Elam's Destruction

Of course, we should all be praying for אחינו כל בית ישראל הנתונים בצרה ובשביה. May HKB"H save all of us from all types of trials and tribulations, including Iranian missles.

 Yirmiya 49:34-39:

לד  אֲשֶׁר הָיָה דְבַר-יְהוָה אֶל-יִרְמְיָהוּ הַנָּבִיא, אֶל-עֵילָם:  בְּרֵאשִׁית, מַלְכוּת צִדְקִיָּה מֶלֶךְ-יְהוּדָה--לֵאמֹר.	34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
לה  כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, הִנְנִי שֹׁבֵר אֶת-קֶשֶׁת עֵילָם, רֵאשִׁית, גְּבוּרָתָם.	35 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
לו  וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶל-עֵילָם אַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת, מֵאַרְבַּע קְצוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְזֵרִתִים, לְכֹל הָרֻחוֹת הָאֵלֶּה; וְלֹא-יִהְיֶה הַגּוֹי, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָבוֹא שָׁם נִדְּחֵי עולם עֵילָם.	36 And I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the dispersed of Elam shall not come.
לז  וְהַחְתַּתִּי אֶת-עֵילָם לִפְנֵי אֹיְבֵיהֶם וְלִפְנֵי מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשָׁם, וְהֵבֵאתִי עֲלֵיהֶם רָעָה אֶת-חֲרוֹן אַפִּי--נְאֻם-יְהוָה; וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי אַחֲרֵיהֶם אֶת-הַחֶרֶב, עַד כַּלּוֹתִי אוֹתָם.	37 And I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life; and I will bring evil upon them, even My fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them;
לח  וְשַׂמְתִּי כִסְאִי, בְּעֵילָם; וְהַאֲבַדְתִּי מִשָּׁם מֶלֶךְ וְשָׂרִים, נְאֻם-יְהוָה.	38 And I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence king and princes, saith the LORD.
לט  וְהָיָה בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, אשוב אָשִׁיב אֶת-שבית שְׁבוּת עֵילָם--נְאֻם-יְהוָה.  {פ}	39 But it shall come to pass in the end of days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD. {P}

Let's go Pasuk by Pasuk.

34: Hashem is telling Yirmiyahu Hanavi what will be the fate of Elam. Elam is part of the area known today as Iran.

35: Keshet Elam - Rashi says 2 explanations:

1) Elam's hope

2) Elam's strength

Both can apply to Iran's nukes.

Metzudat David says that they use their bow (and arrow) as their main strength.  This is, in modern terminology, ballistic missiles to deliver the nukes, לא עלינו.  It also shows their religious relationship to Yishmael, who was also an archer (see Bereishit 21:20).

36: The 4 winds - Targum Yonatan says that it refers to 4 kings.  We so far only see Israel entering the conflict.  Will the US join?  Any others?

And there shall be no nation... - perhaps it's referring to Tehran itself, where there is a mass exodus of people trying to flee the capital city.  Or perhaps, it refers to the whole country and we haven't seen this yet.

37: No explanation needed.

38: And I will set My throne in Elam - from Israel's amazing first strike of the war, it was proven without a doubt that Hashem is in charge.

King and princes - Princes - yes.  King - not yet.

39: End of days - This year?

The captivity of Elam - the people of Elam will return to be ruled by Mashiah instead of Ayatollahs.

---

Iran is the "head of the octopus", as Naftali Bennett and others like to say.  Similarly, when the 4 kings fought against the 5 kings in Bereishit chapter 14, Chedorla'omer the King of Elam was the main guy in the war.  As Rashi points out, he was נכנס בעובי הקורה - he carried the heaviest part of the beam - i.e. he had the most responsibility.

Eventually, Avraham Avinu and team demolished his whole army.  Any similarities to what's happening today are purely coincidental ;-)  

---

Note that the Cosmic Clock on the sidebar of the page has reached 12:50 PM on Friday afternoon.  Note that the destruction of Iraq began in 1991 when the Cosmic Clock was at or near 12:00 noon.  And the destruction of Iran has begun around the time when the Cosmic Clock turned to 12:50 PM.

If 50 minutes is a period of Bein Hashemashot in the USA according to Rav Moshe Feinstein ZT"L, and is therefore the largest Bein Hashemashot period for the vast majority of World Jewry, then we can understand why there is a 50-minute difference between the sunsets of 2 of the 4 Malchuyot.  Hopefully, we won't need to wait long for the rest.

For further reading of the topics discussed in this post, see here, here, and here.