“The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn feast.”
My Notes
What Does Lamentations 2:7 Mean?
The poet of Lamentations describes God's own actions against His temple: He cast off His altar. He abhorred His sanctuary. He gave the walls of the palaces to the enemy. And then the most painful detail: the enemy makes noise in the temple "as in the day of a solemn feast." Pagan shouting replaces worship shouting. The same acoustics that carried praise now carry mockery.
"Cast off" (zanach) means to reject with revulsion. "Abhorred" (ta'ar) means to loathe. God isn't passively allowing the destruction. He is actively rejecting His own altar and despising His own sanctuary. The place He chose, the place He loved, the place He filled with glory — He now rejects.
The sound comparison is devastating: the enemy's celebration in the temple sounds like Israel's festivals. The same building. The same volume. Different voices. What was once the joyful noise of God's people is now the victorious shout of God's enemies.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you ever been in worship that felt empty — same form, same volume, but God's presence absent?
- 2.How do you tell the difference between genuine worship and occupied-temple noise?
- 3.What does it mean that God Himself rejected His own altar — not an enemy, but God?
- 4.How does the sound comparison (enemy celebration sounding like festivals) challenge you to examine what's actually behind the noise in your spiritual life?
Devotional
God rejected His own altar. He despised His own sanctuary. And the enemy's shouts in the temple sound exactly like worship used to.
This is Lamentations at its most brutal. The poet isn't describing Babylon's cruelty. He's describing God's action. Cast off. Abhorred. Given up. Every verb has God as the subject. This isn't something done to God. It's something done by God.
And then the sound. The enemy celebrates in the temple with the same volume, the same energy, the same acoustic resonance as the solemn feasts. If you closed your eyes, you might think it was worship. But it's not. It's occupation. The building is the same. The noise level is the same. The spirit behind it is opposite.
This is what desecration sounds like: indistinguishable from celebration to anyone who isn't paying attention. The temple is full of noise. But the noise is wrong. The presence that used to inhabit the sound is gone, and what replaced it mimics the form while missing the substance.
Has your worship ever felt like this? The same building. The same songs. The same volume. But something essential is absent. The form survives but the presence has departed. And no one might notice — because it sounds the same.
The sound of worship and the sound of occupation can be identical. The difference isn't in the acoustics. It's in who's present.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
The Lord hath cast off his altar,.... Whether of incense, or of burnt offerings; the sacrifices of which used to be…
sanctuary - The holy of holies; “the walls of her palaces” are those of the sacred buildings.
They have made a noise in the house of the Lord - Instead of the silver trumpets of the sanctuary, nothing but the…
It is a very sad representation which is here made of the state of God's church, of Jacob and Israel, of Zion and…
her palaces As this word is nowhere else applied to the Temple, it seems best (though parallelism of clauses suggests…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture