LAMENTATIONS AT-A-GLANCE & O.T. BOOK #25 AUTHOR: THE PROPHET JEREMIAH WRITTEN: 585 BC Prophecies Come True in this Time Period: 586-585 BC Old Testament: 39 Books 25 New Testament: 27 Books CLAIMS TO FAME: Only book of prophecy that looks more backwards than forward FAMOUS STORIES INCLUDED: MOST FAMOUS VERSES: While not considered a story, the book is a very visual and spiritual look by the author at the horror that had become of Judah just after the Babylonian invasion and exile. The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed festivals. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she is in bitter anguish. Lamentations 1:4 Those who once ate delicacies are destitute in the streets. Those nurtured in purple now lie on ash heaps. Lamentations 4:5 Important points about the Book: The Babylonian invasion of the Southern Kingdom (Kingdom of Judah) had just taken place in 586 BC. Jeremiah expressed raw emotion, as if he had just walked through the streets and alleys of Jerusalem and saw nothing but destruction and suffering and heartbreak. Lamentations is not so much prophecy as it is a lament over what had become of Jerusalem after the invasion and how it all could have been avoided. The book is basically one description after another of the awful conditions and suffering as the exile began. However, there are notes of hope and God's love interspersed throughout.