John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 11:12

"Then shall the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go and cry unto the gods unto which they offer incense: but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble." — Jeremiah 11:12 (ASV)

The Prophet then shows in these words that those who cried in this way indiscriminately to God and to idols were not touched by a true and sincere feeling of repentance.

But another question may be raised here: How could they flee to God and to foreign gods too? The ready answer is this: the unbelieving, in a turbulent state of mind, turn here and there, so that they grasp nothing certain, sure, or fixed. This we see in the Papists—they cry to God and at the same time to a great number of gods.

Let us therefore know that there is in all the unbelieving a spirit, as it were, of giddiness, which turns them to different expedients, so that now they call on God, then they flee to their idols. Men are naturally led to God when any distress holds them bound; hence they call on God. But afterwards, not being satisfied with him alone, they resort to their own devices and heap together, as I have said, a vast multitude of gods. Since we see this done under the Papacy in our day, we should not wonder that it was done formerly, and that the Jews were condemned on this account.

The Prophet now addresses the Jews only; he had spoken of the Israelites before, but he now speaks especially to his own people: Go shall the cities of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem, etc. What shall they do? They shall cry to their gods. We see from this that their prayers were rambling, as though they poured them into the air; therefore God could not have heard them. For whenever God promises to be propitious and appeasable, he requires faith and repentance; but there was in this people an impious wantonness, and no faith, for they were entangled in their own superstitions.

The meaning is that the Jews, when oppressed by calamities, would make their prayers to the true God, but without understanding or discrimination, being, on the contrary, in a confused state of mind. This would be sufficiently evident, for they would at the same time seek the aid of various idols, but they would gain no help, either from God or from their idols.

And why? Because they would be unworthy to be heard by God, as they would not call on him in a right spirit, nor with faith and repentance; and their idols would not be able to bring them any help. It follows from this that they would be altogether in a hopeless state.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since you have been pleased, in such a kind manner, according to your paternal kindness, to invite us to yourself, we may not be rebellious, but willingly and quietly submit ourselves to you, and not wait until you shake us with terror and show us signs of your wrath; but may we anticipate your dreadful judgment, and thus always go on, so as to have no other object in view but to glorify your name throughout the whole course of our life, until at last we are made partakers of that glory which your only begotten Son has obtained for us. Amen.