Daily Devotions
Jeremiah
"Against Elam I will bring the four winds"
Text: Jeremiah 49:36
THE MIGHTY EMPIRES OF OLD
Assyria was the empire that destroyed Israel. But Assyria was conquered by Babylon, who in turn destroyed Judah. The Babylonians would in time be conquered by the Persians. Elam was the alternative name used in this text. But Elam would also one day be conquered by others.
“The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam,
in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
‘Thus says the LORD of hosts:
‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
The foremost of their might.
Against Elam I will bring the four winds
From the four quarters of heaven,
And scatter them toward all those winds;
There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go.'”
Jeremiah 49:34-36
1. “The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam,
in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying”
a) The LORD gave a word to Jeremiah concerning Elam.
b) Elam was not even a great power at that time.
c) This prophecy was given in the reign of Zedekiah.
d) It was an amazing prophecy.
i) It was given before Elam became a mighty empire.
ii) This prophecy warned that Elam would become a world power
but it would be destroyed in the process of time.
2. “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
the foremost of their might.'”
a) This prophetic word was given by the LORD of hosts Himself.
b) Elam’s great might was in the archers that it had.
c) But the power of the bow would be broken one day.
3. “Against Elam I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven,
and scatter them toward all those winds;
there shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go”
a) Elam would be defeated by:
i) The four winds.
ii) From the four quarters of heaven.
b) The number “four” could be a reference to the four powerful generals of Alexander the Great.
c) Alexander and his four generals were noted for the speed in which they moved.
d) The Greek Empire would be the power that crushed Elam (the Persian empire).
e) Elam’s people would become outcasts and they would be sold as slaves and scattered world-wide.