By the time the prophet Jeremiah wrote Lamentations, the unthinkable had taken place. Jerusalem had been attacked by invading armies, the walls had been breached, the temple destroyed, and many of the inhabitants, including the leaders and priests, had been led away into exile in chains.
Jeremiah had warned the leaders and people of their impending doom, but no one took heed of the warnings. Instead, they continued in their godlessness, worshiping idols and reveling in degrading and sinful behavior: "Jerusalem has sinned greatly and so has become unclean . . . Her filthiness clung to her skirts; she did not consider her future. Her fall was astonishing; there was none to comfort her" (Lamentations 1:8, 9).
In 1917, the communists took control of Russia and named the new empire "The Soviet Union." The communist leaders expelled God, tore down churches and cathedrals, and persecuted Christians. Seventy-two years later, that same oppressive Soviet society crumbled of its own corrupt weight, and the country once again became Russia. The experiment in a godless progressive society failed utterly. It remains to be seen, however, whether Russia and many other countries in the West will see the biblical parallels between the fate of ancient Jerusalem and modern progressive society. Can any society that abandons the centrality of God in its life expect anything different from the fate experienced by Jerusalem?
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