4:11 says,

¹¹ [כ] The Lord has accomplished His wrath, He has poured out His fierce anger; and He has kindled a fire in Zion which has consumed its foundations.

The kaf pictures an open palm that covers or protects. In this case the prophet uses it to picture the limits of divine judgment. In other words, judgment is designed to correct and restore. God does not “reject forever,” because all of His judgments are motivated by His “lovingkindness.” His love does not eliminate judgment but limits it so that the judgment always fits the crime (sin).

The first Hebrew word in verse 11 is כִּלָּה (killāh), “He finished, He completed, He brought to an end.” Eating one’s own children, then, is the final and climactic judgment of God when He pours out “His fierce anger” and kindles a “fire in Zion.” It is as if to say, “This is the full measure of divine judgment for persistent violation of the covenant when the grace period ends and judgment is implemented.”

In Hebrew letter tradition, kaf is the palm of the hand and can represent capacity and containment. This fits the verse with sobering precision. Wrath is measured; it is poured from God’s hand, and it is contained until its purpose is fulfilled. The hand that once protected Zion now releases judgment.

What are Zion’s “foundations” that the fire of God consumes? As Christians, we believe that the true temple’s foundation is Jesus Christ. Paul says in 1 Cor. 3:11,

¹¹ For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

The destruction of the two physical temples in the earthly city is followed by the construction of the final temple (Eph. 2:20-22), a “spiritual house” that is made of “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5).

When God destroys, it is not the end of the story. God rebuilds on a better foundation. This takes us from Moses to Christ and from the Old Covenant to the New. This temple, then, is built upon the promise of God, rather than the promise of fallible men. The physical temples in Jerusalem were types and shadows of better things to come.

The priesthood too has changed from Levi and Aaron to Melchizedek and Jesus Christ. The “spiritual house” that God has been building is not built upon the same old foundations as the original temples made of wood and stone. Those foundations have been “consumed” by God’s fire, which is the Holy Spirit. He will now inhabit only a temple made of living stones, as His people are baptized by the Spirit.

Passover Conference

April 3-5, 2026

Sponsored by Stone Kingdom Ministries

Location:

Embassy Suites by Hilton
2321 Lifestyle Way
Chattanooga, TN 37421

Conference Dates:

The Conference will commence at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 3, 2025 and run through some time on Sunday afternoon, April 5, 2026.

Rooms and Reservations:

You can also book your reservation by calling Central Reservations at 1-800-362-2779. Be sure to tell them you are with the Stone Kingdom Ministries Group to get the special room rate of $139/night + tax.

The deadline for making a reservation at the special rate is March 5, 2026.

To make a room reservation online, here is the Stone Kingdom Ministries portal link.

https://www.hilton.com/en/book/reservation/rooms/?ctyhocn=CHAHMES&arrivalDate=2026-04-02&departureDate=2026-04-06&groupCode=CES91R&room1NumAdults=1&cid=OM%2CWW%2CHILTONLINK%2CEN%2CDirectLink&ref=stonekingdom.org

Many attendees at previous conferences arrive on Thursday and we have wonderful fellowship on that evening. Likewise, many stay over on Sunday night and depart on Monday morning. The Group rate will be honored for Thursday and Sunday nights.

Believe me, we spent hours looking at many venues in several cities, and this is the very best room rates we could get. Another venue (Knoxville area) was a quality brand name, but reviews mentioned mold in the AC units, and even they could not match the rate that the Embassy Suites is giving us: $139/night + taxes,  for “run of the house,” an industry term which means, they have rooms with a king bed or with two queens, all the same price.  

If when you are making a room reservation for the Conference, you are told that the SKM Room Block is filled, do not make a reservation at the higher room rate. Instead, contact SKM ASAP to let us know. We (SKM) will immediately get in touch with our contact at the Embassy Suites. Usually, hotels are willing to increase the Room Block at the same price.

We will then get back in touch with you to let you know, and we shall post the “all clear” in a blog update. You can send an email to me (James) to— [email protected] . Please put ROOM BLOCK in the subject line and include your phone number. I will be keeping an eye out for the subject line.

We will then get back in touch with you to let you know, and we shall post the “all clear” in a blog update. You can send an email to me to—  [email protected]. Please put ROOM BLOCK in the subject line and include your phone number. I will be keeping an eye out for the subject line.

Restaurants in the Area:

The Embassy Suites at Hamilton Place, the northern suburbs of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Hamilton Place is a large shopping center area, with tons of restaurants of all sorts within a very short drive. It is very comparable to The Chateau-on-the-Lake in Branson, Missouri, where we have had several conferences. The in-house restaurant here is a Ruth’s Chris Steak House. Tops in quality, with prices to match.

Air Travel:

The Chattanooga airport is about 20 minutes away. The hotel does not offer a shuttle service. If there are any who would like to volunteer to pick up and/or return air travelers, please contact me (James) ASAP at my email address above.

Speakers:

All the invited speakers have committed for the Conference to be held April 3-5, 2026 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They are:

Rob & Dena Corry from Pennsylvania, Dr. Stephen E. Jones from Minnesota, Edmund Lee from Louisiana, Allen Snow from Tennessee, and Dr. James Bruggeman.

Music:

Daniel Galbraith has volunteered to coordinate musicians and/or singers who wish to bless the Conference with your talents for praise and worship times. If you would like to offer your services in that regard, please contact both me (email address above) and Daniel at his email address: [email protected]  

Daniel also asked me to inquire among the attendees whether anyone has an 88-key keyboard which they could bring along and lend for his use at the Conference. If so, please contact Daniel.