Lamentations

Lamentations deals with the aftermath of Jerusalem when the Babylonians seized Jerusalem. At this point, religion is extremely important to the Jews. It is almost as if there exists a "parent-child relationship" between the Jews and religion. The Jews show an obvious fear of God. At one point in the text this fear seems like hate, if taken at facevalue. For example, it is said in 2:5 "The Lord has become like an enemy; he has destroyed Israel." Here, it is as if the dad has just punished the child and the child is saying "I hate you and it's all your fault!" Yet the child does not really mean it because in the next breath Lamentations states in 3:25 that the "Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the sould that seeks him," and in 3:31,32 "for the Lord will not reject forever. Although he causes grief, he will have compassion." Deep down, the Jews know that they have sinned and their consequence was the destruction of their once thriving, beautiful city.

Lamentations is the reaction Jews have towards the end of Jerusalem. It is evident that the destruction of Jerusalem is viewed in a purely religious way, therefore suggesting that religion is the center of life for the Jews. Society and way of life is shaped by religion. Also, religion defines good and evil and the Jews adhere to these definitions. This also shows the introduction of a monotheistic religion. Jews do not have a concept of spirits or multiple gods; they know that it is God alone who watches over them. Jews will always link various events to religion whereas in the Paleolithic and Holocence periods events were linked to nature or animal spirits. For the Jews, if something bad happens they will think about the concept of sin and look to see how they sinned and how they deserved the punishment God bestowed upon them. Likewise, if a good event occured they would automatically praise God. As religion plays a major role in the course of events, it gives Jews control of the future of their people and surroundings. They realize that God gives them choices and it is up to them to decide. If they sin, they know there will be consequences but God will always give them more choices. If they do the right thing, God will be merciful and fair by rewarding them.
Basically Jews live their life according to religion and truly view themselves as children of God.