NOTES for Lam 3:1-33
Repentance was the only possible way out of the situation in which the people found themselves during the exile. But repentance is impossible without accepting the situation as it is, without recognizing its absolute and unquestionable reality. It is often in precisely this sense that the books of the Old Testament assert that both good and evil come from God. The point, of course, is not that evil comes from God.
The point is that God cannot be unaware of the evil taking place in the world. But besides God's will, there is also what God permits: what He allows to exist without intervening in the situation, leaving freedom to those who wish to do without Him and indeed do so, sometimes even trying to oppose Him. Yet there is a considerable difference between what God knows about and what He takes a direct part in. In practical terms, it is extremely important for a person to recognize whether he finds himself in a situation where God is acting directly or in one that God permits, where His will is not directly manifested.
This matters precisely in practical terms: in human life, a situation that God permits is most often connected with human sinfulness; it arises where a person does not wish to follow God's plan or directly violates the commandments God has given. If someone in such a situation decides that the evil he encounters is the result of God's action, that it is part of God's plan, that this is God's will rather than what He permits, he will inevitably blame God for everything, and then there will be no repentance.
But if, on the other hand, a person refuses to accept the situation of evil as a natural consequence and considers it a misunderstanding that will soon be resolved because evil is not to be expected from God, there will be no repentance either. Repentance is possible only when a person recognizes the situation of evil taking place as absolutely real and a natural consequence, not an accident, while also recognizing that human beings, not God, are responsible for it. Only then does repentance become possible: for it is impossible without awareness of the very fact of sin and its causes.