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The Scriptorium

Judgment on Elam

They would be judged, but they would be blessed. Jeremiah 49.34-39

Judgment on the Nations (2): Jeremiah 49 (6)

Pray Psalm 83.1-3.
Do not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!
For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;
And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.

Sing Psalm 83.1-3.
(St. Chrysostom: We Have Not Known Thee As We Ought)
O God, do not be quiet now; do not be silent, nor be still!
See how Your foes erupt in a row and those who hate You chafe at Your will.
Shrewdly they plan, conspiring as one, against Your daughters and Your sons.

Read and meditate on Jeremiah 49.34-39.


Prepare.
1. Is any reason given here for God’s judgment against Elam?

2. Is there any hope for Elam?

Meditate.
Elam was not one the nations immediately surrounding Israel. We have no record of Elam’s ever having been a problem for Israel. Elam was a province of Babylon (Dan. 8.2), and thus might be seen to share in the guilt of Babylon, the judgment of which the next section of Jeremiah’s book will detail.

So the mention of judgment against Elam could be a segue from the judgment of God against nations that had often harassed and troubled His people, to the judgment of Babylon for its role in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

But the people of Elam were bad enough on their own. They had often struck terror on their neighbors by the ferocity of their military aggression (Ezek. 32.24, 25). God hates violence and injustice, and His judgment will come against it sooner or later. The judgment against Elam outlined here includes breaking their military might (v. 35), scattering their people to the four winds (v. 36), and dismay and disaster for them all (v. 37). It seems that even the dynasty of Elamite rulers would be brought to an end as well (v. 38).

But God did not leave the people of Elam without hope. It’s quite possible the Elamites had never heard of God, except as some remote deity in a distant land. But “in the latter days” (v. 39) God promised to bring them back, and the suggestion here is that they would be part of that great “bringing back” of the nations into the new covenant God would make with His people.

Was it from Elam that one of the wise men came “from the East” to see the Child Jesus? It may well have been. And even if not, rejoice and give thanks to the Lord that even today, in Iran – ancient Persia, which would include Elam – many are coming to faith in Jesus because of the power of God’s grace and the reliability of His Word.

Reflect.
1. How does the “bringing back” of Elam look forward to the Great Commission (Matt. 28.18-20)?

2. How can you pray, and what should you pray, for those far-flung nations who have not yet heard the Gospel or come to faith in Jesus?

3. What will you do today to participate in the “bringing back” of the nations to the Lord?

It shall be in course of time that I will restore the captivity of Elam. If it be asked when this was fulfilled, doubtless there has not been a restoration of that nation recorded in history. But the Prophet no doubt gives here a hope to the Elamites, which he gave before to other nations, even that they should be united again under Christ as their head. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Jeremiah 49.39

Use me as Your witness today, Lord, to help in…

Pray Psalm 83.4-18.

Pray for the nations of the world, especially those where the persecution of God’s people exists, that God would “bring back” multitudes to Himself in a great worldwide awakening to faith.

Sing Psalm 83.4-18.
Psalm 83.4-18 (St. Chrysostom: We Have Not Known Thee As We Ought)
“Come, let us wipe them out,” they say. “Let Israel’s name no more be heard!”
Bold they conspire to do us away, and covenant against You, O Lord.
Peoples and nations cast in their lot for this ambitious, wicked plot.

Deal with them, Lord, and bring them down, as You against old foes prevailed,
When You Midian cast to the ground and all her kings and princes assailed –
all who Your pastures sought to possess You brought to ruin and deep distress.

Make them like whirling dust, O God!  Scatter them like the windblown chaff!
Rage like a fire consuming a wood, like flames that burn a mountain pass!
Blow like a tempest, bring them to harm, and terrify them with Your storm!

Fill with dishonor every face that they may seek Your Name, O Lord.
Bring them to shame, dismay, and disgrace, and let them perish under Your Word,
that they may learn Your infinite worth, O God Most High of all the earth!

T. M. Moore

You can also now listen to a weekly summary of our daily Scriptorium study. Click here for Jeremiah 46-49. You can also download for free all the weekly studies in this series on the book of Jeremiah by clicking here.

Check out the special offer on our book The Church Captive. Are churches today captive like the people of Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day? Order your copy of The Church Captive and decide for yourself (click here).

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from
Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
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