John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 10

Jeremiah enters here on a new subject. Though he had, no doubt, taught this truth often, I consider it distinct from what has gone before, for he begins here a new attack on those superstitions to which the Jews were then extremely addicted. He exhorts them first to hear the word of Jehovah, for they had so hardened themselves in the errors they had derived from the Gentiles, and the contagion had so prevailed, that they could not be easily drawn away from them. This, then, is the reason why he used a sort of preface and said, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, which he speaks to you, O house of Israel.

He then mentions the error in which the Chaldeans and the Egyptians were involved, for they were, we know, very attentive observers of the stars. This is expressly stated because the Jews despised God’s judgments and greatly feared what was foolishly divined. For when anyone, by looking at the stars, threatened them with some calamity, they were immediately terrified; but when God pronounced upon them, as with the sound of a trumpet, a calamity by His prophets, they were not at all moved. But it will be better to examine the very words of the prophet, as then we shall more plainly see the drift of the whole.

Learn not, he says, the way of the nations. The Hebrew grammarians take אל (al) as את (at). Way, we know, is everywhere taken to mean all those customs and habits by which human life is regulated. He then forbids them to pay attention to the rules of life observed by the Gentiles.

He specifies one thing: Be not terrified by celestial signs. He afterwards shows how vain the practices of the Gentiles were; being devoted to idols, they worshipped them in the place of God, though framed by the skill of man.

But other words are added: For the heathens are terrified by them. There is a threefold exposition of this clause. Some take כי (ki), properly a causative, in the sense of כ (kaph), which denotes likeness, “as the Gentiles are terrified by them.” Others regard it as an adversative, “though,” and כי (ki) often has this meaning. Still others give this explanation: “For it is the case with the Gentiles that they are terrified by them,” as though God had said that it was extremely absurd for the Jews to be terrified by celestial signs, because they ought to have left this folly, or rather madness, to the Gentiles, as God regarded them as wholly blind. Let us now come to the subject.

Learn not, he says, the way of the Gentiles. This is a general precept. The law was a sure rule for the Jews and prescribed for them the limits of duty; they ought, therefore, to have followed what God taught them in His law, and not to have turned aside either to the right hand or to the left, according to what Moses also had said.

But as human minds are always unruly, they were very desirous of knowing what the Gentiles observed; but whenever this unruliness possesses people’s minds, they necessarily blend darkness with light. It was then, for this reason, that Jeremiah reminded them that nothing was to be learned from the Gentiles, as though he had said, “You ought to be satisfied with the simple doctrine of the Law; for unless you are content with having God as your teacher, you will necessarily go astray. Unless, then, you willfully seek to err, keep the way that is pointed out to you in the Law, and do not turn aside to the rites and practices of the Gentiles.”

After having given them a general command not to turn aside from the plain doctrine of the Law, he specifies one thing in particular: Be not terrified by celestial signs, that is, “Do not suppose that prosperity or adversity depends on the position or aspect of the stars.” There seems, however, to be some inconsistency here, for he mentions the stars as signs; it therefore follows that something is intimated by their position. Moses also says that the sun and moon, and all the stars (and especially the planets), were to be for signs.

There are, at the same time, in the firmament, twelve signs by which astrologers especially make their calculations. Since, then, God has, from the beginning of the creation, appointed what they call the fixed stars in the firmament, as well as the planets, to be for signs, the prophet seems not to have acted rightly in forbidding the Jews to fear such signs. For these signs in the heavens are not the vain fictions of men, but what God has created and appointed. We have already stated that the stars are not called signs through the foolish conceit of men, but this designation was given to them by God Himself when they were first created; and if the stars presage to us either prosperity or adversity, it follows that they ought to be dreaded by us.

But the prophet here does not use the word “signs” in its proper meaning, for he does not refer to its true origin but accommodates himself to the notions that then prevailed. We must bear in mind what I have already said: that the Egyptians and Chaldeans were much given to that astrology which is called judicial astrology today.

The word itself may be allowed, but it was long ago profaned by wicked and unprincipled people, whose object has been to make gain by mere falsehoods. There is no doubt that the Egyptians and the Chaldeans were true astrologers and understood the art, which in itself is praiseworthy; for to observe the stars, what else is it but to contemplate that wonderful workmanship in which the power, as well as the wisdom and goodness of God, shines forth?

Indeed, astrology may justly be called the alphabet of theology, for no one can with a right mind come to the contemplation of the celestial framework without being enraptured with admiration at the display of God’s wisdom, as well as His power and goodness. I have no doubt, then, that the Chaldeans and the Egyptians had learned that art, which in itself is not only to be approved but is also most useful, and contains not only the most delightful speculations but ought also to contribute much towards exciting in human hearts a high reverence for God.

Hence Moses was instructed from his childhood in that art, and also Daniel among the Chaldeans (Acts 7:22; Daniel 1:17, 20). Moses learned astrology as understood by the Egyptians, and Daniel as known by the Chaldeans; but the art among them was at that time much adulterated, for they had mingled, as I have already said, foolish divinations with the true and genuine science.

Since, then, the prophet’s meaning seems evident, the truth remains fixed that the sun, moon, other planets, and the fixed stars in the firmament are for signs. But we must also notice here the purpose for which God intended the sun and moon to be signs. His purpose was that the lunar course should complete one month and the solar course one year.

And then the twelve signs were designed to serve another purpose: for when the sun is in Cancer, it does not have the same power and influence as when it is in Virgo; and it differs with respect to the other signs. In short, regarding the order of nature, the stars—the planets as well as the fixed stars—are signs for us.

We number years by the solar course and months by the lunar; and then the sun, with respect to the twelve signs, introduces spring, then summer, then autumn, and finally winter. There are other purposes, but we include in one sentence whatever can be said of the celestial signs when we say that they relate to the order of nature.

Whoever, then, seeks to make more of these signs confuses the order established by God, as the Chaldeans and Egyptians formerly did when they sought to ascend higher than reason warranted. They tried to conjecture from the position of the stars what the fates of all nations would be, and then they dared to descend to the cases of individuals.

Hence arose those who cast nativities. Then they first began more anxiously to philosophize that the sun, when in a certain sign, portends the death of an only son for one person and happy events for another. But these are things, as we have said, that are beyond the usual order of nature.

For instance, that there is to be summer and winter is natural and common; but that there is to be war between one nation and another is not by the usual order of things, nor does it take place according to what nature appoints, but through human ambition and avarice.

The hidden providence of God indeed rules, but we speak of causes that ought to be understood by us and can be comprehended by us, for they are within the reach of our understanding.

It must at the same time be observed that the course of the stars is in itself of no moment, for we see that God varies the seasons: there is not always the same state of weather; we have no winters and no summers exactly alike; there is no year that is not dissimilar to the former, and the third that follows differs from the second.

Therefore, we learn that God has so formed and ordered the sun, the moon, and all the stars, that He Himself still governs and changes the seasons as it pleases Him. In this way we account for sterilities, pestilences, and other things of this kind. When the air seems temperate, pestilence prevails, the year is less fruitful, people are famished, and no cause appears.

Then this diversity in nature itself shows that God has not resigned His power to the stars, but that He so works by them that He still holds the reins of government, and that He, according to His own will, rules the world in a way different from what even the most astute can divine by the stars. Yet this is no reason why we should deny them the office I have mentioned.

But those who exceed the limits fixed by God and seek to form conjectures respecting war in this country and peace in that—they who thus seek to learn from the stars what is beyond the order of nature—blend heaven and earth together. The prophet, no doubt, intended to condemn this madness when he forbade the Jews to pay attention to the celestial signs so as to dread them.

But the reason must also be noted why the prophet so severely condemned that fear that prevailed among the Gentiles: it was because when the opinion prevailed that all events depended on the stars, the fear of God was removed, nothing was ascribed to His judgments, faith was extinguished, and prayer to God and all the ordinances of religion were reduced to nothing.

For all the astrologers who falsely assume so honorable a name—indeed, those unprincipled people who add to their impostures the name of judicial astrology—hold and maintain that a judgment respecting a person’s life ought to be formed by the horoscope, as though the fortune of everyone depended on the stars.

When, therefore, anyone is born at a certain hour, this or that condition, according to them, awaits that person. Thus they imagine that there is a fate, or some necessity, that holds a person bound to the influence of the sun, moon, and stars: for he was born when the sun was in the tail of that sign or in the head of another; his birth portends such and such fortune; he will live but a short time, or he will live long.

Thus they judge. And they go even further, and pronounce on every occurrence: “Such will be the issue of this expedition; this, during the year, will be unhappily undertaken, but that will succeed.” Afterwards, when a nativity is not taken into account, they subject the whole human race to the uncontrollable influence of the stars: “See, if you undertake this business on such a day, you will succeed; but if you begin before mid-day, the issue will be unsuccessful.” Thus they divine concerning the whole life of a person with regard to each of their actions, but God never intended the stars to be signs for such purposes.

Now, as I have said, it therefore follows that God does not rule, and thus faith is extinguished, and all the exercises of religion are reduced to nothing. For whoever is persuaded that he is bound by necessity because the horoscope is of such a character—that he must necessarily die at such an hour and necessarily die of a certain kind of death—will anyone who has this conviction call on God? Will he commend his life to His keeping? And then, when any adversity happens, who will bear it as a punishment for his sins? Will he acknowledge that he is called to judgment by God? And if he should prosper, will he be led to sing praises to God?

Thus we see that this divination extinguishes all religion, for there will be no faith, no recognition of punishment, no acknowledgment of God’s blessings, and no concern for sin, whenever this diabolical error possesses our minds—that we are subject to the stars, that such and such is our nativity, and that the stars portend some kind of death every day and every moment.

This, then, is what is especially intended by the prophet in forbidding the Jews to be terrified by the celestial signs, for the Chaldeans, no doubt, prophesied that they would have a new empire, and thus they frightened the miserable Jews: “It is all over with us, for the astrologers among the Chaldeans have so spoken; and on the other hand, the Egyptians also see that this has been foreshown by the position of the stars.” Thus it happened that the Jews became, as it were, wholly lifeless.

Nor did they remember what God had so often, and for so many years, threatened by His prophets to do if they continued to provoke His wrath. They made no account of God’s judgment; and yet the persuasion that the Chaldeans announced a judgment by the stars, and that there would be some convulsion, filled them with terror and amazement.

Hence the prophet, in order to lead them to repentance as well as to faith—which are the two essentials of religion and include in them the perfection of true wisdom—speaks to them in effect: “Fear not the stars, but fear God.” For a contrast between God and the stars is implied, as though he had said, “When any adversity happens to you, know that you are chastised by God’s hand, who is a just avenger of sins.”

This was to teach them repentance; it was to show them that they justly suffered because they had been perverse in their wickedness. Then follows the other fact: that though the stars threatened calamity and destruction, they were to flee to God’s mercy and never doubt their safety, provided He was propitious to them. We now, then, understand the prophet’s object in telling them not to fear the stars.

More things might be said, but I study brevity as far as I can, and I trust that I have briefly included what is sufficient for understanding this passage. There are many, I know, today who are foolishly curious and therefore wish some account to be made of judicial astrology; and this delirium has taken possession of some pious and truly learned people. But we see what God here declares by His servant.

And I wonder that some are so credulous regarding the stars, who yet speak with extreme subtlety on free will. They would have the events of things be fortuitous, they would have it that people act freely in both ways, and they hate and abhor fate; and yet they confine God, as it were, in a prison and would have the stars rule.

This is a prodigy to me, not a sign. But I leave all these things. Let the plain doctrine of the prophet be deemed sufficient for us, when he says that we are not to be terrified by signs, for it belongs to the Gentiles to be terrified in this way. For I am disposed to take this meaning—that the prophet says this was a kind of blindness that belonged to them: “Leave,” he says, “this folly to the Gentiles; it is no wonder that they labor under so many errors and delusions, for celestial truth has never shone upon them. But it becomes you to fear God and to rely on His mercy.”

The Prophet seems to break off from his subject and even to reason inconclusively; for he had said in the last verse, Learn not the rites of the Gentiles, and fear not the celestial signs; and he now adds, Because the rites of the Gentiles are vanity; for wood they cut down from the forest. He seems then, as though forgetting himself, to have moved on to idols.

But we must observe that the Jews were influenced by that ancient opinion that the Chaldeans and the Egyptians alone were wise, and that they had acquired a reputation of this kind among all nations. We also find that heathen writers, when speaking of the origin of the sciences, trace them back to the Chaldeans and the Egyptians; for with them, it is said, originated astrology and all the liberal sciences. The Jews then, no doubt, allowed so much authority to the Chaldeans and the Egyptians that their minds, being possessed by that prejudice, could discern nothing correctly. The Prophet then shakes them out of this stupidity and shows how foolish they were, who yet would have themselves be considered exclusively wise, and regarded others, compared with themselves, as barbarous and ignorant. We now see then why the Prophet connects idolatry with that false and spurious astrology which he had mentioned.

He says, Laws: the word חקות (chekut) strictly means statutes. The word חק (chek) signifies to decree or to write; and hence decrees are called חקות (chekut). The word 'Law' is general; and one of those specific terms that often occurs in Scripture is 'statute.' Some render it 'Edict;' and the verb means to publish by edict. But this word is often applied to ceremonies and rites. He then says that the rites of the nations were vanity.

He then proves this: Because they cut for themselves trees from the forest; and after having polished them by art, they think them to be gods. How detestable was this madness, to think that a tree cut from the forest was a god as soon as it assumed a certain form or shape!

Since then such great and monstrous madness prevailed among the Chaldeans and the Egyptians, what correct knowledge or judgment could have been in them? The Jews then were very foolish in thinking that they were very clear-sighted. They are, he says, brute animals; for it is wholly contrary to reason to suppose that a god can be made from a dead piece of wood.

When, therefore, the Chaldeans and the Egyptians amaze and astonish you through the influence of a false opinion, derived from nothing, that they alone are wise, do you not see that you are doubly and trebly mad? For where is their wisdom when they thus make gods from trunks of trees?

We now perceive then the design of the Prophet: but as these circumstances have not been considered by interpreters, they have only elicited a frigid doctrine and gathered some general thoughts. But when anyone rightly and carefully examines the design of the Prophet, he will find how important what he teaches is; and no one can otherwise rightly understand what Jeremiah means.

A tree then does one cut, etc.: he uses the singular number. He then adds, the work of the hands of the artificer by the ax. He shows that nature itself is changed through the false imagination of men; for as soon as it takes a new form, it seems to be no longer a tree. The tree, while it grows and produces fruit, is not worshipped as God; but when it is cut down, the dead and dry trunk is substituted in the place of God. For what reason? Even because the axe has been applied. Some render it 'hatchet,' hache, ou doloire, which is the same, for there is no ambiguity in the meaning: they cut down trees from the forests, and then, after the tree was formed by the axe and worked by the hands of the artificer, what follows was done to it—

He continues with the same subject and borrows his words from the forty-fourth chapter of Isaiah (Isaiah 44); for the passage is wholly similar. Jeremiah, being later, was induced to take the words from his predecessor, so that his own nation might be more impressed on finding that the same thing was said by two Prophets, and that thus they had two witnesses.

He then says that these wise men, who filled the Jews with wonder and astonishment, adorned their images, or statues, with silver and gold, and afterward fixed them with nails and with hammers, that they might not move. Some refer the last word to the metal, “that the pieces might not come off,” as the verb sometimes means to depart. But the simpler meaning is that the statues were fixed by nails and hammers, so that they might not be moved. Then the Prophet adds by way of concession, They are indeed erect as the palm-trees; and thus there appears in them something remarkable: but they speak not; and then, being raised they are raised, that is, they cannot move themselves; for they cannot walk. Then he says, Be not afraid of them; for they do no evil, nor is it in their power to do good.

We now see what the Prophet meant to teach us: that the wisdom of the Chaldeans, and also of the Egyptians, was celebrated throughout the world, and also so blinded the Jews, or so enraptured them, that they thought that nothing proceeded from them but what deserved to be known and esteemed.

Therefore, to remove and demolish this false notion, he shows that they were beyond measure foolish. For what could have been more senseless than to think that the nature of a tree is changed as soon as it receives a new form? How? By the hand of the artificer. Can it be in the power of man to make a god at his will? This is a folly which pagan authors have derided. Horace has this sentence: —

“When the workman was uncertain whether to make a bench or Priapus,
He chose rather to make a god.”

That poet, as he dared not generally condemn the madness which then prevailed, indirectly showed how shameful it was to make a log of wood a god, because the workman had given it a form. The very richest worshipped a wooden god, while he despised the artificer! He who would not have condescended to give the workman a cup of water, yet prostrated himself before the god which the workman had made! This then is what our Prophet now says, “Behold, with silver and gold do they adorn trunks of trees; they indeed stood up, for they are erect statues;” and he compares them to palm-trees, because they stood high: and he says, “but they speak not; they are raised up, for they have no life; hence fear them not:” and then he adds, “They cannot do evil, and it is not in their power to do good.”

The Prophet seems to speak improperly when he says that they were not gods because they could do no evil, for it is wholly contrary to the nature of the only true God to do evil.

But the Prophet, according to common usage, uses the word for the infliction of punishment. God, then, is said to do evil, not because He does harm to anyone, nor because He does wrong to any mortals, but because He chastises them for their sins.

This is a way of speaking derived from common human judgment, for we call those things evils that are afflictions to us; for famine, diseases, poverty, cold, heat, disgrace, and things of this kind are called afflictions or adversities.

Now, the Prophet says that the idols of the Gentiles, or their fictitious gods, do no evil—that is, they have no power to inflict punishment on men. And this is taken from Isaiah. God uses there a twofold argument while claiming divinity to Himself alone: He says,

“I alone am He who foresees and predicts future things;”

and hence I am God alone; and then He says,

“I alone am He who does good and evil;”

hence I alone am God. (Isaiah 45:22; Isaiah 48:3, 5). He says that He does evil because He is the Judge of the world. We hence see that this expression is not to be taken in a bad sense, but, as I have said, it is to be taken in a sense used by men; for we consider and call those punishments, with which God visits us, evils.

Just as the truth concerning the gods of the pagans—that they are mere figments—would be useless and of no importance if the knowledge of the true God were not added, the Prophet now introduces God Himself. And there is another reason: no one could know that these wooden and stone gods are of no significance if the truth concerning the true God did not shine forth. Whoever does not understand that there is a God, and does not know who or what He is, can never be truly influenced by this truth: that the gods of the pagans are demons and that all their superstitions are sacrilegious.

We now perceive then why the Prophet turns to the true God: it was so that the brightness of God’s glory might dissipate the darkness in which the Gentiles were involved, and also, so that true religion might truly influence the hearts of people. In this way, by acknowledging the one true God, to whose power we should submit, they might not only despise and repudiate all idols, but also hate and abhor them. The rest tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since You have made heaven and earth for our sake, and have testified by Your servant Moses that the sun, as well as the moon (to which foolish pagans attribute divinity), are to serve us, and that we are to use them as if they were our servants—O grant that we may, by Your many blessings, have our minds raised upward to contemplate Your true glory. May we faithfully worship You only, and surrender ourselves so entirely to You, that while we enjoy the benefits derived from all the stars and also from the earth, we may know that we are bound to You by so many favors. In this way, may we be more and more roused to attend to what is just and right, and thus endeavor to glorify Your name on earth, so that we may at last enjoy that blessed glory which has been provided for us by Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

We began yesterday to explain the sixth verse, in which Jeremiah says, From no time has there been found any like the true God, for He is great, and great is His name in power. This sentence appears, indeed, meaningless or very common in its idea, in negating the notion that there has been anyone like God in all the ages. But as the world by its figments has always obscured the glory of the true God, this sentence contains what is of great importance, for it says that God possesses His own unique dignity and shines far above all fictitious deities.

The same view is to be taken of the second clause, Thou art great. Who will not concede greatness to God? Yet He is deprived of it by most people; for when anyone devises a god for himself, he robs the true God of His own greatness and makes Him, as it were, one among many other gods.

If we bear in mind how people depreciate God’s glory, it is easy for us to see that He is not uselessly called great here, as He is in many other places. But I only touch on these things briefly here, as I have elsewhere discussed them more fully.

He says that God’s name is great in power; for idols had a celebrated name among all nations but had no power. Though many things have been related about their idols by the Greeks and Italians, as well as by Eastern peoples, yet it is certain that no proof has been given to show that they worshipped true gods. Hence the Prophet declares here that greatness belongs to God alone, as His power has been made known and has fully manifested His own unique glory.

The Prophet exclaims, Who will not fear thee? This question is very emphatic, as though he indignantly rebuked the stupidity of all those who did not acknowledge the only true God. It is as if he had said, “Why is it that you are not feared throughout the whole world? Surely, if there were a spark of right knowledge in men, they would acknowledge you as the only true God, and having found this truth, would submit to your power.”

Therefore, when men invent various gods for themselves, and when everyone is led here and there without any judgment, it is a monstrous thing. For when the subject is pressed upon the attention of even the rudest, they confess that there is some supreme deity and are eventually constrained to allow that there is but one true God. Why then is it that there is such a multitude and variety of gods in the world?

How is it that those who hold this principle—that God ought to be worshipped—fall away, adopt many gods, and can never determine who the true God is, or how He is to be worshipped? We now understand the Prophet’s purpose in exclaiming, as if in astonishment, Who will not fear thee, the King of nations?

We know that the true God was then despised by the pagans, and we also know that His law was regarded with contempt, and even as an abomination. What then does this question mean? It means what I have already stated: the Prophet indignantly says that it was a monstrous thing, bordering on madness, that men paid no regard to the only true God but went astray after their own foolish devices. And He calls Him the King of the nations, not because the nations submitted to His authority, but because He manifested evidence of His power everywhere, which might have induced even the rudest to show Him reverence, if they were not extremely stupid. We then see that this is not said to honor the nations; on the contrary, it is so that their ingratitude might be exposed to shame for not honoring God, who manifested His power among them.

Then follows what confirms this: For to thee it belongs; for among all the wise of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, from no time has there been one like to thee. He says that it belongs to God—that is, that all the world should fear Him. Some render יאתה iate, as a noun, taking it to mean “honor,” while others render it “government” or “authority”; but this interpretation cannot be accepted.

He then says, it belongs to God. What belongs? Some say, “Glory or dominion belongs to thee.” But it must be referred to the beginning of the verse: there is a figure of speech here called Zeugma, and the meaning is that God deserves this—that is, to be feared by all. He then speaks of fear and says that it belongs to God. What is meant is that the glory of God shines so brightly as to be sufficient to arrest and engage all the thoughts of men. They are therefore extremely stupid when they pass by and forsake Him, turning to their own devices and inventing gods according to their own fancies.

The Prophet then confirms what we have already said: that all men who do not worship or fear the only true God are detestable beings, because so much of His glory shines forth that it makes everyone bound to acknowledge Him. It then follows that those who are carried away into various superstitions are extremely stupid and brutish, for God makes His glory conspicuous everywhere, so that it ought to engage and occupy the thoughts of all men; and it would do so if they were not led away by their own vanity.

From this we also learn that the pretext of ignorance made by unbelievers is wholly vain. There are those who at first glance seem to be excusable for their error, since they have not been taught and never understood who the true God is; yet there is in them the blame of neglect as well as of wickedness, for they willfully neglect and despise the only true God. Since then unbelievers take delight in their errors, they must be held guilty. And this is what the Prophet means by saying that God was worthy of glory—the glory of being feared by all. This he more fully confirms when he says, “Among all the wise, and in all kingdoms”—that is, among all the princes who seemed to excel in wisdom in governing the world—“no other God could be found throughout all the ages.”

He again repeats the word מאין main, of which we spoke yesterday. It is as though the Prophet had said, “Let all the wise men and philosophers come forth, let all those counselors who assume great wisdom appear, and let them bring forward whatever they can allege. Doubtless, God will always defend His own glory against all their frivolous arguments, so that they must depart confounded; nor will they be able, however willing they may be, to bring any solid objection against Him.” By these words, then, the Prophet intimates that it is vain to boast of philosophic reasons, and that the counsels of princes, who esteem themselves very acute in civil affairs, will be brought forward in vain; for all will be covered with shame and be constrained to be silent when God makes known His glory. Indeed, the glory of God appears everywhere so conspicuously that even the rudest ought to perceive it. Yet the wise—who fly above the heavens as philosophers, who search all the secrets of nature—do not understand what is, as they say, plainly evident; for God manifests Himself to the simple, and even to children. We now perceive the Prophet’s intent when he says, From no times has been found any like to God, not only among the common people, but among the wise, and princes, and kings’ counselors. He afterwards adds—