34 That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
35 “Thus says the Lord of hosts,
‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
The [y]finest of their might.
36 ‘I will bring upon Elam the four winds
From the four ends of heaven,
And will scatter them to all these winds;
And there will be no nation
To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.
37 ‘So I will [z]shatter Elam before their enemies
And before those who seek their lives;
And I will bring calamity upon them,
Even My fierce anger,’ declares the Lord,
‘And I will send out the sword after them
Until I have consumed them.
38 ‘Then I will set My throne in Elam
And destroy [aa]out of it king and princes,’
Declares the Lord.
39 ‘But it will come about in the last days
That I will restore the [ab]fortunes of Elam,’”
Declares the Lord.
And finally in this chapter with many nations, we come to Elam. This was an ancient name for some of the peoples of Persia and they were (at least at some point) allied with Babylon in their conquests. Later, Persia would actually take over and conquer Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar’s weak and foolish son took the throne. Long before that time, and even longer before their downfall, God proclaimed disaster on those who would be a mighty power for decades (even centuries).
The Elamites apparently trusted in their warriors and especially their tradition of archery, but God promised to break that bow and destroy their king and princes. That’s all very interesting, and sad for the Elamites, but is there anything we can learn from them?
One thing that stands out to me is v. 38, where God will set His throne in Elam. That’s an odd thing to say, but it is something we should pay attention to. Though God would forcibly depose their king and take his place, now He “stands at the door and knocks”. His offer of salvation, provided by the sacrifice of Jesus, is to all peoples, not just the “nice” or deserving ones. For none of us deserves anything of God but punishment.
On that train of thought, some of these peoples were actually present for Peter’s sermon at the temple in Acts 2 (verse 9), where Peter proclaimed the message of salvation that had come. In order to join God’s kingdom though, that means He needs to be on the throne, the throne of our lives and hearts. It is no good to just invite Him to walk alongside as a friend, though He can and will. Rather, we must crown Christ, and make Him Lord in our life.
There are a lot of things vying for that position, none of them deserve it. Only one has earned that place with His selfless love. We need to dust off that throne, and put Jesus first, let Him rule and reign in His rightful place. Then we will join with Elamites and Israelites and so many others, proclaiming Him as Lord and walking in His light.