The Heartrending Consequences of Sin

“Jerusalem hath grievously sinned…She did not consider her destiny” (Lamentations 1:8-9, ASV, NKJV). Those who knew better—her priests, her elders, her leaders—“rebelled against His commandment” (1:18). Thus, “the Lord has afflicted her because of the multitude of her transgressions” (1:5). Now consider the ones who paid the ultimate price—read these two verses and weep with Jeremiah: “The children and the infants faint in the streets of the city. They say to their mothers, ‘Where is grain and wine?’ As they swoon like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out in their mothers' bosom” (2:11-12). No food. No drink. Children, not understanding, perishing at their mothers’ breasts, begging for something to eat and drink…not understanding. Innocents suffering—dying—and all because men refused to do what they knew they should have done—obey the word of the Lord.

Is there anything…anything…more heinous than sin?