In the times before computers and smartphones became so common, a Bible concordance was a wonderful tool for finding words in the Bible. Furthermore, if you could find words, you could also find expressions, although it could be quite a lot of work. The very first expression I remember looking up in a concordance was “terror on every side”. As a
teenager, it seemed to me that I came across it on every second page when we were reading through Jeremiah as a family. So I pulled out my copy of Strong’s Concordance – the one with a gaudy purple cover which I still have – and began the search.
It’s much easier to do now, although I doubt that I remember the results as well as when I used to search in a “real” book.
In the Bible, the expression “terror on every side” (with small variations) occurs only eight
times, with all but two of them (Job 18:11 and Psalm 31:13) being in the writings of Jeremiah. It’s a very evocative expression, the stuff of our worst nightmares, and was particularly appropriate for a time when the nation was about to be attacked and overwhelmed by a terrifying horde of brutal warriors from Babylon. Jeremiah spoke of inescapable judgement, and the phrase “Terror on Every Side!” captures the horror of his message.
Terror on Every
Side!
Jeremiah 6:25 Against Jerusalem, probably around the time of Jehoahaz
Jeremiah 20:3 Against Passhur, a priest, probably early in the time of Jehoiakim
Jeremiah 20:10 Whisperings against Jeremiah, probably early in the time of Jehoiakim
Jeremiah 46:5 Against Egypt, probably before the fourth year of Jehoiakim
Jeremiah 49:5, 29 Against the Ammonites, Kedar and Hazor, probably during the reign of Jehoiakim
Lamentations 2:22 Jeremiah’s reflections on the destruction
of Jerusalem
Similar thoughts are mentioned after the destruction of Jerusalem in Ezekiel 32:23, 25, 26, where God speaks of the punishment of various nations who spread terror in the land of the living.
It takes little imagination to understand what is meant about these nations, and particularly about the Babylonians.
The owner of a peaceful country home in Judah suddenly sees an army cresting the hill behind his house. He looks down the valley for a way of escape, but there he sees another detachment of troops marching swiftly up the valley. The sunlight glints on their spears and a trumpet sounds the attack. They break into a run, climbing up towards him, and his last hope of escape is further up the valley where he knows a cave with a concealed
entrance. Desperately he swings around; away from his home; away from his family; running, running; but as he does so, he sees for the first time the cavalry, picking their way down the valley towards him. No way out. There is Terror on Every Side!
Jerusalem endured a siege for 18 months while all the food in the city was gradually exhausted, and then, finally, a breach was made in the wall and the attacking Babylonians were inside the
city.
Try to share the emotions of a terrified mother and her helpless children as they cower in their house in Jerusalem while the sounds of fighting come ever closer. The minutes drag on like hours.
Suddenly there is a banging on the door, and the mother urgently signals to the children to
keep silent. The banging becomes louder and more insistent. From the roof above, a heavy thud suggests that someone has jumped onto the roof from the house next door. A second and third thud follow. Other men may be joining the first, but the terrified mother can’t be sure what new dangers are coming. A heavy blow comes from above and a shower of dust falls from the beams and thatch overhead. The family huddles under a bench as the banging on the door
intensifies, while the blows from above are now accompanied by shouts of “Fire! Fire!” and small wisps of smoke begin to curl under the thatch.
A room at the back of the house has a stone roof and the mother senses a way of escape. Suddenly, she crawls out from under the bench and motions frantically to her children to follow. As they urgently but silently cross the room, a heavier blow from above breaks a roof beam and it falls to the floor in the
middle of the room, narrowly missing the youngest child, and covering them all with a shower of thatch. The desperate mother snatches up the bewildered child and they all run for the back door as a shouting face peers from above into the darkness of the room. But they have been seen and their hope of secrecy is gone.
Involuntarily, the oldest child screams as the front door splinters and swings back limply on its hinges. The huge bulk of a Chaldean soldier fills the
opening, sword in hand and a snarl on his lips.
Shrinking back against the wall, the mother tries to hide the children behind her. Then fear paralyses her; they are trapped; nowhere to go. All that is left is Terror on Every Side!
God’s people truly were surrounded by terrors as God wreaked his vengeance on them. Jeremiah had prophesied for forty years and God continued to give them the opportunity to
repent, but they wouldn’t listen.
Do you listen to God’s warnings and act on them?
