THEOSISJerome of Stridon
And the Lord spoke to me, saying, Son of man, consume your bread with unease and drink your water with urgency and grief. Announce to the inhabitants of the land, Thus says the Sovereign Lord to those living in Jerusalem, in the land of Israel: they will eat their bread with distress and drink their water with hardship, for the land will be stripped of its abundance due to the wrongdoing of all its inhabitants. The cities that are now filled will face destruction, and the land will become desolate, and you will know that I am the Lord.
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After delivering the message concerning the prince and his associates, which was revealed through a corporeal vision, he turns his attention to the people, sharing what was revealed to him with the residents of Jerusalem. During the trials of the siege, they will partake of their bread with sorrow and scarcity, and their water not in surplus, but with anguish. This is said unto you, O prophet, so you may convey to your fellow citizens, and say, Thus says the Lord God to those who dwell in Jerusalem, in the land of Israel: You who are besieged by Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans will face the agony of famine and thirst. The entire land will be devastated, reflecting the condition of its people. Let them not assume this adversity has come upon them without justification; inform them, he commands, that due to their iniquity, all the cities of the Jews will be turned into ruins, and the entire population will perish, so that they may recognize the punishing God whom they neglected to acknowledge when He showed them mercy.
In a symbolic way, we might consider the residents of Jerusalem as those who believe in Christ and reside in the Church. If their sins warrant divine wrath, they will experience their sustenance with scarcity and consume their water with grief, longing not for mere food or drink but for the Word and teachings of God. For when, either through the failures of leaders who should have been captured and surrendered to the Babylonians, or through our complacency, we lose the precious Word of God and find ourselves unsatisfied in our spiritual thirst, we will partake of our nourishment amidst sorrow and lack. The community of believers will diminish, and all Churches across the world will face devastation, leading to a desolate Earth, that all may recognize the Lord's displeasure. This understanding can also be applied to times of persecution.