Day 195: God’s Dealings with Terrorists

Jeremiah 49:34-39

Yahweh’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, “Yahweh of Armies says:
‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
the chief of their might.
I will bring on Elam the four winds from the four quarters of the sky,
and will scatter them toward all those winds.
There will be no nation where the outcasts of Elam will not come.
I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies,
and before those who seek their life.
I will bring evil on them, even my fierce anger,’ says Yahweh;
‘and I will send the sword after them,
until I have consumed them.
I will set my throne in Elam,
and will destroy from there king and princes,’ says Yahweh.
‘But it will happen in the latter days
that I will reverse the captivity of Elam,’ says Yahweh.”

Once again, we are not told why God was so angry with the nation of Elam. I did a search through the Bible, though, and found something pretty horrible from the next prophet in the Bible: Ezekiel. Listen to what he prophesied:

Ezekiel 32:24-25

“There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. They have set her a bed among the slain with all her multitude. Her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. He is put among those who are slain.

So we read that these people were known to be terrorists by God. God simply decided to give them what they gave to others. In Jeremiah we read that God decided to crush Elam and set up His own throne there. In our world, there are those in the Middle East who desire to completly crush Israel and remove the entire nation. God makes it clear that He will be crushing those who think this way. God gives terror to terrorists but that’s not all. God also gives mercy. Once again, we read that God will “reverse the captivity of Elam” someday. Once again, no reason was given. I believe that there probably wasn’t a reason other than God’s own decision. God’s grace extends to the worst of sinners. Perhaps He chose to save Elam to demonstrate His mercy and grace for all of us.