What was the reason for Jerusalem’s fall?

The reason for Jerusalem’s fall is stated throughout Lamentations as the sin of the people of Israel (see Lamentations 1:5, Lamentations 1:8, Lamentations 1:14, Lamentations 1:18; Lamentations 2:14; Lamentations 3:39). Jerusalem sinned for a long period and rejected the warnings of the good prophets (see Lamentations 2:17). While the sin of the people is the foremost reason for Jerusalem’s destruction, in this verse the sins of the prophets and priests come into focus.¹

While the sins of the individual people of Jerusalem are not denied, Jerusalem’s fall was also due to God’s punishment for the sins of her prophets and priests (see also Jeremiah 6:13; Jeremiah 23:11; Jeremiah 26:8; Lamentations 2:14). The false prophets had given the people a false confidence (see Jeremiah 23:9–40), while the priests failed to teach the people correctly, according to God’s commandments, and failed to rebuke them when they transgressed. For these failures, they were blamed for the bloodshed. It did not take the individual guilt away from each of the people who sinned (see Jeremiah 31:30; Ezekiel 18:1–32) but accentuated the greater accountability that rested upon the shoulders of the leaders.² The reason for their misconduct was not ignorance. As part of the elite leaders in Jerusalem who enjoyed fame and fortune, they remained silent about the evils of the leaders.³

The sins of the leadership are not foreign to the rest of the Old Testament. The false prophets’ sin, which led to the seduction and apostasy of the people, is mentioned in more than one place. Examples of this are Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:1–46) and Jeremiah’s differences with false prophets (Jeremiah 5:30–31; Jeremiah 23:9–40; Jeremiah 27:1–28:17). In the same manner the priest’s failure to teach the people in the way of God’s covenant is also evident in other passages of the Old Testament (see Hosea 4:1; Malachi 2:1–9).⁴