TWO DISTINCT PROPHECIES ABOUT IRAN
―Lately, a very interesting interpretation of the prophecies about the future Iran has been presented...
Je.49:34-39 and Ezk.38 and 39, each prophecy describes entirely different events...
The fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning Iran is now imminent...
Jeremiah may have predicteda destructive fate of Iran’s nuclear program―
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘See, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might. I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven; I will scatter them to the four winds, and there will not be a nation where Elam’s exiles do not go. I will shatter Elam before their foes, before those who want to kill them; I will bring disaster on them, even my fierce anger,’ declares the LORD. ‘I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them. I will set my throne in Elam and destroy her king and officials,’ declares the LORD. ‘Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come,’ declares the LORD.
JEREMIAH 49:34-39.
“The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you. I will cause your hordes to fall by the swords of mighty men –the most ruthless of all nations. They will shatter the pride of Egypt, and all her hordes will be overthrown…… ‘Assyria is there with her whole army…… ‘Elam is there, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword. All who had spread terror in the land of the living went down uncircumcised to the earth below. They bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. A bed is made for her among the slain, with all her hordes around her grave. All of them are uncircumcised, killed by the sword. Because their terror had spread in the land of the living, they bear their shame with those who go down to the pit; they are laid among the slain. ‘Meshek and Tubal are there…
EZEKIEL 32:11-26.
The Scripture speaks of ‘Elam’ as a son of Shem and his descendant ‘Chedorlaomer’ was a king of Elam at the time of Abraham. Abraham who had his private army consisting of more than three hundred men defeated Chedorlaomer’s alliance and rescued his relative Lot, Lot’s whole family and his possessions that were captured by Chedorlaomer (Ge.14:1-16). The ancient kingdom of Elam was located about 320km east of Babylon and at the northern head of the Persian Gulf. At the time of the prophet Jeremiah, Babylon was on the rise and ultimately the Babylonians conquered the Assyrians and Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem, and the Southern Kingdom, Judah was taken to Babylonian Exile, while ‘Elam’ aligned herself with the Medes who consequently allied herself with the Persians. Therefore, when the most powerful world empire Babylon fell to the Medo-Persian Empire, the Elamites were in alliance with the Medes and the Persians. Alexander the Great eventually succeeded the Medo-Persian Empire and ruled the Middle East.
An earlier capital of ‘Elam’ is Susa, where, in the “Book of Esther”, Esther’s marriage to the King of Persia, Ahasuerus ultimately led to the Jews’ miraculous escape from annihilation, and the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem after their repatriation from Babylonian captivity. From the time when Persia rose to power around 550 BCE, Elam became one of its satrapies and Susa became the winter residence of the Persian kings. Today Elam would be associated with a portion of Iran. According to the book of Ezra, 200 years earlier than the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, some of the Elamites seem to have settled in Samaria, deported under the reign of the great and noble Assyrian King Ashurbanipal in 640BCE after the fall of the Northern Israel in 721BCE:
Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates – the judges, officials and administrators over the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa, and the other people whom the great and honourable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates(Ezra4:9-10, Line added).
Elamites are also mentioned in the Book of Acts 2:9. They were among the crowd that witnessed the miraculous event of the filling with the Holy Spirit and they heard Peter’s first sermon on the day of Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ in the first century:
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken... how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites…we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Line added).
The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied Elam’s doom as quoted in the beginning. Jeremiah prophesied about nine Gentile nations (Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus which implies Syria, Kedar, Hazor, both of which make up Arabia and Elam) who would be judged through Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, in the same way as God punished Israel because of her disobedience to Him in chapters 46 to 49. Jeremiah summed up a great principle of God there:
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD(Je.9:23-24),
and in 49:35, the Lord pays special attention to Elam’s ‘might’ :
See, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might.
Indeed, Elam was good at archery and relied on their own strength as Isaiah 22:6 also mentions concerning a prophecy of woe upon the ‘Vallay of Vision’, i.e., Jerusalem:
Elam takes up the quiver, with her charioteers and horses (Line added).
In the passage of the nine Gentiles nations’ prophecies, Jeremiah also refers to Ammon as relying on its god Molech (Milcom), Edom as relying on its wisdom and its crags, Damascus on its fame, and Kedar on its remoteness and its mobility. All Gentile nations as well as God’s own people relied on the worldly, physical advantage and this remains the same today.
Under the rule of the god of this world, Satan, there will be no end to wars and strife although God is ultimately in charge and it is God Himself that raises up kingdoms and brings them down. God uses His chosen vessels, even His enemies in different ways to judge and chastise His own people Israel, let alone the Gentiles. According to the Scripture, there are supernatural powers and agency behind the major world powers such as the prince of the power of Persia, and behind the nations’ warfare in this world, supernatural warfare is going on as well:
“Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia...... Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth…
(Da.10:11-21, Lines added).
Lately, a very interesting interpretation of the prophecies about the future Iran has been presented by Bill Salus, the author of the book entitled “Nuclear Showdown in Iran: Revealing The Ancient Prophecy of ELAM”. Jeremiah was engaged in his prophetic ministry at around 627 to 586 BCE and Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry spanned between 593 and 571BCE, and so, Jeremiah’s utterances about Elam seem to have predated Ezekiel’s. Bill Salus argues that Jeremiah addressed the fate of Elam in Je.49:34-39 and Ezekiel explained the destiny of Persia in Ezk.38 and 39, and as ancient Elam and Persia comprise today’s modern-day Iran, so Iran has double trouble ahead in the end-times because each prophecy describes entirely different events. He points out the importance of making a geographical distinction between these prophecies spoken by Jeremiah and Ezekel. Keeping in mind that the primary locations of Ezekiel 38:8, :16, :18, 39:2, :4, :9, :11, and :17 are all inside of Israel, Salus argues that the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecies concerning Iran is now imminent prior to Ezekiel’s, and that Jeremiah may have predicted a destructive fate of Iran’s nuclear program (Iran’s foremost place of its might, the Bushehr nuclear reactor is located in the very heart of ancient Elam), which would end with a disaster, and also that Jeremiah predicts today’s spiritual showdown in Iran.
Salus puts it:
Iran fiercely angers the Lord. As a result of the Lord’s burning anger, a disaster occurs in Iran, not Israel……The disaster is of the nature that it necessitates a wide-scale expulsion of Iranians out of the affected area. This worldwide dispersion may have the makings of the magnitude of a humanitarian crisis because the prophecy predicts that there will be “no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go.” Perhaps, this alludes to a dispersion that is necessitated by radioactive fallout coming from the Bushehr nuclear plant located in the area of ancient Elam. Studies have been conducted that indicate a disaster at this nuclear facility could create an epic catastrophe.…… Additionally, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) suffers a devastating blow as they are struck at the “foremost of their might.” At the time of the catastrophe, Iran has enemies that witness the calamity. In addition to the Lord, Iran has no shortage of enemies today, and for a variety of differing reasons. Below is a basic list of three notable adversaries of Iran:① Israelis are concerned that Iran wants to wipe Israel off the face of the map and transform their country into another Iranian proxy state called Palestine. This is why Israel keeps the threat of military action against Iran on the table.② The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council of Arab states), which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman, are deeply concerned about Iran’s rogue regime, unchecked nuclear program, and attempts to spread its hegemony throughout the entire Middle East. This is one of the primary reasons the GCC is forming its own combat coalition and formed a committee to study the potential dangers of the Bushehr nuclear plant. The Al Arabiya headline and accompanying paragraph below illustrate this genuine GCC concern…… “The risk of radiation from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, if there is an accident, is extremely high to the GCC states. Studies and analyses suggest that any leak from the plant will affect the GCC’s water supplies especially desalinization plant operation. In the event of a radiation leak, clouds of radioactive material will drift to the GCC states in just 15 hours. While the radiation would affect only about 10 percent of the Iranian population, in the GCC states, 40 to 100 percent of the population would be affected.”③ The international community might be considered a third enemy of Iran. Many world leaders are concerned about Iran’s nuclear program, state sponsorship of global terrorism, and threats to choke off Middle East oil supplies by closing off the narrow Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s international ring of terror is acknowledged in the headline below. “Iran Terror Network Prolific, US Report Says” Jerusalem Post 5/1/14: “State Department annual report focuses on Iran’s expansive efforts to fund and funnel arms to Islamist organizations, including Hamas and Hezbollah.”These are the three primary enemies of Iran today, and any or all of them could be used as instruments of the Lord to execute His judgment upon Elam. Although their motives all differ, preventing Iran from developing or acquiring nuclear weapons unites them in a common cause (Numbers ①②③, added).
Salus also points out a positive side of Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning Elam (Iran), by previewing 49:38 as a prediction of the spiritual showdown, in that the ancient territory, Elam, whose history dates back before the time of Abraham may soon become the focal point of a Nuclear Showdown in Iran, followed by a worldwide flowing of Iranian exiles. Although this verse can generally be interpreted that as even imperial rulers are all placed under God’s control, and it may otherwise be expressed that the Lord will set His throne in Elam, Salus specifically puts it: Jeremiah concludes with good news for the Iranians. He proclaims that the Lord will set His throne in Elam, and surviving Iranian refugees will be restored to their homeland in the latter days. On an interesting side note, Jerusalem in Jeremiah 3:16-17, and Iran in Jeremiah 49:38 are the only two earthly locations identified in the Bible for the whereabouts of the Lord’s throne. He highlights the Lord’s promise in verse 39; ‘I will restore the fortunes of Elam’ as a proof text that Iranian refugees of Jeremiah in v.36 survive the Ezekiel 38 prophecy (where Persia is decisively to be defeated during the Ezekiel 38 invasion), by being exiled in other countries and protected from Iran’s defeat, while Ezekiel 38 and 39 make no promises to restore the fortunes of Persia.
It is also interesting that Ezekiel did not include Elam among the allied nations who would invade Israel in the latter days and be eventually destroyed, although he was familiar with Elam, to whom he referred to in Ezk. 32:34-35 as quoted in the beginning. Salus presumes this to be an intentional exclusion. Therefore, Jeremiah’s prophecy about Elam occurs before Iranian (Persian) invasion as a part of an alliance of nations with ‘Gog, land of Magog’ in Ezekiel 38. According to Salus, ancient Elam which comprises about one-sixth of modern-day Iran and who is physically separated from greater Iran by the Zagros Mountain range, could experience a geographically isolated disaster without preventing Iran (Persia) from joining Ezekiel 38 invasion.
Salus has a bright perspective beyond the imminent crisis as follows:
From the onset it may sound like a classic case of newspaper exegesis, but Jeremiah 49:35 plainly predicts an attack that breaks Iran’s “bow” at the “foremost” place of its “might.” If this prophecy is imminent, then the mainstay of Iran’s military prowess might be its developing nuclear program. If Iran continues to spin its estimated 19,000 centrifuges at their current pace, experts say they could produce a nuclear weapon in as little time as six weeks……Additionally, Iran is manufacturing ICBMs (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles), which can deliver a nuclear payload abroad into places such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Europe and beyond. An attack upon Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility in Elam could be the cause of the disaster of Jeremiah 49:37 that leads to the worldwide dispersion predicted in Jeremiah 49:36……Presently, there is a supernatural spiritual showdown taking place in Iran between Christianity and Islam……Since the God of the Bible is the only God, all others, including Allah, who claim godhead, are treacherous imposters. The Lord must preserve His holy name in order to protect His believers from harm and deception; Iran is no exception. Moreover, Iran currently hosts the fastest growing evangelical population in the world, which makes the spiritual stakes even higher today……Hormoz Shariat informed me that approximately two years ago the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, decreed that all Christian home churches were to be shut down, and all pastors imprisoned. This edict has led to the wide spread persecution of Iranian Christians. This religious national diktat was issued because Christianity was spreading exponentially within Iran.(http://www.prophecyinthenews.com/author/billsalus38/)
Today, Iran is understood to have the fastest growing evangelical population in the world, where Christ is accepted by the multitudes. Iranians who have accepted Christ might be led to return to their restored homeland in Elam after their global exile, where the Lord’s throne would be gloriously established along with Jerusalem.