John Calvin Commentary Genesis 38:7

"And Er, Judah`s first-born, was wicked in the sight of Jehovah. And Jehovah slew him." — Genesis 38:7 (ASV)

And the Lord slew him. We know that long life is counted among the gifts of God, and justly: for since being created in the image of God is by no means an insignificant honor, the longer anyone lives in the world and daily experiences God’s care for him, it is certain that he is more bountifully dealt with by the Lord.

Even amid the many miseries with which life is filled, this divine goodness still shines forth, that God invites us to himself and trains us in the knowledge of himself; while at the same time he adorns us with such dignity that he subjects to our authority whatever is in the world.

Therefore, it is no wonder that God, as an act of kindness, prolongs human life. From this it follows that when the wicked are taken away by a premature death, a punishment for their wickedness is inflicted upon them: for it is as if the Lord pronounces judgment from heaven that they are unworthy to be sustained by the earth, unworthy to enjoy the common light of heaven.

Let us therefore learn, as long as God keeps us in the world, to meditate on his benefits, so that everyone may more cheerfully endeavor to give praise to God for the life received from him.

And although, even today, sudden death is to be counted among the scourges of God (since that doctrine is always true: Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days (Psalms 55:23)), yet God executed this judgment more fully under the Law, when the knowledge of a future life was comparatively obscure. For now, since the resurrection is clearly manifested to us in Christ, death should not be so greatly dreaded. And this difference between us and the ancient people of God is noted elsewhere.

Nevertheless, it can never be stated as a general rule that those who had a long life were thereby proved to be pleasing and acceptable to the Lord, whereas God has sometimes lengthened the life of reprobates to aggravate their punishment. We know that Cain survived his brother Abel for many centuries.

But just as God does not always, and for all people, cause his temporal benefits to flow clearly in a perpetual and consistent course, so, on the other hand, neither does he always execute temporal punishments by the same rule. It is enough that, as far as the present life is concerned, certain examples of punishments and rewards are set before us.

Moreover, just as the miseries of the present life, which spring from the corruption of nature, do not extinguish the first and special grace of God, so, on the other hand, death (which is in itself the curse of God) is so far from causing any harm that it tends, by a supernatural remedy, to the salvation of the elect.

Especially now, since the first-fruits of the resurrection in Christ have been offered, the condition of those who are swiftly taken from life is in no way worsened, because Christ himself is gain both in life and in death. But the vengeance of God was so clear and remarkable in the death of Er that the earth might plainly appear to have been purged of its filthiness.